The second battalion of the ROYAL Regiment having transferred its serviceable men to the first, proceeded to Scotland; and the first battalion embarked for the Netherlands, where it arrived in the beginning of May, 1689, and joined the Dutch camp at Tongres in the early part of June. The British troops were commanded by the Earl of Marlborough,[75] and the combined army by Prince Waldeck. The ROYALS were employed in several operations; and on the 25th of August they took part in a sharp action with the French troops commanded by Marshal d'Humieres, at _Walcourt_, in the province of Namur. The enemy attacked a foraging-party, and this brought on a sharp action, in which the British infantry evinced firmness and intrepidity, particularly a detachment under Colonel Robert Hodges;[76] and the French were repulsed with considerable loss. [Sidenote: 1690] During the winter, the second battalion of the ROYAL Regiment, having recruited its ranks, was sent from Scotland to Holland; and in the summer of 1690 both battalions took the field. On the 21st of June, the regiment was on its march to Brussels; but Prince Waldeck, without waiting for the arrival of the British troops, engaged the French at Fleurus, and was defeated. This disaster reduced the combined army to the necessity of limiting its operations, and acting on the defensive during the remainder of the campaign. [Sidenote: 1691] On the 1st of July, 1690, Marshal Duke Schomberg was killed at the battle of the Boyne in Ireland; and the Colonelcy of the ROYAL Regiment remained vacant until the 5th of March, 1691, when it was conferred by King William III. on Lieut.-Colonel Sir Robert Douglas. The regiment having been withdrawn from its winter quarters in the month of March, 1691, was encamped at Halle, in South Brabant, where the first battalion was formed in brigade with the Scots Foot Guards, and the regiments of Ramsay, Angus, Mackay, and Hodges; and the second battalion was posted, with O'Ffarrel's regiment, between two divisions of Dutch infantry.[77] The French besieged Mons, and the confederates being unable to relieve the place, the garrison surrendered on the 31st of March, when the French troops went into quarters. After the surrender of Mons, the ROYAL Regiment was sent into garrison, from whence it was withdrawn in May, and was encamped near Brussels, and both battalions were formed in one brigade with the Scots regiments of Mackay, Ramsay, O'Ffarrel, and Angus, under the orders of Brigadier-General Ramsay. The summer was passed by the opposing armies in manœuvring on the rich plains of the Netherlands; and in October the troops marched into quarters for the winter. [Sidenote: 1692]