Richard Cannon - Historical Record of the First Regiment of Foot

The British troops continued to take part in the war in Flanders: and in 1648 a troop of Scots cuirassiers, and the regiment of Scots Guards, had an opportunity of distinguishing themselves at the battle of Lens , 40 40 Account of the battle of Lens, published at the time; Life of the Prince of Condé; and Histoire Militaire de Louis le Grand. in Artois, under that distinguished commander the Prince of Condé. This battle was fought on the 10th of August, 1648. The Spanish army, commanded by Archduke Leopold, suffered a complete overthrow, and lost thirty-eight pieces of cannon, and upwards of one hundred standards and colours.

Soon after this victory an insurrection broke out in Paris; the court removed to Rouel, and afterwards to St. Germain, and part of the army was recalled from Flanders to besiege the capital, and to reduce the Parliament of Paris to obedience.

In this year (1648) a treaty was concluded at Munster , which restored peace to a great part of Europe, but the war was continued between France and Spain, and the British troops were continued in the service of France. Meanwhile King Charles I. of England, having fallen into the power of Cromwell, was beheaded at Whitehall Palace on the 30th of January, 1649.

While these events were taking place in other parts of Europe, Paris was besieged by the French army, of which Douglas' Regiment continued to form a part; but an amicable arrangement between the Court and Parliament took place in the spring of 1649. This was, however, followed by insurrections in several of the provinces, and the Spanish commanders, availing themselves of the distracted state of France, recaptured several places in the Netherlands.

While France was disturbed with internal commotions, three hundred veteran Scots, who had been left in garrison at Ypres in West Flanders, were engaged in the defence of that place against the Spaniards, and, after a gallant resistance, were eventually forced to surrender: but obtained honourable conditions, and marched out on the 6th of May, 1649, with drums beating and colours flying.

The commotions in France occasioned a decrease in the revenues of Louis XIV., and Douglas' veterans, with the other Scots regiments in the French service, could not procure their pay. Meanwhile, King Charles II., who had been an exile on the continent for some time, was entering into a treaty, called the Covenant, with the Scots, through whose means his Majesty expected to recover the sovereignty of Great Britain; at the same time, application was made to the French court for permission for Douglas' and the other regiments to return to Scotland with the King; but these gallant veterans were so beloved and esteemed in France for their good conduct on all occasions, that Louis XIV. declined to accede to this request, and promised to give them their pay with greater regularity in future.

Had these distinguished regiments accompanied their sovereign to Scotland, great advantage would, doubtless, have accrued to the royal cause. But, instead of accompanying their King, they were employed in the defence of several strong towns on the frontiers of Picardy and Flanders. The internal disorders in France continued, a want of money prevailed in the army, and many of the French soldiers deserted. At the same time the Spaniards, being in communication with the disaffected in France, recovered several more of the towns which had been wrested from them in the preceding campaigns, and besieged Dunkirk.

While these events were occurring on the continent, Charles II. was crowned King in Scotland; but his affairs not prospering in the north, he penetrated into England, and the Scots troops sustained a decisive overthrow at Worcester on the 3rd of September, 1651. The King fled from the field, and, after remaining in concealment with several loyal families for a short time, he escaped in disguise to France.

Meanwhile, the troubles in France were increasing. The Duke of Orleans and the Prince of Condé were opposed to the court; the latter was at the head of an army; and Douglas' Regiment was employed in operations against the insurgents.

After several marches and manœuvres, the opposing armies came in contact in the summer of 1652, in the vicinity of Paris ; the royal army was commanded by Marshal Turenne; and the rebel army by the Prince of Condé, who erected barricades in the Fauxbourg of St. Antoine, where he was attacked on the 2nd of July, 1652. 41 41 A detailed account of this action is given in the Life of King James II., from the memoirs written with his own hand, and published by the Rev. J. S. Clarke in 1818. His Majesty was then (1652) Duke of York, and was serving with the French Army, of which Douglas' Regiment formed part. The fighting had been continued for some time with great resolution on both sides, when Douglas' and three other regiments attacked a barricade across one of the streets near the river, which they carried sword in hand, and, having dislodged the enemy from the houses, established themselves on this spot. Immediately afterwards a troop of royal horse, attempting to pass the barricade, was repulsed by the insurgent horsemen, who were driven back in their turn by the fire of Douglas' and another regiment from the houses. Scarcely had the horse quitted the street, when two bodies of insurgent foot came rushing forward with great fury to retake the barricade, but Douglas' and another regiment opened so destructive a fire from the houses, and the regiments which guarded the barricade made so resolute a defence, that the rebels were repulsed with great loss. A general attack was afterwards made on the other posts occupied by the rebels in the suburbs of Paris, and the rebellion would probably have been crushed at once, but the Parisians opened their gates and admitted the insurgents into the city, and thus protected them from the fury of the royal army. The city of Paris having thus manifested a determination to take part with the insurgents, Douglas' Regiment, with the remainder of the royal army, retreated on the same day to St. Denis, where his Majesty and the court had retired.

While the Prince of Condé held possession of Paris, and the royal army lay at St. Denis, a large Spanish army prepared to penetrate from the Netherlands into France, to act in concert with the French insurgents; when the court of Louis XIV. removed to Pontoise, and the army marched to Compeigne, and encamped under the walls of the town. The Spanish army entered France, but after a short stay it retired to the Netherlands, when the army of Louis XIV. advanced towards Paris, and encamped near Gonesse. This movement was followed by the return of the Spanish forces under the Duke of Lorraine, when the army under Marshal Turenne attempted to intercept the enemy, and a sharp skirmish occurred at Villeneuve St. Georges , nine miles from Paris, and the designs of the Duke of Lorraine were frustrated. But the Prince of Condé marched out of Paris, and succeeded in forming a junction with the Spaniards at Ablon; and the united armies were double the number of the forces under Marshal Turenne, who constructed two temporary bridges over the Seine, threw up entrenchments, and maintained his post for several weeks. While the two armies confronted each other, frequent skirmishes occurred in the fields and vineyards, in which Douglas' Scots took a conspicuous part. On one of these occasions a captain of the regiment was taken prisoner, who escaped from the enemy a few days afterwards, and brought information that the Prince of Condé had left the Spanish army in consequence of indisposition. The enemy not being so watchful as before, and the King's army being in want of provisions, it retired with great secrecy during the night of the 4th of October, and continued its march to Courteuil, when the enemy quitted the vicinity of Paris, and marched into winter quarters in Champagne and other parts of France.