This movement obliged General Sir Ralph Abercromby to move up in support with the reserve of his corps; the French advanced their whole force; the action became general along the whole line from Limmen to the sea, and was maintained with great obstinacy on both sides until night, when the enemy retired, leaving the British masters of the field of battle. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, on the 6th of October, had Lieutenant Forster, one serjeant, and thirty-five rank and file _killed_; Captain Pickering, Lieutenants Mullins, Walker, Ball, Ensigns Williams and Johnson, three serjeants, and eighty-four rank and file _wounded_. In the meantime the French army had been reinforced; the state of the weather, the ruined condition of the roads, the total want of the necessary supplies, offered great obstacles; besides which, the efforts which had been made for the liberation of Holland were not seconded by the Dutch people, so that it was determined to withdraw the British army. A convention was ultimately concluded with General Brune at Alkmaar, on the 18th of October. On the 16th of November the THIRTY-FIRST regiment embarked at the Texel, and landed at Deal three days afterwards, when it marched immediately to Canterbury, where the effects of the Dutch campaign began to be perceptible. Before the army left Holland dysentery had broken out among the men, arising from their exposure to the damp and fogs natural to the country. The THIRTY-FIRST lost a great number of men, from this cause, while stationed at Canterbury. [Sidenote: 1800]