our departure, the whole detachment returned, and were safely embarked on board their respective ships, without the loss of an individual[1]. I have the honor to be, &c.
“To Rear-Admiral Sir R. I. Strachan, Bart. K.B.”
As the importance of this service cannot be estimated by Lord George Stuart’s official letter alone, we shall in explanation state, that the heroic Duke of Brunswick Oels, having at that moment nearly effected his fine retreat through the heart of Germany, arrived a few days afterwards on the opposite bank of the Weser, and by the previous dispersion of the enemy, and the destruction of their fortress, which enfiladed the whole of that river, was enabled to embark and bring away his brave companions in arms, without meeting with those obstructions which would otherwise have impeded his progress, enabled his pursuers to come up with him, and in all likelihood have led to the capture or destruction of his whole detachment.
His Lordship’s next appointment was, about Sept. 1810, to the Horatio, a 38-gun frigate, the boats of which ship, under the directions of Lieutenant Abraham Mills Hawkins, performed a very gallant exploit on the coast of Norway, in Aug. 1812, which we shall give a full account of in our memoir of that meritorious officer, who was soon after promoted for his persevering bravery and severe sufferings on the occasion now alluded to.
The reverses of Napoleon Buonaparte, who, after losing the flower of his army in the inhospitable clime of Russia, in the winter of 1812, had been obliged to retreat, during the whole of 1813, before his accumulating enemies, till at length they pursued him into France, gave occasion to a revolution in Holland. The consequence of this political change was the recall of the Prince of Orange, whose departure from England, and landing at Scheveling, we have already noticed[2]. An application was also made to the British government for
- ↑ Captain George Edward Watts “particularly” distinguished himself, and was the only person wounded. The passages contained in the above letter which we have omitted, are reserved for insertion in our memoirs of that gallant officer, and others to whose conduct they immediately refer.
- ↑ See Vol. I. p. 663.
