Historical Record of the Fourth, or the King's Own, Regiment of Foot / Containing an Account of the Formation of the Regiment in 1680, and of Its Subsequent Services to 1839

Colours of the 4th Regiment of Foot.

HISTORICAL RECORD

OF

THE FOURTH,

OR

THE KING'S OWN, REGIMENT OF FOOT.

The city of Tangier on the coast of the kingdom of Fez, in Africa, having been ceded in 1661, by Portugal, to King Charles II., as part of the marriage portion of the Infanta, Donna Catherina, this fortress, with a portion of the adjoining territory, had constituted a part of the possessions of the British crown for a period of nearly twenty years, when circumstances occurred, which gave rise to the formation of the REGIMENT which is the subject of this memoir, for service in that part of His Majesty's dominions.

This ancient and renowned city had been successively in the power of the Phœnicians, Romans, Vandals, Saracens, Portuguese, and Spaniards, and it had been the scene of armed contentions and sanguinary wars, in remote ages as well as in modern times. It had formerly been celebrated as one of the most splendid cities in that quarter of the world, but had fallen from its ancient power and magnificence; and when it came into the possession of the British crown, fragments of ruins were all that remained to indicate its former grandeur. It had been much strengthened and improved by the English after their possession of it; detached forts had been constructed, and large sums of money had been granted by the parliament for improving the harbour and enlarging the defences. Much opposition had, however, been met with from the native chiefs, who availed themselves of all the means within their power for exterminating the Christian occupants of this part of Africa. The garrison had already resisted many attempts of its daring and inveterate enemies, particularly in the time of Gaylan, the usurper of Fez; but in 1680 the city was besieged by an immense force, and the Moors had the advantage of having several European renegades in their army, by whom they had been taught the art of mining and of carrying on approaches under ground. Not only the national honour and the credit of His Majesty's arms were concerned in the preservation of this fortress, but, in the event of its capture by the Moors, the Levant trade was likely to suffer some interruption from its harbour becoming the resort of pirates.

King Charles II., therefore, sent thither a battalion of foot guards and sixteen companies of Dumbarton's regiment, (now first royals,) and issued, in July, 1680, warrants for raising six independent troops of horse and a regiment of foot, to augment the garrison, and to enable it to chase from under the walls the native forces by which it was menaced.

The first troop of horse was raised by Major-General the Earl of Ossory, who was nominated governor of His Majesty's possessions in Africa; and the others by Lieut.-Colonel Sir John Lanier, and Captains Robert Pulteney, John Coy, Charles Nedby, and Thomas Langston.

The regiment of foot was ordered to consist of sixteen companies of sixty-five private men each, besides officers and non-commissioned officers; and the colonelcy was conferred on Charles Fitz-Charles, Earl of Plymouth, a daring aspirant to military fame, who had already distinguished himself against the Moors in the character of a volunteer, and was serving at Tangier at the time the regiment was raised.

The royal authority for raising this regiment was given on the 13th of July, 1680, and the sixteen companies of which it was composed, were raised by the following officers; Lieut.-Colonel Piercy Kirke,[6] Major Charles Trelawny, and Captains Zachariah Tiffin, Henry Trelawny, Edward Hastings, Charles Fox, Edward Griffin, John Strode, Edward Saville, Roger Pope, Walter Fitzgerard, John Grimes, Robert Ansley, Arthur Cheffors, and John Southcote, and the captain-lieutenant of the colonel's company. Eight companies were raised in London and in its vicinity under the immediate superintendence of Lieut.-Colonel Kirke, and had their general rendezvous in Clerkenwell; and the other eight companies were raised in the west of England, with their general rendezvous at Plymouth, under the superintendence of Major Trelawny.

The corps thus raised obtained the title of the Second Tangier Regiment,[7] and after serving the British crown in various parts of the world, through the eventful period of one hundred and fifty-eight years, it continues a distinguished corps, and bears the designation of the Fourth, or the King's Own, Regiment of Foot. Although the particulars of its origin and formation have been distinctly given, yet it was in some measure connected with another corps, of whose services a few words are introduced into this record.

On the breaking out of the war between England and Holland in the early part of 1672, a regiment of foot was raised, of which James Duke of Monmouth was appointed colonel. This regiment was sent to France, and taken into the pay of Louis XIV.; it served during the campaigns of 1672 and 1673, under the Duke of Monmouth, in the Netherlands, and during the four succeeding years it served with the French army in Alsace and on the Rhine, together with Douglas's or Dumbarton's regiment, now first royals, Churchill's, and Hamilton's. In these campaigns Monmouth's regiment distinguished itself on several occasions under Marshals Turenne, De Crequi, and Luxemburg. In 1678 it was ordered to return to England, and after the peace of Nimeguen it was disbanded.

When the Earl of Plymouth's regiment was raised, many of the officers of Monmouth's late regiment were appointed to commissions in this new corps, through whose influence many of the non-commissioned officers and soldiers, who had served in the Netherlands, France, and Germany, were induced to enter the same regiment. By these means, and by the aid of a few men from the Holland regiment, now third foot, or the buff's, the Earl of Plymouth's, or Second Tangier Regiment, was completed in numbers, equipped,[8] instructed in the simple exercises practised at the time, and ready to embark for foreign service in less than four months after the order for its being raised was issued.

The service for which these forces were raised being urgent, three of the troops of cavalry (Langston's, Nedby's, and Coy's) were provided with horses from the life guards and royal regiment of horse guards, and sailed as soon as possible; the Earl of Plymouth's regiment also embarked with all possible expedition, and sailed in November.

In the mean time the garrison of Tangier had overpowered the Moorish army in a sharp action under the walls, and a truce had been agreed upon for six months; and when information of this event arrived in England, the other three troops of horse (viz. Ossory's, Lanier's, and Pulteney's) were disbanded.

This truce was in operation when the Earl of Plymouth's regiment arrived at Tangier; and the officers and men learned that their colonel had died a few weeks previously of dysentery. He was succeeded in the colonelcy by the lieut.-colonel, Piercy Kirke, who was also appointed commander-in-chief of the garrison.

Shortly afterwards an ambassador from the court of Fez arrived, and made his public entry into the city of Tangier on the 2nd of December; his reception is thus described in the London Gazette:—"Colonel Kirke, our commander-in-chief, went out to meet him between eleven and twelve. Four troops of horse marched first;—after them fifty chosen grenadiers of the Earl of Dumbarton's regiment; then thirty gunners with their linstocks; followed by thirty negros in painted coats, with their brown-bills (a sort of battle-axe); and after these rid Colonel Kirke, surrounded with twenty gentlemen well mounted, and having six men of the tallest stature, with long fusils, on each side of his horse; in which order, having proceeded a good distance beyond Fountain Fort, the party of Moors, which was about two hundred horse with their lances, being now within musket shot of us, made a halt. The ambassador with about thirty persons advanced towards Colonel Kirke, who received him with those compliments which are customary. Colonel Kirke then went to make his salutations to the alcaid, Aley Benanbdala, vice roy of those countries, who remained at the head of the Moorish party; which being ended, the alcaid and the ambassador with each of their parties began a skirmish, it being their manner of rejoicing and expressing their satisfaction. Having shown their horsemanship and skill in managing their lances and fusils, they parted, the alcaid going off with his men, and the ambassador with his train proceeding with Colonel Kirke to the town; where all the regiments in garrison were formed up to augment the splendour of his public entry."

In the succeeding year Colonel Kirke proceeded on an embassy to the court of the vice-roy of Fez, and also to that of the Emperor of Morocco, and a treaty of peace between the English and Moors was concluded. A diary of Colonel Kirke's journey, with a description of his reception, and of the court of the African potentate, was published at the time, and appears more like an airy vision of the imagination, or a few pages from an eastern romance, than a narrative of facts.

After the decease of Sir Palmes Fairborne (who was killed in an engagement with the Moors on the 24th of September, 1680), Colonel Kirke was removed to the colonelcy of the first Tangier (now the second or queen's royal) regiment, and was succeeded by the lieut.-colonel, Charles Trelawny, by commission dated the 23d of April 1682.

The improved military system of the Moors, introduced by the employment of European renegades, having rendered it necessary to maintain a much stronger garrison at Tangier than formerly, His Majesty brought the subject before parliament; but the people of England were more alarmed at the prospect of a popish successor to the throne than at the danger of losing this fortress, which they considered as an asylum for popish recusants, and consequently no further grant was voted.

A free intercourse had been established with the Moors, and a traffic by barter was carried on to the benefit of the town; but all the advantages expected to be derived from the possession of this fortress had not been realized, and King Charles II. was unwilling to bear, without any pecuniary aid from parliament, the expense of the fortifications and troops. He accordingly sent, towards the end of 1683, Admiral Lord Dartmouth with a fleet, to destroy the fortifications, and to bring away the British inhabitants and garrison.

The regiment arrived in England from Tangier in February, 1684, and was placed in garrison at Portsmouth, where it remained upwards of twelve months; and its establishment was reduced from sixteen to twelve companies.

In the autumn of this year His Majesty conferred upon the regiment the title of Her Royal Highness the Duchess of York and Albany's Regiment. What its distinguishing colour, or livery (which is now called facing), was on its formation, has not been ascertained; but in October of this year it was YELLOW. This appears to have been a favourite colour of the Duke of York, (afterwards James II.) as his troop of life guards had yellow horse furniture, belts covered with yellow velvet, yellow ribands on the horses' heads and tails, and also yellow ribands in the men's hats; and his marine regiment, called the Admiral's Regiment, was clothed in yellow.

The colours of the regiment were of yellow silk, with the red cross of St. George bordered with white; the rays of the sun issuing from each angle of the cross, or; and Her Royal Highness's cypher in the centre.

On the 6th of February, 1685, King Charles II. died, and was succeeded by his brother, James Duke of York; and the Duchess of York having become Queen of England, this regiment was styled the Queen's Regiment of Foot: the first Tangier regiment had previously been styled the Queen's, and was now designated the Queen Dowager's regiment.

The much dreaded event—the accession of a papist to the throne—had now occurred; but the minds of the people were partially set at ease by the King's declaration of his determination to maintain the protestant religion as by law established. This did not, however, prevent several rash adventurers from urging James Duke of Monmouth, to make an attempt to gain the throne. This nobleman was the illegitimate son of the late king,—was of prepossessing appearance and address,—a steady advocate for the protestant religion,—had gained a reputation for military virtues,—and had become a favourite with the people. Being urged to this enterprise by his desperate associates, he raised the standard of rebellion in the west of England in June, 1685; and, having been joined by a number of miners and other persons, proclaimed himself king.

The Queen's Regiment of Foot was reposing in quarters at Portsmouth and performing the duties of the garrison, when the news of Monmouth's rebellion produced an electric sensation throughout the country. The regular army was augmented; the militia was called out; and this regiment was ordered to recruit its numbers to one hundred men per company. Soon afterwards five companies, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Charles Churchill, were ordered to march in charge of a train of artillery, consisting of seven field-pieces, to join the army under the command of Lieut.-General the Earl of Feversham, which was assembling to oppose the rebels.

The five companies of the Queen's Regiment having joined the other forces with the artillery, the army advanced to the village of Weston, and the infantry encamped on Sedgemoor, the two Tangier regiments taking the left of the line. The rebel army lay at Bridgewater, and during the night of the 5th of July the Duke of Monmouth advanced with the view of surprising the King's troops in their camp; but his approach was discovered, and the camp was alarmed by the cavalry out-guards. The rebels, however, rushed forward, and a fierce conflict of musketry ensued in the dark. The first attack was made against the royals on the right; and extending along the front to the left, the companies of the Queen's Regiment became sharply engaged, and "performed good service." Soon after day-break the King's cavalry charged the flanks of the rebel army and put it into confusion. An entire rout ensued, and the insurgents were pursued across the moor and adjoining fields with great slaughter; many were taken prisoners; and their leader, the Duke of Monmouth, was captured two days afterwards near Ringwood, in Hampshire, and was removed to London, and beheaded.

After the suppression of the rebellion, the five companies of the Queen's Regiment returned to Portsmouth: their conduct was highly approved by his Majesty, and soon afterwards the regiment was presented with a set of new colours—one to each company; and it continued to display TWELVE COLOURS for several years from that period. Two of the new colours were presented by the Queen, and the other ten by his Majesty: of the expense of the former no account has been met with; but some idea may be formed of the splendid appearance of these colours, from the fact that the ten presented by the King cost upwards of twenty pounds each.[9] A copy of the bill, amounting to £206 5s. 6d., is preserved in the official records in the War Office. A copy of the royal warrant, dated 21st of August, 1686, for the payment of this sum, is inserted below.[10]

During the summer ten companies of the regiment were ordered to proceed from Portsmouth to Taunton in Somersetshire, to attend the Lord Chief Justice Jeffreys, who was appointed by King James II. to try the prisoners taken at the battle of Sedgemoor, and a number of other persons who were charged either with being concerned in the rebellion, or with countenancing or aiding the ill-fated duke and his adherents. The narrative of the proceedings of the Lord Chief Justice, and of the painful duties which the troops who attended on him had to perform, forms one of the black pages of the history of this country; and the remorseless and sanguinary character of the judge has occasioned him to be held up to deserved execration. Colonel Kirke and his regiment have also been charged with acts of cruelty, although the accounts may have been exaggerated; but the conduct of the ten companies of the Queen's Regiment escaped censure, as their services appear to have been limited to the guarding of prisoners, and the preserving of order at executions, which were so numerous that these were termed the BLOODY ASSIZES.

The Queen's Regiment remained in extensive cantonments in the western counties until the spring of 1686, when it was ordered to march to Plymouth, where it passed the succeeding twelve months. It was withdrawn from Devonshire in March, 1687, and was stationed a short time at Salisbury and Wilton, from whence it marched to Hounslow in June of the same year, and pitched its tents on the heath. After having been twice reviewed by King James II., the regiment struck its tents on the 5th of August, and marched to Bristol, Bath, and Keynsham.

In the spring of 1688, the regiment proceeded to Portsmouth, and passed the summer months in that garrison; but in September it was ordered to march to London.

The short period during which King James II. had occupied the throne, had been pregnant with events of a most alarming character to the nation, and every evil which the people had feared would follow the accession of a popish prince to sovereign power, appeared on the eve of transpiring. The rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth had furnished the King with a pretext for augmenting the regular army, which he continued on a high establishment, and increased, from time to time, without the consent of parliament. The troops were embodied by the authority of the crown only, and were paid, either from the civil list, or by diverting moneys, intended for other objects, to that purpose; and the King even appeared to have formed the design of governing without parliaments, of rendering himself absolute, and of subverting the reformed religion. His Majesty's principal dependence for the success of his unconstitutional projects was placed in the devotedness of his troops; but his conduct disgusted the military as well as his other subjects; and the cheers of the soldiers on Hounslow Heath at the acquittal of the bishops, whom the King had imprisoned and brought to trial for opposing his measures, proved that he had entirely lost their sympathy, and could no longer trust to them for support.

The King's proceedings having filled the nation with alarm and consternation, the Prince of Orange, who was the King's nephew and son-in-law, and a zealous advocate for the Protestant interest, was solicited to come to England with a body of troops to assist the nobility and gentry in opposing the proceedings of the court. At the same time, many of the superior officers of the English army, who were most zealous for the welfare of the kingdom and the preservation of the reformed religion, seeing the danger to which the constitution in church and state was exposed, formed themselves into a secret association, and engaged not to fight in the cause of papacy and arbitrary power, but to further the objects of the Prince of Orange; and Brigadier-General Charles Trelawny, Colonel of the Queen's regiment of foot, was one of the members of this association.

When the Prince of Orange had landed at Torbay (5th of November) the regiment proceeded by forced marches to Salisbury, and afterwards to Warminster, which was the most advanced post of the King's army, and was occupied by the third troop of life guards, the Queen's, and Major-General Werden's regiments of horse, the Queen's regiment of dragoons, with two battalions of the royals, and the Queen Dowager's and Queen Consort's regiments of foot,[11] commanded by Major-General Kirke and Brigadier-Generals Trelawny and Maine.

The King arrived at Salisbury on the 20th of November, and on the 21st reviewed his forces stationed in and near that city; and a number of officers and soldiers having already deserted to the Prince of Orange, His Majesty addressed the troops on the subject, and gave liberty to all who were unwilling to serve him, to depart without molestation. This appeal to their loyalty was followed with such shouts and assurances of attachment, that the King's confidence, which had been much shaken, was in a great measure restored. On the following day His Majesty designed to have visited the advanced post at Warminster, but was prevented by a bleeding at the nose, to which he was constitutionally subject. The Duke of Berwick states in his memoirs,—"The King intended to go from Salisbury in my coach to visit the quarter commanded by Major-General Kirke; but was prevented by a prodigious bleeding of the nose, which seized him on a sudden, and it is said, that a scheme was laid and measures taken by Churchill and Kirke, to deliver up the King to the Prince of Orange; but this accident frustrated the design." Brigadier-General Trelawny is also charged with participating in this design; but no direct proof on the subject has been adduced by any historian.

The number of desertions increasing, the King ordered the army to retire towards London, when the cavalry was withdrawn from Warminster by Brigadier-General Maine of the third troop of life guards; and orders were sent to Major-General Kirke to march with the infantry to Devizes, but he refused, and was placed in arrest and sent under a guard to London. Brigadier-General Trelawny, expecting a similar fate, withdrew, with his lieut.-colonel, Charles Churchill, and about thirty non-commissioned officers and soldiers, and joined the Prince of Orange. The King sent Lieut.-General the Earl of Dumbarton to Warminster with two squadrons of horse, and he brought off the remaining officers and men of the four battalions without interruption.

After Brigadier-General Trelawny had joined the Prince of Orange, the King gave the colonelcy of the Queen's regiment of foot to Sir Charles Orby from the commission of lieut.-colonel in the third troop of life guards. But His Majesty, finding the army, on which he had depended, would not be subservient to his designs, fled from London with the view of escaping to France; the Prince of Orange assumed the reins of government, and ordered the regiment to march to Hertford and Ware; and His Highness restored Brigadier-General Trelawny to the colonelcy, and promoted Lieut.-Colonel Charles Churchill to the command of the Holland regiment, now the third foot.

The regiment continued to occupy quarters in the south of England after the accession of William and Mary, and passed the winter of 1689 at Exeter.

In the mean time Ireland had become the scene of conflict between the Roman Catholics and Protestants, and King James, having proceeded thither with a body of French troops, had reduced the greater part of that kingdom under his sway, and had maltreated the Protestants in various ways. In 1689 King William sent Duke Schomberg, with a body of troops, to aid the Protestants, and in 1690 His Majesty resolved to take the field in person. The Queen's regiment of foot was selected to form part of the army in Ireland, and having embarked from Barnstaple in the middle of April, put to sea, but was driven by severe weather to Pembroke. Here the regiment remained about a week, and having again put to sea on the 30th of April, landed at Belfast on the 2d of May. King William arrived in Ireland on the 14th of June, and placing himself at the head of the army, advanced to the banks of the Boyne, on the opposite side of which river King James's army was formed in order of battle.

At day-break on the morning of the 1st of July, the regiment was under arms, every man displaying a green branch in his hat, to distinguish him from the enemy, who wore pieces of white paper in their hats, and the cheerful countenances of the musketeers, pikemen, and grenadiers seemed to give presage of victory. About six o'clock the regiment, with the remainder of Brigadier-General Trelawny's brigade, forming part of the force under Count Schomberg and Lieut.-General Douglas, filed to the right, and having marched about two miles up the river, forded the stream between the King's camp and Slane bridge. Sir Neal O'Neal's regiment of Irish dragoons, in the service of King James, offered some opposition; but was speedily routed and its commanding officer was mortally wounded. After passing the river, Trelawny's brigade halted a short time until additional forces arrived; then advancing through corn fields, over deep ditches, and across a difficult bog, drove the enemy's left wing from its ground in a spirited manner, and forced it to make a precipitate retreat towards Duleek. When the enemy's left flank was thus turned, King William passed the river with the other divisions of his army, and King James's forces were overpowered and chased from the field. Thus a decisive victory was gained, and the troops halted during the night near Duleek.

The regiment advanced with the army upon Dublin, and at the review at Finglass, on the 7th and 8th of July, it mustered (according to the official rolls) five hundred and fifty-three private men, besides officers and non-commissioned officers. The enemy having fled from Dublin, the regiment was stationed several weeks in garrison in that city, of which its colonel was appointed governor.

Meanwhile the combined English and Dutch fleets, commanded by Lord Torrington and Admiral Evertsen, had engaged (30th of June) the French fleet under the Count de Tourville, off the Beachy, and the Dutch, being in the van, suffered so severely, that the enemy not only claimed the victory, but actually gained the ascendancy at sea, and menaced England with an invasion. A body of French landed on the western coast, and destroyed a village, and this event having produced considerable alarm, King William ordered this regiment and several other corps to return to England.[12]

After its arrival in England the regiment was encamped on Southsea common, near Portsmouth, and in the autumn, the danger of foreign invasion having passed away, it was selected to form part of an expedition to Ireland under the Earl of Marlborough, (afterwards the great Duke of Marlborough.) The troops employed on this service[13] embarked about the middle of September, and arrived in Cork roads on the 21st of that month. The fleet entered the harbour on the following day, and the co-operation of part of the army on shore having been secured, the troops landed on the 23d and besieged the city of Cork. A breach having been made, four English regiments, under Brigadier-General Churchill and a body of Danes, passed the river on the 28th of September, wading up to the arm-pits to the east marsh, in order to storm the city wall on that side. The grenadiers under Lord Colchester led the attack, and, while advancing, the Duke of Grafton, who accompanied the storming party in the character of a volunteer, received a mortal wound. Before the storming party gained the breach, the enemy hung out a white flag, and agreed to surrender.

Kinsale was afterwards besieged, and the enemy immediately vacated the town and retired into the Old and New Forts. The Old Fort was taken by storm on the 2d of October; and a breach having been made in the New Fort, the garrison surrendered on the 15th of October.

After the capture of these fortresses the regiment was placed in garrison in Cork, where it remained during the winter.

In the spring of 1691, when the army took the field under General De Ginkell, (afterwards Earl of Athlone,) this regiment was left in reserve in the county of Cork, to secure the garrisons, and to keep in check the bands of armed Roman Catholic peasantry, who prowled about the country committing every description of depredation; and, while employed in this service, detachments of the regiment had occasional encounters with the enemy's parties. After the overthrow of the Irish and French forces at Aughrim, the regiment was ordered to march from the county of Cork, and it joined the main army in the wild and desolate part of the country called Shalley. Advancing from thence to Limerick, it was engaged in the siege of this place, which was terminated by the surrender of the garrison in September, on condition of being permitted to proceed to France. Indemnity was also granted to the Roman Catholics who had engaged in this contest, and the power of King James was finally suppressed in Ireland.

After so many of the Irish regiments as were willing had proceeded to France, where they were taken into the service of Louis XIV., the other Irish corps which had fought in King James's cause were disbanded, and the regiment which forms the subject of this memoir returned to England, and immediately commenced recruiting its numbers.

On the 1st of January, 1692, the colonelcy was conferred on the lieut.-colonel, Henry Trelawny, vice Major-General Charles Trelawny, who was appointed Governor of Plymouth.

The regiment was allowed but a short period for the purpose of recruiting, before it was ordered to hold itself in readiness to proceed to the Netherlands, and having embarked at Portsmouth, sailed on the 31st of March, 1692; contrary winds, however, forced the transports to anchor in the Downs until the middle of April, when they sailed to Ostend. After landing, the regiment went into cantonments among the Belgic peasantry, and subsequently took the field with the army commanded by King William in person.

The regiment took part in the operations of the main army and in the advance to relieve the siege of Namur, which was frustrated by heavy rains. On the 29th of June, it was reviewed by King William and the Elector of Bavaria at the camp on the undulating grounds between Genappe and the forest of Soignies.

It was also present at the battle of Steenkirk, fought on the 24th of July, when the army of King William was repulsed in an attempt to force the position occupied by the French under Marshal Luxemburg. This regiment formed part of the main body, and, owing to the narrow and difficult defiles which lay between the two armies, it was not brought into action, and consequently had no opportunity of distinguishing itself. A detachment of the regiment, sent forward on the preceding evening, joined the advance-guard, and was sharply engaged. The loss on both sides was nearly equal.

The Queen's regiment of foot formed part of a detachment of ten battalions sent from the main army on the 22d of August, under Lieut.-General Talmash, to join a body of troops which had arrived at Ostend from England, under the orders of the Duke of Leinster. These forces were afterwards joined by a body of cavalry, and, having summoned between two and three thousand of the country people with spades and shovels, took and repaired the fortifications of Furnes, a small town situated upon the canal, two leagues from Nieuport and five from Dunkirk. After placing this town in a condition to resist an assault, the troops proceeded to Dixmude, and fortified and garrisoned the town. The regiment subsequently marched to Bruges, and went into cantonments in the villages near the banks of the canal between that place and Ghent; but the French having advanced to Charleroi, the regiment quitted its village cantonments and joined the main army at Drongen. The French Marshal, Boufflers, bombarded the lower town of Charleroi, and afterwards retreated, when this regiment returned to its former quarters.

During the winter a detachment was ordered to advance to the relief of Furnes, which was besieged by a French force under Marshal Boufflers; but the roads were so bad from heavy rains that, according to D'Auvergne, "several soldiers sunk almost to the middle in mud, and several horses remained stuck in it." This occasioned some delay, and the garrison surrendered on the 4th of January, 1693. The Dutch garrison at Dixmude, being alarmed at having the enemy so near them, withdrew from the place.

The detachment afterwards returned to its quarters, and in May the Queen's regiment took the field with the army, and was posted in the second line at the celebrated position of Parck camp, the possession of which enabled King William to defeat the enemy's designs on Brabant.

In the movements which preceded the battle of Landen, which was fought on the 19th of July, 1693, the regiment also took part; and on the night before the battle it was posted in the village of Neer-Landen, on the left of the position; but on the following morning, when the French columns were seen advancing to the attack, the Queen's and Prince George of Denmark's (now third) regiments were withdrawn from Neer-Landen, and ordered to take post in the village of Laér, to reinforce Brigadier-General Ramsay's brigade.

Scarcely had the regiment gained its post, when the glistening of bayonets and pikes, perceived at intervals above the undulations, gave indication of the approaching enemy; a cloud of light musketeers and grenadiers soon cleared the intervening space and attacked the village with great fury; and the defenders opened a most galling and destructive fire on their assailants. The enemy, by continually reinforcing the corps engaged, succeeded, after a severe struggle, in gaining some advantage; but the British troops renewed the conflict and regained their lost ground. Again the enemy brought forward his rallied forces, and a brigade of dragoons dismounting and joining in the attack, the village of Laér was carried. Brigadier-General Ramsay rallied his brigade, and after a short address, led the regiments to the attack. The French were exulting in their success, when suddenly a loud British huzza burst like a clap of thunder on their astonished ears, and the next moment the charging Britons broke through all opposition, forced the village, and in a short time cleared it of opponents.

The enemy, by his great superiority of numbers, was enabled to bring forward fresh troops, and he eventually succeeded in forcing the position at the village of Neer-Winden. The village of Laér was then no longer tenable, and the regiments were forced to retire, fighting, across the river Gheet. The King ordered the army to make a retrograde movement, which was not effected without considerable confusion and loss. The Queen's regiment had Captain Crofts and Lieutenant Woodstock killed; Captain Wharton wounded; and Captain Carroll and Lieutenant Cole wounded and taken prisoners: of its loss in non-commissioned officers and private men, no account appears to have been preserved.

The enemy's loss in killed and wounded was so great that he derived little advantage from the victory.

The Queen's regiment continued with the main army until the autumn, when it marched into garrison at Malines.

The regiment marched out of Malines in May 1694, and pitched its tents near the cloister of Terbank, where three English and thirty-six Dutch battalions were encamped. During the campaign of this year two magnificent armies manœuvred on the plains of Flanders and Brabant, but no general engagement occurred. In September the Queen's regiment of foot formed part of the covering army during the siege of Huy, which place was taken by capitulation, and the regiment subsequently marched to its former station at Malines.

In 1695 the regiment again took the field, and was employed in the movements which preceded the siege of the important fortress of Namur. The attack of this city excited universal attention throughout Europe. The strength of the place both by nature and art,—the extent of the castle, situated on a rock, with the works by which it was surrounded,—the number of veteran troops in the town,—the character of their commander (Marshal Boufflers),—the fact that this was one of the most important of the French king's conquests, and consequently strenuous exertions would be used for its preservation,—with the immense armies employed in covering and carrying on the siege, or in attempting to relieve the garrison, gave an important character to this undertaking, which produced a lively feeling of interest throughout Christendom; and the Queen's was one of the regiments which had the honor of taking part in the enterprise.

When Namur was first invested, this regiment remained with the covering army under the veteran Prince of Vaudemont; but it formed part of the force detached on the 24th of June under Lord Cutts, and joined the besieging troops on the 1st of July. During the night of the 8th of that month a detachment from the grenadier company was engaged in storming the covered way which the enemy had constructed on the hill of Bouge, in which service Captain Selby was wounded, and several private men were killed and wounded.

The regiment was on duty in the trenches on the 9th, and also on the 13th of July; on the 17th the grenadiers were engaged in storming the counterscarp. The assaulting party of 500 grenadiers was commanded by Colonel Collingwood, with Major Carryle of the Queen's regiment second in command. The attack was made about five o'clock in the evening; the enemy defended their post with great bravery; every inch of ground was disputed; but the counterscarp was eventually carried. The regiment lost many men on this occasion; Captain Carter (son of Rear-Admiral Carter who was killed at Barfleur) was killed in the covered-way, and Major Carryle was wounded.

On the night of the 23rd of July a detachment of the regiment was engaged in extending the lodgement on the right of the bastion of St. Roche, and had Ensign Nuby killed; also Captain Mitchell and Lieutenant Cole wounded. On the succeeding day the batteries kept up an incessant fire, and preparations were made for a general assault; but this was prevented by the enemy agreeing to surrender the town, which they vacated on the 25th, and retired into the castle.

This regiment having sustained considerable loss during the siege of the town, marched from the lines of circumvallation on the 27th of July towards Brussels, forming part of the division under Lieut.-General Count Nassau, sent to reinforce the covering army under the Prince of Vaudemont, to enable him to oppose the immense French army commanded by Marshal Villeroy. The enemy advanced to Brussels and bombarded the city, and subsequently marched towards Namur; when this regiment was withdrawn from its camp between Genappe and Waterloo, and advanced to oppose the enemy's design of relieving the castle of Namur. The position which the army took up before Namur frustrated the purposes of the French marshal; and on the 20th of August, a detachment of the regiment was engaged under Lord Cutts in storming the counterscarp and breach of Terra Nova, in which service it had Lieutenant D'Arneau and several men killed. Preparations were subsequently made for a second assault on the castle; when Marshal Boufflers agreed to surrender on honourable terms, and thus this stupendous fortress was captured; the achievement reflected glory on the British arms and those of the several nations composing the army commanded by King William. The most brilliant feature in this enterprise, however, derived its lustre from the fact, that other monarchs had made conquests for themselves, to oppress their neighbours, or to raise a powerful monarchy out of the ruins of other states; but the King of England waged war for the good of Europe, and to establish liberty and peace upon a lasting foundation. After the damage done to the works of Namur had been repaired, the regiment returned to its former quarters at Malines.