26th (Cameronian) Regiment of Foot - War of The Spanish Succession

War of The Spanish Succession

On the outbreak of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701, an English expeditionary force of thirteen regiments was sent to the Netherlands. A second force followed in early 1702, which included the Cameronians, and both groups joined a large allied army under the command of the Duke of Marlborough, when war was declared in May. Through 1702 and 1703 the army took a number of towns by siege, though the Cameronians' participation is not recorded in any of these events; they were, however, to be fully engaged the following year. They assembled for the 1704 campaign at Bedburg in the middle of May, and in early July a detachment was part of the main British attack at the Battle of Schellenberg. Of the hundred and thirty men involved, nineteen were killed and sixty-two wounded. The regiment then fought at the Battle of Blenheim in July, where it saw additional duty the following night guarding some of the thirteen thousand men taken prisoner. The British force was withdrawn to the Netherlands in October, where it went into winter quarters.

In 1705, they fought at the Battle of Elixheim, though the rest of the year's campaign was mostly uneventful. On General Ferguson's death, the colonelcy of the regiment passed to John Borthwick, the lieutenant-colonel, in October. However, Borthwick chose to exchange his colonelcy for that of a Dutch regiment under Lord John Dalrymple, who became the regiment's colonel as of 1 January 1706. The Cameronians left winter quarters at the end of April, 1706, and during May participated in the extensive maneouvering which led to the Battle of Ramillies on the 23rd. The regiment did not take part in the main attack, but were exposed to heavy cannon fire during the battle, and took a large number of casualties. In August, the colonel – now the Earl of Stair – was appointed to command the Scots Greys, and the lieutenant-colonel, George Preston, succeeded him in the colonelcy. The regiment fought at a number of sieges during the later part of the year, including at Ath, where a party of Cameronians managed to break into the fortress walls four days before it surrendered.

The 1707 campaign was uneventful, but the regiment suffered extensively from fatigue and illness, being reduced at one point to a hundred men able to fight. In 1708 the regiment was briefly placed on notice to return to Great Britain, which was threatened with invasion, but was stood down after the French fleet was dispersed without making a landing. In July they fought at the Battle of Oudenarde, taking heavy casualties, and then served at the Siege of Lille. During the siege, they were part of a force detached to guard an ammunition convoy in late September; it was intercepted by a French force at Wijnendale, who were themselves successfully ambushed by the escorts. The French force lost six thousand killed and wounded, compared to only nine hundred of the allied force. At the very end of the year, the Cameronians were part of the force which captured Ghent, where they then remained in winter quarters.

They left Ghent in June 1709, and were part of the covering force during the siege of Tournai. When the town was captured in early September, the main army moved south; the French army encountered them just outside Mons, and they skirmished briefly with artillery fire on the 9th. In this engagement, the Cameronians took heavy losses, being in an exposed section of the battle line. The Battle of Malplaquet itself took place on the 11th, with the Cameronians in the central British infantry line. This force repeatedly beat off a French cavalry attack, and was credited by the French commander as a major element in his defeat. The regiment's losses included its lieutenant-colonel, who was shot whilst riding at the head of his men.

In the first part of 1710 the regiment was part of the force besieging Douai; they repelled a counter-attack in May with no casualties. However, they regularly took small losses in minor skirmishes, and eventually lost a total of fifty-one men killed and a hundred and ninety-two wounded in the siege. After the surrender of Douai they covered a siege at Béthune before returning to winter quarters in Ghent. They left Ghent unusually early the next year, in late March, and moved quickly into French territory to hold an advanced position before falling back in April to join the main force as it assembled. Throughout the summer they followed Marlborough through northern France, and were a part of the attacking army at the Siege of Bouchain in August, before returning to winter quarters. After some inconclusive fighting in 1712, they withdrew to garrison Dunkirk; after the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713, the fortifications here were demolished and the garrison moved to Nieuwpoort in May. They returned to Dunkirk in August, and there embarked for Ireland.

During the campaign, Blackadder recorded that the Cameronians had been thanked by Marlborough seven times for their conduct in action. The 26th was later authorised to carry the battle honours "Blenheim", "Ramillies", "Oudenarde", and "Malplaquet", for its four most prominent engagements in the war; however, these were not authorised until 1882, a year after the regiment had been amalgamated into the Cameronians (Scottish Rifles).