The chief losses sustained by the garrison of Tangier were in the sallies they made into the adjacent country to obtain fresh provisions. The Moors had a custom of driving two or three hundred head of cattle within sight of the walls, and planting a body of men in ambuscade, ready to fall on the detachment, which military ardour, to say nothing of a natural wish for fresh beef, was sure to bring beyond the cover of the fortress. These skirmishes frequently brought on more serious engagements, and in a sally made by the garrison on the 4th of May, 1664, the Earl of Teviot[9] met his death.
The Earl of Teviot was succeeded in the command of the Queen's Regiment by Colonel, afterwards Lieutenant-General Henry Norwood, whose commission is dated the 10th of June, 1664. The government of Tangier at this time was bestowed by His Majesty on John Lord Bellasyse, a younger son of the Earl of Fauconberg, who arrived at his government in April 1665, on board the Smyrna fleet, consisting of 'seven lusty, brave ships.'
1665
1666
Lord Bellasyse found the judicious arrangements of the late Commander-in-Chief had rendered Tangier impregnable to its enemies, who by this time were much disheartened, and inclined to terminate hostilities. A peace was concluded in the following year, and Lord Bellasyse was himself the bearer of it to England, where he arrived in May, 1666. The London Gazette states his favourable reception by His Majesty, and great expectations of future prosperity to Tangier were raised from his report.
General Norwood, who has been mentioned as succeeding, on the death of the Earl of Teviot, to the command of the Queen's Regiment, was now appointed to succeed Lord Bellasyse in his government. His administration was that of a judicious and vigilant officer; he acquired the confidence of the Moors, and conciliated Gaylan the sovereign chief of Fez. General Norwood's proceedings among the natives were considered so honourable, and his character, altogether, stood so high, that the Emperor Muley Xeriff admitted him to traffic at Tetuan free of imposts; a most beneficial offer, which he failed not to accept, as it so much concerned the welfare of Tangier, 'to whose advancement,' says Addison, 'he always declared a singular propensity.'
1668
The death of this valuable officer, which occurred in 1668, made room for the appointment of John Earl of Middleton, whose commission, as Governor of Tangier, and as Colonel of the Queen's Regiment, is dated the 15th of May, 1668.
It was during the colonelcy of the Earl of Middleton, when war had been resumed with the ferocious Moors, that this regiment had the honour of numbering amongst its volunteers the man who afterwards became the most successful and most celebrated general of his age;—'the man who never fought a battle which he did not gain, or besieged a town which he failed to reduce,—John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough.' Mr. Churchill was at this time about twenty years of age, and held an ensign's commission in the Foot Guards, but made his first essays, in actual service, beneath the walls of Tangier, where he eagerly engaged in the frequent sallies and skirmishes of the garrison, giving, in this desultory warfare, the first indication of his active and daring character.
1675
After an administration of nearly seven years, the Earl of Middleton died in the fortress, on the 25th of January, 1675[10]. He was succeeded in the command of Tangier, and also in the colonelcy of the Queen's Regiment, on the 5th of March, 1675, by William O'Brien, Earl of Inchiquin.