It was at the breaking out of the war in 1793 that the first expedition to that country had taken place under the command of the Duke of York. At that time England was in alliance with Austria, whose army was commanded by the Prince of Coburg. The campaign, which began auspiciously, ended most disastrously for the allies, and the army was only saved from utter destruction by the skill, energy and wisdom of General Abercromby who conducted the retreat. In spite of his former failure the Duke of York was again entrusted with the command in 1799. With him went also General, then Sir Ralph, Abercromby, who, in 1796, had won such triumphs for England in the West Indies by the capture of Grenada, Demerara, Essequibo, St. Lucia, St. Vincent and Trinidad. {14} General Moore, who had also greatly distinguished himself at the capture of those islands, accompanied the expedition to Holland. England on this occasion had entered into an alliance with Russia who sent to Holland an army of sixteen thousand men. The objects of the expedition were to make a diversion in favour of the Russian general Suwarrow and the Archduke Charles of Austria, who were fighting the French in Italy and Switzerland, and to coöperate with the English fleet on the coast of Holland. Ostensibly England's purpose was to rescue Holland from the thraldom of France. [Sidenote: The Helder] Abercromby's division of ten thousand men set sail from England on August 13th, 1799, and with it went the 49th Regiment under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Brock who was then just thirty years of age. After a stormy passage they landed near the Helder on the 27th of that month. A short engagement ensued, when the British troops compelled the enemy to retreat and Sir Ralph Abercromby took possession of the peninsula, entrenched himself there, and occupied the evacuated batteries. When the Dutch fleet saw the entrenchments of the Helder occupied by the English they slipped their cables and tried to escape, but were chased by the British fleet and compelled to surrender. The second division of the army, under the Duke of York, followed on September 9th, as soon as news was received of the successful landing of {15} the first. It consisted of thirty battalions of infantry, five hundred cavalry and a train of artillery. The fleet remained at anchor off the coast of North Holland. It was certainly unfortunate, as results proved, that the chief command, by the arrival of the Duke of York, was taken from Sir Ralph Abercromby, for the position of the army on a hostile shore opposed by that skilful French general, Marshal Brune, required a leader of consummate experience. Abercromby's methods had inspired the troops under him with confidence, while, to say the least, the Duke of York had but an indifferent reputation as a commander.