smoke of so many candles and flambeaux affecting nis breathing, he coughed with great violence, and in the exertion threw up a piece of cloth, left, no doubt, by the ball in its passage through his body. From that day he recovered as by a charm.

IN COMMAND OF 27TH REGIMENT.

229

CHAPTER THE SIXTEENTH.

Appointed Lieutenant-Colonel, 27th Regiment.-Helder Expedi

tion.-Severely Wounded.

COLONEL GRAHAM was transferred from the 2d West India Regiment to the command of the 27th Enniskillen Regiment, in January 1797, and took command of the corps at Winchester, on its return from the West Indies in 1798. In command of this regiment he felt himself, to use his own words, in a position in which he fondly hoped to gain distinction, and it was not long before the state of affairs on the Continent seemed to hold out a prospect of his brightest hopes being realized. The armies of Republican France in 1799 were so fully occupied in Italy and Germany, that the English government deemed the time favourable for an effort to wrest Holland from their power, and restore the Stadtholder; and an expedition was therefore prepared, the command of which was entrusted to the gallant veteran Sir Ralph Abercromby.* The 27th was one of the regiments

* Various plans were suggested and considered for the employment of the force, the only one of which that the Com

ordered to embark on this expedition. The fleet sailed on the 13th August, but owing to the state of the weather, nearly a fortnight elapsed before a landing could be attempted on the coast of Holland. The point selected was the Helder. The troops commenced to disembark at daylight on the morning of the 27th. The landing was effected without much opposition, but the moment the first division began to advance they became engaged, and the action continued from five o'clock in the morning until three in the afternoon. The position taken up by Sir Ralph was on a range of sand hills, stretching along the coast from north to south. In this position his right was unavoidably exposed; in other respects the position had its advantages, as the British had neither artillery nor cavalry, whilst the French army included a proportion of those arms. The British had nowhere sufficient ground on their right to form more than one battalion in line; the contest was arduous, and the loss very severe; but by the courage and perseverance of our troops the enemy were completely worn out and obliged to retire in the afternoon to a position two leagues in his rear. Major-General Coote's brigade, consisting of the Queen's 27th, 29th, and mander-in-Chief felt disposed to countenance was an attack on the Helder, in order to capture the Dutch fleet. Ministers therefore decided to leave a large discretionary, power in the hands of Sir Ralph as to the adoption of ulterior measures after his arrival on the coast of Holland.

ACTION AT THE HELDER.

231

85th, was one of the brigades hotly engaged on this occasion. In the early part of the engagement Sir Eyre Coote despatched Colonel Graham with two light companies and a part of the 27th to flank the summit of the ridges of sand hills; with this force he succeeded in getting upon the flank of a corps commanded by Colonel Gluck, routed it, and cleared the hills of the enemy. From that time the 27th was drawn up on the ridges parallel to the sea beach until about two o'clock, when the enemy, pressing very much upon the right flank, Sir Ralph Abercromby called upon Colonel Graham to advance his regiment by wings of battalion. In the performance of this service, whilst charging at the head of the right wing of the Enniskillens, he received a severe wound in the left temple from a rifle ball, by which he was completely deprived of the sight of his left eye.

As the expedition to Holland had been despatched by ministers more in the hope that through the prudence, skill, and daring of the commander, it would effect something, than in the execution of any matured plan, the successful landing at the Helder was a subject of great rejoicing in England; to the Government it was an unbounded source of gratification, as it relieved them from an uneasy weight of responsibility. Mr. Dundas, in writing to the son of Sir Ralph, thus expresses himself

"Thanks to Heaven and Sir Ralph, we stand on a pinnacle of glory and fame ;" and in the public letter of

thanks transmitted by the minister to Sir Ralph through the Duke of York, we find these expressions—" It is impossible for me to convey to you in adequate terms the sense his Majesty entertains of the steady and enterprising bravery of the army under your command in the arduous and ever memorable action of the 27th ultimo. High as the character of the British army stood before this event, it is impossible that the landing at the Helder point, preceded and attended by so many untoward difficulties, and the battle by which it was immediately followed, should not attract the admiration of Europe, and raise that character still higher in every part of the world as it has done already in the eyes of the Sovereign and their countrymen at home."

It must often be difficult for a General, in writing a despatch, to decide upon the names of those he shall point out as particularly distinguished; and amidst the multifarious subjects engrossing his attention after an action, he may sometimes overlook services which deserve special notice. It seems as if something of this kind had occurred in the case of Colonel Graham after the action of the Helder. Twice singled out as he was for special service, upon one occasion by the direct order of Sir Ralph himself, it seems strange that no special mention should have been made of the conspicuous share in the glory of the day to which he and his brave Enniskillens are so justly entitled.