In the summer of 1705 the Queen Dowager's Regiment was engaged in the siege of _Valencia de Alcantara_, which place was taken by storm on the 8th of May. The regiment was also employed in the siege and capture of _Albuquerque_; and in the unsuccessful attack on _Badajoz_, in which the Earl of Galway lost his right hand by a cannon ball. On the 31st of December, Catherine, Queen Dowager of England, with whose history the early services of this regiment were connected, and from whom its original title and distinctions (as already remarked) were derived, died at Lisbon. Her Majesty was Regent of Portugal during the summer, (the king her brother being with the army) and had proved herself firmly attached to the interests of Great Britain[21]. [Sidenote: 1706] In April, 1706, the regiment was engaged in the siege of _Alcantara_, in Spanish Estramadura, and on the 10th of that month distinguished itself in an attack on the enemy's post at the Convent of St. Francis; it was afterwards engaged in the siege and capture of _Ciudad Rodrigo_; and subsequently advanced with the army to Madrid. This advance was in connexion with the operations of Charles, Earl of Peterborough, and of the combined English and Dutch fleets, the reduction of Barcelona, and the conquest of Catalonia and Valencia,--features important in history, which reflect the highest honour on the British arms. Success seemed secured to the allies, when the cause of _King Charles III._, who had been proclaimed at the head of his victorious army at Madrid, was destroyed in consequence of intrigue and want of unanimity; and the army was obliged to retire from the provinces it had conquered. [Sidenote: 1707]