In the spring of 1705, the losses of the preceding campaign were replaced by the arrival of one hundred and fifty recruits from England; and when the regiment took the field, its appearance and efficiency were commended by the Duke of Marlborough at the general review of the army. The regiment proceeded, in the first instance, to the vicinity of Maestricht,—afterwards marched to Juliers, from whence it traversed a mountainous country to the valley of the Moselle, and towards the end of May pitched its tents near the ancient city of Treves. In the early part of June, the army passed the Moselle and Saar rivers, and the English general was prepared to carry on the war in Alsace. The co-operation of the imperialists under the Margrave of Baden was, however, so long delayed that the British commander was forced to return to the Netherlands, to arrest the progress of the French arms in that quarter. The regiment shared in the difficulties of the retrograde movement to the Maese; and on the return of the army, the French raised the siege of the citadel of Liege and retired. The French had captured Huy, during the absence of the army up the Moselle; but this fortress was retaken in a few days.

The services of the regiment were next connected with the forcing of the stupendous fortified lines constructed by the French to cover the territory they had seized upon in the Netherlands. These lines were menaced by a detachment on the south of the Mehaine, to draw the French army to that quarter; and were afterwards passed, by a forced march in another direction, during the night of the 17th of July, at Neer-Hespen and Helixem. The French guards at these places were surprised and overpowered early on the morning of the 18th of that month, and the lines were forced with little loss. The Marquis d'Allegre advanced with a large body of French, Spanish, and Bavarian infantry and cavalry, but he was repulsed with severe loss. The Fifteenth were in reserve on this occasion. They shared in the subsequent operations of the campaign: but the designs of the English commander being frustrated by the Dutch generals, the forcing of the lines was not followed by such splendid results as had been anticipated.

After passing the winter in garrison in Holland, the regiment again took the field in May, 1706, and had the honour to serve at the battle of Ramilies, where the forces of France, Spain, and Bavaria sustained a decisive overthrow. This battle occurred on Whitsunday, the 23rd of May. On the morning of that day, the allied army was advancing in the direction of Mont St. André; when the forces of the enemy were discovered in position, with their centre at the village of Ramilies, which was occupied by a numerous body of troops. Having complete reliance on the valour of his soldiers, the English general commenced the action, and in three hours the numerous legions of the enemy were overthrown, and driven from the field with a terrible slaughter. Many prisoners, with cannon, standards, and colours, were captured on this occasion.

The wreck of the French army fled to Louvain, and immediately afterwards abandoned that city and also Brussels. The States of Brabant, and the magistrates of Brussels, renounced their allegiance to King Philip. The principal towns of Brabant, and several places in Flanders, were immediately delivered up, and others surrendered on being summoned, or in a few days afterwards. Ostend, Menin, Dendermond, and Aeth were captured. Towns which had resisted numerous armies for months and years, and provinces disputed for ages, were the conquest of a summer. After sharing in these splendid achievements, the regiment was placed in garrison in Flanders.

During the campaign of 1707, the services of the regiment were limited to marching, and occupying various encampments. No general engagement or siege occurred.

In the spring of 1708 the regiment was called from its winter quarters in Flanders, in consequence of the King of France having fitted out a fleet, and embarked troops at Dunkirk, for the purpose of making a descent on the British coast, in favour of the Pretender. The Fifteenth, and several other regiments, marched from Ghent on the 8th of March, 1708, embarked at Ostend on the 15th, and arrived in England on the 21st; but the French fleet, with the Pretender on board, having been chased from the British shores by the English navy, the regiment returned to Flanders: it landed at Ostend on the 20th of April, and proceeded in boats, along the canal, to Ghent.

Leaving its quarters towards the end of May, the regiment joined the allied army, and was engaged in the active operations which followed. The French gained possession of Ghent and Bruges by treachery.

On the 11th of July, the regiment passed the Scheldt, on a pontoon bridge, between Oudenarde and the abbey of Eename, and engaged the French troops under the Duke of Burgundy and Marshal Vendome, in the fields and open grounds beyond the river. A fierce conflict of musketry ensued; and charge succeeded charge until the shades of evening gathered over the scene, and the progress of the conflict could only be discerned by the flashes of musketry, which pointed out the ground on which the battle raged. The French were forced from their position; part of their army was separated, and nearly destroyed; but it was preserved from complete annihilation by the darkness of the night.

This victory prepared the way for additional conquests; and the Fifteenth foot formed part of the covering army during the siege of the important fortress of Lisle, the capital of French Flanders, which was defended by fifteen thousand men under Marshal Boufflers. The regiment was in position when the united French forces advanced to raise the siege, but were frustrated by the superior tactics of the Duke of Marlborough. The grenadier company of the regiment joined the besieging army, and took part in the attacks on the town.

When the Elector of Bavaria besieged Brussels, the regiment formed part of the force which marched to the relief of that city, passed the Scheldt, and carried the enemy's positions beyond that river on the 27th of November; which was followed by the retreat of the enemy from before Brussels.

The citadel of Lisle surrendered on the 9th of December; Ghent and Bruges were afterwards recaptured, and the regiment had its winter quarters at Ghent.

Having reposed a few months in quarters, and received a body of recruits from England, the regiment traversed the conquered territory to Lisle, in June, 1709, and afterwards took part in the manœuvres by which Marshal Villars was induced to reduce the strength of his garrisons in his fortified towns, to reinforce a line of entrenchments and forts, in which he expected to be attacked. This object gained, the siege of Tournay was immediately commenced; and the Fifteenth foot, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Andrew Armstrong, formed part of the covering army; but when the town surrendered, the regiment joined the besieging force, and took part in the attacks on the castle. This proved a desperate service. The citadel of Tournay was celebrated for the multiplicity of its under-ground works, and the approaches were carried on by sinking pits, and excavating subterraneous passages to the enemy's casemates and mines. The soldiers employed on these works were sometimes drowned with water, suffocated by smoke, and buried by explosions; and at other times parties of the besieging force and of the garrison met, and fought with sword and pistol in these gloomy labyrinths. In these services the Fifteenth regiment had a number of men killed and wounded; it also lost several men from the explosion of a mine, which destroyed a battery.

On the 3rd of September, the citadel of Tournay surrendered; and the army traversed the country towards Mons, the capital of the province of Hainault, leaving the Fifteenth and several other corps at Tournay, to level the approaches and fill the excavations. Immediately after this work was performed, the regiment traversed the country towards Mons, and joined the army, on the morning of the 11th of September, at the moment the columns of attack were advancing to assault the enemy's fortified position at Malplaquet. This proved one of the most sanguinary and hard-contested battles of the war: the confident and fierce attacks of the allies were made against formidable works, defended with resolution, which occasioned a great sacrifice of life; but eventually the position was forced, and the French army retreated with the loss of many colours, standards, cannon, and officers and soldiers made prisoners. The Fifteenth were in reserve on this occasion, and its loss was limited to Brevet Major Leslie, killed, and three or four private soldiers killed and wounded.

This victory was followed by the siege of Mons, and the regiment formed part of the covering army. The garrison surrendered in October.

On the 23rd of October, Major-General Howe was succeeded in the colonelcy of the regiment by Algernon Earl of Hertford, afterwards Duke of Somerset, who had served with reputation at several battles and sieges on the continent.

The regiment quitted its winter quarters at Ghent, on the 14th of April, 1710, and marched to the rendezvous of the army near Tournay. The services of the Fifteenth foot were this year connected with the forcing of the French lines at Pont-à-Vendin, and with the siege and capture of Douay, which fortress surrendered on the 27th of June. They subsequently formed part of the covering army encamped at Villars-Brulin, during the siege of Bethune. This place having surrendered on the 29th of August, and the French army avoiding a general engagement, the fortresses of Aire and St. Venant were invested, and taken; and these conquests were the last important events of the campaign.

After taking part in these services, the regiment marched into quarters at Courtray, where it was stationed during the winter.

Towards the end of April, 1711, the regiment advanced from Courtray, and joining the army near Douay, was formed in brigade with the foot guards, a battalion of the royals, and the twentieth and twenty-third regiments. It was reviewed on the 8th of June, at the camp at Warde, by the Duke of Marlborough; and afterwards took part in the skilful operations by which the enemy's formidable and newly constructed lines were passed at Arleux, on the 5th of August; and this success was followed by the siege of Bouchain, a fortified town of Hainault, situate on both sides of the river Scheldt. The regiment formed part of a division of twenty battalions of infantry, commanded by Lieut.-General the Earl of Orkney, which took post on the north and north-west side of the town and river; and it shared in the duties of the trenches, and in carrying on the attacks, in which services it had several men killed and wounded. The garrison agreed to surrender on the 13th of September.

Thus the French monarch found his armies defeated and dispirited; his fortresses wrested from him, and the victorious legions of the allies prepared to penetrate the interior of his kingdom; and he sued for peace.

In the spring of 1712 the Fifteenth regiment took the field with the army under the Duke of Ormond, who had been appointed to the command in succession to the Duke of Marlborough, and advanced to the frontiers of France. Negociations for peace having commenced, a suspension of hostilities took place between the British and French, and the regiment returned to Ghent; from whence it was afterwards removed to Dunkirk, the French monarch having agreed to deliver up that fortress until the treaty of peace was concluded.

The regiment was stationed at Dunkirk in 1713, and at Nieuport in the early part of 1714.

While the regiment was in Flanders, the decease of Queen Anne, and the accession of King George I., occurred, on the 1st of August, 1714, and soon afterwards the Fifteenth foot, and several other corps, were ordered to return to England.

On the 8th of February, 1715, the Earl of Hertford was promoted to the colonelcy of the second troop (now second regiment) of life guards, and was succeeded in the command of the Fifteenth foot by Colonel Harry Harrison.

The regiment was actively employed in South Britain during the troubles in 1715; but it was not called upon to take the field against the rebels under the Earl of Mar, who were dispersed, in the beginning of 1716, by the King's troops under the Duke of Argyle.

In 1719, the regiment was stationed in Scotland, when the King of Spain fitted out an armament for the invasion of Great Britain in favour of the Pretender. The Spanish fleet was dispersed by a storm; two ships, however, arrived on the coast of Scotland, and four hundred Spaniards and about a hundred Scots and English gentlemen, landed on the 27th of April, at Kintail, and were afterwards joined by about fifteen hundred Highlanders. Against this force, three troops of the Greys, and the eleventh, fourteenth, and Fifteenth regiments of foot, marched from Inverness on the 5th of June, under Major-General Wightman, and encountered the rebels on the 10th of that month, at the pass of Glenshiel; when the Spaniards and Highlanders withdrew a short distance, and formed for battle on the romantic mountain scenery in the pass of Strachell. About five o'clock in the afternoon, the grenadiers of the three regiments climbed the rocky crags, and commenced the action; they were followed by the eleventh, and a detachment of the Fifteenth under Colonel Harrison; at the same time, the Greys galloped forward along the road; and the Spaniards and Highlanders were forced from the lofty ground on which they had taken post. The rebels made a second stand on the top of the hill, but were speedily driven from thence. The Highlanders afterwards dispersed to their homes, and on the following day, the Spaniards surrendered prisoners of war.

On the appearance of a continental war, in 1727, the regiment was augmented, and held in readiness to proceed to Holland, but no embarkation took place.

King George II. reviewed the second and Fifteenth regiments in brigade on Blackheath, on the 29th of June, 1728, and expressed his high approbation of their appearance and movements. The signs of war disappearing, the establishment was afterwards reduced.

When hostilities commenced between Great Britain and Spain, in 1739, the establishment was again augmented.

In the middle of June, 1740, the Fifteenth, twenty-fourth, twenty-seventh regiments, and the six battalions of marines, were encamped on the Isle of Wight, under the orders of General Lord Cathcart. Towards the end of July, the camp broke up, and the Fifteenth, and twenty-fourth regiments, and the six regiments of marines, embarked on board the fleet for the West Indies. Some delay occurred, and after putting to sea, the fleet was twice driven back by contrary winds; on the 26th of October it sailed a third time, and was dispersed by a tempest in the Bay of Biscay; but the greater part of the vessels were recollected and proceeded on the voyage. Arriving at Dominica to provide wood and water, the troops lost their gallant leader, General Lord Cathcart (then colonel of the sixth dragoon guards or Carabineers), who died of dysentery; and the command devolved on Brigadier-General Thomas Wentworth.

The expedition arrived at Jamaica in January, 1741, and the appearance of this force dispelled the apprehension of an attack on that island by the combined fleets of France and Spain, and also enabled the British commanders to act offensively. The expedition put to sea, and after some delay, an attack on Carthagena, the capital of a wealthy province in the country of Terra Firma, in South America, was resolved upon. This place was found strongly fortified, and the garrison reinforced by the crews of a squadron of large ships; at the same time the season for active service in that part of the world was fast passing away; but the design was persevered in, and the fleet having silenced several small forts, the Fifteenth mustering one thousand officers and soldiers, and several other corps, landed on an island near the mouth of the harbour, on the 10th of March, and commenced the siege of the principal fort, or castle, called Bocca-chica. On the evening of the 25th of March, the grenadiers of the Fifteenth, and other regiments, mounted the breach in gallant style, to storm the fortress, when the Spanish garrison fled, and the place was captured without loss.

Channels having been made through the sunk vessels with which the Spaniards had blocked up the entrance to the harbour, the Fifteenth and twenty-fourth re-embarked, and commenced landing near the city of Carthagena. From the place of landing, the two regiments advanced along a defile, preceded by the grenadiers, through a country covered with trees and herbage of luxuriant growth, the interwoven branches forming a shelter impenetrable both to heat and light, and several men were wounded by shots fired from the tracks and openings into the wood. Diverging from the defile, the two regiments encountered a body of Spaniards advantageously posted to dispute the passage, but as the grenadiers sprang forward to commence the attack, the enemy fled. The two regiments proceeded to the vicinity of the castle of St. Lazar, which commands the town, and were followed by the six battalions of marines. The soldiers passed three nights in the open air, for want of tents and tools, and their health was seriously injured.

The siege of the castle was commenced; and as the men were fast decreasing in numbers from the effects of hard duty and climate, Brigadier-General Wentworth was induced to attack the place by escalade, to which dangerous enterprise he was urged by Vice-Admiral Vernon. Twelve hundred men stormed the enemy's entrenchments under the walls of the fort, exposed to a heavy fire of musketry. The grenadiers, led by Colonel Grant, rushed forward with astonishing bravery, and leaping into the lines, carried the works in gallant style. The Spaniards fled over a drawbridge into the fort. The British pursued, and called for ladders to storm the fort; but the fire was so hot, that the Americans who carried the ladders threw them down and fled. Meanwhile the storming party was exposed to a destructive fire. At length three ladders were brought forward, and a serjeant and ten grenadiers mounted the walls, but were instantly cut to pieces, excepting the serjeant, who saved himself by leaping down again. Several of the ladders were found too short: it was ascertained that, owing to a guide having been killed, the attack had been made on the strongest part of the works; Colonel Grant fell mortally wounded; and after sustaining a most destructive fire for several hours with intrepidity and perseverance, the troops were ordered to retire, having sustained a severe loss in killed and wounded.

Violent periodical rains commenced; the country was deluged with water, and the change of atmosphere produced fatal effects on the health of the men, who were drenched with rain. All hope of further success immediately vanished, and the troops returned on board the fleet, where numbers died from the distempers peculiar to the climate.

The forts of the harbour of Carthagena having been demolished, the fleet sailed to Jamaica. The Fifteenth, and several other corps, afterwards sailed to the island of Cuba, where they landed, and a camp was formed twenty miles up one of the large rivers of the island. At this camp, the regiment was stationed some time; and the country was reconnoitred in various directions by detachments. The design of forming a British settlement on that part of the island of Cuba, was, however, abandoned; in November the troops returned on board ship, and were re-conveyed to Jamaica.

Having sustained a severe loss in killed and wounded at Carthagena, and also from the effects of climate, the regiment returned to England in 1742, and commenced recruiting its numbers.

During the years 1743 and 1744, the regiment was stationed in Great Britain.

In the meantime, a British army was supporting the interest of the house of Austria on the Continent; but the French monarch brought so great a superiority of numbers into the field, that the allied army, under His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland, was unable to prevent the enemy gaining possession of several fortified towns in the Austrian Netherlands, during the summer of 1745. Under these circumstances the regiment was sent from England to Ostend, with the view of contributing to the preservation of that place, where it arrived on the 27th of July. The French besieged Ostend, which was defended by a garrison of British and Austrian troops under Lieut.-General Count Chanclos, of the Austrian service, who capitulated after a siege of thirteen days, the garrison being permitted to march out with the honors of war, and proceed to the Austrian territories. The Fifteenth joined the army.

At this period, Charles Edward, eldest son of the Pretender, had aroused the Highland clans to arms, and asserted his father's pretensions to the British throne. This rebellion occasioned the regiment to be recalled from Flanders: it arrived in the river Thames, and landed at Gravesend, on the 25th of October; but it was not ordered to march against the insurgent clans—it was destined to remain in the south of England, to oppose the threatened invasion of the French.

When the hopes of the Pretender had been annihilated by the battle of Culloden, on the 16th of April, 1746, part of the military force of the kingdom became disposable for other services, and the Fifteenth regiment was selected to form part of an expedition against the French possessions in Canada. Various circumstances occasioned the fleet to be detained so long, that this enterprise was deferred, and an attempt on the port of L'Orient, the principal station for the French East India Company's shipping and stores, was resolved upon. The expedition sailed from Plymouth on the 14th of September; on the 20th a landing was effected on the coast of France, and the troops assembled to oppose the debarkation were driven from the shore. On the following day, the British advanced in two columns towards L'Orient; the Fifteenth forming part of the second column. The French militia fired upon the troops from the woods, and put the men of one or two corps into some confusion, when Captain Honorable James Murray led the grenadier company of the Fifteenth forward with great gallantry, and dispersed the enemy. When the leading companies arrived at the village of Plemur, they were fired upon from the houses; but this resistance was speedily overcome, and the people were punished for their temerity. On arriving before L'Orient, the governor proposed to surrender; but the conditions demanded were not acceded to, in consequence of a report of the engineers stating the practicability of reducing the town. The siege was immediately commenced; but the artillery and stores with the expedition proved unequal to the undertaking, and the troops retreated to the coast, and re-embarked without molestation.

Another descent was made on the French coast in October: the troops landing on the peninsula of Quiberon, capturing a fort with eighteen guns, and afterwards destroying the guns and forts in the peninsula, with those in the isles of Houat and Hedic. These services performed, the regiment returned on board the fleet and sailed for England.

Negociations for a treaty of peace were commenced in 1748, at Aix-la-Chapelle. In 1749, the strength of the army was reduced, and the regiment proceeded to Ireland.

After commanding the regiment thirty-four years, Lieut.-General Harrison died, in March of this year, and was succeeded by Colonel John Jordan, from the lieut.-colonelcy of the tenth dragoons, by commission, dated 15th of April, 1749.

In the clothing warrant, dated the 1st of July, 1751, the facing of the regiment is directed to be yellow. The first, or King's colour, to be the great union; the second, or regimental colour, to be of yellow silk, with the union in the upper canton; in the centre the number of the regiment in gold Roman characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk. The uniform at this period was cocked hats bound with white lace; scarlet coats faced and turned up with yellow, and ornamented with white lace; scarlet waistcoat and breeches; white gaiters; white cravats; and buff belts.

The regiment remained in Ireland until the undetermined boundary of the British and French settlements in North America occasioned a rupture between the two kingdoms. The aggressions of the French led to the sending of a body of British troops to North America in 1755; at which period the establishment of the Fifteenth was augmented, and the regiment embarked for England.

Colonel Jordan was removed to the ninth dragoons, in April, 1756, and King George II. conferred the colonelcy of the Fifteenth foot on Colonel Jeffery (afterwards Lord) Amherst, from captain and lieut.-colonel in the first foot guards.

In July of this year the regiment pitched its tents near Blandford, where an encampment was formed of six regiments of foot and two of dragoons under Lieut.-General Sir Charles Howard.

Numerous encampments were formed also in the following year, and the troops held in readiness to repel a threatened invasion of the French. The Fifteenth foot, and four other corps, pitched their tents on Barham-downs, under Charles Duke of Marlborough.

From Barham-downs the regiment proceeded to the Isle of Wight, in order to form part of an expedition against the French naval station of Rochfort, on the river Charente. The Fifteenth, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Honorable Sir James Murray, was formed in brigade with the fifth, twenty-fourth, thirtieth, and fifty-first regiments; the land forces were under Lieut.-General Sir John Mordaunt, and the navy under Admiral Sir Edward Hawke. The fleet sailed in the early part of September; on the 23rd of that month the Isle of Aix was captured, and the forts were afterwards destroyed. Owing to unfavourable weather, a landing could not be effected near Rochfort before the enemy was alarmed and prepared for a vigorous resistance. The troops were repeatedly in readiness to land, and on one occasion the first division was in the boats; but the weather, and other causes, prevented a debarkation taking place. The expedition afterwards returned to England.

Early in the following year, the Fifteenth regiment, mustering eight hundred and fifty officers and soldiers, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Honorable James Murray, embarked for North America, to take part in the attack of the French possessions in that part of the world. It proceeded to Halifax, in Nova Scotia, where the expedition was prepared against Louisburg, the capital of the island of Cape Breton,[11] in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, under the orders of its colonel, Lieut.-General Sir Jeffery Amherst, K.B., the naval force being under Admiral Boscawen. The expedition sailed from Halifax on the 28th of May, and approached Louisburg, on the 2nd of June; but the weather was so unfavourable that a landing could not be effected before the 8th of June. On that occasion, the grenadier company of the Fifteenth formed part of the centre division under the gallant Brigadier-General James Wolfe, designed to force a landing; and the regiment formed part of the left division, under Brigadier-General Lawrence, designed to make a show of landing at Fresh-water Cove, to divert the enemy's attention from the main attack. The division under Brigadier-General Wolfe approached the shore under a heavy fire, and the surf being high, several boats were overset. One boat, containing part of the grenadier company of the Fifteenth, was overset, when Lieutenant Kennedy, two serjeants, and thirteen rank and file, were drowned. The regiment had also Lieutenant Nicholson and eight men killed by the enemy's fire. The survivors, however, jumped into the water with great gallantry, formed on the beach, and being animated by their chivalrous leader, the heroic Wolfe, they rushed upon their opponents with fixed bayonets, and carried the enemy's works in a manner which excited great admiration. The other divisions followed, and before night the army was on shore.

The siege of Louisburg was afterwards commenced; and the Fifteenth regiment took part in this service. In carrying on the approaches, and in making the attacks, the troops underwent great fatigues with a cheerful alacrity, which redounded to their honor. The enemy's sallies were repulsed: the fire of the British artillery destroyed their shipping, silenced their batteries, and damaged their works to so great an extent, that, on the 26th of July, the garrison surrendered prisoners of war; the whole island was also delivered up; and two other small islands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence surrendered. Eleven stand of colours were captured on this occasion, and sent to England.

Besides the officers and soldiers killed in effecting a landing, the regiment had also Lieutenant Campbell killed; Lieutenant Hamilton, Lieutenant and Adjutant Mukens, and Ensign Moneypenny, wounded during the siege of Louisburg. The regiment had also a considerable number of private soldiers killed and wounded.

The arrival of the news of this gallant exploit produced great sensation in England; the captured colours were presented to the King, and conducted by a splendid cavalcade from Kensington Palace to St. Paul's Cathedral. The meritorious conduct of the officers and soldiers of the expedition was rewarded with the approbation of their Sovereign and the thanks of Parliament.

The Fifteenth were stationed at Louisburg during the remainder of the year.

From Louisburg the regiment sailed in the beginning of June, 1759, with the expedition against Quebec, under Major-General James Wolfe; and was formed in brigade with the forty-third, forty-eighth, and seventy-eighth foot, under Brigadier-General Monckton. Towards the end of June, the army landed at Orleans,—a large, fertile, and well-cultivated island in the river St. Lawrence, below Quebec,—and commenced preparations for carrying on the object of the expedition.

The French General, the Marquis of Montcalm, possessed a superiority of numbers over the invading force, and he had made excellent dispositions for the defence of the country: but the English Commander had complete reliance on the valour of his troops, whose confidence he possessed to an extraordinary degree. The Fifteenth foot, and three other regiments, were detached under Brigadier-General Monckton, against Point Levi, on the east shore of the river, from whence a body of the enemy was driven; at the same time a body of troops, under Colonel Carleton, took possession of the western point of the island of Orleans, and both these posts were fortified. Sixteen hundred of the enemy attempted to retake Point Levi, but were repulsed; and a mortar battery, constructed at that post, fired on Quebec, destroying the lower town, and damaging the upper town. Having finished the works on the island of Orleans, the army crossed the north channel of the river in boats, and landed below the splendid waterfalls of Montmorenci; and arrangements were made for attacking the enemy's position beyond the river Montmorenci, in which the Fifteenth regiment was ordered to co-operate.

As the regiment was crossing the river in boats from Point Levi, the grenadiers effected a landing, and commenced the action prematurely, before their formation was completed and before the troops designed to sustain them had arrived; and they were repulsed. They reformed behind the corps from Point Levi, the Fifteenth and seventy-eighth; but the excess of ardour, without sufficient attention to discipline, occasioned the loss of five hundred officers and men, and the failure of the operation.[12]

Difficulties, calculated to perplex and discourage the most resolute and intelligent commander, presented themselves; but the English general evinced talent and perseverance. No prospect of final success, by advancing across the river Montmorenci, presenting itself, the troops re-embarked and proceeded to Point Levi; they afterwards sailed a considerable distance up the river; but it was found impossible to annoy the enemy above the town. A desperate resolution was subsequently formed, to retire a little down the river, land in the night within a league of Cape Diamond, ascend the heights of Abraham, and gain possession of the ground at the back of the city.

At midnight on the 12th of September, the troops went on board the boats, and at one o'clock the first division moved down the river; an officer who spoke the French language, answering the challenges of the enemy's sentries on the shore. A landing was effected: the officers and men climbed the steep woody precipice, pulling themselves up by roots and branches of trees with admirable courage and activity, dislodged a captain's guard, and gained the heights. The Fifteenth and other corps followed.

When the French general was informed that the English had gained the heights of Abraham, he instantly collected his forces and advanced to give battle; and Major-General Wolfe, observing the approach of the hostile troops, formed line, the Fifteenth being posted in reserve. The enemy manifesting a design against the British left, the Fifteenth were removed to that flank by Brigadier-General Townshend, and were formed en potence, presenting two fronts to the enemy.

About nine o'clock the action commenced, and was particularly severe on the right, at which point the British regiments behaved with extraordinary gallantry, charging with bayonets, and overthrowing all opposition. In the midst of the action, Major-General Wolfe was shot in the breast, and he expired at the moment of victory. Brigadier-General Monckton was also wounded, and the command devolved on Brigadier-General Townshend, who had scarcely formed the troops after the pursuit, when a fresh body of the enemy appeared in his rear: he detached two regiments against them, and the enemy fled to the woods. The French commander, the Marquis of Montcalm, was mortally wounded; and his second in command, Brigadier-General de Senezergue, was wounded and taken prisoner, and he died on board an English ship on the following day.

This victory was gained with the loss of about fifty men killed, and five hundred wounded; but the fall of Major-General James Wolfe was a national loss. He possessed an animating fervour of sentiment,—an intuitive perception,—extensive capacity,—personal bravery beyond all estimation,—and an unbounded thirst for glory; these bright qualities were combined with every species of military knowledge that study could comprehend, and actual service illustrate; and, while the sublimity of his genius soared above ordinary minds, his generous disposition, and complacent deportment, procured him universal esteem. The soldiers admired and loved him.

After this victory, preparations were made for prosecuting the siege of Quebec; but further loss of life was prevented by the surrender of the garrison.

This conquest produced great joy in England; a day of thanksgiving was set apart by proclamation; and the thanks of Parliament, with the approbation of their Sovereign, were conveyed to the troops: also an abundant supply of warm clothing, purchased by public subscription, for the use of the men in the cold climate of Quebec.

The loss of the regiment in the several actions near Quebec, was one surgeon's mate, two serjeants, and eleven rank and file killed; Major Paulus Armil Irving, Captain Arthur Loftus, Lieutenants Samuel Rutherford, John Maxwell, senior, John Maxwell, junior, William Skeane, Robert Ross, James Leslie, Lieut. and Adjutant Francis Mekins, Ensigns Edmund Wroth, Samuel Baker, nine serjeants, one drummer, and ninety-seven rank and file, wounded.

The Lieut.-Colonel of the Fifteenth foot, Colonel Honorable James Murray, was rewarded with the appointment of Colonel-commandant of a battalion of the sixtieth regiment, and Governor of Quebec, in which fortress the Fifteenth were stationed during the winter, and they suffered severely from scurvy, occasioned by living constantly on salt provisions.

Resolving, if possible, to regain possession of Quebec, a French force, commanded by the Chevalier de Louis, advanced from Montreal towards the end of April, 1760; the enemy attempted to cut off the British out-posts, but was frustrated by the advance of the piquets, the grenadiers, and the Fifteenth regiment.

Brigadier-General Murray led the garrison of Quebec forward to meet the enemy, whom he engaged on the 28th of April, near the village of Sillery, and gained some advantage; but the superior numbers of the enemy rendered a retreat necessary, which was executed in good order.

The enemy besieged Quebec, and the Fifteenth regiment had the honour of taking part in a successful defence of that important fortress. The governor stated in his despatch,—'I flatter myself the extraordinary performances of the handful of brave men I had left, will please His Majesty as much as they surprised us, who were eye-witnesses of them.' While the garrison was making a resolute defence, a British naval force arrived in the river, destroyed the enemy's vessels near the town, and cannonaded their lines. On the morning of the 17th of May, the Fifteenth were under arms, to make a sally on the besieging force; but the French camp was found empty, and the tents standing. A pursuit was ordered, and some prisoners and baggage were captured.

In June a detachment of the regiment advanced up the river, in vessels, to co-operate with the troops under General Sir Jeffery Amherst, in an attack on the French army at Montreal. The British advanced upon Montreal from three different points, and by a well-arranged combination the whole were united before that place in the early part of September. The French governor, the Marquis of Vaudreuil, being unable to withstand the British arms, surrendered; and the conquest of Canada was thus accomplished.

After this success, the regiment was assembled at Montreal, and it was one of the corps which occupied that place for several months.

In the spring of 1761, the regiment proceeded up Lake Champlain in boats, marched from the shore of the lake to Albany, and afterwards sailed down the Hudson river to New York. In June it was encamped on Staten Island, and in October sailed for Barbadoes, where an expedition was assembled under Major-General Monckton, for an attack on the French island of Martinique, and the Fifteenth was one of the corps selected for this service.

The expedition sailed from Carlisle-bay on the 5th of January, 1762, and a landing was effected on the island of Martinique in the middle of that month. The Fifteenth were actively employed in the operations necessary to bring the enemy to submission, and some severe fighting took place, in which the regiment had several men killed and wounded; Captain Prescott and Lieutenant Leslie, being among the latter. The governor, M. Le Vassor de la Touche, surrendered the island in February.

War having been declared against Spain, the regiment was attached to the armament under General the Earl of Albemarle, destined to attack the valuable settlement of the Havannah, on the island of Cuba. Passing through the straits of Bahama, the expedition arrived within six leagues of the Havannah on the 6th of June; a landing was effected on the following day; and on the 9th, the troops took up a position between Coximar and the Moro, a fort which it was deemed necessary to besiege and capture before an attack was made on the town. In this service, great hardships had to be endured; a thin soil, hardly sufficient to cover the troops in their approaches, a scarcity of water, and the labour of dragging the artillery several miles over a rocky country, and under a burning sun, called forth the efforts of the army and navy. The works were carried on, the sallies of the enemy were repulsed, and the Moro fort was captured by storm on the 30th of July. A series of batteries were erected against the town; and on the 11th of August they opened so well-directed a fire, that the guns of the garrison were silenced, and flags of truce were hung out from the town, and ships in the harbour. The terms of capitulation were agreed upon, and the British took possession of this valuable settlement, with nine men of war in the harbour, and two upon the stocks.

The regiment lost a number of men on this important service; Lieutenant Skene was among the killed; Captain Tyrwhitt and Lieutenant Winter died from the effects of climate.

After the capture of the Havannah, the regiment was stationed at that place eleven months.