Walcheren Campaign

Walcheren Campaign
Part of the War of the Fifth Coalition
Illness-stricken British forces evacuating Walcheren on 30 August
Date 30 July – 23 December 1809 Location Walcheren, Kingdom of Holland 51°31′N 3°35′E / 51.52°N 3.58°E / 51.52; 3.58 Result Franco-Dutch victory
Belligerents
France Kingdom of Holland	United Kingdom
Commanders and leaders
Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte Louis Claude Monnet de Lorbeau Jean-Baptiste Dumonceau	Lord Chatham Sir Richard Strachan Alexander Mackenzie Fraser †
Strength
July: 20,000 August: 46,000	39,000 616 ships
Casualties and losses
4,000 dead, wounded or captured 5,000+ sick	4,150 dead, wounded or captured 12,000+ sick

War of the Fifth Coalition:
Walcheren Campaign

200km
125miles

Walcheren

1

  

The Walcheren Campaign (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈʋɑlxərə(n)]) was an unsuccessful British expedition to the Kingdom of Holland in 1809 intended to open another front in the Austrian Empire's struggle with France during the War of the Fifth Coalition. John Pitt, 2nd Earl of Chatham, the commander of the expedition, was ordered to capture the towns of Flushing and Antwerp and thus enable British ships to safely traverse the Scheldt River.

A British expeditionary force of 39,000 troops, together with field artillery and two siege trains, crossed the North Sea and landed at Walcheren on 30 July. This was the largest British expedition of that year, larger than the army serving in the Peninsular War in the Iberian Peninsula. Nevertheless, it failed to achieve any of its goals. The campaign involved little fighting, but heavy losses from the sickness popularly dubbed "Walcheren Fever". Although more than 4,000 British troops died during the expedition, only 106 were killed in action; the survivors withdrew on 9 December. Defending Franco-Dutch forces also suffered heavy casualties, including 4,000 men dead, wounded or captured.^[1]