Marlborough at Blenheim. The loss of _Gibraltar_ disconcerted the measures of Philip II., and his grandfather Louis XIV. Eight thousand men, under the Marquis de Villadarias, were immediately detached from the Spanish army to retake the fortress; and the French admiral received orders to engage the British and Dutch fleet, and to co-operate in the re-capture of Gibraltar. At this period the French monarch possessed a naval force of considerable magnitude, and his fleet under the Count of Thoulouse exceeded in numbers and power the combined British and Dutch squadron. The hostile fleets engaged on the 24th of August, about eleven leagues south of _Malaga_, and, after both sides had suffered severely, they were separated in the night. [Illustration: Landing of the British and Dutch troops at Gibraltar on the 21st July, 1704. [To face page 34, in 4th Foot. ] The Marquis de Villadarias, having been joined by four thousand French from the fleet, commenced the siege of _Gibraltar_ on the 22d of October; and part of the QUEEN'S REGIMENT OF MARINES, being in garrison, had now the honour of defending that magnificent fortress which they had so nobly assisted to capture. The garrison was weak in numbers; but Sir John Leake and Rear-admiral Vander Dussen arrived in the bay from Lisbon, with thirteen English and six Dutch men-of-war, and, thus securing the besieged from an attack from the sea, gave them an opportunity to direct all their energies to the repulsing of the attacks from the land side. During the night of the 11th of November, five hundred of the enemy contrived, by means of rope-ladders and other inventions, to ascend the mountain by a way which was deemed impracticable, and were supported by another body of three thousand men. The men engaged in this daring enterprise were, however, soon discovered, and were charged by five hundred of the MARINES in garrison with such resolution, that two hundred of the enemy were killed on the spot, upwards of two hundred were taken prisoners, and the remainder, endeavouring to escape, fell down the rock and were dashed to pieces.