Walcheren. An island of Holland, in the province of Zealand, in the German Ocean, at the mouth of the Scheldt. The unfortunate expedition of the British to this isle in 1809 consisted of 35 ships of the line, and 200 smaller vessels, principally transports, and 40,000 land forces, the latter under the command of the Earl of Chatham, and the fleet under Sir Richard Strachan. For a long time the destination of the expedition remained secret; but before July 28, 1809, when it set sail, the French journals had announced that Walcheren was the point of attack. Perhaps a more powerful and better appointed armament had never previously left the British ports, or ever more completely disappointed public expectation. The plan was to send the fleet and army up the Scheldt, and attack Antwerp (the principal naval station and arsenal in the north of France), whose fortifications, though formidable, were much in need of repair, and whose garrison at the time only numbered about 2000 invalids and coast-guards; while there were not more than 10,000 French soldiers in Holland. The expedition, after numberless needless delays, at last sailed on July 28, and reached the Dutch coast on the following day. But, instead of obeying the orders of the minister of war, Lord Castlereagh, to advance at once in force against Antwerp, the commander-in-chief, Lord Chatham, frittered away his time in the reduction of Vlissingen (Flushing), which was not effected till August 16, by which time the garrison of Antwerp had been reinforced by King Louis Bonaparte with the troops at his command (about 6000), and by detachments sent from France, which swelled the garrison, by August 20, to 15,000 men. About the end of August, Chatham, who, as a general, was a methodical incapable, “found himself prepared” to march upon Antwerp, but by this time 30,000 men, under Bernadotte, were gathered to its defense, and the English army was decimated by marsh-fever, so that success was not to be hoped for. However, it was judged right to hold possession of Walcheren, in order to compel the French to keep a strong force on the watch in Belgium, and, accordingly, 15,000 men remained to garrison the island, the rest returned to England; but the malaria proved too fatal in its ravages, and as peace had been concluded between Austria and France, this force was also recalled. Thus an excellently devised scheme, through utter stupidity of the agent chosen by royalty to carry it out, failed in every point of consequence, and ended in the loss of 7000 men dead, and the permanent disablement of half the remainder. The House of Commons instituted an inquiry, and Lord Chatham resigned his post of master-general of the ordnance, to prevent greater disgrace; but the policy of the ministers in planning the expedition was, nevertheless, approved.
Wales (anc. Britannia Secunda). A principality in the southwest part of Great Britain. After the Roman emperor Honorius quitted Britain, Vortigern was elected king of South Britain. He invited over the Saxons to defend his country against the Picts and Scots; but the Saxons perfidiously sent for reinforcements, consisting of Saxons, Danes, and Angles, by which they made themselves masters of South Britain. Many of the Britons retired to Wales, and defended themselves against the Saxons, in their inaccessible mountains, about 447. In this state Wales remained unconquered till Henry II. subdued South Wales in 1157; and in 1282, Edward I. entirely reduced the whole country, putting an end to its independence, by the death of Llewelyn, the last prince. The Welsh, however, were not entirely reconciled to this revolution, till the queen gave birth to a son at Caernarvon in 1284, whom Edward styled prince of Wales, which title the heir to the crown of Great Britain has borne almost ever since. For further history of Wales, see separate articles in this work.
Walk About. A military expression used by British officers when they approach a sentinel, and think proper to waive the ceremony of being saluted.
Wall. A series of brick, stone, or other materials, carried upward and cemented with mortar. When used in the plural number, wall signifies fortification; works built for defense. To be driven to the wall, a figurative term, signifying to be so pressed that you can neither advance nor retreat.
Wallachia. One of the Danubian principalities, in the northeast of Turkey in Europe. This country formed part of the ancient Dacia of the Romans, and was subsequently brought under the dominion of the Goths and Huns. During the two centuries which preceded the fall of the empire of the East, it was sometimes subject to the Greek emperors, and sometimes to the monarchs of Hungary. It was conquered by the Turks in the 14th century, but the inhabitants struggled to assert their independence until 1536, when it became a province of the Ottoman empire. In 1829 it was placed under the protection of Russia, though it was still considered a dependency of Turkey. See [Moldavia].
Walloon Guard. The body-guard of the Spanish monarch;—so called because formerly consisting of Walloons.
Wall-piece. A small cannon (or, in ancient times, an arquebuse) mounted on a swivel, on the wall of a fortress, for the purpose of being fired at short range on assailants in the ditch or on the covert way. There are distinct evidences that the great wall of China was originally constructed for the reception of wall-pieces.
Wandewash. A town on the Coromandel coast, about 30 miles south of Madras. In 1739, when M. de Lally, the French governor in the East Indies, threatened with utter subjection the English settlements in the Carnatic, he was opposed most gallantly by Col. Coote, upon the Coromandel coast. Coote reduced the French settlements of Masulipatam and Conjeveram, and made a vigorous attack upon Wandewash, which he captured. Lally, in the autumn of 1739, made a bold attempt to regain possession of the disputed settlement, but his force was utterly broken; he lost 600 men, and was happy to save the wreck of his army by abandoning his camp to the victor.
Wapinschaw. A periodical gathering of the people, instituted by various Scots statutes, for the purpose of exhibiting their arms, these statutes directing each individual to be armed on a scale proportionate to his property. There are numerous Scots acts of the 15th and 16th centuries regulating the subject of wapinschaws. In the time of war or rebellion, proclamations were issued charging all sheriffs and magistrates of burghs to direct the attendants of the respective wapinschawings to join the king’s host. During the reign of the later Stuarts, attendance on the wapinschaws was enforced with considerable strictness; and in addition to military exercises, sports and pastimes were carried on by authority at these gatherings. The Covenanters, in consequence of this sport being of a kind disapproved by them, did what they could to discourage attendance on the wapinschaws.
War. A contest between nations or states, carried on by force, either for defense or for revenging insults and redressing wrongs, for the extension of commerce or acquisition of territory, or for obtaining and establishing the superiority and dominion of one over the other. It is the armed conflicts of sovereign powers, declared and open hostilities. Wars are various in their occasions and objects; but in all cases, the aim of each contending party is to weaken and overthrow the opposing party. At one time, the art of war was supposed to consist very much in wearing out the enemy by a slow process of exhaustion, and thus wars were much protracted. But more recently, the greatest generals have adopted the method of rather endeavoring to strike sudden and terrible blows, by which the war is sooner brought to a termination, and this method, although it may often have been adopted without regard to considerations of humanity, is, in all probability, less productive of suffering to mankind than the other. Among rude nations, wars are conducted by tumultuary hosts, suddenly congregated, and in general, either after defeat or victory, soon dispersed. But the wars of the more civilized and powerful nations have long been conducted by armies carefully trained and disciplined; and in the case of maritime powers, by means of fleets at sea as well as of armies on land. Preparation for war among such nations requires not only the forming and training of the army, but vast provision in many various ways of the means and [matériel] of war. Much science and skill are also applied to the conduct of military operations, and the principles upon which they ought to be conducted have been carefully investigated and theories tested by an examination of the history of the most important campaigns. See [Strategy] and [Tactics].