Sir Richard Strachan, 6th Baronet - Later Career

Later Career

Strachan was soon back in service, being dispatched early in 1806 to search for a French squadron reported to have sailed for America. After searching for some time, he failed to locate it and instead returned to watch the port of Rochefort. Thick fog and poor weather covered the port in January 1808, and allowed the French to sail out undetected and escape to the Mediterranean. Strachan gave chase, joining Admiral Collingwood's forces, but the French were able to gain the safety of Toulon. Strachan was ordered to return home, where he was given command of a squadron watching the Dutch coast.

On 9 June 1809, he was appointed as the naval commander of an expedition, consisting of 264 warships and 352 transports carrying 44,000 troops, to attack the island of Walcheren and destroy the French arsenals in the Scheldt. Strachan was ill qualified for the position, lacking both the experience and the temperament to hold a joint command in such a complex combined operation. Whilst he was careful to attend to the details of the problems that the Navy might encounter, he failed to consider the army's problems. Relations with the army's commander, Sir John Pitt quickly became strained and the ambitious Walcheren Campaign ended up being abandoned, having only achieved the capture of Flushing. A period of angry recriminations followed the withdrawal, with Pitt presenting a narrative to King George III in 1810, blaming Strachan for the expedition's failure. Strachan defended himself, declaring that the ships had done all that had been required of them. He nevertheless became the scapegoat for the failure, and was not given any more assignments.

The confusion and conflicting accounts led to the following doggerel verse:

The Earl of Chatham, with his sword drawn,
Stood waiting for Sir Richard Strachan;
Sir Richard, longing to be at 'em,
Stood waiting for the Earl of Chatham.