During the Napoleonic Wars, the British sent numerous expeditionary forces throughout the world to assist in destabilizing the French Empire. Some were successful, such as the capture of Cape of Good Hope in southern Africa and Jakarta in Indonesia. Others were total disasters, resulting in either heavy casualties or the capture of the British force, such as the attack on Buenos Aires in 1806. Without a doubt, the worse expedition of the Napoleonic Wars was the British landing in the Low Countries in 1809. The British hope to achieve two goals: to assist the Austrians, who had gone to war against the French and to destroy the French fleet thought to be in Flushing.
The British force, of over 39,000 men began to land in Walcheren on 30 July. [This force was larger than the British force in Portugal under Wellington!] The expedition's goals howereve, were poorly conceived and were destined to failure. By the time the force had landed, the Austrians had been defeated and were negotiating a peace treaty with Napoleon. Although the British had captured Flushing, the French had moved their fleet to Antwerp, thus denying the British any chance of destroying it.
After four and a half months on Walcheren, the last British troops were withdrawn on 9 December. The British force had 4,066 deaths during the expedition, but only 106 officers and men were killed in combat. The rest died from Walcheren Fever. The return of the force to England did little to alleviate the problems. On 1 February 1810, a staggering 11,513 officers and men were still carried on the rolls as sick. Less than two years later, many of these troops were still so weakened by the disease, Wellington request that no unit that served in the Walcheren Campaign be sent to him!
Unlike the British forces that served in the Peninsula with Wellington, where there are numerous books listing the order-of-battle for any given period, there is little written about the British Expeditionary Force to Walcheren. This paper examines the organization of the land forces involved in the expedition.
By Robert Burnham, Napoleon Series
