The THIRTY-FIRST regiment, which had been much reduced by its casualties during the campaigns in Flanders, did not proceed to Scotland, but remained in the vicinity of London. The young Pretender marched as far as Derby, from whence he commenced his retreat to the north on the 6th of December, as he found but few partisans in England to join him in his expedition. [Sidenote: 1746] On the 16th of April, 1746, a decisive blow was given to the hopes of the Pretender by the defeat of the rebels at _Culloden_. Prince Charles, after enduring many hardships, escaped to France. [Sidenote: 1747] Several regiments were now ordered to return to Flanders, but the THIRTY-FIRST remained in Great Britain. On the 2nd of July, 1747, the Duke of Cumberland engaged the French at _Laffeld_, or _Val_, where the Allies suffered severely from the misconduct of the Dutch troops. [Sidenote: 1748] In the summer of 1748 the Allies again took the field, but hostilities were at length terminated by the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle, which was signed on the 7th of October, 1748. By it all the great treaties, from that of Westphalia in 1648, which first recognised the principle of a balance of power in Europe, to that of Vienna in 1738 were renewed and confirmed. Prussia retained Silesia, and the Empress-Queen, Maria Theresa, was guaranteed in the possession of her hereditary dominions, according to the Pragmatic Sanction. France surrendered her conquests in Flanders, and England those in the East and West Indies; all therefore Great Britain gained by the war was the glory of having supported the German sovereignty of Maria Theresa, and of having adhered to former treaties. [Sidenote: 1749] Colonel Henry Holmes was appointed by King George II. to the Colonelcy of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment on the 8th of May, 1749, in succession to Colonel Lord Henry Beauclerk, who retired from the service. In the year 1749 the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was embarked for Minorca, where it remained for the three following years. [Sidenote: 1751] In the Royal Warrant, dated the 1st of July, 1751, for ensuring uniformity in the clothing, standards, and colours of the army, and regulating the number and rank of regiments, the facings of the THIRTY-FIRST regiment were directed to be _Buff_. The first, or King’s colour, was the Great Union; the second, or Regimental colour, was of _Buff_ silk, with the Union in the upper canton; in the centre of the colour the number of the rank of the regiment, in gold Roman characters, within a wreath of roses and thistles on the same stalk. [Sidenote: 1752] In 1752 the regiment returned to England from Minorca. [Sidenote: 1753] [Sidenote: 1754] During the years 1753 and 1754 the THIRTY-FIRST regiment was stationed in England. [Sidenote: 1755] In the year 1755 the regiment proceeded to Scotland, in which country it remained for seven years. [Sidenote: 1756]