The Fifteenth foot formed part of the covering army during the siege of Venloo, which town surrendered on the 25th of September. The services of the regiment were afterwards connected with the siege and capture of Ruremonde, in the early part of October; and the Fifteenth foot was also one of the corps which advanced to the city of Liege, took possession of that place, and undertook the siege of the citadel. The grenadiers of the regiment took part in the storm of the citadel of Liege, on the 23rd of October, on which occasion the British soldiers highly distinguished themselves, and captured the place in gallant style. A detached fortress, called the Chartreuse, surrendered a few days afterwards: and these conquests terminated the campaign. The regiment quitted the pleasant valley of Liege on the 3rd of November, and marched back to Holland, where it passed the winter in garrison.
1703
From their pleasant quarters among the Dutch peasantry, the soldiers of the Fifteenth foot were called, in the spring of 1703, to participate in the achievements of another campaign; and while the Duke of Marlborough was besieging Bonn, they directed their march towards the Maese; and they were in position before Maestricht, when the French army, under Marshals Villeroy and Boufflers, approached that place; but after some cannonading and skirmishing, the enemy withdrew, without hazarding a general engagement.
After the surrender of Bonn, the allied army assembled at Maestricht, and the Fifteenth were formed in brigade with a battalion of the foot guards, a battalion of the royals, and the ninth, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth regiments, under Brigadier-General Withers, in the division commanded by Lieut.-General Churchill. The French forces taking post behind their fortified lines, operations were continued against their fortified towns, and the services of the Fifteenth foot were connected with the siege and capture of Huy, a fortress in the valley of the Maese, which surrendered on the 25th of August. The regiment also participated in the services connected with the siege of Limburg, and this fortress surrendered on the 28th of September. After these conquests, the regiment marched to Dutch Brabant, and passed several months in garrison.
1704
In the early part of 1704, a detachment of the regiment proceeded to Maestricht, to take part in the duties of that garrison, while the Dutch troops were working at the fortifications on the heights of Petersberg.
In the meantime, the progress of the war had assumed an unfavourable aspect in Germany; the Elector of Bavaria had embraced the French interest, and having been joined by a numerous body of the forces of Louis XIV., he had gained considerable advantage over the army of the empire. Under these circumstances, the Duke of Marlborough resolved to lead the British troops from the ocean to the Danube, and make a powerful effort to change the fortune of the war, in the heart of Germany.
To engage in this splendid enterprise, which was replete with important results, the Fifteenth foot marched towards the Rhine in the early part of May, and were joined at Bedburg by the detachment from Maestricht. The designs of the British commander were secret; the object, for which the movements were made, held Europe in perplexing anxiety, suspended the operations of the Elector of Bavaria, and confounded the French Generals; and the moment the advance assumed a specific direction, the enemy was no longer able to render the plan abortive. Arriving in the heart of Germany, the regiment was formed in brigade with a battalion of the royals, and the twenty-sixth and thirty-seventh regiments, and this brigade was posted in the second line.
At three o'clock on the morning of the 2nd of July, the army advanced in the direction of Donawerth, to attack a body of French and Bavarians under Count d'Arco, in an entrenched camp on the heights of Schellenberg, on the left bank of the Danube. Arriving in front of the enemy's position, the attack was commenced about six in the evening, by a detachment from each British corps, and the foot guards, royals, and twenty-third regiments. The difficulty of the ground,—the formidable preparations of the enemy,—and the steady bravery of the Bavarians, occasioned this to prove a particularly severe contest; but the determined assaults of the British soldiers shook the strength and weakened the resistance of the enemy; and eventually the soldiers of the allied army overpowered all resistance, captured the heights, and pursued the French and Bavarians across the Danube, capturing sixteen pieces of artillery, a number of standards and colours, with the enemy's tents, and the equipage and plate of the Bavarian commander.