The campaign of 1704 closed with the Siege of Landau, the Greys forming part of the army covering the siege. In September, when the King of the Romans visited the British camp, the Duke of Marlborough placed himself at the head of the "Royal Scots Dragoons" to receive his Majesty.

The interesting incident is thus entered by Hare in his Journal:

In November they marched back to Holland for the winter, and in Guelderland were joined by another remount from Scotland.

They were withdrawn from their cantonments early in May of 1705, and after traversing Limburg, encamped near the banks of the river Maese, where the Duke of Marlborough assembled the army for the purpose of proceeding up the Moselle. After a halt of two days, the cavalry crossed the Maese, and marched to Coblenz, and thence to Juliers. After leaving this, they crossed a barren country to Triersweiler, where the troops encamped on May 26th. Thence the Moselle and the Saar were crossed, and plans made for offensive warfare. This was all frustrated by Austrian delays and German commanders' jealousies. The Duke of Marlborough resolved therefore to return.

At midnight on June 17th the troops decamped in the midst of a heavy rain, and the Royal Scots Dragoons, with several other regiments, formed up to cover the retreat through a long and narrow defile. No enemy, however, appeared to interrupt the army, and retracing their former steps by forced marches, the Greys reached the vicinity of Maestricht on June 30th; when the French forces in the Netherlands instantly ceased acting on the offensive, and took refuge behind their lines.

After several changes of position, the Greys and other corps were ordered to be ready to march immediately after dark on the evening of July 17th; and the regiment was formed on this occasion as usual in brigade with the Royal Irish Dragoons under the command of Brigadier-General Lord John Hay. The French lines to be taken were very formidable, for besides the height of the rampart, and the largeness of the ditch, they were further defended by the difficulties of the ground over which they were to be approached; and by the river Geet, which could not be crossed without laying bridges over it, and which was near enough to the lines to be defended by the fire from the parapet. Our troops continued their march throughout the night, which was extremely dark, and at four in the morning surprised the French guards and took the position. Scarcely had the Greys and Irish Dragoons, with a few squadrons of horse, passed the lines, when the Marquis d'Allegre appeared with twenty battalions of infantry and fifty squadrons of cavalry. The Duke of Marlborough led his horse and dragoons forward, and by an impetuous charge, broke the enemy's ranks. A short but fiery conflict followed with varied success, and the Greys displayed their usual spirit. Finally the enemy's squadrons were dispersed, their standards and kettledrums were captured, and many officers and men were taken prisoners. The enemy's infantry also suffered severely; a few battalions however retired in a square in admirable order.

The campaign closed, and the Scots Greys marched to Dutch Brabant, where they spent the winter.

From the archives of the Regiment:—

Then come three pages of the adventures of the Greys in the campaign in which the said Andrew took his part. He was afterwards the famous Sir Andrew who fought in the Rebellion of 1745, and specially noted for his defence of Blair Castle at that time.

Sir Walter Scott, in his note on Sinclair's MS., page 304, wrote:—

Early in May, 1706, they left their winter quarters, and after crossing the plains of Limburg and the rich valleys of Liege, they on May 20th joined the army encamped at Bilsen, and afterwards marched to Borchloen. On May 23rd a detachment of the Greys, and several squadrons of horse, were ordered to march towards Mont St. AndrÉ, and were soon after followed by the army in eight columns. There was a thick fog, but the cavalry pushed on until they gained the heights near Mierdorp, when through the misty dawn they espied a few of the enemy's cavalry crossing the plains of St. AndrÉ, and soon the fog lifting, the French army was discovered in position at Ramillies. Advancing into the plains of Tandrinoeuil, the Allies prepared for action, the Queen's Horse, the Greys, and the Royal Irish Dragoons, with Churchill's and Mordaunt's regiments of infantry, being posted on the heights of Foulz on the right of the line. About 1·30 in the afternoon the Allies began heavy artillery fire, which was quickly answered by the enemy, and the action became general. For some time the troops on the heights on the right were only spectators, but Marlborough, seeing that an attack made by the Dutch and Danish cavalry on the French Household regiments, Gens D'Armes, Gardes du Corps, and others, was not succeeding, ordered his right wing to advance. Churchill's and Mordaunt's regiments descended first, and meeting three battalions of French infantry, drove them into a morass, where most of them were killed or captured. At the same time the Queen's Horse, the Greys, and the Irish Dragoons galloped through the morass, crossed the high ground beyond it, and attacking the enemy's left, routed the French cavalry, and cut several battalions of infantry to pieces. The Greys charged into the village of Autreglize, overthrew and sabred the infantry in the streets. Coming out of the village, they encountered the famous French regiment du Roi, which at once surrendered and delivered up its colours and arms to the victorious Dragoons.

The contemporary account in the "London Gazette" was as follows:

In connection with the battle of Ramillies, some account must be given of a woman, Christian Davies, or Mother Ross, who served as a trooper in the Greys until, fighting at Ramillies, her skull was fractured, and her sex afterwards discovered.

In 1740 appeared a book of nearly 200 pages, purporting to record her life and adventures; also in 1893 she was included in a volume called "Women Adventurers," published by T. Fisher Unwin. The account of her given in the D. N. B. seems excellent. Presumably she was brave, but she seems to have been a very coarse woman. Born in Dublin in 1667, she married Richard Welsh. He, without her knowledge, was in some way forced to enlist in a foot regiment, and wrote letters to his wife which never reached her. At last she heard of his being in the army, and so disguised herself as a soldier to go in search of him.

She enlisted in Captain Tichborne's company of foot as Christopher Welch. In a skirmish before the battle of Landen she was wounded, and in the next year—1694—taken prisoner by the French, but exchanged.

At her own wish she was now allowed to join the Greys, and continued so until after the peace of Ryswick. On the renewal of war in 1701 she went back to Holland and re-enlisted in the Greys. She fought at Niuwegen, Venloo, Bonn, and in most of the engagements of the campaign, till at the battle of Donauwerth she received a ball in the hip, which caused a temporary retirement into hospital. The ball was never extracted, but Christian was again under arms in time to share in the spoil after Blenheim. While forming one of a guard to some prisoners taken in that battle, she again saw her husband after a separation of thirteen years. She lost no time in revealing her identity to him; but so enamoured was she of camp life that she extracted a promise from Welsh that he would pass himself off as her brother. After Ramillies she, of course, had to cease to be a trooper, but she still continued to live in camp, and accompanied her husband as his acknowledged wife. In 1709 Richard Welsh was killed at Malplaquet. Christian herself found his body, and her lamentations were so extravagant as to excite the open commiseration of a Captain Ross, whence it is said she gained the sobriquet of Mother Ross, by which she was known for the rest of her days. Although grieving so that for a whole week she refused to touch food, she married Hugh Jones, a grenadier, within three months. In 1710 Jones was killed at the siege of Saint-Venant. In 1712 she returned to England, was presented to Queen Anne, and awarded a life pension of a shilling a day. She afterwards went to Dublin and married a soldier named Davies. She died on July 7th, 1739, and, at her own request, her body was interred among the pensioners in Chelsea burying ground, and three grand volleys were fired over her grave.

After this great victory at Ramillies, on Whit Sunday, May 23rd, 1705, the Greys were occupied in covering the successful sieges of several fortified towns in Flanders, and in the autumn the British troops went into quarters in Flanders, excepting the Royal Scots Greys and Irish Dragoons, who proceeded to Holland.

Early in the spring of 1707 the Greys went to Spanish Brabant, and encamped near the banks of the little river Sienne. In this year the Acts of Parliament were passed for the Union of the crowns of England and Scotland, and from that time the Greys were designated "The Royal Regiment of North British Dragoons."

The army was assembled at Brussels, and afterwards encamped near Weldert. The year passed off very quietly; but Richard Cannon found some record of a sharp fight between twenty-five troopers of the Greys sent out to cut forage and thirty French musketeers, the result alleged being fourteen Frenchmen killed and the rest taken.

On July 11th, 1708, the Greys were engaged in the important battle of Oudenarde, and this battle, with the story of the events preceding it, is full of interest, but would be out of place in this record of one particular regiment.

After this the Regiment formed part of the covering army, and was employed in escorting provisions and ammunition to the troops laying siege to Lisle, the capital of French Flanders. After Lisle had fallen to the Allies, the Greys were sent into winter quarters in Flanders. The winter proved extremely severe, and a considerable number of men and horses are said to have been frozen to death.

In 1709 the Greys formed part of the troops covering the siege and fall of Tournay; but the event of the year was the battle of Malplaquet, fought on September 11th, 1709. The Greys were brigaded with the Royal Irish Dragoons, under Brigadier-General Sybourg. They were posted near the centre of the Allied Army to sustain the attacks of the infantry and protect the artillery, and for some time were only spectators of the fierce storm of battle which raged on all sides; at length, however, they were ordered to file through a wood in their front, and charge. Scarcely had the brigade emerged from among the trees before it encountered a line of French cavalry; these squadrons were, however, soon dispersed, but they were instantly succeeded by a new line of champions, consisting of a number of squadrons of the French household cavalry, clad in armour, and advancing in firm array. Richard Cannon has described how the Greys and Irish Dragoons met these foaming squadrons with signal bravery, but were driven from their ground by superior numbers. The two regiments soon rallied, and being joined by several corps of horse, returned to the charge; yet such was the resolution displayed by the French troopers that it was not until the third charge that they were driven from the field. The two victorious regiments were specially thanked by the Duke of Marlborough. The Greys lost about thirty killed and wounded.

The regiment was afterwards employed in covering the siege of Mons, the capital of Hainault, and after the surrender of Mons marched into winter quarters at the little town of Tiel.

Malplaquet was a desperately hard-fought battle. Not for the first or last time in our history, an important battle was nearly lost through the imbecile action of the authorities at home in failing to support an able general abroad.

In Coxe's "Marlborough," large paper edition, Vol. III., page 90, we find the following:—

Of the springing valour displayed by the enemy on the day of Malplaquet there can be no question, and a distinguished French officer wrote to a correspondent at the time:—

Early in 1710 the regiment was joined by a remount of 100 men and horses from Scotland, and marching from its cantonments, encamped on high ground near Tournay. In the afternoon of April 20th it was again on the march, and formed part of the First Division of the Allied Army which forced the enemy's fortified lines at Pont-À-Vendin on the 21st, and encamped at night on the plain of Lens; and afterwards helping in covering the siege of Douay, a strong town on the river Scarpe, and finally was stationed at Pont-À-Nache. While here, the Duke of Marlborough, by special commission from Queen Anne, invested its Colonel—the Earl of Stair—with the Order of the Thistle.

On May 10th the enemy made a sudden sally from Fort Scarpe to take the bread waggons going to the Allies; but reaching Pont-À-Nache, their career was suddenly stopped by a squadron of the Greys, and two squadrons of the Royal Irish Dragoons, who came sweeping up the plain at full gallop, and routing the enemy in an instant, chased them with heavy loss under the cannon of the fort. Lieutenant-Colonel Caldwell, of the Royal Irish Dragoons, who commanded the three squadrons, was wounded in the pursuit.

After the fall of Douay, the Greys crossed the country of Artois to the banks of the river Bietres; and encamped before Bethune, which was at once besieged. They were subsequently occupied in escorting military stores up the country, and after the taking of Bethune, they were occupied with the sieges of Aire and Saint-Venant. The surrender of Aire ended the campaign.

Early in May, 1711, the army assembled in French Flanders, and encamped, first at Warde, and next on the plain of Lens. After manoeuvring skilfully, Marlborough succeeded in forcing the enemy's lines by the causeway at Arleux, crossed the Scheldt, and besieged Bouchain. In all this the Greys took part. After the fall of Bouchain, the army retired into winter quarters.

In 1712 the French sued for peace, and the Greys marched from the frontiers of Picardy into Flanders, staying there until the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. They then returned to England at the close of eleven years of hard war service.

A satisfactory change now took place in the official status of the Greys. In 1694, when many English, Irish, and Scots regiments were serving in the Netherlands, King William commanded a board of general officers to assemble and decide upon the rank of the several corps. This board gave precedence to the English regiments, and the Scots and Irish were only allowed to take rank in the English army from the date of their first arrival in England, or from the date when they were first placed on the English establishment. There being three regiments of English Dragoons raised previous to 1688, when the Royal Scots Dragoons were first placed upon the English establishment, this regiment consequently obtained rank as Fourth Dragoons only.

But in 1713, when Queen Anne had ordered another board of general officers to assemble to decide upon the rank of several newly-raised regiments, proof was adduced that the Royal Scots Dragoon crossed the Border and entered England in June, 1685, when there was only one regiment of Dragoons on the English establishment.

This was taken into consideration, and after some delay the Scots Greys obtained the rank of Second Dragoons.

Regiments were not, however, distinguished by numerical titles before the reign of George the Second.

In 1713 the regiment was increased to nine troops.

The Greys were next occupied in quelling the Rebellion of the Old Pretender, and here they won special distinction.

In 1719 the Jacobites, aided by Spain, made another attempt on Scotland, but were routed on June 10th at Strachell. Three troops of the Greys under Major Robinson were engaged.

In April, 1721, reduced on account of peace to 207 men, the regiment left Scotland, and was placed in cantonments in the northern counties of England. In 1723 it returned to Scotland, and in 1725 marched into quarters in Nottinghamshire and Derbyshire.

Early in 1727 the Regiment was again increased to nine troops, and it was ordered to be ready for foreign service, but no embarkation took place. The nine troops were marched into quarters near Hounslow, and on October 28th were reviewed on the heath by King George the Second. They afterwards marched into quarters in Yorkshire, where the three augmentation troops were reduced, and the numbers of the establishment of the Regiment fixed at 309 officers and men.

In 1730 the Regiment was again in Scotland.

In 1737 it came back to England, and was chiefly busy on the Kentish coast suppressing smugglers.

In April, 1738, the regiment marched into Dorset and Wilts, to suppress popular riots.

In September, 1739, the Regiment was increased to 435 officers and men. Richard Cannon pictures the regiment spending the following summer encamped among the ancient oaks in Windsor Forest. In October it marched into Yorkshire, but soon came south again and was quartered in Berkshire.

Charles the Sixth, Emperor of Germany, died in 1740, and England was a party to the Pragmatic Sanction by which the crown was guaranteed to his daughter Maria Theresa as Queen of Hungary and Bohemia.

On the other hand, the Elector of Bavaria, as descendant of Ferdinand the First, claimed these countries, and was supported by the French King, Louis the Fourteenth.

On June 19th, 1742, the Greys were reviewed by King George the Second on Kew Green, and three days later marched for Dover. A publication called "The Champion" records:—

For the two great campaigns that now followed I copy from the archives preserved by the Regiment a

At the risk of seeming lengthy, I must here add, without pretending to edit it, a paragraph from Cannon's very scarce record:—

The following interesting 1747 record I copy from the Manuscript Papers now preserved by the Greys:—

[The latter part of the foregoing extract is curiously worded; but I have made no alterations.—E. A.]