In the spring of 1692, the King of France assembled an army near La Hogue, and prepared an immense fleet to convey the troops to England, to replace King James on the throne. When this menace of invasion was given, the Earl of Meath's and several other regiments embarked at Waterford for England, and landing at Bristol, proceeded from thence to Portsmouth. Meanwhile the British and Dutch fleets had put to sea, and while the nations of Europe were gazing, in anxious expectation, at these preparations, the French navy was nearly annihilated in a decisive action off La Hogue, when the alarm of invasion ceased.
Soon after this victory a powerful armament was placed under the orders of Lieut.-General Meinhardt Duke of Leinster (afterwards Duke Schomberg) for the purpose of making a descent on the coast of France, and the Earl of Meath's regiment was one of the corps which embarked on this service. The court of France had, however, drawn so immense a number of troops to the coast, that it was not thought advisable to land, and the fleet sailed to the Downs, where orders were received for a number of regiments to proceed to Flanders. The transports sailed to Ostend, where the Earl of Meath's and several other corps landed, and being joined by a detachment from the confederate army under King William, they took and fortified the towns of Furnes and Dixmude. This service being completed, the regiment embarked for England; it encountered a severe storm at sea, and the transports were separated, but no loss was sustained; part of the regiment arrived in the Thames, the remainder landed at Harwich, and the whole were united at Bristol.
The Earl of Meath, being desirous of devoting his attention to the interests of Ireland, retired from the regiment, and was succeeded in the colonelcy by the lieut.-colonel, Frederick Hamilton; Major Ormsby was promoted Lieut.-Colonel, and Captain Richard Stearne Major.
1693
From Bristol the regiment marched in May, 1693, to Portsmouth, where it embarked on board the fleet to serve as marines, and in June sailed to Torbay, where the Dutch squadron joined. The first service undertaken was the protection of about four hundred merchant ships belonging to England, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Hamburg, and Flanders, engaged in the Mediterranean trade. As the fleet proceeded through the Channel, it presented a splendid appearance. Captain Parker states—"All the sea, from the line of battle to our English coast, seemed as a floating wood covered with canvass; and as the weather was very fair, the whole made a most glorious appearance." After protecting the merchant-vessels through the Bay of Biscay, the grand fleet returned, leaving a squadron under Admiral Sir George Rooke, to continue the voyage with them. The French monarch had made powerful efforts to send to sea a formidable fleet, which attempted to intercept the merchantmen and convoy under Sir George Rooke. The English admiral avoided an engagement with so superior a force, and brought off the greater part of his fleet; but many valuable vessels were captured or destroyed by the enemy. On receiving news of this event, the combined fleets of England and Holland attempted to intercept the French naval force, but it got safe into port.
In the autumn the regiment landed and marched to Norwich.
During the campaign of this year, the confederate army in Flanders had sustained severe loss at the battle of Landen, and efforts were made to increase its numbers, for which purpose Colonel Hamilton's regiment was ordered to proceed abroad. It marched to London in December, was reviewed by King William in Hyde Park, and embarking on the Thames, sailed to Ostend, where it landed, and was stationed several months.
1694
Taking the field in the spring of 1694, the regiment proceeded to the vicinity of Louvain, where it was reviewed by the King, and afterwards took part in the operations of the army. At the camp near Ramilies it was formed in brigade under Major-General Ramsay, and posted between two divisions of cavalry, in the left wing; it afterwards shared in many toilsome marches, also formed part of the covering army during the siege of Huy, and subsequently marched into winter quarters at Ghent.
During this campaign a question arose respecting the rank of regiments, and the King directed the subject to be submitted to a board of general officers.[14] Captain Parker states,—"As the general officers were most of them colonels of regiments raised in England by King James II., they showed great partiality on this occasion, for they would not allow the regiments, raised in Scotland or Ireland, to have any rank in the army previous to the time of their coming to England and entering upon English pay. By this regulation, ours, that had been regimented in the time of King Charles II., lost rank of eleven regiments, that had been raised by King James II. The King thought it very hard; but as he had left the matter to them, he confirmed their sentence." The rank of the regiment was thus fixed as EIGHTEENTH in the British line; numerical titles were, however, not generally used until the reign of George II.[15]