he felt most acutely, of dismissing his favourite regiments of Dutch guards and French refugees. When this reduction took place, the establishment of the QUEEN'S regiment was decreased to ten companies of thirty-six private men each. It continued to occupy Plymouth and Penryn, with one company detached to the Isle of Scilly. [Sidenote: 1701] The success which had attended the exertions of King William to prevent the aggrandizement of France by conquest, and to establish the balance of power in Europe upon an apparently solid foundation, was suddenly countervailed by the accession of the Duke of Anjou, grandson of Louis XIV., to the throne of Spain; and two years had scarcely elapsed, before the signs of approaching war appeared, and the short-sighted policy of placing the army upon so low an establishment proved a source of great inconvenience. [Sidenote: 1702] The strength of the QUEEN'S regiment of foot was again increased to twelve companies, and in February, 1702, King William conferred the colonelcy on Brigadier-General William Seymour from the twenty-fourth regiment. His Majesty having died in the following month, was succeeded by Queen Anne,[14] who declared war against France; and the first service in which the QUEEN'S regiment of foot was called upon to engage in this reign, was the expedition to the coast of Spain under the command of General the Duke of Ormond, a nobleman more remarkable for generosity and personal bravery, than for ability as commander-in-chief of an army. Information had been received in England that the garrison of the city of _Cadiz_ was weak in numbers, the fortifications out of repair, and that the inhabitants of that part of Spain were favourable to the house of Austria. This fortress had been captured by a British armament in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,[15] and, in the anticipation of a similar result, an expedition was fitted out, and the QUEEN'S (now fourth) regiment of foot embarked[16] from Plymouth (mustering upwards of eight hundred men) to join in the enterprise. When the fleet arrived on the Spanish coast, some delay was occasioned by the Admiral, Sir George Rooke, on pretence of seeking for information; but the troops landed in the middle of August, and dispersed a body of Spanish cavalry which was drawn up to oppose them, on which occasion the grenadier company of this regiment was engaged. After landing, the QUEEN'S regiment took part in the operations by which the capture of the towns of _Rota_ and _Port St. Mary's_, and also _Fort St. Catherine_, was effected; it also took part in the siege of the fort of _Matagorda_; but the delay in landing had given the Spaniards time to recover from their first surprise, and Cadiz was found better prepared for resistance than was expected. The expedition proving too weak for the capture of this fortress, the troops retired to Rota, where they re-embarked, and afterwards sailed for England.