In the meantime several regiments had been sent to Portugal; an armament under the Earl of Peterborough had captured _Barcelona_, and Catalonia and Valencia had declared in favour of Archduke Charles of Austria, who was acknowledged as sovereign of Spain by Great Britain, Holland, &c. The house of Bourbon assembled a well-appointed army and a powerful fleet to retake Barcelona, which was besieged by King Philip in April, 1706. King Charles remained in the city, that his presence might inspire confidence in the garrison, which was weak and ill provided with the means of defence. Succours were sent from England, and the ROYAL FUSILIERS were embarked for this service. On the approach of the British squadron the French fleet retired. The ROYAL FUSILIERS landed at Barcelona on the 8th of May, and immediately marched to the breach to repel an expected attack by storm, which did not, however, take place. The arrival of the British fleet with reinforcements decided the fate of the town; and the army of King Philip raised the siege and retired, leaving its battering train and magazines behind. From Barcelona the ROYAL FUSILIERS marched a distance of forty-seven miles, to Gironne, a fortified town of Catalonia, situated at the base of a steep mountain, with the river Tar running through the town. Here the regiment passed in comfortable quarters among the Spaniards the remainder of the year 1706 and the early part of 1707. Provisions and wine were abundant, and the regiment was preserved in a state of efficiency. [Sidenote: 1707] While the ROYAL FUSILIERS were at Gironne, the allied British, Portuguese, and Dutch army, was overpowered on the plains of Almanza on the 25th of April, 1707. Soon after this disaster the ROYAL FUSILIERS traversed the country from Gironne to _Lerida_ (anciently called _Ilerda_), a place celebrated in history for the beauty of its situation, the fertility of the adjacent country, and for having been the capital of the country of the Ilergetes long before the first invasion of Spain by the Romans. At this pleasant city, situated on the declivity of a hill on the west bank of the Segra, the ROYAL FUSILIERS remained a short time, expecting the approach of the victorious French and Spanish forces. The officers and soldiers could view the ground where Scipio defeated Hanno, the Carthaginian general, and where Julius Cæsar conquered the lieutenants of Pompey; but no hope of victory could be entertained by the ROYAL FUSILIERS in the approaching contest, the disparity of numbers being too great.