On October 2nd a more determined attack was made upon Bergen, during which Moore’s brigade led the advance along the sand to Egmont-op-Zee. This was Brock’s first real battle. The enemy, concealed in the sand-dunes, offered heavy opposition. The 49th, with the rest of the 4th Brigade, were the advance guard for a column of 10,000 men under Sir Ralph Abercromby, and moved along the low-lying coast line for five or six miles before they were halted by what Brock described as gunfire comparable to “a sea in a heavy storm.” General Moore ordered the 25th and then the 79th to charge. The 49th came up on the left of the 79th, and while they were held ready, Brock, disregarding personal safety, rode out to view the position. He returned, and taking six companies, which left Lieutenant-Colonel Sheaffe, his regimental second in command, in charge of the other four, covering his left, cried “Charge!” The men crashed forward, in sorry array from the point of view of order, but with such daring and boldness that the enemy fled before them. This was Brock’s first victory, and a real victory it was, though it cost him over a hundred men and several officers. Brock, describing the action, wrote to his home that “nothing could exceed the gallantry of my men in the charge.” He himself had a narrow escape. He was looking over the ground he had taken when a bullet struck him, and, says his brother Savery, who was an aide to General Moore, and present, “the violence of the blow was so great as to stun and dismount him, and his holsters were also shot through.” Luckily he was wearing a thick muffler over his cravat, and the bullet did not penetrate to his neck. Savery Brock shared his brother’s indomitable courage. He was paymaster to the 49th, but anxious to be in at the fighting. He disregarded his brother’s instructions and was in the thick of it. “By the Lord Harry, Master Savery,” said Brock, “did I not order you, unless you remained with the general, to stay with your iron chest? Go back, sir, immediately.” But Savery detected the pride as well as the rebuke in Isaac’s tone and answered cheerfully: “Mind your regiment, Master Isaac! You surely would not have me quit the field now?” But though Abercromby’s column was successful at Egmont-op-Zee, the operation against Bergen was a failure through the defeat of the other columns. The allies retreated. They were in an unenviable position. A winter campaign was out of the question, and food and supplies could be had only from the ships at anchor, since Holland was so uncertain a quantity. So the expedition fitted out at great expense and very hopeful of success, ended in the shameful abandonment of Holland to the French. The British returned to England, while the Russians wintered in the Channel Islands. Brock learned much from Egmont-op-Zee, and if on the whole the campaign was inglorious, his own part had been a worthy one and the experience was invaluable.