Colonel Lord Henry Beauclerk was appointed, on the 22nd of April, 1745, from the forty-eighth to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment, in succession to Colonel W. Handasyd, deceased.
His Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland was appointed to the command of the Confederate army, and on the French investing Tournay, which towards the end of April was besieged by an immense force, under Marshal Count de Saxe, His Royal Highness determined to raise the siege, which resulted in the battle of Fontenoy.
On the morning of the 11th of May, the formidable position at Fontenoy, occupied by the superior numbers of the enemy, was attacked, when the British infantry evinced that heroism for which that arme of the service has ever been conspicuous, and forced the enemy’s position; but being exposed to a destructive cross-fire, in consequence of the Dutch having failed in their attack on the village of Fontenoy, and Brigadier-General Ingoldsby not having captured a battery in the wood of Barry, the British regiments, which had forced the French position, were ordered to retire. The attack was repeated, with the same results: British valour was conspicuous, but the failure of the Dutch rendered a retreat necessary, and the Allied army withdrew to Aeth.[16]
In the London Gazette it was stated that,
“The Highland regiment (42nd), the regiment late Handasyd’s (THIRTY-FIRST), Duroure’s (12th), and many others also distinguished themselves. The honor gained by the Infantry was in a great measure owing to the conduct and bravery of Lieut.-General Ligonier.”
It was the practice at this period in all the armies of Europe to form battalions of Grenadiers of the different regiments composing the force in the field; it was their privilege to lead upon all arduous occasions, when they were ever conspicuous, and suffered the most. The grenadier company of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment brought only eleven men out of the field of Fontenoy, of the seventy-five that it took into action, and its captain and subalterns were killed.
The THIRTY-FIRST regiment had Lieut.-Colonel Montague, Captains Baird and Pollock, Lieutenant Dalway, four serjeants, and one hundred and twenty-five rank and file killed; Lieutenants Stafford and Porter, Ensigns Worsley, Bromley, and Freeman, six serjeants, and one hundred and thirty rank and file, wounded.
Tournay made a gallant defence until the 21st of June, when it surrendered to Marshal Saxe.
After the battle of Fontenoy the Allied army encamped at Lessines and Grammont, when a demonstration being made by the French to attack the Confederates, it was concentrated at the latter place, in order to receive them. After exchanging a few cannon-shots, the enemy withdrew, showing a disposition to surround the Allies, which determined the Duke of Cumberland to fall back on Brussels.
The Confederate generals suspected that the French would make an attempt upon Ghent, and therefore despatched Lieut.-General Baron de Molck to Ghent to reinforce the garrison of that fortress. The troops appointed for this service were Sir Robert Rich’s (fourth) dragoons, three squadrons of Slipperbach’s dragoons, and two squadrons of the regiments of Ligne and Styrum, and seven hundred hussars; with a battalion of the Royal regiment of foot, and Bligh’s and Handasyd’s regiments (Twentieth and THIRTY-FIRST foot); in all about four thousand men.