Star.
London, England, 1809-08-29 00:00:00

Illtwmrassmomigon.."o . .._,. - . for the situation of the town, before an inhabitant, it
THE SCHELDT* -.. •.. . uniformly produces this observatkou: , Whose fault is 1
. _, , ;., ..., ;, it, at the town has suffered so much ? Why-did not
•
yotir army come in at oncevand then you would have
" Head Quarters, Ter-Goes, South Bitiland, August 2.5.
cc Since the surrender of Flushing, nothing,
has lA*l possession of the towel; without an hundredth,
pallt of the injury, and with one-third of thik loss ?'—.
occurred in these islands of sufficient interest or im- ! s
Indeed it has been stated, that a proposition was
portance to merit a special communication. This
real or apparent interruption of active operations has made in the first instance to carry the town by as-
given rise to a variety of conjectures and much re-
sault ; but that the proposal was declined, from a
gret. .The reduction of Flushing by means of regu-
humane regard for the safety of the innocent inhabi-
•
lar approaches and bombardment had already con-
1 tants, who might fall victims to an assault. This is
surned much precious time ; and those who consider
i only rumour, and upon such a ground it is not right
th•o•

celerity as the great clement of military success were
naturally anxious to see the investing force transferred
from before the surrendered fortress to a scene of ac-
tive .service. While this feeling universally pervaded
the army, and the inhabitants who wished its opera-
tions to be crowned with success, it was a source of
much disappointment to learn, that a delay of twenty--
four hours after the time stipulated for the evacuation
of the fortress by the prisoners of war was to take
place. This delay, though by some represented '
granted upon the request of the French Commandant,
was by others, and these not the worst informed
upon such subjects, attributed to an inadvertent mis-
take on the part of one of the English Commissioners
for negociating the terms of capitulation. The con-
ditions of surrender had at first been prepared in the
shape of a rough draft, into which all the necessary
alterations and interlineations might be introduced,
previously to the making a fair copy which was to be
the official instrument, and signed, in form, by the
Commissioners on both sides. When the whole pro-
cess had, after some time and discussion, been com-
pleted, it was not thought necessary to preserve both
the interlined rough draft and the'Oecuted :docu-
ment ; and consequently, one was destroyed ; but it'
was 'not till the Commissioners reaeheclleafeetiarters,
that it was discovered that it was the unexecuted-
rough. draft only that was preserved. Without an
authentic instrument, the terms of the capitulation
could not he acted upon ; and hence arose the delay
of twenty-four hours in the final execution of them,
according to the representations of persons professing
to be well informed upon the subject. No blame is
perhaps attribittable for the mistake, if even this state-
ment be correct ; but, unquestionably, the loss of a
single day, when so much depended upon expedition,
is a ground of much regret.. Some little jealousy,
too, has been stated to exist between two of the highest
officers in the command of the army, respecting the
appointment of Commissioners ; one considering it as
his right, by virtue of his having arranged and direc-
ted all the operations of the siege ; whilst the other
exercised the right of actual appointment, in virtue
of his authority as Commander in Chief. This has
been` rumoured in the military circles ; but it is due
to both these offieers to state, that the most perfect
harmony and cordiality seem uniforinly to have sub-
sisted betwixt them throughout all the operations of
the campaign. . • , . •
•
66 The situation of the town of Flushing, when put
into the possession of the British army, and British
subjects were admitted to see it, was deplorably fright-
ful. Scarcely a house had escaped damage, and
nearly two-thirds of the whole were in a 'hate of
smoking ruins ;or, though still standing, much shat-
tered, and tottering to the foundation. The dead
bodies, had, however, been removed, and consigned
precipitately to their graves. Great numbers of the
inhabitants suffered, perhaps not less in the whole.
than five hundred ;*and those who escaped, 'were'
chiefly indebted for safety to the shelter of their cel-
lars, or where they had none, to the humanity of
their neighbours who had. In one case, that of an
English family long resident in the town, the exten-
sive vaults under their house were thrown open to
the inhabitants, without distinction of age or sex, of
country or religion ; and it is gratifying to add, that •
of above three hundred persons who took refuge there,
not one suffered injure, though the house had been
repeatedly perforated with cannon balls; ro kets, and
b imbs. Whilst the town and its unfortunate inhabi-
tants were thus exposed to the destructive effects of
the bombardment, more terrible than any upon re-
cord, the merciless Commandant took possession of
the vaults under the Stadthouse, where he continued
feasting, and unaffected by the hay c and lamenta-
tions that surrounded him on all sides, until that great:
pile became itself a victim to the flames, and threa-
tened to bury the cause of its destruction under the
mass of its ruins. When driven from this hiding-
' hole, he is represented by some of his own officers, as
having passed from one vault to another, until he
reached that under his own house, where he was,
. when the inevitable destruction, to which he had
never before been exposed, compelled him to uncon-
ditional surrender. He is justly an object of execra-
-: ticn in' the town, which he has successively pillaaed,
,oppressed, and laid in ashes ; whilst the second in
command, a brave and generous soldier, who fear-
lessly shared the dangers of the bombardment with
his comrades and the inhabitants, is the object of their
csnimon respect and esteem.
" The offensive stench which proceeded from the
half-sniotfiered Ramos, on the first entrance of the,
British;
sodded- considerably to. the ancting impres-
sion produced by the sight of so, much shavoc,and
human misery. But the desolatirm is not confined, to
the town or the present season. The desperate mea-
. sure of the Sluices, resorted to by the French
General, has laid a considerable portion of the island
under water ; and caused an extent of m:schiel,
which it will be the work at least of three years to re-
pair. I-lad the inundation taken place some months
sooner, it \mild not have been attended with the
same serious consequences ; but at this season, when
the power of evaporat:on is so small, and the quan-
tity of autumnal rains so considerable, the mischief
must be greatly aggravated before the interposition
of a dry summer can arrest its progress. The inun-
dation was widely spreading- throughout the British
Vries ; and, if the Sluices had continued .open but 48
hours loneser, it s.-ould have been impossible to have
prosecuted the operations c,f the siege. The bombard-
ment to k place at the critical moment ; and the tin-
paraileledgal u.try with which the battery was carried
that commanded the sluices, put an end to the dan-
ger. and ensured the conquest of the town. 'lt is an
opine n generally pi evelent here, that the town rnialit
g
have been carried by assault on the first niht. 'lle
Frendi prisoners admit their panicto haav-e been so
greatwian cLieen into the town, that they found it
impossible to muster a single company, still less a
regilpent and if any compassion be expressed

• '
" General Fraser was appointed Commander-in.
Chief in the ;bland ; but as he.h.as'returned to Eng-
land ill, Sir Eyre Coote has gone back from this,,
place to take the command therei With
standing, however, that if the further .ohjeets•nf the.
Expedition are to be prosecuted, that gallant-04E.,
cer is still to go on as Second in Command with 1.1.3 q
army. • .
" It was not till Monday the 21st, that the head-
quarters of the Commander-in-Chief were removed
from Middlebiirgh to this town. If it were not for
the march of all the troops that could be spared from

. ~
to draw injurious inferences ; and certain it is, tat island,
' , Walcheren towards thisit would have been
whether. Flushing could or could not have been taken : natural to suspect that the slow removal of the head-
by assault, the utmost skill and gallantry were dis- 1 quarters was an omen of an abandonment of all ulte-
played in. its final .reduction.
46 '
' nor objects, so far, at least, as the army could be
The loss of .the French by the bombardment
employed for their attainment. But the continued
must have been immense; but the time alhmed be- transmission of troops, and the actual advance of
tureen the execution of the instrument of capitulation, headquarters, left no room to doubt that something
and the actual surrender of the fortress to the British
more would be attempted, if not accomplished, on
1 troops, enabled them to remove most of the evi- this side. . • • --.
Ideuces of its extent. In one small hovel near the ,
" Before the Commander in. Chief left Middel-
lbattery on the left of the town, above 3/0' of their
dead repose together under a very superficial cover- - burgh, he issued the annexed Proclamation, which
ing of sand. Any estimate of the number of the in- • was yesterday. posted up in this town also. This is
habitants killed can yet be but conjectural, as the the only town of any consequence upon this island.
The troops are consequently quartered in the several
mutilated and undistinguishable remains of many un-
fortunate victims are every hour taken out of the small villages with which this island abounds. They
ruins, and instantly deposited in a shell for promis- May be all assembled in 24 hours for active service ;
cuous interment. But of all descriptions of the in- but a variety of circumstances concur in support of
habitants, the burghers suffered the most. On the theimpression that nothing further will be attempt-
morning after the first bombardment, ninety of that "' Lord Chatham provisionally removed his head-
class, many of them of considerable respectability, quarters to the position occupied by Sir John Hope,
opposite Bergen-op-Zoom. On- the same day, Sir '
were borne to their graves ; and the number of their :
dead could scarcely have been inferior on the second Eyre Coote came over from Walcheren with his
day. This extraordinary havoc amongst that par& whOle Staff and Suite, and proceeded, to the adveo-
Cular class, arose from their having been compelled, ced head-garters, as was supposed, for the purp
previously to the siege, by General Monnet, to form ; of an immediate commencement of active operations-el
theinselves into corps of city militia, for the ostensi- but yesterday he returned to Vsralcheren. A Council
ble purpose of maintaining the police of •the town, -of War has been held—a circumstance which shews
but. with the real design of putting them into a state' either-that some doubt as to the propalety, or some;
for service against any British force that might be difficulty as to the means of a movement in advance
employed against the fortress. Accordingly, on the exists. The influence of the climate begins to be Mt
by both o and r. The an
first investment of the town, the corps of burghers
endemic infficers termittent,p ivotes
complaint
which, though seldom oris ever
had the post of honour assigned to them, on the most
exposed parts of the fortifications. In this perilousfatal, is still always tedious.
service they were compelled to remain during the ' "On the whole, when the large detachment to
whole of the two successive bombardments, and to Walcheren is considered-.-when the consequent re-
his circumstance is owing the great loss that ensued duction of the active army, the increased difficulty of
amongst them. At one time, when they could no ' further operations, from the matured and extensive
longer Withstand the tremendous fire from the British preparations of the enemy, are ta':en into review, it
batteries and ships, the corps of burghers attempted 'is most probable that nothing further will be at-
to retreat from the ramparts, but were met by the tempted. Undoubtedly if any immediate 'advance
French with fixed bayonets, and, as may well be were intended, Sir Eyre Coate, the second in corn-
supposed, reluctantly forced to . face that danger mead, who has hitherto conducted all the active ope-
they sought to avoid, in order to escape the more in- .rations of the army, would not have been sent bask
evitable destruction by the hands of their oppressors. to Walcheren yesterday with the whole of that Staff
The consequence was, that they suffered most Brie- and Suite which accompanied him hither from Wal-
vously, whilst scarce a gun was discharged against cheren bnt the day before, in the expectation of pro-
the British lines or fleet that was not pointed by ceeding upon immediate service. Beides, it is con-
Dutch hands. Of the corps of burgher-cannoniers, fidently asser:ed here, that Sir John Hope, and other
consisting of 29, two only escaped, all the rest hay. Generals, have strongly protested against any move-
ing been either killed, or dreadfully wounded. From , ment in advance, under the present circumstances,
the active part they took in the defence of the town, 'whatever might have been their opinion of such a
it was impossible that their conduct could be passed proceeding at an earlier period of the campaign. At
; over without some notice. The Commander in Chief, all events, it is notorious, that a considerable differ-
therefore, as soon as the British troops were in pox- ence of opinion prevailed upon the subject in the
session of the town, ordered the corps of burghers j Council of War. But, if something be not done
out before him, with their arms and accoutrements ; without further delay, it is not unlikely, that instead
but, upon its beingproved, that they had been fortis of being the attacking, the British army may be the
bly obliged to assist in the defence of the toVen, he assailed party ; as the enemy have- had .full time to
directed that they should lay down their arms, and collect a large force, and the channel between Bergen.
did not think it necessary to notice any further their ens. Zoom and South Beveland may he passed by ford-
previous hostility. ing. Of the operations of the navy nothing is known
48 Immediately uppn the fall of Flushin , arrange. here, but from rumours which it would not be right
ments were made for the distribution of the forces to communicate, because it is impossible to judge
employed in the lines before that town. The obvi- what dependence is to be placed
.upon them. The
ous and alarming accumulation of the enemy's troops measures resorted to by those in authority for ob.:
on the opposite shore of Cadsand, rendered it neces-
strocting the usual channels of information of that
sary to leave a much stronger garrison in Flushing and description, have been so Vigorous, and certainly so
other fortresses of the island than would have otherwise effectual, that all access to-such intelligence has been
been necessary. Bernadotte himself was said to be f completely closed : othe: wise, the arrangements made
in that quarter, at the head of 13,0/0 men, with the j: for the early communication of such events as may
avowed intention of attempting the re-conquest of; have taken place, were of such a nature, as to render
Walcheren. The French camp became visible, and I a priority of intelligence certain .and infallible. No
was observed to be gradually increasing from Flush-
change has taken place in the quarters of -the troops,
ing."
In such a state of things, and as it was in con- I since the arrival of the Commander in Chief. Lord
R osslyn and Lord Paget are here : the former is ill,
templation to secure the possession of Middleburgh, i but superseded in his chief command by the arrival
by planting above 100 not
of cannon upon its i of Lord Chatham. It is to be feared that many more
officers may suffer under the influence of this noxious
point& ofd efence, it was not at once that all the ar- '
rangements could have been completed, as well for i climate ; and it may without much hazard be assert.
ecl; that there are but few of the officers of the army
adjusting the strength and proportions of the diffe- I.
or navy, who, though not
rent garrisons, as for expediting the march of the re- actually indisposed, are
malodor of the troops from the lines to reinforce the not sick enough of the climate, if notof the expedition."
'
main body of the army of South Beveland.
" A delay -of some days consequently succeeded ;
and it was not till the 20th, or 21st, that the last of
the troops had been removed from the lines. Some
of the most distinguished battalions have been left
on Walcheren. The f3Gth, 77th, Colonel Cochrane's ;
corps of detachment's, and three companies of artille-1
ry, form the chief of the garrison of Flushing, of
which fortress e;eneral Picton is Governor. The
84th, with the marines, garrison Cemvere. The
26th are at Arnemyda, and 71st and 81st form part
of the garrison of Ivliddleburgli, of which General
.!
Sontag is Governor. The whole British force con- '
tamed in the island, including artillery, cavalry, and
other corps, the 23d and fi3d, not already specified,
is estimated at 9 or 10,000 Men ; so -that if, in the
absence of the main body of the army, the French
should make any attempt on the island, they will
not fail to meet a warm reception and a brave resist-
ance.
" Bernadotte is represented as collet- ing some
hundreds of gunboats from Boulogne, &c. through the
canals of the interior, with a view to some og;ensive
operation. Whatever may be the extent of the ene-
my's preparations or views, his appearance in, force
upon the coast ef Cadsand has operated already as a
diversion in favour of Antwerp, and against the ac-
complishment of the ulterior objects of our expedi-
tion; and so strong is the impress4bn that this demon-
stration of the enemy is serious, that the inhabitants of
Flushing are terrified at the prospect of another bom-
bardment, and the British Governor finds it necessary
to adopt nearly all the precautions that could be called
for by the presence of an enemy before his fortress.
The centinels are doubled every night ; none of the
inleabitents are allowed upon the ramparts ; no ves-
sel, even British, is permitted to enter or leave the
harbour without a passport ; -and the strictest regula-
ticms are enforced with respect to the entrance or dee
par tare 4 allaterhins not carineeteil with * army
of the navy, at the gates of the town,

" FLUSHING, AUGUST 21.
gg The rnmours afloat here are so various and con-
tradictory as to • induce a person to doubt the most
probable statement, though proceeding from the best
authority. Whether the main object of the Expedi.
tip, viz. the seizure of the enemy's fleet, will be at-
tempted or not, depends, as we here understand, upon
the'expected decision of the Cabinet. The transports
and ships of war have, however, .proceeded up the
West,Scheldt, in order to be ready to disembark the
troops quickly, if such operations are decided upon.
•In this garrison, from which I now write, alarm has
alrezdy given rise to some precautions. Last night
the .piquets and sentries were doubled, and orders
were given to the sentinels to direct a vigilant atten-
tion to the ships of war off in the roadsted, and that
if blue rockets were discharged from any of them, a
communication was to be immediately made to the
Commanding Officer, General Pictoa. The motive
fer issuing those orders was the apprehension of an
attack from Ike enemy, who, to the numberof 13,000
men, arc positively said to be in Cadsand, under the
command of Bernadotte, for the avowed object of
recovering this island.

Within these few days three hundred gun boats
have reached that place from Boulogne, through the
canals, and I assure you, it is the decided conviction
of some of the most intelligent inhabitants that the
attempt, even with all the probability of failure, will
certainly be made, and that General Monet (they
say) gave them the assurance, and Bernadotte's mi-
litary fame is committed by his Master upon the issue.
At all events, the brigade -stationed here, consisting
of the 36th, the 63d, and 77th regiments, with the
Hon. Colonel Cochrane's battalion of embodied de.
tachments, are kept upon the alert, which, together
with the positions taken by our ships of war, afford
to us the most confident hopes that the enemy may
repent his temerity, notwithstanding the opportunity