History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery Vol. 2: Compiled from the Original RecordsDuncan, Francis
History
History of the Royal Regiment of Artillery Vol. 2: Compiled from the Original Records
Duncan, Francis
Great Britain. Army. Royal Regiment of Artillery
reflects on the facilities with which the whole country could have been
flooded. Most fortunately for him an exceptionally severe frost set in,
freezing the rivers and canals so that they could support troops and
artillery. Hostilities were at once recommenced by the French, and,
after taking several strong places in the end of December, fighting in a
temperature lower than it had been for thirty years, on the 11th
January, 1795, Pichegru, with his whole army, crossed the Waal. In the
attempt made by the British to prevent this, considerable loss was met
with, and, among others, two subalterns of Artillery, Lieutenants Walker
and Legg, were wounded.
From this time commenced a retreat which, for misery, discomfort, and
losses, has been compared with the French retreat from Moscow, although
on a much smaller scale. The English Government, having resolved on the
withdrawal of the army, directed it to retire on Bremen, there to embark
for home. This order rendered it necessary for the troops to traverse
the district called the Weluwe, a perfect [Sidenote: Cust.] desert, over
which the wind was drifting the snow into almost impassable
ridges--where the few scattered villages had been rendered hostile by
French emissaries, and where [Sidenote: Ibid.] “numbers of English
soldiers perished through want and weakness, and many were frozen to
death.” The hardships borne by the army did not interfere with their
discipline; and they were soothed by the sympathy of all classes in
England, and ultimately by a hearty welcome home. With the exception of
a small force under General Dundas, which remained on the Continent
until the following year, the whole army reached England in May 1795. It
was on the 8th of that month, that the six companies of Artillery
disembarked at Woolwich, from which station they were speedily removed
to Chatham and Portsmouth.
The barbarous order given by the French Government with reference to the
English soldiers, which has been mentioned above, was almost atoned for
by an act of chivalry on the part of the French troops at the end of the
campaign. During the retreat of the English, the 87th Regiment had been
left as part of the garrison of Bergen-op-Zoom. The Dutch Government,
dismayed by the continued successes of the French, and urged on by a
party in the country, by no means inconsiderable, which sympathised with
the Republican cause, came to terms with the French Commander, and
consented to the surrender of the various garrisons. Considerable
anxiety naturally existed as to the [Sidenote: Cust.] fate of the 87th
Regiment; “but, compromised by the defection of an ally, it was
generously permitted by the conquerors to separate itself from the
garrison, and to be sent back to England.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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