he and the
gold braid of a full colonel, reconciled the inhabitants of St. Peter's
Port to his departure.

By the end of August the first division of the British army, of which
the 49th was a unit, was aboard the transports in the Zuyder Zee, off
the coast of Holland, and early one morning, under the command of Sir
Ralph Abercrombie, with blare of trumpets and standards flying, they
effected a landing under the guns of the ships of the line, of which,
with frigates and sloops, there were well-nigh sixty. Brock had often
listened to the roar of shot and shell in target practice and sham
fight, but of a cannonade of artillery, where every shrieking
cannon-ball was probably a winged messenger of death, this was his first
experience. He now learned that in the music of the empty shell of
experiment and the wicked screech of the missiles of war there was an
unpleasant difference. He did not wince, but sternly drew himself
together, thought of home, begged God's mercy, and awaited the command
to advance with an impatience that was physical pain.

By four in the afternoon the Hilder Peninsula and its batteries had been
taken, but with a loss to the British of a thousand men. Brock could
scarcely believe that the enemy had retreated. This, however, was merely
a taste of war. The second division having arrived, the whole force of
nearly 20,000 men, under the Duke of York, started to make history. In
the last days of a stormy September 16,000 Russian allies reached the
scene. The fourth brigade, which included the 49th, was under the
command of General Moore--Sir John Moore, of Corunna fame. For several
weeks the waiting troops were encamped in the sand-hills without canvas
and exposed to biting storms. The capture of the city of Horn without
resistance hardly prepared our hero and his men for the stout opposition
at the battle of Egmont-op-Zee that followed.

Brock's brother, Savery, a paymaster to the brigade, though by virtue of
his calling exempt from field service, insisted on joining the fighting
line, acting as aide to Sir Ralph Abercrombie.

Every record, every line written or in print concerning Brock, from
first to last, all prove that the keynote of his success, the ruling
impulse of his life, was promptness and action. So, at Egmont, no sooner
did the bugle sound the advance than he was off with his men like a
sprinter at the crack of the pistol. Others might follow; he would lead.
They were part of the advance gu