To an Artilleryman the Walcheren Expedition has an interest which well repays him for turning his eyes and thoughts from the Peninsula to this strange island in the Northern Sea. Here no less than seventeen troops and companies of his Corps were present; and so important was their duty considered, that the Master-General, Lord Chatham, who was also Commander-in-Chief of the forces employed, requested the Deputy-Adjutant-General, Brigadier Macleod, himself to accompany the army in command of the Artillery. And on this island, so baneful to our troops, and yet so beautiful, a singular historical question connected with the Regiment was settled, which will receive detailed notice in this chapter. Forming the right bank of the West Scheldt at its mouth, the islands of South Beveland and Walcheren, now united by a railway embankment, present to the traveller the most singular appearance. Rich and fertile beyond measure, they are yet only saved from submersion by the sea by means of costly dykes, kept efficient by incessant labour. In most places the island of Walcheren, especially, is many feet below the level of the sea; and even its highest points, the towns of Middleburg and Flushing, have frequently suffered great injury from the inroads of the ocean. One such inundation had occurred in 1808, and tended to make the autumn of 1809 exceptionally unhealthy. Dykes now not merely surround the island itself, but also the individual villages and farmhouses on its surface, giving a curious fortified appearance to the whole.