“The transports necessary for the embarkation of the army having arrived the 25th Nov. on the following day the measures that I had previously concerted with Lieutenant-General Don, for the destruction of the basin, arsenal, and sea defences of Flushing, agreeably to instructions from the Earl of Liverpool, dated the 13th, and received on the 17th, were begun.
“On this service, 600 seamen and artificers from the fleet were employed, under the orders of Captain Moore of H.M.S. Marlborough, assisted by Captains Tomlinson and Henderson, of the fire-ship service. The navy having completed the portion of work allotted to them, and Lieutenant-Colonel Pilkington, commanding the royal engineers, having reported to Lieutenant-General Don, that his mines for the destruction of the gates and piers at the entrance of the basin were ready, the whole of the army, with the exception of the rear-guards, was embarked on the afternoon of the 9th instant.
“The mines were exploded yesterday[1], and appear to have fully answered their object: the whole of the east side of the basin had been previously completely destroyed; but as the port of Flushing, west of the basin, lies considerably below the high water mark, any material injury of the west bank would have caused the immediate inundation of the whole town; therefore our work on that side has been confined to the demolition of the careening wharf and pits.
“It was at first intended to defer the burning of the store-house and other buildings in the arsenal until our final departure; but, from the probability that with a strong east wind the flames might communicate to the town, the whole was set firu to yesterday, and is totally destroyed.
“Thus Flushing is rendered useless to the enemy as a naval arsenal; and the basin which afforded a very secure retreat for several ships of the line during the winter, is for the present effectually destroyed, and can only be restored by great labour, and at an immense expense.
“I cannot conclude without expressing my great obligations to Captain Moore, for the able assistance he has rendered me in the performance of a very complicated service; and he speaks in terms highly satisfactory of the conduct of Captains Tomlinson and Henderson, and the other officers who served under his orders on shore.
Captain Henderson’s next appointment was, in 1810, to the Eclipse brig, of 18 guns. After assisting at the capture of the Isle of France, he returned home acting in the Nereide
