men and morale gave the Royal Navy superiority in the North Sea, a position enhanced by the disruption the battle caused to French negotiations for an alliance with what historian Edward Pelham Brenton describes as the "Northern Powers" of Scandinavia. The destruction of the Dutch fleet at Camperdown was also a serious blow to French ambitions to invade Ireland, and denied their Atlantic fleet of essential reinforcements; it may even have played a part in Napoleon Bonaparte's decision to abandon efforts to attack Britain directly early in 1798. In 1799, a significant British and Russian expeditionary force landed in the Netherlands supported by a large fleet under Lord Duncan. Assailed from both sea and land, the remainder of the Dutch Navy under Admiral Story capitulated without a fight: in what became known as the Vlieter Incident, the political divisions between the officers and seamen resulted in a mutiny during which the Dutch sailors threw their ammunition overboard. In Britain, the public relief at the restoration of the Navy's authority in the aftermath of the spring mutinies was enormous and helped steady the wavering British government in their pursuit of the war by restoring confidence in British naval supremacy in home waters. Christopher Lloyd notes that the events of 1797 led to "a new and blatant patriotism ... [which] was centred on the achievements of 'our gallant tars'." A popular rhyme of the time reflected public feeling: St Vincent drubbed the Dons, Earl Howe he drubbed Monsieur, And gallant Duncan now has soundly drubbed Mynheer; The Spanish, French and Dutch, tho' all united by, Fear not Britannia cries, My Tars can beat all three. Monsieurs, Mynheers and Dons, your country's empty boast, Our tars can beat all three, each on his native coast. — Quoted in Christopher Lloyd, St Vincent and Camperdown, 1963 Although Duncan's initial tactics at the battle were reminiscent of those of Howe at the Glorious First of June, and his eventual attack has been compared to Nelson's tactics at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805, Duncan credited the tactical work Essay on Naval Tactics by John Clerk of Eldin for inspiring his decisions on the day. Duncan was subsequently indirectly criticised some years after the battle by his colleague Earl St Vincent, who had won the Battle of Cape St Vincent over a Spanish fleet nine months before Camperdown. In a letter complaining of Clerk's assertion that