The Fourth Horse were afterwards encamped near the banks of the Geete, in South Brabant, where the army was attacked by a French force of superior numbers commanded by the Duke of Luxembourg. The regiment was posted on this occasion towards the left of the line, near the village of Neer-Landen, to support the infantry in this quarter, and passed the night before the action under arms.
On the 19th of July, as the first rays of morning light glanced upon the hostile armies, the French were discovered in order of battle, and a sudden burst of artillery from the batteries of the allies sent forward a shower of balls, which, rending the ranks of the enemy, formed a prelude to the sanguinary conflict which followed. For some time the fighting was limited to the infantry and artillery, and the Fourth Horse were spectators of the fray; yet a cannon shot or two occasionally plunging into the ranks, laid several troopers and their horses dead on the plain. At length the enemy forced the right of the allied army, and routed the Hanoverian and other foreign horse in that quarter, when King William ordered to their aid the British squadrons on the left. Instantly moving from their post, the Fourth Horse and other English cavalry gallopped to the scene of conflict, and each squadron charging the moment it arrived, the torrent of battle, which was sweeping the plain, was stayed,—the leading squadrons of the enemy were broken,—and the British horsemen, mixing fiercely in the combat, displayed their native valour and intrepidity. Yet the cavalry and infantry on the right wing, having already quitted the field, the chivalrous horsemen of Britain were unable to resist the superior numbers of the enemy which came pouring down on every side; and they were ordered to retire, a movement which was not executed without some confusion and considerable loss.[18] The French remained masters of the field, but the number of their killed and wounded exceeded that of the allies.[19]
The Fourth Horse, having retired from the field of battle by the bridge at Neer-Hespen, proceeded that night to Tirlemont. They were subsequently encamped near Brussels, and after taking part in several manœuvres and skirmishes, they returned to their former station at Ghent.
1694
On the 24th January, 1694, King William conferred the Colonelcy on Lieut.-Colonel Cornelius Wood (an officer of signal merit, who had frequently distinguished himself), from the Seventh Horse, now Sixth Dragoon Guards.
After passing the winter at Ghent, the Fourth Horse again took the field in May, 1694, and, after several marches, were encamped with the army on the plain near Mont St. André, where they were reviewed by the King on the 16th of August, in brigade with the regiments of Leveson, Wyndham, and Galway.[20] They passed the summer in manœuvring and skirmishing on the verdant plains of the Netherlands, and on the frontiers of Liege,—performing many long and toilsome marches through a country which, having for several years been the seat of war, was changed from a land of smiling plenty and contentment to a scene of outrage, devastation, and misery. After forming part of the covering army during the siege of Huy, which surrendered in September, the Fourth Horse marched back to Flanders, and again occupied quarters at Ghent.
1695
In the spring of 1695 thirty men per troop were suddenly called out of quarters to take the field; but after a reconnoissance towards the enemy's frontiers, where they were erecting some extensive lines of defence, the detachment returned to its former quarters. In May the regiment marched out of Ghent, and taking its post in the right wing of the army, encamped at Arseele, was reviewed by the King, with the other English cavalry, on the 31st of that month. In June the regiment was removed from the right to the left wing of the army;[21] and when King William had, by skilful manœuvres, drawn the enemy to the Flanders side of their line of entrenchments, and invested the strong fortress of Namur, the Fourth Horse formed part of the force detached, under the Earl of Athlone, towards Fleurus, for the convenience of forage, and to observe the enemy on that side. While on this service they were several weeks in comfortable quarters, or moving quietly from village to village,—the horses feeding on the grassy plains of Hainault,—the detached parties patrolling along the front, to observe the motions of the enemy; meanwhile the infantry were encamped between Deynse and Thielt, and the besieging force made rapid progress. At length, owing to some movements of the enemy, the Fourth Horse proceeded towards Bruges; they subsequently made several forced marches, and towards the end of July were encamped on the undulating grounds between Genappe and Waterloo. Two powerful armies were at this period manœuvring, and while the French advanced with confidence to raise the siege of Namur, the allies interposed to cover the besieging force. In the course of these manœuvres the Fourth Horse moved to the vicinity of Namur, and after the surrender of the citadel they marched to the neighbourhood of Nivelles, and were subsequently encamped at Halle, from whence they proceeded in the autumn to their former station at Ghent.
1696
During the summer of 1696 the Fourth Horse and Wyndham's Regiment (now 6th Dragoon Guards) formed part of the army in Brabant, under King William in person, while the remainder of the British cavalry continued in Flanders. For this purpose the two regiments left Ghent on the 1st of June, and having joined the main army on the march near Gemblours on the 20th of that month, were reviewed on the 24th by his Majesty, near Corbais. The summer was passed by the Fourth Horse in manœuvring, patrolling, and skirmishing on the plains of Brabant, and in performing out-post duty; and, returning to Flanders in the autumn, they once more occupied quarters at Ghent.