Star.
London, England, 1809-08-28 00:00:00

MI ARMY ACAPCET THE
URDU( Tp& COMMAND
OF LIEUTENANT-GENERAI. THE EARL OT CHATkLA24I;
COMMCNICATLD BY AN OFFICER ATTACHED 70 THAT
V:PEDITION : _ _

The fleet; having on board the troops employed in
alts service, sailed from the Downs, Portsmouth, Bar-
&c. on the 28th and 29th July. The main body
i-f the Army reached the island on the morning of the
after a pleasant passage. On account of the
Frevalence of strong winds from the S. W. no land-
ing could be attempted till the afternoon of Sunday,
the 30th, when the brigade under Brigadier-General
. ?icton landed, and took possession of the fort of Dom-
burg, with scarce any opposition on the part of the
enemy. It is unnecessary to mention the services of
the officers and men who contri•outed to the success
of this evening, as they are already before the public,
nor of the gallantry and intrepidity of Lieutenant-
Colonel Pack, of the 71st Regiment, who, with only
!Or) men, pushed on, perhaps with more courage than
l'oresight, from thence, with, hopes of surprising the
ti.wo of Terveer, and was compelled to retire front
;he entrance of one of the gates of the town with
rne. loss. After suffering a heavy bombardment,
town was obliged to submit on the night of The
ist of August, and the garrison made prisoners of
:car. The fort of I'en Hank, mounting- five guns,
w,is taken without opposi:ion. While the main part
of tile army W.I; occupied in the 7 eduction of Terveer
or ('am veer, as it is frequently- called) the di-
-.ooon of Tecer vi', under the orders of Lieutenant-Ge-
:otTal Sir. John Hope, and convoyed by :•:ir R. Keats,
in the Salcette frigate, with the assistance of Dutch
pilots, procured from the island of Schowen, were
proceeding between that island and North Beveland,
,wards the mouth of the eastern Scheldt ; and the
tioops being shifted into small transports and flat-
bottomed boats, were almost all disembarked on the
Ist of August near Tergocs, in the island Of South
Beveland, without the least opposition. As there
.appeared to be no army to offer any opposition in this
place, the whole island was immediately taken pos;
::ession of,

It is 1,6 miles long, and 8 broad, and contains 31
parishes; the country it rich and fertile. Some Dutch
troops who had been stationed .7t Tergoes, and in the
neighbourhood, fell into the hands of the British while
they were there, scouring the country, and among
them were two officers. Early on the second of
August, the operations of the Grand Army at
Walcheren under the Earl of Chatham were turn-
ed against Flushing, situated on the western side uf
the island, and commanding the entrance into the
Western Scheldt. The large and beautiful town of
Middelburgh, built nearly in the centre of the
being, perha:ls from its situation, from want of men,
or other causes, thought incapable of defence, had al-
ready opened its gates to the British. The environs
of Middelburgh were scarcely cleared from the ene-
my, who, sheltered by a close and woody country, dis-
pnted every foot of the ground and road leading to
Ensiling, which is distant nearly four miles from
Middelburgh. With !.oLie loss, the British obliged
the enemy to retire under the cover of his own batte-
ries, closely following in their rear ; and here it must
he said, that the ardour and impetuosity of cur army
in the pursuit exposed them in a great degree to the
fire of the enemy from woods and thick fences, and in
a more serious degree when, having precipitately car-
ried the pursuit to the very walls of Flushing, they be-
came exposed to a heavy tire from the enemy's works,
which proved destructive to them in their retreat.
The position taken up by the British was at the dis-1
tance of a mile and a half from the enemy's ramparts.
The right extended from about a mile beyond the
village of West Sooburg on the south, to the distance
cf half a mile beyond that village on the north, occa.
pying an extent of about two miles. The advanced
posts were greatly in front cf this position. The field
operations were conducted by Lieutenant-General Sir
Eyre Come, who fixed his station at the village of
West Sooburg.

The loss sustained by the British in the course (lithe
23 and during part of the:3d August may be calculated
it not less than 20() in killed and wounded, a great
proportion of which mast have been occasioned by
tire vhich was opened upon the advancing co-
lumn from the enemy's batteries, by which they were
ron:pellcd to retire from a position which was cer-
untenAlc, w;thout the support of heavy ord-
nance, and altogether disadvantageous to them. The
enemy still preserved a position in the front of their
works, and collected in considerable numbers.

Being sheltered by trees, buildings, &c. they lest no
opportunity of harassing the British, either by attack-
inz their piquel.s, or making occasional sorties,
but they were in almost every iiv,tance compelled to
retreat under cover of the guns of Flushing, or other
shelter. The strength of the place rendering it im-
possible to reduce it uithout the assistance of heavy
prdnance, surrounded by broad and deep
ditches, and every avenue flanked by cannon : orders
-.vete at length issued for the construction of batteries :
on the Ith and on the sth several pieces of battering
calmon of a large calibre were brought up from Ter-
%%xr fcr the purpose of bombardment ; but from some
unaccountable cause, it appeared that the ammuni-
tion had been left behind.

A% soon as the Dritish manifested a determination
Hof erecting bitteries in front of their lines, the enemy
redoubled their att.r.upts to harass and molest the
working partie.;, and the guar,is ;rid pickets sent
out to cover the Arti!lc,:rs, and f.enru,' parties em-
p?oyed in their constrin:7 ion. A Mc was directed
upon them from the ani;zrts, as well as from
heir parties, lying m tiw,r tl,,nt ; and one or more
batteries were begun to be troxi.,ii up in the face
of those of the British, While in the mean time the
prog.-ess cf our work was hat little interrupted, anti
a line of batteries svie alreatty in some degree of for-
wardness, and were ex peued to open with great effect
on the town in the einirse of only a few days.
The enemy h,..<1 made ri•peated attempts to annoy
us in the erecting of imt-antes, but their most formi-.
dahle attempt W:/1 ni;:de in the evening. of the 7th
August, when a body of them, supposed to amount
to about 1:00 ra:tde a sortie :I,,zainst the right of
ourlire, eectipled 'by lit igadier-Gt.ner.d Graham's
w consistinz ?i the "),0):11s, the 501, and ;:Rh ittiiinents ; but trioir at.xcl: was sustained with i•eat
it•raness' atui steawricss Ly ourttut ;
And

711E-SCHEL.
•
JOUPJ
F 1-0 E orERATIOXS.OF ARM
:sTAND of WAL.CHERILN, &C,. 1