Meanwhile the first battalion continued with the army in Germany; and the enemy abandoned several important cities, which were occupied by the allies. The battalion of the ROYAL Regiment proceeded through the circle of Swabia and directed its march to Philipsburg, where it crossed the Rhine on the 7th of September, and subsequently formed part of the covering army during the siege of _Landau_, a town in the Bavarian circle of the Rhine, situated in a beautiful valley on the river Queich. On the 13th of October this battalion, with the regiments of Hamilton, Ingoldsby, and Tatton, marched from the covering army encamped at Croon-Weissemberg to Germersheim, and embarking in boats, sailed down the Rhine to Holland, and were placed in garrison for the winter. [Sidenote: 1705] In the following spring, the losses of the preceding campaign were replaced with recruits from Scotland; and in April the regiment quitted its quarters, and directed its march towards Maestricht, passed that city on the 13th of May, and proceeded to Juliers. From Juliers the regiment proceeded through a mountainous country to the valley of the Moselle, in the midst of which stands the ancient city of Treves, where both battalions encamped on the 28th of May. The British and Dutch, with several German corps, having assembled in the neighbourhood of Treves, the army passed the Moselle and the Saar on the 3rd of June, and advanced towards Syrk, near which place a French army of superior numbers, commanded by Marshal Villiers, was encamped. The allied army halted a short distance from the enemy, and awaited the arrival of the Imperialists under the Margrave of Baden, who had promised to co-operate with the Duke of Marlborough in carrying on the war in this direction: but this co-operation was delayed so long that the British commander was forced to return to the Netherlands, where the French were making considerable progress. The retreat was commenced during the night of the 17th of June; and on the 20th, Lieut.-General the Earl of Orkney was detached with all the grenadiers, and one hundred men of each battalion, to observe the motions of a detachment which Marshal Villiers had sent towards the Netherlands.