1704
During the winter six hundred men of the regiment joined the garrison of Maestricht, while the Dutch soldiers were working at the entrenchments on the heights of Petersberg: in May, 1704, the remainder of the regiment marched towards the Rhine, and was joined at Bedburg by the detachment from Maestricht.
The Duke of Marlborough led his army from Holland to the heart of Germany, and, there encountering the legions of France and Bavaria, he gained two important victories on the banks of the Danube, and exalted the reputation of the British arms. The SIXTEENTH had the honor to share in this splendid enterprise, and to take a distinguished part in gaining the victory at Schellenberg on the 2nd of July, when the regiment had Major Mordaunt, Ensign Charleston, one serjeant, and nineteen soldiers killed; Lieut.-Colonel Hamilton, Captain Coghlan, Ensign Key, one serjeant, and thirty-four rank and file wounded.
After this victory the regiment crossed the Danube and marched to the vicinity of the enemy's fortified camp at Augsburg, which was found too strong to be attacked, and the army retired a few stages, the Germans commencing the siege of Ingoldstadt. The enemy, being reinforced from France, took up a position in the valley of the Danube, near the village of Blenheim, which was occupied by a considerable body of troops; and on the memorable 13th of August a general engagement took place, in which the English general was once more victorious; the French and Bavarian army sustaining a decisive overthrow, with the loss of its artillery and baggage, and many entire regiments being made prisoners; the French commander, Marshal Tallard, being among the captives. The SIXTEENTH regiment was one of the corps which sustained the brunt of the battle on this occasion, and acquired great honor. The loss of the regiment was very great: Captain Coghlan, Lieutenant Brown, Ensigns Sabine and Hesketh, were among the killed; and Lieut.-Colonel Hamilton, Captains Hesketh, Fleming, Lee, and Horne, Lieutenants Vicariage, Jackson, Ayloffe, and Reddish, Ensigns Mackrich, Hook, and Gordon, wounded.
From the banks of the Danube the regiment traversed the country to Philipsburg, where it crossed the Rhine, and formed part of the covering army encamped at Croon-Weissemberg, during the siege of Landau by the Germans. In the autumn the regiment embarked in boats on the Rhine, and sailed to Holland.
1705
The losses of the preceding campaigns were replaced in the spring of 1705 by recruits from England, and, when the regiment took the field to serve the campaign of 1705, its appearance and efficiency were admired. It was employed in the expedition up the Moselle, and, passing the Moselle and the Saar rivers on the 3rd of June, advanced towards Syrk; but the designs of the British commander were frustrated by the tardy movements of the Germans, and he marched back to the Netherlands.
In May of this year the Earl of Derby retired from the service, and was succeeded in the colonelcy by Lieut.-Colonel Francis Godfrey, from the foot-guards.
A stupendous barrier of fortified lines, forts, and batteries opposed the progress of the British commander; but by skilful movements these works were passed at the slenderly-guarded posts of Helixem and Neer-Hespen on the 18th of July. On this occasion the SIXTEENTH formed part of Brigadier-General Fergusson's brigade in the main body of the army, and did not sustain any loss. It shared in the subsequent operations of the campaign, and passed the winter in garrison in Holland.
1706