the Earl of Galway. Its first serious action was the May 1709 Battle of La Gudina; a disastrous defeat, where the Allies lost over 4,000 prisoners, the regiment took part in a rearguard action that enabled the rest of the army to withdraw. This ended offensive operations and when the war ended in 1713, the regiment was posted to Gibraltar, where it spent the next 15 years. It was part of the garrison during the 1727 Anglo-Spanish War, when the Spanish besieged Gibraltar for over four months. On 1 July 1751, a royal warrant provided that in future regiments would not be known by their colonels' names, but by their "number or rank" and it became the 5th Regiment of Foot. During the Seven Years' War, it was engaged in the 1758 Raid on Cherbourg, the 1760 Battle of Warburg and Kirch Denkern in 1761, where they captured an entire French regiment. It also took part in the 1762 Battle of Wilhelmsthal, before returning to Ireland after the 1763 Treaty of Paris. Due to the increasing tensions that later resulted in the American Revolutionary War, the regiment was shipped to Boston, Massachusetts in May 1774. Elements of the unit were involved in the Battle of Lexington and Concord in April 1775 and the Battle of Bunker Hill in June. After being evacuated to Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1776 the 5th took part in the expedition to New York, including the battles of Long Island and White Plains, and capture of Fort Washington and Fort Lee, New Jersey. They subsequently joined Howe's 1777 campaign against Philadelphia; at Brandywine Creek, they broke the Continental Army's centre and captured five cannon. Despite this success, in 1778 the British army withdrew and the regiment was involved in fighting at Monmouth Court House. In November 1778, they left New York for last time and were transported to the French West Indies, where on 13 December 1778, they landed on Saint Lucia. The 5th was engaged with a small force of French and captured a four-cannon battery. On 18 December 1778, a force of 9,000 French troops landed on St. Lucia. The small British force of 1,400 men occupied a hill located on the neck of a peninsula. The French were fairly raw soldiers trained to fight in the classic European style of linear battles. The French advanced on the British force several times. The British,