"The Governor-General in Council requests Lieut.-Colonel Conran will accept the expression of his warmest thanks for the able and satisfactory manner in which he has conducted the duties incidental to the command of the troops in the garrison of Fort St. George."
After the Royals had been in the field a short time they were separated, and one wing proceeded to Hyderabad, and the other to Masulipatam, a considerable sea-port in the district of Condapilly, where they remained during the succeeding year.
3rd Batt.
The 3rd battalion had, in the meantime, been selected to form part of an expedition to Holland, under the command of the Earl of Chatham, for the purpose of destroying the enemy's shipping, arsenal, &c., on the Scheldt. It accordingly embarked from Portsmouth in July, under the command of Major Gordon, and landed at Walcheren, one of the Dutch islands in the German ocean, situated at the mouth of the river Scheldt, and was engaged in the siege of Flushing, the capital of the island. On the 7th of August the enemy issued from the town, and attacked the British troops. "Their principal effort was directed against the small wood on the left of our advanced piquet on the dyke; and their left column advanced towards that point in a heavy mass, attempting to deploy while they entered the small meadow which lies between the two woods. Here they were received with a most destructive fire by the Royals, posted on the dyke, and were gallantly charged by the light company of that regiment." These gallant exertions being seconded by the 5th and 35th regiments, and two six-pounders, the enemy fell back, having sustained very considerable loss.
An attempt was afterwards made to drive the enemy from their posts in front of the advanced piquets. "The 3rd battalion of the Royals advanced along the sand-hills; and the light company of that battalion, under Captain Hay, charged the enemy most gallantly. Very little resistance was made, and the enemy retired into the suburbs of the town, to which they set fire. They had with them two small field-pieces, one of which was taken in a most gallant manner by Lieutenant Jackson and thirty men of the Royals."[109] The Commander of the Forces expressed his approbation of the conduct of the Royals on this occasion, in general orders, and attributed the success principally to the rapid and gallant charge made by Captain Hay with the light company at the moment of the enemy's deployment.
The siege was afterwards prosecuted with vigour, and the town surrendered on the 15th of August. After the capture of this place, the expedition prepared to carry the original design into execution; but the enemy had, in the meantime, removed his shipping higher up the Scheldt, and collected so large a body of troops for the defence of Antwerp, that further proceedings were abandoned, and the troops returned to England. The loss of the Royals in this expedition was—Lieutenant M'Lean, 1 drummer, and 8 private men, killed; Captain J. Wilson, Lieutenants Jackson and M'Kenzie, 7 serjeants, and 81 rank and file, wounded; and 6 rank and file missing. The unhealthy climate of Walcheren, however, produced a much greater loss from disease.
1810
1st Batt.
The 1st battalion had continued in the West Indies, and was stationed at Demerara and Tobago, from whence fifty men were detached, under the command of Captains Lynch and Mullen,[110] to form part of an expedition under Lieut.-General Sir George Beckwith, K.B., against the island of Guadaloupe. The Royals formed part of the 2nd battalion of light infantry, under Lieut.-Colonel David Stewart, of the 8th West India Regiment. A landing was effected on the 28th of January, 1810, and the Royals took part in the operations, by which the enemy was forced to surrender the island in the early part of February. The Royals had 3 rank and file killed, and 1 serjeant and 12 rank and file wounded, in this service.
3rd Batt.