Why the landing at Callantsoog succeeded

The narrow sand spit at Callantsoog was bounded by sea, canal, marsh, and dunes, conditions that should have favored the defender. General Daendels divided roughly 5,000 troops to the north and 5,200 to the south, intending to strike both flanks after the British landed. He left skirmishers in the dunes to meet the initial landing. British boats came ashore in stages because there were too few to carry the whole force at once, with close naval gunfire suppressing the skirmishers. The conspicuous semaphore station serving as a Batavian headquarters was quickly surrounded and overrun. A supporting line battalion panicked as the skirmishers withdrew through it, while the divided forces could not reinforce one another effectively.