The distinguished conduct of the Fourteenth Foot was afterwards rewarded with the royal authority to bear the word "Corunna" on the colours of the regiment.
The second battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment landed at Portsmouth and Plymouth, from whence it proceeded to Buckingham; and while stationed at that place, the county title of the regiment was changed from "Bedfordshire" to "Buckinghamshire."
In the summer of this year a very powerful armament was fitted out and placed under the orders of General the Earl of Chatham, for an attack on Holland, and the second battalion of the Fourteenth Regiment marched from Buckingham to Portsmouth, where it embarked on this enterprise under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls. In the beginning of August it landed on the island of Walcheren, situate in the German Ocean, near the mouth of the Scheldt, and was employed in the siege of Flushing, the principal port on the island. During the progress of the siege, the Fourteenth evinced the same ardour and contempt of danger for which they were distinguished at the battle of Corunna. On the evening of the 12th of August they were directed to storm one of the Dutch entrenchments in front of the position occupied by the troops under Major-General Graham, and a detachment of the King's German Legion co-operated in the attack. Lieutenant-Colonel Nicolls led the Fourteenth to the assault with great gallantry, and the soldiers rushed forward with so much spirit and resolution that they carried the entrenchments in a few minutes, capturing one gun and thirteen prisoners, and establishing a lodgment within musket-shot of the walls of the town. This was accomplished with the loss of Ensign C. Harold, and one private soldier, killed; four rank and file wounded.
On the following day the line of battle ships cannonaded the town, which was soon in flames, presenting an awful scene of destruction; in the evening one of the batteries was stormed by the Thirty-sixth, Seventy-first, and light battalion of the King's German Legion, and on the morning of the 15th of August the garrison surrendered.
The Fourteenth were thanked in general orders for their distinguished conduct.
Embarking from Flushing, the battalion was prepared to sail up the river Scheldt for an attack on Antwerp; but the delays which took place, gave the enemy time to prepare additional means of defence, and an epidemic disease of a fatal character breaking out among the troops, the enterprise was abandoned, and the Fourteenth returned to England, and were quartered at Steyning.
The unhealthy climate of Walcheren produced a serious loss of life among the troops left on that island, and the soldiers of the Fourteenth having recovered from the effects of the epidemic, embarked a second time for that station; they formed part of the covering brigade when the stores, sick soldiers, &c., were removed, on the final evacuation of that island.
1810
In March, 1810, the second battalion embarked for Malta, but on arriving at Gibraltar, it was ordered to land at that fortress, and two companies, under Captain Everard and Captain Ramsay, were detached to Tariffa, for the defence of that town against the French: the two companies returned to Gibraltar in June, and the battalion continued its voyage to Malta, where it arrived on the 23rd of that month.
In the autumn of this year the first battalion was withdrawn from Bengal, to take part in the reduction of the Isle of France, or the Mauritius, an important island belonging to France, and situate in the Indian sea. The battalion sailed to Rodriguez, which was the appointed rendezvous of the expedition, and on the 28th of November the fleet came in sight of the Isle of France. The troops landed in the bay of Mapou, and advanced through a thick wood, skirmishing occasionally with the French. On diverging into the open country, the British marched direct upon Port Louis, but the soldiers suffering much from the want of water, the army halted at the streams at the powder mills, five miles from the town. Resuming the march on the following day, the troops were opposed by the enemy in force, when some sharp fighting occurred, in which the British soldiers were triumphant. The Fourteenth had one man killed, and two wounded, on this occasion.