During the summer of 1809 great preparations were made by the British Government for fitting out the most formidable armament that had, for a long time, issued from England. It consisted of an army of forty thousand men, commanded by Lieut.-General the Earl of Chatham, and of thirty-nine ships of the line, thirty-six frigates, and numerous gun-boats, bomb-vessels, with other small craft, under Admiral Sir Richard Strachan. The object of the expedition was to gain possession of the islands at the mouth of the Scheldt, and to destroy the French ships in that river, with the docks and arsenals at Antwerp.
On the 14th of July, the first battalion marched to Deal, and embarked in ships of war with other troops there assembled, under Lieut.-General the Earl of Chatham. The battalion, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Cameron, was placed in Major-General Sir William Erskine’s brigade, and in the division commanded by Lieut.-General Sir John Hope. The NINETY-SECOND mustered forty-four serjeants, twenty drummers, and nine hundred and seventy-four rank and file.
The expedition sailed from the Downs on the 28th of July, and landed on the 1st of August on the Island of South Beveland, near Goes, and went into cantonments in that place and Capelle. Flushing surrendered on the 15th of August; but during the siege Marshal Bernadotte had arrived at Antwerp, put the place in a posture of defence, and removed the ships higher up the river. In consequence of these preparations, the reduction of Antwerp was deemed impracticable by a Council of War, and on the 1st of September the NINETY-SECOND embarked for England.
The battalion landed at Landguard Fort near Harwich, and proceeded to Woodbridge barracks. During the time it was in South Beveland, it suffered much from fever and ague, with other diseases peculiar to that place; consequently every attention was now paid to restore the men, and to render them again fit for service.
1810
On the 11th of July, 1810, the first battalion of the NINETY-SECOND embarked at Landguard Fort, landed at Ramsgate, and arrived at Canterbury on the 20th of that month.
The battalion was shortly afterwards destined to proceed a second time to the Peninsula, and it embarked from Deal for Lisbon on the 24th of September. Since its embarkation at Corunna, in January, 1809, great events had occurred in Spain, and the French had obtained possession of Corunna, Bilboa, and all the important places on the northern coast of that country. Saragossa, after a gallant defence, had also fallen, and Marshal Soult having overrun Gallicia, marched into the northern provinces of Portugal, and obtained possession of Oporto. The small British force which had been left in Portugal, when Lieut.-General Sir John Moore advanced into Spain, was concentrated by Lieut.-General Sir John Cradock for the defence of Lisbon.
The British Government resolved to make another effort to save Portugal from invasion, and also to assist the Spaniards in their struggle for independence. Accordingly in April 1809, Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was sent with reinforcements to Portugal, and was appointed to the command of the British army in the Peninsula. His first object was to dislodge Marshal Soult from Oporto. The famous passage of the Douro led to the fall of Oporto, and the French Marshal was compelled to retreat. The Spanish General Cuesta having been defeated, with great loss, by the division of the French army under Marshal Victor, Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was obliged to desist from the pursuit of Marshal Soult.
In the beginning of July, the British army advanced into Spain, and a junction being effected with General Cuesta, the combined forces occupied a strong position at Talavera. Here they were attacked on the 27th and 28th of July, 1809, and the French army, commanded by Joseph Bonaparte in person, was defeated; for which victory Lieut.-General Sir Arthur Wellesley was raised to the peerage by the title of Viscount Wellington.
After this victory it was deemed necessary to make a retrograde movement on Badajoz, information having been received that Marshals Soult, Ney, and Victor had united their forces, and were advancing to fall on the rear of the allied army.