Marshal Noailles immediately ordered a large force of cavalry and infantry, composed of the household troops and of the Royal Guards, to the village of _Dettingen_, by which the British had to pass. The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, under the command of Lieut.-Colonel Montague, was in advance towards Dettingen, when the French made the above movement, and gave the first intelligence of it to His Majesty. Aschaffenberg was occupied by the French the moment it was evacuated by the Allies. The Confederate army had to march through a narrow way between a mountain and the Maine, the cannon on the opposite side of the river commanding its flank. Dettingen, in front, was occupied in force by the French, and also Aschaffenberg in the rear. In this situation the destruction of the Allies seemed inevitable; but Marshal Noailles having repassed the river, the Duke de Grammont, who succeeded to the command, advanced to the attack through the defile, thus relinquishing all the advantages of his position. The British troops, animated by the presence of their Sovereign, on the 27th of June, received the impetuous attack of the French with such steadiness and intrepidity, that the latter were forced to retire, and recross the Maine with the greatest precipitation and the loss of five thousand men. The Twentieth and THIRTY-FIRST regiments were in reserve in a wood on the British right, and towards the afternoon they were led into action by his Majesty in person, who evinced the same martial qualities for which he was distinguished at the battle of Oudenarde, on the 11th of July, 1708, when Hereditary Prince of Brunswick Lunenburg. The regiment sustained but trifling loss at the battle of Dettingen, in consequence of its having been in reserve during the early part of the action.[14] Although the victory was highly honorable to those by whom it was gained, yet it was productive of no decisive results.[15] The allied army continued its march to Hanau; it subsequently crossed the Rhine, and was employed in West Germany, but returned to Flanders for winter-quarters. [Sidenote: 1744] On the 20th of March, 1744, France declared war against England, and on the 29th of that month a counter-declaration was made by Great Britain, in which the French monarch was accused of violating the “_Pragmatic Sanction_,” and of assisting the son of the Pretender in his designs on the British throne. The regiment served the campaign of 1744 with the army commanded by Field-Marshal Wade; it was encamped some time on the banks of the Scheldt, and afterwards penetrated the French territory to the vicinity of Lisle, but no general engagement occurred. [Sidenote: 1745] In January, 1745, the Emperor Charles VII. died at Munich, and Francis, Grand-Duke of Tuscany, consort of Maria Theresa, became a candidate for the Imperial crown; this event changed the aspect of affairs in Germany, and led to the re-establishment of the House of Austria in the Imperial dignity.