King William conferred the colonelcy of the Fifteenth regiment on Colonel Emanuel Howe, from captain and lieut.-colonel in the first foot guards.
1696
After passing several months at Damme, and receiving a detachment of recruits from England, the regiment marched, early in 1696, to Bruges, where it was left in garrison when the army took the field. On the 20th of May, it marched out of Bruges, and pitched its tents along the banks of the canal, where it was posted several weeks.
The regiment served the campaign of this year with the army of Flanders, under the Prince of Vaudemont; it was formed in brigade with a battalion of the royals, the twelfth, and Collingwood's (afterwards disbanded) regiments, under Brigadier-General the Earl of Orkney; and was stationed, during the summer, along the banks of the Bruges canal, to cover Ghent, Bruges, and the maritime towns of West Flanders, which service was fully accomplished.
In the autumn, the regiment marched into garrison at Bruges, where five regiments of cavalry and eleven of infantry were stationed during the winter.
1697
On the 13th of March, 1697, the regiment quitted Bruges, and proceeded to Brussels, from whence it advanced, through the forest of Soignies, and pitched its tents near the village of Waterloo. It served the campaign of this year with the army of Brabant, under King William; and brought into the field forty officers, thirty-four serjeants, twenty-five drummers, sixty-three grenadiers, one hundred and sixty pikemen, and five hundred and eighty musketeers (including men detached). The Fifteenth, seventeenth, twenty-seventh, Collingwood's, and Saunderson's (afterwards disbanded) regiments, were formed in brigade under Brigadier-General Tiffin, in the division commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Henry Bellasis.
The regiment took part in the operations of the campaign; and when the French commanders menaced Brussels with a siege, the Fifteenth marched with the army, from Waterloo through the forest, during the night of the 22nd of June, in dark and tempestuous weather, and taking post before that city, was instrumental in defeating the designs of the enemy.
After the regiment had been encamped before Brussels nearly three months, hostilities were terminated by the treaty of Ryswick; and the efforts of the British monarch, to arrest the progress of French conquests and preserve the liberties of Europe, were thus attended with success. The restoration of peace being accomplished, the regiment proceeded in boats down the canal to Bruges, and during the winter it embarked for England.
1698