Success seemed secured to the allies, when the cause of King Charles III., who had been proclaimed at the head of his victorious army at Madrid, was destroyed in consequence of intrigue and want of unanimity; and the army was obliged to retire from the provinces it had conquered.
1707
In the spring of 1707 the army, commanded by the Earl of Galway, under the orders of the Marquis das Minas, invested Villena; at the same time the opposing army, under the Duke of Berwick, advanced to Almanza, where he was attacked by the allies on the 25th of April. The enemy was considerably superior in numbers to the confederates. Smollet remarks of this action, 'The English and Dutch squadrons on the left, sustained by the Portuguese horse of the second line, were overpowered after a gallant resistance. The centre, consisting chiefly of battalions from Great Britain and Holland, obliged the enemy to give way, and move their first upon the second line; but the Portuguese cavalry on the right being broken at their first charge, their foot betook themselves to flight, so that the English and Dutch troops being exposed on the flanks, were surrounded and attacked on every side. In this dreadful emergency they formed themselves into a square, and retired from the field of battle. By this time the men were quite spent with fatigue, and their ammunition exhausted; they were ignorant of the country, abandoned by their horse, destitute of provisions, and out of all hope of supply. Moved by these dismal considerations they capitulated, and surrendered themselves prisoners of war, to the amount of thirteen battalions.' In this disastrous battle the allies lost 5000 men killed on the spot.
The following Return contains the number of officers killed, wounded, and prisoners of war, in this most unfortunate battle.
Return of the Number of the British Officers killed, wounded, and taken prisoners, at the battle of Almanza, on the 25th of April, 1707.
KEY:
A = Colonels and Lieut.-Colonels.
B = Majors.
C = Captains.
D = Subalterns.
E = Staff and Quarter-Masters.
Dn. Gds. = Dragoon Guards
Dns. = Dragoons
| REGIMENTS. | KILLED. | PRISONERS. | |||||||||
| A | B | C | D | E | A | B | C | D | E | ||
| Harvey's Horse | 2nd Dn. Gds. | 1 | .. | 1 | 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | 2 | 1 |
| Carpenter's Dns. | 3rd Dns. | 1 | .. | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Lord Essex's | 4th " | 1 | .. | .. | 1 | ||||||
| Killigrew's | 8th " | 1 | .. | .. | 1 | ||||||
| Lord Peterborough's | Dns. | 1 | .. | 2 | 1 | 2 | |||||
| Edward Pearce's | Dns. | 1 | .. | .. | 2 | 1 | .. | .. | 6 | 2 | |
| Foot Guards (1st and 2nd) | 1 | .. | 2 | .. | .. | 2 | .. | 3 | 3 | 2 | |
| Lord Portmore's | 2nd Foot | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | 1 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 1 |
| Southwell's | 6th " | 1 | .. | 4 | 4 | .. | .. | .. | 2 | 9 | 3 |
| Stewart's | 9th " | .. | .. | 5 | 3 | .. | .. | .. | 4 | 12 | |
| Hill's | 11th " | .. | 1 | 3 | 2 | .. | 1 | 1 | 5 | 13 | |
| Blood's | 17th " | 2 | 1 | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 4 | 13 | 1 |
| Lord Mordaunt's | 28th " | .. | .. | 1 | 1 | .. | 1 | 1 | 3 | 12 | |
| Wills's Marines | 30th " | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | |
| Borr's Marines | 32nd " | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | |
| Wade's | 33rd " | .. | .. | 2 | 3 | .. | .. | .. | 6 | 11 | |
| Gorge's | 35th " | .. | .. | 3 | .. | .. | 1 | .. | 5 | 11 | |
| Allnutt's | 36th " | .. | .. | 2 | 3 | .. | 3 | .. | .. | 10 | |
| Lord Montjoy's, disbanded in 1713 | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | 2 | 1 | 1 | 13 | ||
| Bowles's | ditto | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 1 | .. | 8 | 13 | |
| Bretton's | ditto | .. | .. | .. | 3 | .. | 3 | .. | 7 | 12 | |
| Mackartney's | ditto | 1 | .. | .. | 4 | .. | 2 | 1 | 6 | 11 | 1 |
| Lord Mark Kerr's | ditto | 2 | .. | 3 | 3 | .. | .. | 1 | 2 | 11 | |
| Nassau's | ditto | .. | .. | 1 | 4 | .. | 1 | 1 | 6 | 10 | |
| Total | 13 | 2 | 30 | 39 | 3 | 18 | 7 | 69 | 181 | 9 | |
| Number of wounded included as prisoners | .. | .. | .. | .. | .. | 3 | 1 | 16 | 67 | 5 | |
Of the Queen's Royal, Lieutenant Brady was killed; Lieutenant-Colonel Kirke, Major Cullyford, Captains Laton, Arnott, Hart, Gossin, Giles, and Phillips; Lieutenants Jackson, Slack, May, Sawyers, Bracelay, Frazier, and Arthlony; Ensigns Nichols, Brown, Graham, Johnson, and Downs, and Surgeon Dalrimple, were made prisoners of war.
The severe losses sustained on this occasion, and on other services in Spain, induced the Earl of Galway to order the Queen's Royal and the 9th Regiments of Foot, after transferring their serviceable men to other regiments in Spain, to return to England, for the purpose of recruiting their ranks.