horizon. About ten o'clock at night, worn out by such a lengthened period of exertion, though their mutual hostility was not in the least abated, the contending parties ceased fighting, and the British were left in possession of the ground upon which they had fought, with upwards of two thousand of their companions lying dead around them. General Brune was, in the course of the night or next morning, reinforced by an addition of six thousand men, and the ground he occupied was by nature and art rendered nearly impregnable. The British lay through the night exposed to the weather, which was terrible, on the naked sand-hills; their clothing drenched, and their arms and ammunition rendered useless by the rain. Nor was the inhospitality of the people less than that of the elements; the greater part being violently hostile, and the remainder sunk in supine indifference. Retreat was therefore a measure of necessity, and next night, the 7th of October, about ten o'clock, amidst a deluge of rain, the troops marched back to their former station at Petten and Alkmaar, which they reached without immediate pursuit or any serious loss. To embark, however, upon such a shore, and in the face of such an enemy, without great loss, was impossible; and, to prevent the unnecessary effusion of blood, an armistice was proposed by the Duke of York, till the troops should be quietly embarked. The French general was willing to accede to the proposal, provided the Dutch fleet were restored, and all forts, dykes, &c., &c., left as they had been taken; or, if any improvements had been made upon them, in their improved state. To the first part of the proposal the duke utterly refused for a moment to listen; and, being in possession of the principal dykes, he threatened to break them down and inundate the country. The fleet was not given up; but in lieu thereof, eight thousand French and Dutch prisoners, that had been taken previous to this campaign, were to be restored, with all that had been taken in it. the Dutch seamen excepted. The troops were instantly embarked, and safely landed in England, with the exception of the Russians, who were landed in the islands of Guernsey and Jersey. Though this expedition totally failed in its main object the liberation of Holland it was not without advantage. The capture of the Dutch fleet, in the then state of affairs, was of very considerable importance. Nor was the impression it left upon the enemy of the superior skill of British officers, particularly of the subject of this memoir, and the daring valour of British troops, without its use in the succeeding periods of the war.
Sir Ralph Abercromby, now a universal favourite, and esteemed the most skilful officer in the British service, was appointed in the month of June, 1800, to command the troops sent out upon a secret expedition to the Mediterranean, and which were for the time quartered on the island of Minorca, where he arrived on the 22d of June. The very next day the troops were embarked for Leghorn, where they arrived on the 9th of July; but in consequence of an armistice between the French and the Austrians, they were not allowed to land. Part of them now proceeded to Malta, and the remainder sailed back to Minorca. Sir Ralph himself arrived again at that island on the 26th of July, and on the 3d of September the troops were again embarked, and on the 14th the fleet came to anchor off Europa point in the bay of Gibraltar. On the 20th the armament sailed for the bay of Tetuan to procure water, and on the 23d returned to Gibraltar. In a few days the fleet was again ordered to rendezvous in the bay of Tetuan; and, on the 30th of October, the whole, consisting of upwards of two hundred sail, came to anchor off Cadiz, and
