Читать книгу Sir Isaac Brock - Hugh S. Eayrs - Страница 4

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Brock was soon to realize his dream of active service. Europe was in a turmoil. Bonaparte’s ambition was insatiable, and unless effective opposition was offered quickly, he was in a fair way to over-run the Continent. England, under Pitt, was averse to participation in the Continental wars, but the prime minister saw that to keep out meant real danger. In 1798 Pitt agreed with Russia that an army should be sent to Holland, which was at that time occupied by France under the name of the Batavian Republic. The ultimate aim of the allies was to seize Northern France, and thus hold Bonaparte in check. Of the 25,000 men which England agreed to send, the 49th, Brock’s regiment, was a part.

In early August of 1799 the first detachment of this invading army, 10,000 men, left England, under command of Sir Ralph Abercromby. He was to pave the way for the larger allied force under the Duke of York, which would leave as soon as the advance guard had landed in Holland. Brock took his men with Sir Ralph. The 49th was part of the brigade commanded by Major-General John Moore, who, later, fell at Corunna in Spain.

Nearly two hundred vessels were needed to convey Abercromby’s division. Ships were different in those days from the great transports that have carried our own Canadians to France. The expedition set off in fair enough weather, but hardly had they set sail before they encountered real opposition in the heavy seas and strong winds of the North Sea. It was not till two weeks later, towards the end of August, that they were able to anchor off the Dutch coast. While the army landed, the fleet fired heavy volleys on the enemy’s position on the low sand hills which fringed the shore. A few hours later the British occupied the Helder Peninsula, though it cost them hours of stern fighting and the loss of a thousand men.

The weather continued against the invaders. The British had no protection from the heavy rains and bitter winds, and they could do nothing but await reinforcements. Meanwhile they had several short and sharp, but minor engagements. In a few days the Duke of York arrived with the remainder of the British forces, about 7,000, and was joined shortly afterwards by 10,000 Russians. Much time was taken up by the landings and the adjusting of the forces, during which the enemy, protected from the storms, made stronger his position. On September 19th the Duke ordered an attack on Bergen, but the Russians, who were impetuous and unused to military discipline, blundered badly, and the attack failed.

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.

Brock’s regiment on its return from Holland was quartered in Jersey, where it remained until early in 1801. By this time Britain found herself forced to fight a multiplicity of foes. Even Russia had gone over to the enemy, whose forces daily grew larger and who were spending time and money in preparation. The line-up looked unequal. On the one side was Britain. On the other was France, Russia, Sweden, Denmark, and Prussia. Denmark and Russia had a large fleet in the Baltic. If the fleets of these two nations should combine with that of France, British supremacy on the sea would be endangered. As long as she ruled the waves she was safe from the schemings of Napoleon. Although war had not been declared, a naval expedition against Denmark as the pivotal foe was decided upon.

Meanwhile there was more trouble in Brock’s regiment. His second in command, Lieutenant-Colonel Sheaffe was a brave soldier, but he laid too much stress on the necessity for rigid and even harsh rule. The men were sick of this unnecessarily stern disciplinarian who, unlike Brock, did not temper justice with kindliness, and were daily growing more resentful. On one occasion, when Brock returned after a temporary absence, his men on parade cheered him wildly. He sensed in a moment the situation. He knew that Sheaffe was needlessly autocratic, and he could see that the men had grown more and more dissatisfied. Still the display of rejoicing at his return was a flagrant breach of army discipline. Unwillingly enough, he ordered his men to be confined to barracks for a week. We can appreciate what it cost him, under these circumstances, to be stern.

When the fleet was ready for action it was despatched to the Baltic under the command of Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, with Nelson as second in command. With the fleet went a land force under the command of Colonel William Stewart, a fine soldierly man, who had the virtues of initiative and action; Brock with the 49th accompanied Colonel Stewart, to whom he stood next in seniority. When the expedition reached its destination it was decided to attack Copenhagen at once with a portion of the fleet and the land forces, all under the command of Lord Nelson.

Brock, who with a part of his regiment had his station on the Ganges, had instructions to lead in the storming of the Trekoner batteries. The attack, however, did not take place. The Danes offered such a spirited resistance that the British infantry never got a chance to do their part. In fact, they remained inactive through the engagement. They could only wait and watch, quartered for the moment on the decks of British vessels, and suffer heavy fusillade from the Danish batteries and ships. The Danes pounded the British squadron hard. Brock, on the deck, had several narrow escapes, while his brother Savery, again to be found where the bullets were thickest, was firing a gun. Savery was momentarily stunned by grape shot, and Isaac rushing to him, cried: “Ah, poor Savery is dead.” But Savery was far from dead and proved it by leaping to his feet with his usual nonchalant smile, and continued behind his gun.

Towards the end of the battle, Brock, accompanied Captain Freemantle of the Ganges to the Elephant, Nelson’s flagship. He saw Nelson write his celebrated message to the Crown Prince of Denmark, which ran, “Lord Nelson has directions to spare Denmark, when no longer resisting; but if the firing is continued on the part of Denmark, Lord Nelson will be obliged to set on fire the floating batteries he has taken, without having the power to save the brave Danes who have defended them.” The Danes were compelled to bow to Nelson’s ultimatum, and surrender. Thus the courage of Nelson had saved Britain from attack. The defeat of the Danes, followed as it was by the death of the Czar of Russia, broke up the coalition. Britain was no longer in danger.

Brock himself learned much from the Battle of the Baltic. He took heed of Nelson’s wise and bold action in continuing the engagement in the face of definite orders from Sir Hyde Parker to retire, and pigeon-holed the occurrence in his mind. Eleven years later he himself was to take a similarly bold and strong course when he sent his message to General Hull commanding the American forces at Detroit, even though his commander-in-chief had instructed him not to attack the enemy. But Brock, after Copenhagen, knew that it sometimes paid to risk all and say: “What men dare, I dare!”