Meanwhile DOUGLAS' REGIMENT had been removed from the Netherlands and placed under the orders of Prince Francis-Thomas of Savoy, who commanded the French army in Italy; and, having been engaged in several operations, it was employed in the autumn in the siege of the city of _Turin_, in Piedmont, which place was invested on the 14th of August. The Scots Regiment of Guards also arrived in Piedmont in time to take part in the siege, which was terminated on the 27th of September by the surrender of the city, when DOUGLAS' REGIMENT was placed in garrison.[43] [Sidenote: 1644] Before the following campaign the regiment was, however, removed from Piedmont to Picardy; and passing from thence to the Netherlands, it served, in 1644, under the Duke of Orleans, who held, during the minority of Louis XIV., the title of Lieutenant-General to the King. The army in the Netherlands was this year of considerable magnitude, and DOUGLAS' REGIMENT formed part of the division commanded by Marshal Meilleraie,[44] and was engaged in the siege of _Gravelines_, a town situated on the river Aa, nine miles from Dunkirk. The communication of Gravelines with the sea rendered it a place of great importance to the Spaniards, who made strenuous exertions for its preservation. Two sorties were made by the garrison in the early part of July, when DOUGLAS' REGIMENT was sharply engaged, and the enemy was repulsed. Every attempt made by the Spaniards to relieve the place was defeated, and the town surrendered on the 28th of July, 1644. This success was followed by the capture of several forts, and places of minor importance, near the sea. [Sidenote: 1645] [Sidenote: 1646] While the Scots regiments in the service of France were gaining laurels in Italy and Flanders, England continued the theatre of civil war, and many desperate engagements were fought with varied success. At length the King's army, after suffering a series of reverses, was found unable to withstand the forces of the Parliament; and a number of officers and soldiers, who had fought in the royal cause, fled to France, and were taken into the service of Louis XIV. Five English battalions were formed, and added to the French army in Flanders; and, during the campaign of 1646, the British troops were employed in the siege and capture of _Courtray_, a considerable town on the river Lys; and they afterwards took a distinguished part in the siege of the city of _Dunkirk_, which surrendered to the French army on the 10th of October, 1646. [Sidenote: 1647]