The few officers and men of the regiment who escaped from the field of battle proceeded to Alcira, a strong town on the river Xucar, where they joined the cavalry with which the Earl of Galway had made good his retreat; and the approach to the town being by almost inaccessible mountains, they halted a few days to re-organise the army. On the advance of the French and Spanish forces commanded by the Duke of Orleans, the Earl of Galway placed a garrison in Alcira, and removed to _Tortosa_, and the SIXTH were among the troops which encamped on the banks of the river Ebro, about two miles above the city. Meanwhile many of the men who had been taken prisoners, escaped and returned to their regiments; detachments were called in, and the troops took up a position beyond the Ebro. On the 22nd of May the French light cavalry appeared on the hills; on the following day their army encamped against the town, and the SIXTH were engaged in the defence of a small village and _tête de pont_ to the bridge of boats, which last post was held for several days. The enemy having passed the Ebro, the regiment was removed to Tarragona, and subsequently to Las Borgues. The Duke of Orleans having besieged _Lerida_, some arrangements were made to attempt to relieve the garrison, and the army encamped within a few miles of the town; but a sufficient number of troops could not be assembled to enable the Earl of Galway to attack the besieging army with any hope of success. After the surrender of the castle, the regiment marched back to Tarragona for winter quarters, and its ranks were completed by drafts from the second foot and other regiments which were ordered to return to England to recruit. [Sidenote: 1708] During the winter the Earl of Galway proceeded to Portugal, where he remained in a diplomatic capacity. The British troops in Spain were commanded by Major-General Carpenter, and in the spring of 1708 by Major-General Stanhope--afterwards Earl Stanhope: the united English, Germans, Spaniards, Portuguese, and Dutch, comprising the army of King Charles in Spain, were commanded by Marshal Count Guido de Staremberg, an officer who had commanded the imperial troops in Hungary. After quitting their quarters the SIXTH were encamped on the river Francoli, between Monblanco and Tarragona, to defend a defile leading to the plain near the town: they brought about eight hundred officers and men into the field, and their weather-beaten, hardy, and warlike appearance excited admiration. In a letter from the army, dated 23rd of April, 1708, and published at the time, it was stated:--"We cannot yet give any certain account of the number of our forces, but those we have are the finest in the world: such are the regiments of SOUTHWELL (SIXTH) commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Hunt; that of Blood (seventeenth), commanded by Lieut.-Colonel Bourguet; and that of Mordaunt (twenty-eighth), commanded by Colonel Dalziel[28]."