War of the League of Augsburg 1689-1697 including the battle of Namur in 1695 and the part played by the Grenadier Guards: After the Revolution of 1688, many of the officers were removed and the command was given to Henry Sidney, afterwards Viscount Sidney and Earl of Romney, who had fought with the Englishmen in the pay of the States General of Holland. William did not bring the Guards to London for his coronation, nor venture to give them a share in the operations in Ireland. But the vigorous hostility of the French, and the operations of Tourville in the Channel, put the seal upon their allegiance to the new dynasty. In the Low countries the French made good headway, and the mismanagement by which the allies lost Mons in 1691, and the great stronghold of Namur the following year, laid Brussels open to the attack. Luxembourg, one of the most masterful soldiers of the age, was in command at Mons, and in order to defeat the purposes of his astute opponent, William marched westward to throw himself between that place and the capital. He had with him two battalions of the First Guards, one of the Coldstream regiment, and two each of the Scots and Dutch Guards, making a brigade of nearly 5,000 men, besides other English regiments, and a number of Dutch. It is interesting to remember that the Guards were reviewed by him in the course of this march at Genappe, between Quatre Bras and Waterloo, on the part of the field where long after they were to win undying fame. Luxembourg had marched from Mons to Enghien, and lay with his right resting on the village of Steinkirk, when William resolved to attack on August 3rd 1692. One of the leading regiments was 2nd battalion First Guards, under lieutenant-Colonel Warcup. If a surprise had been possible, as was intended, victory might have fallen to the allies, but the flower of the French army was before them, with overwhelming force at hand. A wood and broken group of field and hedgerows lay between the forces, but after a furious cannonade the Guardsmen steadily advanced, supported by other regiments and a stubborn fight ensued. Inch by inch the ground was contested, and repeatedly the Guards repulsed the fierce attacks, driving the enemy back into his very camp. A terrific struggle took place around a French battery, which Colonel Warcup led his battalion to attack. The fury of the attack swept the French from their guns, but not before they had cut the traces of the horses, which galloped back to the camp, and the First Guards could not carry off their prize. Sir Robert Douglas was shot dead as he lead his men to the charge, and the press grew thicker as the French fell back. It was but a momentary recoil, for Boufflers, coming up on their left, brought a large body of fresh troops into action, which poured volley after volley into the allied line. We were overpowered and bitter execrations were poured upon Count Solmes, who had failed to bring up the strong reserves that would have confirmed the day. Many corps were almost annihilated. "Cutts's, Mackay's, Angus's, Graham's, and Leven's all cut to pieces," pathetically exclaims Corporal Trim, whose fond descriptions of these fights in "Tristram Shandy" reflect the accounts of an eyewitness of them, "and so had the English Guards been too had it not been for some regiments on the right, who marched up boldly to their relief and received the enemy's fire in their faces before any one of their own platoons discharged a musket." Colonel Warcup and six other officers were left dead on the field. (continued below image). Steinkirk was an engagement that spoke volumes for the dash and sturdy courage of the British infantry, and it did not fail of its menaced positions of Tournai, Lille and Courtrai. Still it was a battle in which William's military fame had been grievously diminished, for he had shown himself no match for his opponents. It would have been much to Louis's fancy to direct the capture of Brussels and Liège, but when he found William in the field, in 1693 he retired to Versaille and to Madame de Maintenon, leaving the fighting in the far more capable hands of Luxembourg, who on July 19th confronted the allies at Landon on the road from Liège to Tirlemont. More bloody and furious was that memorable fight than the last year's action at Steinkirk. The allies were in a strongly entrenched position behind Landen, and between the villages of Neerwinden and Laer. For eight hours the terrific contest was waged. Battalions of the First Guards, and of the Coldstream and Scots regiments, lining the hasty entrenchment in the centre, gave not an inch of ground. The battle raged most fiercely round the village of Neerwinden on the right, where battalions of the First, Scots, and Dutch Guards were among the defenders. Most stubbornly was the place contested until the fields were filled with dead. Twice the French broke through, and twice they were driven out by a comparative handful of Guards and Hanovarians. But reinforcements again were wanting, and when Luxembourg dashed a third time at the village with fresh reserves of the French and Swiss household troops, and outflanked the position with four regiments of Dragoons, the remnant of the allies fell back across the bridges over the Little Gheet, and the day of Landen was lost. The First Guards had 7 officers killed and as many wounded and one a prisoner, and left heaps of dead on the fiercely contested field. "Brave! brave! by heaven! he deserves a crown," cried Uncle Toby of the King, when Trim recounted the fiery valour of the day, and we may catch his enthusiasm and apply his words to the gallant and unfortunate Guards. The next year was one of tactical marches and sieges, but in 1695, the Guards displayed again their intrepid courage in the triumphant success of Namur. Luxembourg was dead and Villeroy, his successor was as much inferior as a soldier to William as William had been to the victor of Steinkirk and Landen. Namur was a fortress deemed impregnable, and a chef a'oeuvre of Vauban. It was besieged by 80 battalions, including 2 of the First Guards, 1 of the Coldstream and 1 of the Scots, and Cohorn, Vauban's pupil, directed the operations of the Sappers. The Guards displayed prodigies of valour, losing many officers and men in the carrying of the successive lines, which were defended by stubborn fury, and Boufflers surrendered the town, having lost 5,000 men in its defence. He retired with 7,000 others to the citadel, where a murderous fire from 160 cannon and 60 mortars was poured upon him. Villeroy advanced from the siege of Brussels to his relief, but unaccountably withdrew, and William determined to hasten forward the carrying of the breaches. On August 30th 1695, the forlorn hope of the grenadiers of the Guards issued from the trenches, and marched some 700 yards under pitiless fire right up to the ditch. They made a daring rush; but, owing to some mistake, the 3 regiments ordered to follow delayed their advance, and the grenadiers were hurled down shorn of half their numbers and with most of their officers killed. When, however, the other troops came up, the desperate resistance was overcome, and the breach was triumphantly gained. It had been a sanguinary business, for some 3,000 men were killed and wounded on both sides. Boufflers, thereupon, seeing his helpless state, surrendered the great fortress, the possession of which had been of such vast importance to the French. The stout defenders, 5,168 strong, with beating drums marched out honourably from the breach, and thus came to an end the last important operation of the fiercely contested war, which the Peace of Ryswick brought to satisfactory close. (Excerpt from the Navy and Army Gazette November 20th 1896 by John Leyland)