In this year, the Union of Scotland with England having taken place, the Cross of St. Andrew was placed on the colours of the English regiments in addition to the Cross of St. George—previously displayed; and the Royal Regiment obtained as a regimental badge—the Royal Cypher, within the circle of St. Andrew, surmounted with a crown; instead of St. Andrew's Cross, which it had formerly borne on its colours.
1708
While the regiment was reposing in winter quarters in Flanders, the King of France fitted out a fleet and embarked a body of troops at Dunkirk for the purpose of making a descent on the British coast in favour of the Pretender; and the Royals, with the Foot Guards and seven other corps, were ordered to return to England to repel the invaders. The Royal Regiment marched from Ghent on the 8th March, 1708 (O.S.), embarked at Ostend on the 15th, and arrived at Tynemouth on the 21st. Meanwhile the French fleet, with the Pretender on board, had sailed from Dunkirk; but being chased by the British men-of-war, the enemy returned to Dunkirk without effecting a landing. The Royals were then ordered back to Flanders, and having landed at Ostend on the 20th of April, proceeded in boats along the canal to Ghent.
The regiment remained at Ghent until the 22nd of May, when it took the field and engaged in the general operations of the army, and soon afterwards the French obtained possession of Ghent and Bruges by treachery. A more important advantage was, however, gained on the 11th of July by the allied army commanded by the Duke of Marlborough, who crossed the Scheldt and defeated the French army, commanded by the Duke of Burgundy and Marshal Vendôme, near Oudenarde. The Royals formed part of the division of twenty battalions commanded by the Duke of Argyle, and having traversed the Scheldt by the pontoon bridge between Oudenarde and the Abbey of Eename, they ascended the heights of Bevere; then, inclining to the right, engaged the enemy in the fields and open grounds beyond the rivulet. A fierce conflict of musketry ensued, and charge succeeded charge, until the shades of evening gathered over the scene of conflict, and the combatants could only be discerned by the flashes of musketry which blazed in the fields and marshy grounds. The French, having been driven from hedge to hedge, and from thicket to thicket, were eventually overpowered. Part of their army being separated from the remainder was nearly surrounded and destroyed, and the work of destruction was continued until the darkness became so intense that it was impossible to distinguish friends from foes, when the troops were ordered to cease firing. Night favoured the enemy; many of the corps, which were nearly surrounded, escaped in the dark, and the wreck of the French army made a precipitate retreat to Ghent, leaving the allies in possession of the field of battle, with many prisoners, standards, colours, and other indisputable marks of victory.
The Royals were subsequently employed in covering the siege of Lisle, the capital of French Flanders, which was captured by Louis XIV. in 1667, and ceded to France by the treaty of peace in 1668. This city being situated on a plain watered by several streams, and protected by a series of stupendous works constructed under the superintendence of Vauban, the celebrated French engineer, and being defended by a garrison of 15,000 men commanded by the veteran Marshal Boufflers, who was prepared with everything requisite for a protracted defence, the siege was considered an undertaking of great magnitude, and it excited universal attention. The French made strenuous exertions to preserve the place, and an immense body of troops advanced against the covering army, of which the Royal Regiment formed a part; but the French Marshals were dismayed by the determined countenance of the allies, and frustrated by the superior tactics of the Duke of Marlborough. The enemy next attempted to cut off the supplies of military stores and provision from the army; and a quantity of stores having been sent from England to Ostend, and there placed in waggons, one battalion of the Royal Regiment, commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Hamilton, was detached from the covering army to protect the stores from Ostend to the camp. This battalion was sent, in the first instance, to Oudenburg, with orders to wait there until the convoy had passed, and afterwards to join the escort at Turout. The waggons left Ostend on the 27th of September, and continued their route towards the army; at the same time the French commanders sent a detachment of 22,000 men under the orders of Count de la Motte to intercept the convoy. After the waggons had proceeded a considerable distance on their way, the battalion of the Royal Regiment quitted Oudenburg and proceeded to Turout, where information was received of the movements of the enemy, when the battalion marched with all possible expedition to succour the convoy, and arrived at the wood of Wynendale at the moment when Major-General Webb was forming the few troops he had with him in an opening beyond the wood. The French had to pass through the wood, and Major-General Webb placed a battalion in ambush amongst the trees on each side of the defile, and drew up the main body of his detachment, which consisted of about 8000 men, in an open space at the end of the defile. The French advanced in full confidence to overwhelm a force which did not amount to half their own numbers; but, when passing through the wood, they were assailed by the ambush on their left, which put them in some confusion. They, however, continued to advance and broke through two of the battalions of the allies posted at the end of the defile; but the battalion in ambush on the enemy's right having opened its fire, and the head of their column being attacked, the French were repulsed and driven back through the wood. They soon rallied and returned to the attack, and were again assailed by a destructive fire in front and on both flanks, and they shrunk back in dismay. The attack was repeated, and the destructive cross fire was again opened with the same results; and Count de la Motte, being unable to induce his men to return to the charge, he was forced to relinquish the contest and retire. At this moment Lieut.-General Cadogan arrived with a few squadrons of cavalry, and the convoy was conducted in safety to the army. This gallant exploit excited great admiration, and Major-General Webb was honoured with the thanks of parliament, and the approbation of the Queen, for his conduct on this occasion.
The Royal Regiment continued to form part of the covering army, and was employed in several services connected with the procuring of provision and stores for the besieging troops. In November, the Elector of Bavaria besieged Brussels, and the Royals formed part of the force which advanced to relieve the place. The strong positions of the enemy behind the Scheldt were forced on the 27th of November; and when the troops advanced upon Brussels, the Elector of Bavaria raised the siege, and made a precipitate retreat.
The citadel of Lisle, being vigorously pressed, surrendered on the 9th of December. The period for military operations had passed away; but notwithstanding the lateness of the season the Duke of Marlborough resolved to besiege Ghent, and the Royal Regiment was one of the corps selected for this service. An attack was made on the out-posts of the town on the night of the 24th of December, when a detachment of the Royals formed part of the forlorn-hope, and had several men killed and wounded. The trenches were opened during the same night, and the siege being prosecuted with spirit and vigour, the garrison surrendered on the 2nd of January, 1709. Bruges was also vacated by the French; and the Royal Regiment, having marched into Ghent when that city was delivered up, remained there during the winter.
1709
The regiment, having reposed for a few months in convenient quarters, and obtained a body of fine recruits from Scotland, advanced from Bruges to the plain of Lisle, and was afterwards encamped with the army on the banks of the Upper Dyle. The French had constructed a new line of entrenchments and forts: the allies advanced with the apparent design of attacking the enemy, when Marshal Villars drew a number of troops out of the neighbouring garrisons, and prepared to make a determined resistance. This was what the Duke of Marlborough wished; and no sooner had a considerable detachment of French troops quitted the garrison of Tournay, than the allies struck their tents, marched to the left, and invested the town. Both battalions of the Royal Regiment were in the besieging army, and took an active part in the several attacks on the works, and in repulsing the sallies of the garrison. On the 29th of July, while preparations were making to attack the town by storm, the governor surrendered. The citadel still held out; but five British regiments, which had not taken part in the siege of the town, were selected for the siege of the citadel, and the Royal Regiment joined the covering army.
During the period the siege of the citadel of Tournay was in progress, Lieut.-General the Earl of Orkney was detached, with the grenadier companies of the Royal and several other regiments, and twenty squadrons of cavalry, towards St. Ghislain, to seize on certain passes, and to facilitate the subsequent operations of the campaign; and the citadel having surrendered on the 3rd of September, the army afterwards proceeded towards Mons, the capital of the province of Hainault, which the allies intended to besiege. While the troops were on the march, Marshal Villars made several movements with the view to prevent the loss of Mons; and on the 10th of September the French army was in position in front of Taisniere and the hamlet of Malplaquet, and having thrown up entrenchments and constructed abatis de bois and other defences, until their camp resembled a fortified citadel, they there awaited the attack of the allies.