After taking part in several movements, the regiment was in position at Landen, on the morning of the 19th of July, when the French army, of very superior numbers, commanded by Marshal Luxembourg, advanced to attack the forces under King William. On this occasion the Fourteenth Regiment had its first opportunity of proving its prowess in action with the enemy, and it gave presage of that gallantry for which it afterwards became distinguished. The French commenced the action with great spirit, but were repulsed several times; their superior numbers enabled them to bring forward fresh troops, and they eventually carried the village of Neer-Winden. The King ordered a retreat, which was executed with difficulty, and was attended with serious loss.
The Fourteenth Regiment had Captains Van Burgh, Cassin, and Henriosa, and Lieutenant Worley, killed; Lieutenant Nicholson died of his wounds; Captains Devaux and Stanwix, Lieutenants Campbell, Forbes, and Pettitpiere, Ensigns Revison and Perrott, wounded; Lieutenant-Colonel Graham taken prisoner: the number of non-commissioned officers and soldiers of the regiment, killed and wounded, has not been ascertained.
In the autumn, when the army separated for winter quarters, the regiment marched into garrison at Bruges; at the same time parties were sent to England to procure recruits, to replace the losses sustained during this campaign.
1694
When the army took the field in the spring of 1694, the regiment was left, with several other corps, under Brigadier-General Sir David Collier, encamped near Ghent, to form a guard for the artillery, which was conveyed by water to Malines. The regiment joined the army at the camp near Louvain, on the 4th of June, and on the 6th it was reviewed by His Majesty, who was pleased to express to Colonel Tidcomb his high approbation of its appearance. The regiment was afterwards employed in several movements, and it formed part of the splendid body of troops encamped at Mont St. André, near the village of Ramilies, where the forces of the confederate states were assembled under King William III., and presented a magnificent spectacle of war.
The Fourteenth was one of the corps which attempted, by a forced march, to pass the enemy's fortified lines, and penetrate French Flanders; but by extraordinary exertions the French gained the pass first, and thus preserved their country from an invasion. The regiment was subsequently encamped near Rousselaer, forming part of the covering army during the siege of Huy. The vicinity of the camp was infested by detachments of the enemy, and on one occasion the waggons conveying the bread to the army were attacked, when a detachment of the Fourteenth, forming part of the guard, was engaged, and the regiment had Captain Sacheverel mortally wounded, who was the only British officer killed by the enemy during this campaign.
Having to remain in the field during cold and wet weather, the soldiers erected huts of wood and straw, and on the 1st of October the huts of the Fourteenth Regiment were accidentally set on fire, and destroyed: the Second Foot Guards had experienced the same misfortune a few days previously. The fortress of Huy having surrendered, the army separated for winter quarters, and the regiment returned to Bruges in the second week in October.
1695
From Bruges, the regiment marched, in May, 1695, to Dixmude, where it pitched its tents, and remained several days. The Duke of Wirtemberg took the command of the troops assembled at this point, and advancing to the junction of the Loo and Dixmude canals, encamped before the fortress of Kenoque, upon which an attack was made for the purpose of drawing the French army that way, for the protection of their lines in West Flanders. The Fourteenth Regiment took part in this service; its grenadier company was engaged in driving the French from the intrenchments and houses near the Loo canal, and in repulsing the attempts of the enemy to regain possession of them. A redoubt was afterwards taken, and a lodgment effected in the works at the bridge, in which services the regiment had several men killed and wounded. This demonstration having produced the desired effect, the strong fortress of Namur was exposed to an attack from the main army, and it was accordingly invested, and the siege commenced.
The attack on Kenoque was then desisted in; the Fourteenth Regiment was one of the corps withdrawn from West Flanders, and joined the covering army, under the Prince of Vaudemont, at Wouterghem.