These two divisions were composed of thirty battalions of infantry, of 600 men each, 500 cavalry, and a fine train of artillery.[7] During this campaign, Lieut.-Colonel Brock distinguished himself in command of his regiment, which, on the 2d of October, in the battle of Egmont-op-Zee, or Bergen, had Captain Archer and Ensign Ginn killed; and Major Hutchinson, Captains Sharp and Robins, Lieutenant Urquhart and Ensign Hill, wounded; Lieutenant Johnston missing, and supposed to be killed, exclusive of nearly one hundred non-commissioned officers and privates killed and wounded.[8] In this action, Lieut.-Colonel Brock was slightly wounded, although his name does not appear in the returns; and his life was in all probability preserved by his wearing, as the weather was very cold, a stout cotton handkerchief over a thick black silk cravat, both of which were perforated by a bullet, and which prevented its entering his neck: the violence of the blow was, however, so great, as to stun and dismount him.

The following letter contains some interesting particulars relative to this campaign, and the part taken in it by the 49th.
_Lieutenant-Colonel Brock, 49th regiment, to his brother, brevet Lieutenant-Colonel John Brock, 81st regiment, at the Cape of Good Hope_.
"LONDON, November 26, 1799.
"I was pretty constant in my correspondence with you whilst the regiment was quartered at Portsmouth, and no opportunity offered from thence direct to the Cape without taking letters and newspapers from either Savery or myself, and often from both; but the very active and busy life I have passed since put an end to all such communications.

Knowing, however, that you will be gratified in hearing from my own pen the various incidents which have occurred since that time, I proceed to give you the substance of them.

You will have seen in the public prints that the 49th embarked among the first regiments under Sir Ralph Abercromby, and that the army, amounting to about 10,000 men, after beating the seas from the 8th to the 27th of August, effected a landing near the Helder; that the enemy most unaccountably offered no opposition to our landing; and that, after a well-contested fight of ten hours, he retreated, and left us in quiet possession of the Heights, extending the whole length of the Peninsula.

The 4th Brigade, under General Moore,[9] consisting of the Royals, 25th, 49th, 79th, and 92d, landed to the left, where the greatest opposition was expected, as it was natural to suppose that so essential an object as the Helder would be defended to the last, but, to our utter astonishment, the enemy gave us no annoyance; on the contrary, soon after the affair on the right had terminated, he evacuated the town, which we took quiet possession of the following morning, and with it the whole of the fleet.