The regiment served the campaign of this year with the army of Flanders, under the Prince of Vaudemont; it was formed in brigade with a battalion of the royals, the twelfth, and Collingwood's (afterwards disbanded) regiments, under Brigadier-General the Earl of Orkney; and was stationed, during the summer, along the banks of the Bruges canal, to cover Ghent, Bruges, and the maritime towns of West Flanders, which service was fully accomplished. In the autumn, the regiment marched into garrison at Bruges, where five regiments of cavalry and eleven of infantry were stationed during the winter. [Sidenote: 1697] On the 13th of March, 1697, the regiment quitted Bruges, and proceeded to Brussels, from whence it advanced, through the forest of Soignies, and pitched its tents near the village of Waterloo. It served the campaign of this year with the army of Brabant, under King William; and brought into the field forty officers, thirty-four serjeants, twenty-five drummers, sixty-three grenadiers, one hundred and sixty pikemen, and five hundred and eighty musketeers (including men detached). The FIFTEENTH, seventeenth, twenty-seventh, Collingwood's, and Saunderson's (afterwards disbanded) regiments, were formed in brigade under Brigadier-General Tiffin, in the division commanded by Lieut.-General Sir Henry Bellasis. The regiment took part in the operations of the campaign; and when the French commanders menaced Brussels with a siege, the FIFTEENTH marched with the army, from Waterloo through the forest, during the night of the 22nd of June, in dark and tempestuous weather, and taking post before that city, was instrumental in defeating the designs of the enemy. After the regiment had been encamped before Brussels nearly three months, hostilities were terminated by the treaty of Ryswick; and the efforts of the British monarch, to arrest the progress of French conquests and preserve the liberties of Europe, were thus attended with success. The restoration of peace being accomplished, the regiment proceeded in boats down the canal to Bruges, and during the winter it embarked for England. [Sidenote: 1698] The regiment was placed upon a peace establishment; and, in 1698, it proceeded to Ireland, where it was stationed during the two following years. The respite from war, ceded to Europe by the treaty of Ryswick, was of short duration. The French monarch, continuing to pursue schemes of aggrandizement, by which he had long agitated Christendom, procured the accession of his grandson, Philip Duke of Anjou, to the throne of Spain,--seized on the Spanish provinces in the Netherlands,--and detained the Dutch troops which were in garrison in the barrier towns. These proceedings produced a violent sensation throughout Europe: the house of Austria claimed the Spanish monarchy, and declared war against France; the Dutch solicited British aid; and the FIFTEENTH Foot was one of the corps which proceeded to Holland on this occasion. [Sidenote: 1701]