Schill met a warrior's death: most of the survivors were sent to the galleys in France.

Undeterred by this failure, the young Duke of Brunswick sought to rouse Saxony and Westphalia by a dashing cavalry raid (June); but, beyond showing the weakness of Jerome Bonaparte's rule and the general hatred of the French, he effected little: with his 2,000 followers he was finally saved by British cruisers (August).

Had the British expedition, which in the ensuing autumn rotted away on Walcheren, been landed at Stralsund, or in Hanover during the spring, it is certain that Germany would have risen in Napoleon's rear; and in that case, the doubtful struggle which closed at Wagram might have ended very differently.[211] All hopes for European independence centred in Wellesley and the Archduke Charles.

Although there was no formal compact between England and Austria, yet the Hapsburgs rested their hopes largely on the diversions made by our troops.

In the early part of the Peninsular campaign of 1809, these hopes were brilliantly fulfilled.