  BATTLE HONOURS FOR SERVICES IN NORTHERN EUROPE, 1695-1709 Namur, 1695—Blenheim, 1704—Ramillies, 1706—Oudenarde, 1708—Malplaquet, 1709. -Namur, 1695.In the month of February, 1910, an Army Order was published announcing that His Majesty King Edward VII. had been graciously pleased to approve of the following regiments being permitted to bear the honorary distinction "Namur, 1695" upon their colours, in recognition of services rendered during the siege and capture of that city, 215 years previously: Grenadier Guards. Previously to this date the only regiment which in any way commemorated its association with the siege of Namur was the 18th (Royal Irish), which was entitled to bear on its colours the words "Virtutis Namurcensis prÆmium," and which had received the title of the "Royal Regiment of Ireland" from King William himself for its conduct at the storming of that fortress. There was no good reason why the Royal Irish should have been honoured above its fellows. The details of the operations at Namur were open to all the world, and the casualties suffered by other corps showed that they too had borne their fair share of the fighting. Namur was one of the many fortified towns in Flanders which had fallen into the hands of the French during our struggles with that nation in the closing years of the seventeenth century. King William's military operations had not been attended with any marked degree of success. His troops, despite the gallantry of the English regiments, had been worsted at Steenkirk, Landen, and many other fights, and in the ranks of our own regiments there was a very decided feeling that our friends the Dutch were prone to throw the brunt of the hard work on us, and were not too eager to afford us that assistance in action which we had a right to expect. A glance at the casualty lists which follow the various actions—the names of which are inscribed on our colours—proves the truth of this statement. Whether at Namur, Dettingen, Emsdorff, in Flanders or in Spain, the British regiments were invariably expected to pull the chestnuts out of the fire for their allies. The Siege of Namur commenced on July 3, 1695, and three days later King William determined to carry the outworks by assault. The Guards attacked on the right, the Royal Scots and Royal Fusiliers on the left. The assault was perfectly successful, but the loss was enormous, the Brigade of Guards losing thirty-two officers, the Royal Scots and Royal Fusiliers ten. A few days later, after the fire of the batteries had opened a practicable breach in the walls near the St. Nicholas Gateway, the British were again called upon to carry this work. This they did with a loss of 800 killed and wounded. Then came the final assault on the citadel, for which the Leicesters, the Royal Irish, and Mackay's and Buchan's Highlanders were told off. These two last are no longer with us. These four battalions lost 63 officers and 925 men killed and wounded. But the day was ours, and with the fall of the citadel Namur once more passed into the possession of the House of Orange. Although the Army Order of February, 1910, only grants the distinction to infantry regiments, there were a number of British cavalry regiments employed in Casualties at the Siege and Assault of Namur, 1695.
Note.—I am indebted to the courtesy of the Army Council for the figures relating to the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards, as well as for the casualties amongst the commissioned ranks of all regiments. I am bound to observe that the figures given by the Army Council do not correspond with a return which I have seen at the Record Office, entitled "Liste des Soldats Morts et blessÉs devant Namur depuis le Commencement jusqu'À la fin du Siege," which may have been overlooked by the War Office. The War of the Spanish Succession.In the month of May, 1701, just two months after the death of William III., we found ourselves involved in war with France, in consequence of the quarrel as to the right of succession in Spain. One hundred and thirty years later a similar cause led to the Franco-German War. In those far-off days England was a Continental Power, and whatever affected the Low Countries affected also the United Kingdom. The Dutch provinces of In 1704 Marlborough determined to carry the war into his enemies' country, and by a masterly movement, worthy of Napoleon in his best days, transferred the scene of operations from the Valley of the Meuse to that of the Danube, and on June 21, 1704, gained a brilliant victory at Schellenberg, on the banks of that river—a name that might well be borne on the colours and appointments of the sixteen regiments which bore such Casualties at Schellenberg, June 21, 1704.
Marlborough, in conjunction with the Prince EugÈne of Savoy, now pushed up to the vicinity of Munich, and there is little doubt, had he been in possession of a sufficient artillery force, that the capital of Bavaria would have fallen into his hands. He had with him but thirty-five guns of the Royal Artillery, and he felt compelled to relinquish the attempt. Falling back, he attacked the Allies at Blenheim, where again the British troops covered themselves with glory. Blenheim, August 2, 1704.This battle honour has been conferred on the King's Dragoon Guards. A medal to commemorate this victory was struck by order of Queen Anne, but, unfortunately, no lists of the losses suffered by regiments as regards the rank and file have been preserved, or, if preserved, they have been lost sight of. We know from contemporary journals that there were eighteen squadrons and fourteen battalions of British troops engaged, and that the total casualties amounted to 51 officers and 625 men killed, 147 officers and 1,381 men wounded, the casualties amongst the officers being— Casualties at Blenheim.
Seldom has there been a victory more complete. Twenty-four battalions surrendered en bloc, the total number of prisoners aggregating upwards of 11,000, amongst them being two General officers; 124 guns and 109 stand of colours also fell into our hands. Ireland is now an integral portion of the British Empire, and Irish soldiers have in all our campaigns fought with stubborn determination on our side. So, too, the Royal Irish covered itself with glory on this day, as it has ever done when fighting for us. At the same time, it is worthy of note that the fiercest of our opponents at Blenheim were Marlborough now retraced his steps to the Low Countries, and once more prepared to oppose the French in the field and the Dutch in the Council. The whole of the following year was spent in futile attempts to organize a successful series of military movements in face of the persistent antagonism of our Dutch colleagues. Ramillies, May 12, 1706.A medal was struck to commemorate this victory, which is inscribed on the colours and appointments of the following regiments: 1st King's Dragoon Guards. Though inscribed on our colours, there were but few British troops actually under fire at the Battle of Ramillies. On the cavalry fell the task of converting a victory into a rout, and to this end the six regiments of British dragoons enumerated above were worthily employed, their trophies being 56 guns, 80 stand of colours, and 2,000 prisoners. No regimental lists of casualties have been preserved, but it would appear that the Cameronians lost two officers killed, and that the cavalry in the pursuit lost 384 of all ranks killed and wounded. Ramillies was not the only success that attended our arms in Flanders during the year 1706, and it is difficult to understand why it alone should have been selected for recognition. The whole of Flanders in those days was studded with fortresses, under cover of which the French Casualties at the Battle of Ramillies. Note.—I have left the tables of casualties blank in the hope that some more diligent searcher after truth may be fortunate enough to find the missing details. Oudenarde, June 30, 1708.This, again, was one of those victories to commemorate which a medal was struck by order of Her Majesty Queen Anne, whilst a century and three-quarters later the name "Oudenarde" was inscribed on the colours and appointments of the following regiments, by order of Her Majesty Queen Victoria: 1st King's Dragoon Guards. The year 1707 was wasted, owing to the opposition of the Dutch and the treachery of the Austrians. The French were accordingly enabled by the early spring of 1708 to mass an army of 100,000 men in Flanders. To face them the Allies could bring but 80,000; but the weight of Marlborough's name and the few thousand British veteran troops in his army made up for this deficiency; and when, after a series of the most brilliant manoeuvres, the Duke at last met the French at Oudenarde, he at any rate had no doubt as to the result. At Oudenarde, as at Ramillies, the British troops were not heavily engaged, their losses numbering 4 officers and 41 men killed, 17 officers and 160 men wounded. Lille, the capital of French Flanders, was Marlborough's next objective. The difficulties attendant on the siege were enormous, owing to the swampy nature of the neighbourhood and the strength of the fortifications. In spite of being some 10,000 men inferior to the French mobile army, Marlborough determined to essay the task, and from the month of August to October there were five British battalions actively employed in the siege, the rest of the army being engaged in covering the operations and holding in check 96,000 French who were endeavouring to find an opening to save the fortress. On October 11 the place was carried by assault, our losses during the operations having been 17 officers and 447 men killed, 82 officers and 1,093 men wounded. The Bedfords, Royal Irish, Royal Scots Fusiliers, Royal Welsh Fusiliers, and the South Wales Borderers, were the regiments which would be entitled to this distinction. Casualties at the Battle of Oudenarde, June 30, 1708.
Note.—According to the published Diary of Private Deane, the Grenadier Guards lost 2 officers killed at Oudenarde, but no detailed list of casualties is forthcoming. Malplaquet, September 11, 1709.A medal was struck by Queen Anne to commemorate this victory, and in the reign of Queen Victoria the regiments which were present were permitted to add the name "Malplaquet" to the other distinctions won in more recent battles: 1st King's Dragoon Guards. Prior to the Battle of Malplaquet, the Royal Scots, the Buffs, and the Hampshires had been actively employed at the siege and capture of the Fortress of Tournay, in which they suffered heavily; but no distinction was awarded for this siege, save a medal struck by Queen Anne, the word "Tournay" borne by the West Yorkshire, the Hampshire, and the Shropshire, being granted for the action, which took place in the same neighbourhood in 1794, and which I have dealt with on page 94. Leaving a force to level the fortifications of Tournay, which was looked upon as one of the masterpieces of the great master, Vauban, Marlborough moved towards Mons, where the French, under Marshal Villars, lay with 95,000 men. Their position was a most formidable one. From the forest of Laignieres to the wood of Blangier (a distance of three miles) a series of entrenchments had been thrown up, following the sinuosities of the ground. In advance of this position a number of formidable redans had been constructed, in some of which as many as twenty guns were placed. Fortune, however, favoured the allies in many ways. In front of the position, but out of cannon shot, were the woods of Sart, which enabled Marlborough to conceal his intended movements from the French; whilst the nature of the ground in rear of the French entrenchment prevented Marshal Villars from making any use of his cavalry in the early stages of the fight. On this occasion at any rate we had no reason to complain of the conduct of our allies. The Dutch, under the Duke of Orange, fought with unaccustomed gallantry, whilst the Germans showed that they were not disposed to allow the English to carry off all the honours of the day. Of the details of the battle but little is known, except that it was one of the bloodiest ever fought, scarcely exceeded even by the passage of the Beresina. Although we were the victors, there is no doubt that our losses were greater than those of the French. Sixteen guns and twenty colours remained in our hands. There were many more occasions in which we crossed swords with the French in Flanders before peace was declared. At Douai, Bethune, and Bouchain, our troops suffered severely, but no honorary distinctions were granted for any of these fights, so they do not fall within the scope of this chapter. Unfortunately, the lists of regimental losses of non-commissioned officers and men have not been preserved, and all it is possible to give, with any degree of accuracy, are the number of officers killed, and, to a certain extent, of men wounded at Malplaquet. Casualties at the Battle of Malplaquet, September 11, 1709.
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