The Statesman. — London, England, 1810-03-27 00:00:00

len th. enemy, but which bad rarely happened to us. It commonly occurred that a French army hap. peued to be where it was wanted ; but hu could remember few instances of our sending one where it could do any good. .The information Ministers had of the enemy's force was far from boing ac. curate. They had been informed that there were. very few troops at Antwerp, end that it would take five or six days to assemble a considerable force in that neighbourhood. In June orJuly they bad been informed by a confidential servant that the force of the enemy in that quarter amounted to 22 or 23,000 men. From a report however made to the Emperor of the French, dated August Ist, the day on which we entered the Roompot (which he here produced and read), giving an ac. comet of the appearance of the English, and of the means resorted to to repulse them, it appeared that such dispositions had been previously made by the enemy that a very considerable force could bully be assembled in three days. They placed 'their forte at such a distance from Antwerp as not ' 1 " 'to leave Buulogile Open to our attacks, yet sulli deafly near to defend. Antwerp, when it was known to what point (stir operations were intended to be diteetcd, and that arrangement aecountedfor the arrival of a French army at the point of at.: tack just in time... Having nova', shown 'that the - Zxpedition'agaiest Antwerp, according to the the. wits of all those who were consulted by Ministers °lithe subject, was morally,' if not physically iispoasthle, he would proceed to show that if \ those theories were not preciiely correct, if it was not originally impossible for the enterprize against Adtwerp to succeed, it was made so by the at. ragensents of Ministers. One division of the Expedition was to b assembled at Bathz on the, 31st of July. He wished to kuow what General could take the force-wider hittemmand there with. out disobeying orders ? Was it Sir E.'Coote ? Sir J. Hope ? or the Marquis of fleetly ? all of whom were employed on services which - rendered it im. practicable, as were Lord Roselyn and Geo. qros iiPsor. Gen. Brownrigg had stated, that whouWal. charms was take'', the second division of the arena. Inent it was istended should proceed to the accom. plishinent of the ulterior objects of the Expediti on. It however appeared, that the ordnance, &c. was Dot tent off from this country till the very day on which the landing atlantrliet was iiitended. A corps of Lord Huntly's division, as soon as the in. vestment of Flushing was complete, and the island of South Bcveland taken, was to proceed to Baths,. where a conjunct operation was to l at tempted, with instructions how to act should the enemy proceed to Lillo or - Lief keusbock. There appeared to be no particular hurry to get to Ant. weep. A change in the pion had been made in con sequence of the want of boats. Sir J. !lope's corps had-teen kept-two days in the boats; end ordered to take a positioo to observe &hen mid Bath. General Browengg rententlserttl • that Lord Chatham had midi* to keep the corps of Lorditorolyn as a hotly of swerve. Sir H. Pup. bun bad grounded his hopes of weeds-on the mo bs:Won of the troops in ships of the line, which *ode of embarkation was ordered to ensure greater expedition. That more expeditious mode of an. barking troops was peculiarly applied to Flushing. The Admiralty would sot suffer ships of the line to enter the narrow and iptrioate passages of the Scheldt. They had given orders fur collecting any ships but those of the line to convey the troops up to Antwerp. The troops destined to act against Walcherea were embarked it ships of the line, but in the ulterior operations of the armament that mode of embarkation was to be discontinued from the difficulties attending= the navigation of the Scheldt. In a letter from-Sir Richard Straehan to the Secretary of State, no mention whatever had been made of the ulterior objects of the Expedi. lion. Ile had merely said 44 he would lose no time." Sir R. &radian's instructions to Captain Owen had mentioned—[litre much noise prevailed in the House.]—He knew, he said, the subject was net entertaining, but as it Vas important, he hoped they would give him their attention. The instructions of Sir R. Strachan to Captain Ovi* set forth, that there were two services •to be ac.l complished—the first against Cadsand, the second to cut off the communication with Boulogne. Those performed, he was to pat himself under the command of Admiral Otway. Could it pos.. sibly be thought that any division of the army would proceed- to Santvliet, when the instructions given did not, in the remotest degree, countenance such a procedure, as all the officers, without ex. , caption, were told, either to keep behind the rest, r: or to attempt one or two things, and then wait for further orders. Thos itsppeared no one could ed to Santvlict without disobeying orders. ships of t he line which had been used for aspek ims- N ensiterirttertroops; were irot l - so used in the Scheldt, though so , much at that ' period depended upon expedition, while the bat. • tering train had not been sent from the Downs, till the period at which it ought to have arrived at Santvliet. He mould -say nothing farther I oa the • plan or policy of the Expedition.— . He would not even make a comment, but leave the House to judge from all the circum stances, whether or wet it - was possible for the Expedition to reach Antwerp; whether or not with such instructions it lies possible to succeed ; and whether or not the project did teat deserve to he cessidered as a wild romantic vision. Ile would now proceed to the conduct of the . Expedition.- - 1 He imputed the blame to neither service ; he felt, assayed that each bad deserved well of the coati. try, and that the failure was to be ascrihed not to hem, but to the circumstance of their valour bads( been opposed to obstacles which were in surmeentable. Hitherto he had taken but a mili tary view of the difficulties they had to encounter from the situation of the place, the force they had to encounter, Om hut. be bad now to notice evils of c more fonnidelsia nature, which opposed, their exertions. They had to contend with ad. verse elements, and still more with tire herroreof disease. It was known that the climate was tin. healthy. Lord Mulgrave well knew it, and he m i g ht have remembered that when he was there his m en were not only unhealthy, - but that many lost their lives. .Yet this Statement had been sent to a ► ipeadkatial platy at the Rite patitomo... - fillasenewhe raft STAT without. tine medical man being previously •,e.on. suited, and without any imitable prevision Win made. If it, were alleged that secrecy, which was considered necessary to the success of the enter.. prize, would have suffered by such a precaution ary step, why, he would ask, when the destine- . lion of the army was notarises, darthey not con stilt medical men ma the subject before they were told that 3000 lien were sick and in a most dread ful situation. On the 3 ist of August Sir FL Coote wrote home on the subject, inciosing a letter from Dr. Webb, setting fords the deplorable state of the army. and pressing most urgently for inune. diets sissisamice. He (ir E. Coate) blamed na vigation as titily on an occasion so important, mill that the swiftest vessel sailtal too slow when relief was necessary fur the sickening soldiery. On the 211 of September the Noble Lord wrote to Sir David Derides, inclusive, the note received from Dr. Webb, yet through something, that did not reach the War Office till a.cember. Subsequeut applications were made, but it was not till disease had made the most alarming progress in admire; our ranks that any medical men were sent to int vestigato the nature of that disease anti that cli mate, which ought to Nam: been tkartaughly, known, and tartly ascertained, before* mu was sent from oar own shores. This policy was of a piece with that which sent Lord Chatham, with In immense force, to a place in order to ascertain whether or not that place wee assailable, a mode of proceeding never considered as convenient or eligible before. • Ho now came to the last but not the least important charge, the retention of Wel cheren. He had now to ask what possible motive Ministers could have for, so doing. After what had been said by. Sir Eyrc Coote and others on the subject of the distress of the teoops; after the nurnerout representations that had been made oC their wants, and of the afflicting hardships to which they were exposed ftom the want of cloth ing, of baggage, and from beirig in hospitals want. ing roofs, expesekto the incleinency of the season,. This was not all, their stock of medicine had been so low, that had it net been for the succour afford. ell them by Asmugeler, the. army most actually lave perished for want ef bark. The protracted delays which occurred, he imputed to that miser able subordination which had been established, and which rendered a number of orders necessary from one pence' in olfiee to another; before any • efficient measures could be taken to remedy the esil deplored. Three or four orders were thus rendered necessary to the attainment of one ob ject. The Medical Board, had it been what a Medical Board ought to be, instead of wise it was, with such a system, could not bat be back• ward in • affording the assistance required. The health of *he army ought not to have be. en treated teaueh • Board as the lest, which it_ alai intended to abolish probably even before the • sailing of . the Eepedition.• What eectiso could they make for reposhig each 4 trust is Such persons? None, but trot private digerati Ilsastob. 'iterated from area:bosoms all feeling for the pub. lie intemt. 'With what view could they ha;e kept our languishing soldiers 'in the unhealthy, ' filthy marshes of Walcheren, fur so long' a' pe. riod ? Wete they to be told that it was-considered to be a good military position, and as such worth retaining. had they cot been told by a high mi litary Officer that .it could not be kept elikett maintaining a force of 22 er r 23,000* men, nor even with such a tures wit out erecting fortifica , (ions. Had they not also been told that there was so relying on naval „assistance. That during three months in the year, the shipping woititl, be under the necessity .of going.into Fleshing, thus affording the enemy an opportunity of ,enneyiitg us. Gen. Don had said, that at no time the ship ping could be mire of keeping their positions..., Other testineasies to a similar effect could be addle; cal. Now, puttiug feeling and humanity out of the question, could it be ',alley to rotate it under such circumstances ?—Could we supply from. our population the annual exhaustion by disease? Could they think of retaining it with suck Mier mous sacrifices ? lirere they nut told too II Gen. Dan, that the island was in a defenceless state, and that he was apprehensive, f the enemy could , break their line of sea defence, the hospital- mist be taken? What could make llinisters callous to their reflections ? What could induce this' to suffer our brave army to remain there to With ? Why, after the representations on and before 2d Sept. was the order for evacuating the Island not given till November ? It was not because Minis. tors were anxious for the retention of Walcheren, but because they could think of little but the re. tendon of their own offices. The intelligence from Welchem ought to have made a deep im. pression on those who tent out jp.Eapcditltut -a. flnitres's, 'or rather so fruitful of evils, which the country would long have to deplore. But at that period Ministers were tocebasy at home to think of our poor soldiers, engaged as they were in a disgraceful scramble for places and for power. The communications from Austria proved that no. thing of the kind had been dune iri consequence of their wishes. When such an offer was made last war, their only reply was, at Where is this bland of Walcheren ?" Austria could derive no benefit from the retention of Welchem. When it was known at Buda that Lord Chatham had retreated, leaving a garrison at Welchem, they expressed -disappointment, and declared they heti no Wipes of our doing any good there, and only wished, some effort to he made in the North of Germany. As early as the Gth of October, Sir Eyre Caaote had pressed to know what were the bantams* 4f Government respecting Welchem : yet - nothing decisive was done; our remaining there coalddo no good; but Ministers chose to immolate the•reenias of oil r garrison to the manes of Alistrien greeteeste Our owe veteran had beat thus Mt to succour the Austrian cause thirteen (toys after peace bad been concluded ! When our hrasosislificnoltrodies warted, it was not too much to sett if OS beimme taps gained Avers equal to the *Mass Ade ,That' 16 Sri* campaigner," General Beisintriti, `r had said that some of the troops of Francs bat been called from the banks of the Dumb* by WO ; diversion ; but if a few woes basally so *Mud of from ost illy, was that eboseffair each sit Etna. 'AN. began jon ignorance, conducted in impotence, and terminated in the loss of the finest arshy that ever butt oar shores—in national 'disgrace, and almost in national despondency. The Noble Lord con cluded by awing the following Resolusions,which, froth being much eshausted by speaking so long, Lord Temple read to.tCe HQUIC: 1. That ea the I9tit ef July and following dyes an Expedi tion of 29,000 soldiers, .17 ships of the line, three of 44 guns, 2) frigates, 31 sloops, &c. &c. &c. sailed from our short*. hasiog for its object the capture of the enemy's ships in the Scheldt; the, deoructioe Of these biiildiy, the reduction of the Islatad of Walcheren, the capture of Antwerp, the de struction of 'its dock-yards and amiials, sod the rendering of the Stheldt no longer otvigabl. . 9. That Flushing surrendered oo the I.sth of August, and on the 29th it was judged - advisable to abandon the ulterior objects of the Expedition. 3. That after accomplishing the destruction of the basin and works of Flushing on the 11th December, the Island wus evacuated on the 41d. - . 4. That this Home is of opinion, that no blame it imput able either to the military tar naval pan of the armament. 5. That on or about the 19th of September a malignant dis t order made its appearance in the army, and on the Bth of October, the number of the sick unwanted to 10,918. • 6. That It appears from the' tepee% of Physiciate sta. !pointed to investigate the sphject, that that disease perfodir cally breaks out,iu Italchereta with great violence, and con ! Hones to rage throughout the Antonin till the latter end of October: That recoveries from the ellicts of it are very rare; and That it is the cause of complaiots which render men ineMcieut for military purposes. 7. That of that - arsay there died, oa 'or before the Ist of . February, 1810, 60 oMcets and 3900 min, exclusive of those' hiked in action; and the camber of sick, no tile Ist of Fe bruary, amounted to 467 oilliers, and 11,996 mei. 8. That the Expedition was undertaken at a period and ander circconstanees precluding every rational hope of suc ems t and that the advisers of this ill-judged Expedition are deeply responsible fur the heavy calamities thus brought on the country. A second string of Resolutions was here pro. duced, in substance as follows 1. TWO Sir E. Conte being left is Watcheren with 15,000 Men, did represent to Iris Majesty's Alinisters, that the Island coshlttot be retained without an immense sacrifice of blood gad treasure. 2. That On the 23d of September be noted the disease among the trorree have made such an alarming progress, that if it essadaued so to increase for the following three weeks, our possession of the Island would be precarious. $. That on the 6th of October, Sir E. Ccrote stated our possession of the Liana to be precarious, and desired to be informed of the intentions of Goiernment as to the line of conduct they had it in contemplatioa to pursue, with ressect to its retention, Ste. 4. That Rota ithstanding these. apdsimilar represehettions, his Majesty% Ministers neglected, Oil the 4th of November, to order WitiCheren to he evacuated, and it was not finally evacuated till the 23d of December. 4. That subsegaemia to„use-Inh of /eptember, 6938 sick ware embarked for England, which, by the time the Island was evacuated, were angtnented to 11,199. 6. Tait after the attainment of the great objects of the Xcpedisinn bad ceased to be considered as practicable, our army was kept by his Majesty's\ lifinisters, witlumi any great object in view, iu Walcheren. in the greatest danger, And expoed for more than three months to a.disense which, ace:arty as the 31st of August, had assented a most Javelin,: appesirance. 1. That the conduct of his Majesty's Milliners calls for the severest censure of this House. • Lord CA'4TLEREAGH then rose. He was . sure that the House would think k extremely via tura, that he should he anxious' to avail himself of the earliest opportunity to vishniit to them lire grontids on which he had aunceived That the ntea su're under discussion was justifiable and politic.— •He felt, however, that he could accomplish ibin object Only by experiencing their extraurdinafy, indulgence. lie was perstimied,-fndied, that Hown• would be-aware, from the cOttric pursupl by the Noble Lord, that with every effort on isia part to avoid dilation, it would be iniimsible to . comprise *hat he ktit to say into a very narrow' compass. The Sit.hielit a irsts incumbered with many dilficultice. A grebt pert of it was of a profes. sional nature, in the discussion of s hick he must enter with dOebt and hesitation. Solicitous how ever tolare the time of the Houle as much as pos. Itit should discharge the 04V imposed upon anion as briefly as circumstances would permit, and fOr that purpose would trust chiefly to the reeol. iection of the House with respect to the evidence that had been heard at their . Bar, and quote those passages only winds it ttu easentiallynecessary to canlider with minuteness. He felt that lac should be guilty of ingratitude to the Noble Lord if he did 'not express *titakhowledgments for the op portunity which hid been afforded him of die. charging a great duty, by submitting to the House of Cgll4llolll his view Of the important ~.101444. in question. • However the profcnffonal parts of the subject might he better considered in another tribunal, there was nu place but that House in which be would . have beet, enabled so fully to state the nature and the objects of the Expedition under discussion; to separate those objects from the mass of, calumny attached to them, and to bring them to 'that bearing upon which rational men might justly differ. There was another important advantage attendant upon Mt! Inquiry in that House r' If the subject hail beets before anutht•r tribunal, the country would not have given credit to the studious of a-Jodge-Ad vocate, directed es those exertions must have been against his Majesty's Guvernmetst. Lt was only to that politicallsontility which was interwoven iit our Constitution that the Public would trust on occepions like the present.. Without iissiostiag to the Noble Lord opposite ossy , v erit of which he (fibord•Castistreagh) - to complain, he hod a right to RUSIN AM lite • chararter.or ac.J• cider was not- so -Mined in the... Character Judge in .-that NolOsa J,g d , at to had the ,tosstatry to disbelieve that 'every disposition exist. *tea fasten upon hitMaistety'i Goverument the I . sionces of witieli they Witlest beeitsed. &t trust Weal bo: satisfactory to the Pah*e to know, that 4- [basso some inditittual4 bill' tisouibt that f the Inquiry would bi &eller tonsteetrd in the sli T MOO of strassimp, yet that Reareely s a actitenne had bees uttered in lie 44.wiestput the .lasialey. of which *a mew sot in poplesst • counitaseraosesot ~/A. - 437•4*,up. trAlslt•, few luestiOnn bad any disceesi os eid —.--- ta i Hu felt tongdent thirrespea—a c oil ed P'lls. be trusted . would nut be imput e d to n ay 'd ing assumption, or wifht o f defereace b t ece° ", L House, that the question was brought is e , e ; point of it to a fair Isaac. Having stated d e , much, he would say that he thought it ratt er -- ; traordiwary practical issue on which tlie R e ; we re celled on to argue and decide. He rnift f i i i. -- ' Noble Lord, that whatever train of argius eet ka -1 ' been adopted. by the Opponents of his b1 i ;,,,, - ", to o re i s n e e n e t t G o t: v m e r ; n h ri t i l e t it hi t o , did hes t h h o il i i i k ld i h t a a ve s ' i li nt, .. entilir '. - ' l . pr epem that the ifouse shouliEha required ha s speculativel y theidlp deneuultbivettyl carriedwhat a_i t )l o att co uch n h 4 i ide r p the event if that plies had been c arr i e d into Mts. (ion ; to pronounce sentence net on an Expedition had been tried, and whi c h h ai l filled, id on Ail Expedition Which hail not b een tried. rik4r hear !I He reyeyatoil, it had not bee n trictr ied. TL:r etlceeuha r:ssa , k _ isi _ 7l latter part of the Expedition had never been beak 'to a practical test It was a speculative gentile whether it would „lave failed or nut. li e - s ee , . 4 the inveztilation of Ibis question he tile:telt*, credit would be riven to him for his hayin g fres% very co ininenceetteastevierer sought to evade it. li e had entered into the Inquiry with a conviction that the iner4s of the Esp,• t he ee 0 on a'roclt which could not he shaken. IWw e h stated the grounds on which the question e e l h ei originally taken up and acted u; on by he el, l e,_ ty's Groverninent, he wished to discuss th e pai T t whether the military ()Anions which hid INA ' given its Government, and which were , un the t t , ble of the House, ought to have p, t e esse d sub authority as to indues: his. Majesty's Getinliall to abandon the object which they' had it else These opinions consisted of five military 001 h Id e i front the Horse Gliards,• and one naval 4 th ee, When his sentiments with respect to thareaftim had been required in the Committee, heti* tainly declined giving them, no: from any iserege sition on Ilia part fairly to meet the qaestion, Ai because he considered these sentimeats Put Mae tcrs of evidevico, but rather founded Unplug reasoning; and here he would candidly engin, tie bad it not been for a particular eirchinsteacsehe he should presently relate, it was probable tintis should nut hare been enabled to lay no* . of the House any written military opi n ielireitis subject. In fact Ire could not admit the . that ender such circumstances it was ' . on Cirvertiment to produce mi:itaryiselpiesig writing. In the course of his military Slosisilli lion there bad been many cast.. by which It vs have been utterly impossible for him to tondos so. Military men ni a ays made a distiuctioa be tweet' those military.oeinions which Iberian la formally in writing, and those in *MA thee,. dulged in conversation or dlicessiche'Thlimilsi. ready stated in the evidence of Lord Chatham. Lai Chatham said that his opinion had never isesailito formally in writing. Vi by i Steatite his N• • Government had had the advantage of a his opinion in abetter tnode. 'lf a Ode. ' wished to 'protect themselves by milieu? lei. teals against the responsibility of any olio which they were about to undertake, then suit. Idly they would not move a step, wittiest fermi written opinions ; but if without desiring torte* responsibility, they wished only to obtain talk. tarry inferiektion, there, was nu mode lets likely to afford .it thou by written opinions, Ger soy 'mode more likely to afieril it than those tosses. setioni in which military men, divested of revise sibility, would detail the groends on whickike sentiments were feurded, When a military. was put sm paper, it was stripped of all iirsfeilli litiee.upd,contingencicee end stated as.strictlefei legal ease would lie to a lawyer. • And wkstyli a written military opinion in answer to.sitcb SO worth when it teas obtained ? Little or sallil Fisher the case must be . stated only aphst oi : most indisputable grounds, the answer to would of course multi& probabilities 1106#11 . 6. genies; ox probabilities and contingteleill be stated as certainties, the answer to whitibeill. probably be . falsified •by the praelleal trallit. —Ho would now etplaitr hew Ow • litary opinions came to be coiled' far stilt. Fat himself, he should have bEen we?, aostratto $I the benefit of the advice of the (Mean by eh? those upon t opinions w r e e r s e pe a n d i v ib a i n i r it e y d . , wlt h hee e ea t ;I I: 0 ; ever in the present instance was this; hobnail '" ni pe a d n i y t i o w n: e obt a ined k s before a t h .: ;Lett; determination n n a a ti va g i n ac o v f iet e liw -61 ; 1 comninnications to elucidate the -treat' ob which Government had in view. On tide t at several of the Gentlemen who log IwossM asnitnesses hail fallen into a •misteke. Till uionhad • declared, that ilaatsutibljeCyCt.b2:oCigditilveno:l64.llll:* Majesty's Government. Certainly beat, as" ' the minds of his Majesty's Covell' t 'had for some lime been, on the grcal o c ol 'h i / e ; , which they . had in view, their elflMllll bit have assumed the semblance of 411.•ciWiai j ail as certainly they had viewer 'arrived to 11 : nhie deriQioll until the month of June. The rt hi , Land had stated that he (Lord Carteren .l _,.: bid -ordered the army to prepare for em . D !l it Lion on the 18th of Stine, but had sot fa_keel 4 Majesty's pleasure on the subject, until (I . le . I' 4 of that .intratle The fact was, tha t 4f* fakeer his. hiajesty'a pleasure on the 11 . , I L t o t the 14th of Juin, .reeerving only th" . t ea .. _,1 81 ".., j , related list eit‘?siaiisolieg at Santrltiet, Wl"' i ip , frit 1-0 they of else Ardinitel 4 P 00 . b , .411eSti440Kb• .E .l ll/tlli dcsi.diAl npos../ . it 1 vernmeet. ontit j atilly wants wall 114•re e .,, m e a ltf . 1 the tf,t`ist Firt,n-Itf Je hick ' period t h e "" 0( ito• dime had. 4ni 4v f!‘nt tieti.Sit.oo the . cap e .1 to let bersdieg at foonteliet. : the greyed on IVltic . ~f o. Wei !ItAiritoANlt4 04t1111.11..ti1e UpittiOD of tille .. ___l•l i f 1 Jalliq#4 is Chid mal t Ilikit'tbere were Iwo r_ di . keibemitAoir brifteari liitief It was neCossol7 1 Sr ikt ia 4s44 eldil ihriel.recitthvietie..llYttretsll4hsit°llka)efilli4aCul*rillit.... by ...rof Antwerp. II e_ weenie:l./v..lNi; the dilPal:l 4. the fiereveiateme4gemod vidreereiellf:4l ,7 ealtwebut t,. --- - ' ~ "`"~ -~ D 3 olanel miti Could h Comman out any the objel opinions A meri" lie 1 1 ." 1 tain , :cl th arthorii; the ofc► Fide, and It n hitherto to be oc Pat a1l•); tulert.iii day, ;amyl pia st it pity •ctiveil Ike W4I 8 9 2 i Ili(' tit the pi to It Were I they C2ll I am an pla cable °MCI a de (Jrin and I ship! circu consi objel pruc year weni obis chic Sir J in sr orttt " tl of spot en Prej to veal 4100 . „, I U le •