The National Register.
London, England, 1809-10-08 00:00:00

Orr. S.

ports was added the battery of Melklet vs, most favourably situ-
ated on a portion of a perpendicular dike at one of the ell.:►sys of
the river. In this position, rendered celebrated twos centuries
ago by the offensive works of the besiegers, our :re:rules re-pre-;;
duced those very ',mine wotks for our' defence; planted strong
wooden posts, collected boats, and prepare& them in a .mignaer!
to prevent their being sunk, and ferniest a double boom under the
protection of the forts and batteries of the Cross, klelkhays,
Pearl, St. Philip, and St. Mary.
Behind this boom,-and beyond the point where ships, in:ere
der to double the Cape of Fort St. Plailip,areeiblketi•to describe-
• a curve in the Scheldt, three men of war were stationed, w•}rOse
treble batteries commanding the passage Would have assailed the
enemy in frost, whilst his flanks and‘rearlvtoetti have been can
nonadcd by the forts and batteries on both banks of the river.
llighe:. up, Forts Isabelle and Ferdinand, supported by the
Imperial battery, fermed a t►ird defensive.litte;- whichet was
51eet...v.1.1-y to break through, in order to approach the fleet and
dock i—rds, which -e*-ht have been farther secured by sinking
yesseis in the• River that might have been raised again after the
sioge—a last means of tearing from the grasp of the English a
prey i:e.v might have though'. almOst in their power.
Supposing all these difficulties to have been 'conquered, the
fortified tows. and citad•:! of Antwerp still remained, and it
would have required the greatest exertions on the part of the
enemy have attacked a :rave garrison, protected by good
works, and resolved to defend itself like the garrisons of Genoa
and.Mayence, that hi, to fight without its walls, and to contend
obstioately, in the midst of inundations, for 'each of the numerous
natural posts with which Antwerp is surrounded.
To this system of defence, the threatening dispositions of the
English only served to inspire us with the bold determination of
'adding new ones. Three batteries were, by command of the
Prince, erected under the fire of the enemy ; the one at the Point
of Doel, another in the ruins of the old Fort of Frederick Henry,
and the third between that fort and Lillo, in the elbow which
the dike forms near the creek of Blawgaeren. such were the
means of defence employed to secure Antwerp, its dock-yards,
sand its fleet. We must, however, acknowledge, that time would
bare been wanting to finish those immense preparations on every
point, and that hostile fortune might have granted some haomeu-
lary advantages :o the English, had they, on the 19th of August,
Made their attack, and displayed all their means with the pru-
dime and boldness indispensably necessary to meet such ditficul-
ties, and such adversaries. But even this was foreseen. De-
fensive
positions were marked in the neighbourhood of Antwerp, ,
to he taken by the army, which received daily reinforcements,
and measures had been planned, in conformity with the Emperor's
commands, to cause the very progress of the enemy to become a
snare, 'b Which he would be separated from his ships, and the•
punishment of his temerity would have been more complete and 1.
'memorable.
Every day of delay rendered the attack more difficult, and its
success more doubtful. New legions followed those which a first
call had created ; and French warriors, rushing in from every
part, displayed that unanimous resolution, which saved them at
'the hour of misfortuee, of never. suffering the enemy to invade
their territory. Reinforcements of troops and artillery arrived
incessantly. The first inundations were effected, and the others
prepared. Labourers. and Means of conveyance grew every day
snore nuMeroutt; and the soldiers beheld with complacency the
p:•ogress of works which covered the Scheldt with forts, batte-
ries, add b00m5..., Every day it became more probable that the
naval forces Of the enemy would not attempt to penetrate through
the sinuosities af•the river, is defiance to all the obstacles raised
againitthern, and With a total disregard of the danger they would
run of having. their retreat -cut of. It was, therefore, likely
that the English Would begin by attempting to destroy the defen-
ces'o► the two banks.; that the only asearis of effecting this pur-
pose would be to attack our army ; and that they would not be
able to resist the shock of the forces destined to attack them at
the moment and in the 'confusion of their landing, which, if de-
layed, would prove still mute difikult.
Every thing sheared the enemy wavering in his plans; misin-
formed, or mistrustful; confounded at the sight of unforeseen ob-
stacles-; spending is reconnoitering the time witseh served to
increase them, and losing with the opportunity the will of at-
tacking us. His boats employed in sounding the channel •f the
Scheldt, proved that be was not acquainted with its windings.
11 is eon-bouts assailing every night with rockets the batteries
erecting at Duel, and in the ruins of the Fort of Frederic Henry,
did not check the construction of these works, In which we sp.
proachelt to bid him defiance. In a wok), although the collect.

637

ed ships-at
•Ilatz mide sonn- otTensive demonstrations, they were
such at ;lotto announce ;he tram:port or landing of ony consider-
abie•cilt.pstf troops,' with its artillery, across the arm of a wide
river, on a psonklsekseted•before hand and defended by an army.
InfOttnation, -however, founded on these demo:nor:lions, led
us tovikelievenvetikilintes, but especially on the.22:l of August,
thitt theen4Mis intention was really to land ; and the Prince of
C-bryo annjuiteed—the approach;ag attack in the order of
thelitty,-as:air!oitlinaiyAevent, long expected by the array.—
Every thing.Was4tietrbut until the 28th of August, bola& raid
cannonlarrlist thro.w.n
.4 the enemy's gun-boats avtinst the bat-
jeries of bend and rieuerie Henry,• a fire of musketry agaiwt
the hikes,' vaid iikrhar,:es of artillery, and trilling engagements
bf-utstiroirs,* were phe only hostilities comtnitted uy ttte .
'When losing, with the hope of an easy victory, the wish of
give credit to the rumours
attaekiog our army, the enemy, if we
circulated in Zealand, attempted to devise means of sending fire-
ships and rnfernal machines against the booms and the fleet, and
closing' the Scheldt by sinking into iti deepest c:laraels vesqls
filled with stones, or whole blocks of stone work. We might
have entrusted the rapid current of the river with the care of
opening new channels r'br our ships, by removing or des: roving
these vain obstacles, but ransu'res equally prudent and hold
were taken to seize and wreck these floating mines ; and our
navy, in retaliation, increased the number of his fire ships, itt
order to fight the eremy with his own weapons, and with offen-
sive means which the number and collection of his vessels would
have rendered more destructive.

Convinced, at last, that their miserable attempts, after the
pompous display of their Expedition, would only draw shame
and ridicule upon tlt,ir arms, the Eoglish seemed to intend to
carry their forces to other parts well prepared to oppose them.
They threatened at once Holland, ere countries of It vist and
Axel, the island of Cadsand, and the coast of Flanders. But
on the side of Holland they would have met Geueral Gratien's
division on its return from the North of Germany, and the
Dutch population in arms to defend their King, their cnniary,
and their allies. In the counties of Hulst, Axel, and Cadsand,
an army created whilst the enemy menaced Antwerp, a%.aited
him under the orders of Marshal Duke of Cornegliano ; and on
the same line with the army, the First Inspector of Engineers
had put all the towns of Dutch Flanders, and on the coast from
Hulst to Nieuport beyond the reach of danger. Whatever be
the point of their attack, the Prince of Ponte Curve, placed at
Antwerp, in the centre•of the line, could follow and defeat them
with his army. Every thin., skewed them that France and Hol•
land were capable of repelling their attacks.
The prospect of so many obstacles increased by the sickness
prevalent in his army, caused the enemy to prefer the disgrace
of a retreat to that of a defeat. His lust demonstrations had no
other object than to conceal the evacuation of his sick and artil.
lery. The island of Beveland and fort of Betz were abandoned,.
As early as the 29th of August, 150 sails, several men of war,
frigates, and cutters, had come down to Flushing; a few days
later the rest de.ceoded the Scheldt. On the 4th of September
no sail was seen before Ratz. our gun.hoats took possession of
that fort, and in a few hours restored it to the Dutch trunpi he.
longing to the corps of General Durnoncears.

Such is the result of this grand Expedition ! In order to dimi-
nish the disgrace with %shit:it it has been attended, the English
will undoubtedly exaggerate the importance of au easy conquest
(Flushing). But Europe will see, by their own acknowledge-
ments, that they have missed the principal ends of their Expe.
dition. Their allies will reproach them with having sacritred
the adsttatage of the common cause to their commercial avidity.
The wish of adding to their naval force by the capture or de.
'traction of a few ships; the vaia hope of shutting a river that
rivals the Thames, have outweighed, in their consideration, and
in the midst of the great events which took place in Austria and
Spain, the interest of their allies. Were, not besides, the
National Guards, which twenty years ago conquered them under
the walls of Dunkirk, equal to the task of defeating their de-
signs? Should Spain be the sooner tranqailliked—sh-ould Austria
hasten the signature of peace,,Europe will, this time, owe these
blessings to England. To her France Is Indebted fur the pre-
sent opportunity of displaying her passer against an unexpected
attack, and proving that a single nail of the Emperor to twenty
of his departments, is sufficient to raise, in less than a, month,
one hundred thousand warriors against his enemies, without de-
taching a man from his armies, which were fighting at a distau .e
of 100 miles from the potat oftittask.