On the 6th of January, 1703, seven companies of the regiment were stationed at Plymouth, and on the 27th of that month four companies were ordered for embarkation on board of the ships Suffolk and Grafton, which proceeded on service to the coast of Spain, to join the fleet under Admiral Sir George Rooke, and continued in that quarter, and in the Mediterranean, during that year. In December, 1703, Colonel Villiers, who was in command of the Regiment on board of the fleet, was drowned. He was succeeded in the Colonelcy of the Regiment by Lieut.-Colonel Alexander Lutterell, on the 6th of December of that year. [Sidenote: 1704] The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, being at this time a Marine Corps, continued to serve on board the fleet in the Mediterranean, and in February, 1704, proceeded, under Admiral Sir George Rooke, to Lisbon, from whence it proceeded to _Barcelona_, where the troops were landed under the command of Major-General the Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt, on the 19th of May; but the force, being inadequate for the purpose intended, was re-embarked on the day following. The fleet next proceeded to attack the fortress of _Gibraltar_, and the Prince of Hesse effected a landing on the afternoon of the 21st of July, 1704, with eighteen hundred BRITISH AND DUTCH MARINES: after a bombardment of three days, the governor was forced to capitulate, and the Prince of Hesse took possession of the garrison on the evening of Sunday, the 24th of July, 1704. The attack of the seamen and marines is recorded in history to have been one of the boldest and most difficult ever performed. The _fortress_ of _Gibraltar_ was thus taken, and was besieged by the Spaniards and French in October following, for seven months, during which period it was successfully defended by the navy and marines, and has since remained, as a monument of British valour, in possession of the Crown of Great Britain. After selecting a sufficient force to garrison Gibraltar, the Marine Corps were distributed in the several ships of war which were then collected in the Tagus, in order to co-operate with the land forces on the coast of Spain. [Sidenote: 1705] Towards the end of May, 1705, the British fleet having about five thousand troops on board, with General the Earl of Peterborough, proceeded to Lisbon; King Charles embarked on board of the Ranelagh on the 23rd of July, and the Dutch fleet having joined in the Tagus, proceeded from thence, and anchored before Barcelona on the 22nd of August. The Earl of Peterborough commenced operations against _Barcelona_ by an attack on the strong fortress of _Montjuich_, which was taken by storm on the 17th of September. In this attack the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt was wounded by a musket-ball which occasioned his death. The city of Barcelona was invested, and after considerable efforts on the part of the besiegers and the besieged, the garrison surrendered on the 6th of October, 1705.