At three o'clock on the morning of the 4th of August, a storming party of one hundred and eighty-three officers and men, with a support of sixty men, furnished in equal proportions from each of the three regiments, paraded at the head of the brigade; a similar detachment of the blue Dutch foot-guards was also in readiness, and at five this little band rushed forward in the face of a storm of fire, and made a second attack on the Dauphin Bastion with signal gallantry. The English, being emulous of fame, gained the lead of the Dutch, and throwing forward a shower of hand-grenades, assaulted the breach sword in hand, and effected a lodgment. Suddenly the ground under the soldiers' feet was agitated, a tremendous explosion blew a number of men into the air, and the bursting of the mine being succeeded by a fierce attack of the enemy, the storming party was driven back. Instantly rallying, and being exasperated by this repulse, the English and Dutch returned to the charge breathing vengeance and slaughter, by a powerful effort drove back their antagonists, and re-established themselves on the bastion, but with the loss of more than half their numbers killed and wounded. English valour shone conspicuously on this occasion, and the Dutch authorities acknowledged the superior gallantry of the brigade. In the Hague Gazette it was stated "_the English gained very great honour_;" and in the Brussels Gazette it was stated, "the Prince of Orange having resolved to retake the Dauphin Bastion, appointed two hundred English, and as many of his guards, to make the attack, which they did with great courage and resolution, and _with very great honour to the English, who first entered the breach_." Sir William Temple, Harris, Boyer, Carleton, Bernardi, and other authors, bore ample testimony to the native valour of the English soldiers. A Scots regiment, commanded by Sir Alexander Colyear, also distinguished itself at this siege. A desperate sally was made from the town, on the morning of the 6th of August, by three hundred Swiss infantry, who, owing to the neglect of a sentry, surprised and made prisoners the English guard on the bastion; but a reinforcement coming forward, the Swiss were overpowered and destroyed, except about twenty men, who escaped into the town. The Prince of Orange complimented the English on their bravery: and being desirous of conferring on merit a special mark of his approbation, and of inciting other corps to emulate the English brigade, he made each of the three regiments a present of a fat ox and six sheep, which, however, occasioned some murmuring among the Dutch. A strong horn-work was afterwards captured by the Dutch, and preparations were made for a general storm of the main breach; but Marshal de Schomberg advancing at the head of a powerful French army to relieve the town, the siege was raised, and the three English regiments, having sustained a severe loss, were sent into quarters in Holland. [Sidenote: 1677]