The Fifteenth regiment shared in this splendid triumph of the British arms on the banks of the Danube. Its loss was one serjeant and nine rank and file killed; Captains Bolton and Lesley, Lieutenant Morris, three serjeants, and nineteen rank and file wounded.
After this victory the army penetrated the country of Bavaria, and the Elector concentrated his forces at Augsburg, where he formed an entrenched camp. The Fifteenth regiment advanced to the vicinity of Augsburg; but the fortified camp was found too strong to be attacked with any prospect of success, and the troops retired a few stages; the Germans commencing the siege of Ingoldstadt, and the British troops forming part of the covering army.
The Elector of Bavaria quitted his entrenched camp, and joined the reinforcements sent him by the French monarch; the united armies encamping near the village of Blenheim, in the valley of the Danube.
Commanding soldiers whose chivalrous spirit panted for distinction in the shock of battle, the British general led his columns forward, on the morning of the memorable 13th of August, 1704, in full confidence in the firmness and prowess of his troops. About mid-day a column, of which the Fifteenth foot, under Lieut.-Colonel William Britton, formed part, developed its attack against the enemy's right, under Lieut.-General Lord Cutts and Major-General Wills. The tenth, Fifteenth, twenty-first, twenty-third, and twenty-fourth regiments, under Brigadier-General Row, led the attack in gallant style, followed by four battalions of Hessians, and supported by eleven battalions of infantry, and fifteen squadrons of horse and dragoons. This column proceeded to the banks of the little river Nebel, and took possession of two water-mills, which the enemy had evacuated and set on fire; then advancing through the enclosures, made a determined attack on the French troops posted in the village of Blenheim; Brigadier-General Row striking his sword into the enemy's pallisades before he gave the word "fire." The assault was made with spirit and resolution, but the brigade was unable to force the entrenchments against the superior numbers of the enemy; and while retiring it was charged by the French troopers, who were repulsed by the Hessian brigade. After repeated attempts on the village had proved unavailing, a few corps blockaded the avenues; the army traversed the rivulet, and attacking the French position along the front, engaged in a sanguinary conflict. The combat of musketry, and the charges of the cavalry, were continued with varied success; and amidst this storm of war, the Fifteenth regiment had repeated opportunities of distinguishing itself. Eventually the legions of the enemy were overpowered, driven from the field with great slaughter, and the loss of many officers and men taken prisoners, among whom was the French commander, Marshal Tallard.
The main body of the French army being defeated with the loss of its artillery and baggage, the troops posted in Blenheim attempted to escape by the rear of the village; but were repulsed. They were environed on every side, and being unable to effect their escape, twenty-four battalions of infantry, and twelve squadrons of cavalry, surrendered prisoners of war. Thus ended the mighty struggle of this eventful day. Bavaria was subdued; the German empire was delivered from the menaced danger; the terrors of the British arms alarmed the states of Italy which supported the Bourbon cause; and the tide of war flowed prosperously in the interest of the allies.
Major Cornwallis, Captain Tankard, Lieutenants Kerr and Simpson, and Ensign Jackson, of the Fifteenth regiment, were killed; Lieut.-Colonel Britton, Major Armstrong, Captains Villebonne and Gaston, Lieutenants Barton, Dickenson, and Harrison, Ensigns Lesley, Hargrave, Edwards, Dean, Patrick, and Dawson, wounded: the number of non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the regiment killed and wounded, has not been ascertained.
After this victory, the army traversed the country in triumph; the enemy abandoning several important cities and towns, which were taken possession of by the allies. The Fifteenth regiment proceeded through the circle of Suabia, and directed its march on Philipsburg, where it crossed the Rhine on the 7th of September, and was subsequently encamped at Croon-Weissemberg, forming part of the covering army during the siege of Landau by the Germans. At the termination of this splendid campaign, the regiment struck its tents, and embarking in boats on the Rhine, sailed down that river to the Netherlands, where it passed the winter.
1705
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.