In the battle of the 6th of October, in which the 49th was not engaged, the English and Russians, after gaining some advantage, were suddenly charged by the enemy's cavalry and separated, so that they could neither support each other nor retain the ground which they had gained. The allied armies were repulsed beyond Baccum, after having sustained a very severe loss; and as they were unable either to advance or to draw any resources from the country in their possession, their supplies were necessarily obtained from the fleet. The Duke of York, therefore, assembled a council of war, whose decision was, that the allied forces should fall back and wait the instructions of the British Government. As the season was so far advanced, as the approach of winter was daily making the navigation of the coast more dangerous, and as there was no time to effect diversions or to change the plan of operations, the Duke of York was ordered to evacuate the country. In the meanwhile, as the English and Russians concentrated themselves behind their entrenchments at the Zyp, the enemy pressed upon them, and the Duke of York sent a flag of truce to General Brune, proposing a capitulation on the basis of an armistice, or of the free embarkation of his army. This was agreed to at Alkmaar, on the 18th of October, and thus ended this memorable expedition, the most considerable that had been attempted in modern times up to that period. As the introduction of foreign troops into England was prohibited by the Bill of Rights, the Russians were sent to the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, the season not admitting of their return home. About 6,000 were quartered in the latter island, where a disease, contracted by exposure to the marshy grounds of Holland, carried off some hundreds, who were buried at the foot of the hill on which stands Vale Castle, and where their graves are still to be seen. Their conduct in Guernsey was at first peaceable and orderly;—the inhabitants were surprised at seeing them eat the grease from the cart wheels, and they were also excessively fond of ardent spirits; and, having plenty of money, they indulged in them freely, swallowing large draughts in a raw state. But in June, 1800, while the transports were in the roads to convey them to Russia, a soldier, who was robbing vegetables on a small farm, which had been frequently plundered by his comrades before, was fired at and wounded by the proprietor. This so exasperated the whole body, that fears were entertained of their revenging themselves on the inhabitants generally; and as the British garrison was very small, it required all the tact and conciliation of the lieutenant-governor, Sir Hew Dalrymple, to prevent an outbreak. The Russians embarked, but the guns at Castle Cornet were kept shotted to prevent their relanding.[13] The 49th, on the return of the expedition from Holland, after remaining a short time in England, was again quartered in Jersey, where the fine person and manly bearing of Lieut.-Colonel Brock are still favorably remembered. In return for the many attentions which he and his officers received in that island, he obtained an ensigncy in his own regiment for a young man resident there, whom he afterwards pushed forward in the service, and who died recently a major-general and a companion of the bath. Early in the year 1801, the 49th was embarked in the fleet destined for the Baltic, under Sir Hyde Parker; and Lieut.-Colonel Brock was second in command of the land forces at the memorable attack of Copenhagen, by Lord Nelson, on the 2d of April. He was appointed to lead the 49th in storming the principal of the Treckroner batteries, in conjunction with five hundred seamen, under Captain Fremantle,[14] of the Ganges, of 74 guns; but the protracted and heroic defence of the Danes rendering the attempt impracticable, Colonel Brock, during the hard-fought battle, remained on board the Ganges; and at its close he accompanied Captain Fremantle to the Elephant, 74, Nelson's flag ship, where he saw the hero[15] write his celebrated letter to the Crown Prince of Denmark. Savery Brock was also on board the Ganges, and while in the act of pointing one of her quarter deck guns, his cocked hat was torn from his head by a grape shot: a naval officer, who was present, afterwards described the scene which followed this narrow escape in these words: "I now hear Sir Isaac exclaim, 'Ah! poor Savery is dead!' But Savery was not an instant on his back; in the same moment he rubbed his head, assured his brother that he was not injured, and fired the gun with as much coolness as if nothing had happened." The effect of the shot passing so near him was such that, although a remarkably powerful young man, six feet two inches in height, he was knocked down and stunned for the moment. Of the 49th, Captain Sharp was badly wounded on board of the Bellona, and Lieutenant Dennis was wounded on board of the Monarch, which ship had 55 killed and 155 wounded, exclusive of officers, but including 8 soldiers of the 49th killed, and 20 wounded. In addition to the 49th was a detachment of the 95th, rifles—consisting, we believe, of two companies—under Lieut.-Colonel the Honorable William Stewart,[16] who was senior officer of the troops embarked. As such his name was included in the thanks of Parliament; but we cannot understand why a lieutenant-colonel, with only two companies, was placed over the head of an officer of equal rank with his entire regiment, unless indeed the cause was that Lieut.-Colonel Brock was not an "honorable!" We are not aware that he ever complained of what appears to us to have been an act of injustice to him, and we may therefore be wrong in our view of the subject. The British loss, in killed and wounded, was 953, or 58 more than fell at the battle of the Nile. In mentioning the loss at Copenhagen, Southey, in his admirable Life of Nelson, says, on what authority we know not: "Part of this slaughter might have been spared. The commanding officer of the troops on board one of our ships, asked where his men should be stationed? He was told that they could be of no use; that they were not near enough for musquetry, and were not wanted at the guns; they had, therefore, better go below. This, he said, was impossible—it would be a disgrace that could never be wiped away. They were, therefore, drawn up upon the gangway, to satisfy this cruel point of honor; and there, without the possibility of annoying the enemy, they were mowed down! The loss of the Danes, including prisoners, amounted to about 6,000."
John Savery Brock, of whose gallantry mention is made in the preceding pages, was the next younger brother of Lieut.-Colonel Brock, and had been in the navy; but it being supposed that he was influential, in the year 1790, in inducing his brother midshipmen, of the fleet at Spithead, to sign a round robin against their being subjected to the practice of mast-heading—one having been hoisted up to the gaff end in an ignominous manner, because he refused to go to the mast head as a punishment—he was recommended privately to retire from the service.[17] Being at this time a tall and high spirited young man of eighteen, it is not surprising that he deemed such a punishment unnecessarily degrading to the feelings of an officer, and which has since been very properly abolished. Had it not been for this circumstance, it is the opinion of a naval officer of high rank, that Savery Brock would have distinguished himself and risen to eminence in the navy during the late revolutionary wars. Some little time after this affair, being in Guernsey, he wished to go to England, and was offered a passage in the Amazon, frigate, Captain Reynolds, afterwards Rear-Admiral Reynolds, who perished in the St. George, of 98 guns, on her return from the Baltic, in 1811. The Amazon, bound to Portsmouth, left the roadstead late in the afternoon, and before she was clear of the small Russel—a dangerous passage—night overtook her. By some accident the pilot mistook the bearings, owing to the darkness and thick weather. Savery Brock, being acquainted with the intricate course, was on the fore yard looking out, when he suddenly espied some rocks towards which the frigate was steering. There was no time for communication, and, without hesitating an instant, he cried out in true nautical style: "H-a-r-d up, h-a-r-d up." "H-a-r-d up it is," replied the helmsman. "H-a-r-d up," repeated Savery in a louder key. "Gently, young man," said the captain, who was standing forward. The ship fortunately bore away just in time to clear the rocks, and was thus saved by the prompt interference of her passenger. We have often heard him in his latter days tell the story with excusable pride, and he especially remembered how the crew pointed him out the next morning to each other, as the young man who had got the ship out of her danger. As he was without employment, his brother Isaac subsequently procured him the paymastership of the 49th, which he retained only three or four years, the office being one quite unfitted to his previous education and active mind. In 1808, his military zeal induced him to serve for a short time as an amateur aide-de-camp to Sir John Moore, on the Peninsula. He married and settled in Guernsey; and whether as a militia colonel, or in the exercise of a generous hospitality, or, above all, as a projector and zealous promoter of many public improvements in his native island, his memory will long live in the recollection of its inhabitants.
When Kean performed in Guernsey, two or three years before his appearance on the London boards, Savery Brock was enthusiastic in his admiration, and predicted the future eminence of that celebrated tragedian, in whose memoirs his name is gratefully mentioned.
FOOTNOTES:
[2] With a slight variation, the field being gules instead of azure. Motto, Vincit Veritas.
[3] Translation from the French by Lord Berners, vol. 2, chap. 39, 40. London Edition, 1815.
[4] The name of this ancient family, second to none in wealth and station, became extinct in Guernsey, in 1810, on the death of Osmond De Beauvoir, Esq., when his large property was inherited by distant relatives.—Duncan's History of Guernsey.
[5] Major-General Le Marchant and his eldest son, a captain in the Foot Guards, who both fell in Spain during the late war, and Captain Philip Saumarez, who was Lord Anson's first lieutenant in the Centurion, and was slain in 1747, while commanding the Nottingham, of 64 guns, were members of those families.
[6] Brock street, at Bath, was named after him by the projector, in testimony of friendship.
[7] New Annual Register for 1799, page 395.