The casualties of the preceding campaign having been replaced by recruits from England, the FIFTH again took the field in the spring of 1710, and was employed in the Alentejo; but the army was weak and unequal to any important undertaking, and the French having had some success in the province of Tras os Montes, occasioned a detachment to be sent thither. In the autumn the army advanced across the Guadiana, and on the 4th of October arrived at the rich plains of _Xeres de los Cabaleros_ on the river Ardilla in Spanish Estremadura. It was resolved to attack this place by storm on the following day, and the FIFTH, Twentieth, and Thirty-ninth, British regiments, having been selected to perform this service under the command of Brigadier-General Stanwix[21], advanced at four in the afternoon to attack the works near St. Catherine's gate by escalade: a few minutes after the regiments had commenced the assault, the governor sent proposals to surrender, which were agreed to, and the garrison, consisting of 700 men, were made prisoners of war. The army afterwards retired to Portugal by the mountains of Orlor, and went into quarters. This summer the army on the other side of Spain gained two victories, and advanced to Madrid, when the most pressing instances were made by King Charles III. and General Stanhope, to induce the army of Portugal to advance upon the Spanish capital; but the Portuguese generals were unwilling to engage in so great an undertaking. [Sidenote: 1711] During the campaign of 1711, the FIFTH formed part of the army which assembled at Olivenza in May, and, having passed the Guadiana by a pontoon bridge at Jerumencha, advanced against the enemy, who took refuge under the cannon of Badajoz. The FIFTH was afterwards engaged in the capture of several small towns, and in levying contributions in Spanish Estremadura; but the summer passed without any occurrence of importance, excepting a discovery made by the Earl of Portmore, who commanded the British troops in Portugal, of a clandestine treaty in progress between the crown of Portugal and the enemy, in which the former had agreed to separate from the Allies; and, to give an excuse for this, a mock battle was to have been fought, in which the British troops were to have been sacrificed[22]. This treaty was broken off, but the British Government soon afterwards entered into negotiations with France. [Sidenote: 1712] The FIFTH continued in Portugal, and was encamped during the summer of 1712 on the pleasant plains of the Tarra. In the autumn a suspension of hostilities was proclaimed at the camp by Major-General Pearce, and the regiment went into cantonments. [Sidenote: 1713]