Langwerth's brigade gained equal glory. The German Legion was, however, never in full force in Spain. A division was, in 1809, sent to the island of Walcheren, but shared the ill-success attending all the attempts made in the North Sea during Napoleon's reign. The conquest and demolition of Vliessingen in August was the only result. A pestilence broke out among the troops, and, on Napoleon's successes in Austria, it was compelled to return to England. A third division, consisting of several Hanoverian regiments, was sent to Sicily, accompanied the expedition to Naples in 1809, and afterward guarded the rocks of Sicily. The Hanoverians in Spain were also separated into various divisions, each of which gained great distinction, more particularly so, the corps of General Alten in the storming of Ciudad-Rodrigo. In 1812, the Hanoverian cavalry broke three French squares at Garcia Hernandez. The Russians had, meanwhile, invaded Sweden. Gustavus Adolphus, hitherto Russia's firmest ally, was suddenly and treacherously attacked. General Buxhovden overran Finland, inciting the people, as he advanced, to revolt against their lawful sovereign. But the brave Finlanders stoutly resisted the attempted imposition of the yoke of the barbarous Russ, and, although ill-supported by Sweden, performed prodigies of valor. Gustavus Adolphus was devoid of military knowledge, and watched, as if sunk in torpor, the ill-planned operations of his generals. While the flower of the Swedish troops was uselessly employed against Denmark and Norway, Finland was allowed to fall into the grasp of Russia.[10] The Russians were already expected to land in Sweden, when a conspiracy broke out among the nobility and officers of the army, which terminated in the seizure of the king's person and his deposition, March, 1809. His son, Gustavus Vasa, the present ex-king of Sweden, was excluded from the succession, and his uncle Charles, the imbecile and unworthy duke of Sudermania,[11] was proclaimed king under the title of Charles XIII. He was put up as a scarecrow by the conspirators. Gustavus Adolphus IV. had, at all events, shown himself incapable of saving Sweden. But the conspirators were no patriots, nor was their object the preservation of their country; they were merely bribed traitors, weak and incapable as the monarch they had dethroned. They were composed of a party among the ancient nobility, impatient of the restrictions of a monarchy, and of the younger officers in the army, who were filled with enthusiasm for Napoleon. The rejoicings on the occasion of the abdication of Gustavus Adolphus were heightened by the news of the victory gained by Napoleon at Ratisbon, which, at the same time, reached Stockholm. The new and wretched Swedish government instantly deferred everything to Napoleon and humbly solicited his favor; but Napoleon, to whom the friendship of Russia was, at that time, of higher importance than the submission