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PARLIAMENTARY DOCUMENTS, RELATING…

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PARLIAMENTARY DOCUMENTS, RELATING TO THE Expedition to the Scheldt. The Papers relative to the Expedition to lite Scheldt, have now been laid hefore hot It í Mouses, of P'-irliament. There are several I sets of these paper. The 1st contains the in- telligence received by Ministers of the state of the Scoeidt, upon which the Expedition was undertaken. The 2nd contains the docu- ments relative to the departure and subsequent operations of the armament, -including the naval dispatches, which already been I published in the London Gazette; the 3d con- tains the dispatches from Lord Chatham, which have also been published, concluding with a letter, written since his Lordship's re Lurn, in which he saYR" I feel it my dutv to represent to yonr Lordship, (Lord Liverpool) in order to its being laid before his Majesty, that I alii most entirely ready to submit every (lart of.my condncl to snch military investi- gation as his Majesty may be pleased to direct, and that I shall not be less so, whenever Par- liament may assemble, to meet any inquiry, which in their wisdom they may judge it fit 10 institute into my conduct." The 4th set contains the dispatches from General Don re- lative to the state of the island of Walcheren, the force of the enemy in its neighborhood, the state of the sick, the additional works and military force that would be necessary to enable us to retain possession, and the de- struction of the enemy's works previous loour I evacuation of it. I The copies of these documents have for several days tilled the London prints; conse- quently they are too voininnious for our weekly Gazetee, Bnt from them we are able to collect, that Government had ample information, previously to the sailing of the Expedition, of the naval force npd preparati- ons of Flushing, and either taking or destroy- ing the fleet there, or at Antwerp. On the 1st July Government received, from a confidential agent sent to Holland, intelli- gence that the greater part of the troops had been sent to Germany, and that there were not more troops in Holland than 3000 men at Antwerp and its vicinity 2460; and in Wal- cheren 3000 5 that there were on the stocks at Antwerp nine sail of the line; and below Batz, about 20 miles from Flushing, aFrench squadron of ten sail of the iiue, besides sloops, gun-brigs, and luggers. As far 'as the intelligence contained in the papers goes, Governmeats bad the strongest encouragement, both from confidential per- sons employed, and from British Ofacers, to undertake the Expedition. It appean, however, from the documents, that Walcheren could not have been retained wtthout enormotisexpence, and that the total demolition of the works must inevitably ruin the island. Gen. Don is very minute in his account of the force and preparations neces- sary lo secure the place against attack; Besides the works of Flushing being- thoroughly re- paired, the defences increased, the hanks strengthened, the ditches deepened, and case- mates for 3,500 men constructed, he recom- mends the building of 28 towers, with a pow- erful battery to each—block-ships, | dey magazines, bomb-proof hospitals, store- houses, military communications wide enough to admit car-artillery, moving at six miles aa hour, and that, when completed, the works would require 23,150 men, so as to make the island capable of an obstinate defence. It appears that Lord Chatham was required by his instructions to obtain in the. fisrt In- stance a safe and permanent footing in Wal- cheren and by the delay in executing these instructions, the ulterior object of the expe- dition, if they were ever attainable, became impracticable in consequence of the increasio?- sickness of* fi;s army, and the increased force of the enemy. In the month of January, Ministei that the forces at the tiC: fa the harbour were sickly, that they huried 30 a-day, and that half fhe town was uitott the sick list, That so far back as the 7th of April, an attack by the English was expected at Flushing, at which time the army there »• as very sickly; and that on the 21s! o! May, 10,000 Iroot Had arrived at Cadsand. ;,cd 10,000 on Walcheren, in expectation of such attack, iiid itio had gone up the Scheldt to It is stated by Sir R. Strachen, that the capture of Cadsand was a rriIllarv ohject of the expedition. yet no reason is ass.gned why it was not attempted. Admirals Keats and Strachrln were both of opinion, on the 17th of August, that the enemy's fleet, hav- ing then gone above Lillo, nothing cooui he done for the ultimate object of lite expedtfum^ without the co-operation of the army; and Lord Chatham was of opinion, that, front the advanced season of the vear, the sickness of his troops, and the increased stren i of the enemy, nothing further could be done. The number of his sick, on the 29th of Au- gust, he stales at 3000, and on the 6!h of September, at 8000. We shall insert one or two extracts from these papers Instructions to Earl Chatham. "You, are, upon the receipt of these our instructions, to repair with our said troops lo the Scheldt, and there to carry into effect the folio w- mg orders, in conjunctien with the Commander of our Naval Forces, who shall -accompany, you on this xpedition. H You will consider that this conjoint Expedi- tion has for its object the capture or destruction of the enemy's ships;, either building a: Antwerp and Flushing, or afloat on the Scheldt; the de- struction of i I)e Arsenalsanri Dock-yards al Ant- werp, Ternease, and Flushing; the reduction of the Island of Walcheren, and the reuderin°-, if possible, the Scheldt no longer for ships of war. 11 If the attainment of all the above mentioned objects should be rendered impossible, by (he enemy collecting i„ such strength as to render perseverance inconsistent with the security of the army, you are in that case to use your utmost endeavours, in concert with the Officer eommand- ilig the naval force, to secure as many of the objects as circumstances will permit tor n as the services shall be completed, (,I, such I)art thereof as is attainable, you will take i. Ie measures for re-embarking the army, Hu I ,e n ti- iug with it to England, leaving a sufficient force to maintain possession uf the Island of W cfeereii till our further pleasure shall be signaled? cfeereii till our further pleasure shall be signaled? Daily State of the Sick in 'ihs Island of Walcheren. SEPT. 91, 1809-0fficers, S17-Serjeants,380- Drummers, 136—Rank and file, 86*4. 22d ditto.- Officers, 223—Serjeants, 384 Drummers, 139—Rank and file, 8799. 23d ditto.-Officers, 218—Serieants 328- Drummers, IgO-Rank and file, 9046 THOMAS WALSH, ij, Col" D A a Report of the Inspector of the Ho pitals. MIDDLEBURG, SEPT. II — Independant of the existing records of tile of every object around us t, in [,, most forcible manner: the bottom of every canal that has communication with the sea is <!vc\iv covered with an Ooze, which, when the tide" is out, emits a most offensive and noisome efflnvia; every ditch is filled with water, which is loaded sith animal and vegetable substances in a s.ate of putiefaction and the whole island is so flat, and so near the level of the sea, that a large proportion of it is little bet-er than a swamp, and there is scarcely a place where wafer o)fa (olerahly -ot)cl cltialify, (-an be The endemic diseases of this country, re- mitlent and intermittent fevers, begin to am) ar about the middle of August, and to prevail until the commencement, of Hie frosty weather checks the exhalations from fhe earth, gives tone to the (lebiliiated frames of the people, and stops (hereby the fnr'her progress of the complaints. It is computed Chat, aearly a third of the inhabitants are attacked with fever every sickly season. If individuals who have lived in this island from their infancy, who observe a degree of cl. an- liness that can scarcely be surpassed, and who live in spacious apartments, cannot obviate the effects of the climate, it may naturally be con- cluded what a foreign army must suffer by being exposed, in the first instance, to excessive fatigue and to the inclemency of the weather, and after- wards by being crowded into barracks, where, under the most favourable circumstances, the sudden transition must have produced a severe and extended disease. The rapirlity with which the disease has ex- tended itself during the short period that has elapsed since that event is aimost unexampled in the history of any military operations. A melancholy proof of litis is found in the loss of valuable lives that has already been no- ticed, and which I ant concerned to state is not diminishing. Seventeen men died hi the regi- mental hospitals of this garrison aUme dtirin-- (lie ° As the progress of the mischief in the short period of three weeks is much greater than could rationally have been calculated upon, and as' scarcely a third part of the sickly seasmi has elapsed, if. is hardly possible to conjecture what loss may be incurred ditring the continuance of, it. Ttie c are so powerful, and so general!- applied, that ail/he precautions and preventatives which art can invent, though they may dun >• s. i lo never obviaU :heir effects in any grid r must therefore be an inevitable co i,». tt t of the tro(,I)s remaining in that a i very considerable loss must be si | I beg leave to add one v which Is, that those men who may be af'« < »<. t ,» Ulu-ver a!)(I rt,over fi(ioi it, wiii liave cotj,titutioiis so ariec;ed by.being sick, inat t.neir pn,steal pow- ers, when called into action hereafter, will he very materially diminished. (Sigiicu) JOH^ WEBB. Inspector oi oi