"joined Leopold against Louis XIV and Philip of Anjou. The allied forces were led by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, and by Prince Eugene of Savoy. They inflicted a few resounding defeats on the French army; the Battle of Blenheim in 1704 was the first major land battle lost by France since its victory at Rocroi in 1643. Yet, the extremely bloody battles of Ramillies (1706) and Malplaquet (1709) proved to be Pyrrhic victories for the allies, as they had lost too many men to continue the war. Led by Villars, French forces recovered much of the lost ground"
"gained by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene over the French under Marshals de Villars and Boufflers on 11 September 1709. Both the Coalition Commanders had now reached the Triple Line of Fortresses, which, until the Campaign of 1814 proved the contrary, had been considered by so many military men as presenting an insurmountable barrier to the advance of hostile armies into France by its north-eastern frontier. It was most essential that some of the principal fortresses should be secured; and made to constitute a new basis whence to direct the operations now contemplated against the interior. The following,"
"bloodiest battle of the war, and prevented the Allies from invading northern France. After a late start to the campaigning season owing to the unusually harsh winter preceding it, the allied campaign of 1709 began in mid June. Unable to bring the French army under Marshal Villars to battle owing to strong French defensive lines and the Marshal's orders from Versailles not to risk battle, the Duke of Marlborough concentrated instead on taking the fortresses of Tournai and Ypres. Tournai fell after an unusually long siege of almost 70 days, by which time it was early September, and rather than"
"Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre Marlbrough s'en va-t-en guerre or Malbrook s'en va-t-en guerre (""""Marlborough Has Left for the War"""" also known as Mort et convoi de l'invincible Malbrough, """"The Death and Burial of the Invincible Marlbrough"""") is one of the most popular folk songs in French. The burlesque lament on the death of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650–1722) was written on a false rumour of that event after the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709, the bloodiest battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. It tells how Marlborough's wife, awaiting his return from battle, is given the news"
"no further proposals. Lamenting the collapse of the negotiations, and aware of the vagaries of war, Eugene wrote to the Emperor in mid-June 1709. ""There can be no doubt that the next battle will be the biggest and bloodiest that has yet been fought."" After the fall of Tournai on 3 September (itself a major undertaking), the Allied generals turned their attention towards Mons. Marshal Villars, recently joined by Boufflers, moved his army south-west of the town and began to fortify his position. Marlborough and Eugene favoured an engagement before Villars could render his position impregnable; but they also agreed"
"the French retreated from the field, but the Allies suffered twice as many casualties and their campaign soon sputtered out. France's precarious position had been stabilized, the Allies were unable to achieve their goal of forcing harsh terms on the Bourbons, and the war continued. In May 1712, Villars prepared to take the offensive. The French gathered an army of 200,000 men on the northern border, stretching from Arras to Cambrai. The Allied northern army was positioned along the Scarpe between Douai and Marchiennes, occupying the communes of Denain and Landrecies. The successful but controversial Marlborough had recently been relieved"
"of Friedlingen he received the marshalate, and for the pacification of the insurgent Cévennes he received the Saint-Esprit order and the title of duke. Friedlingen and Hochstadt were barren victories, and the campaigns of which they formed were characterized by lost opportunities. Villars' glory thus begins with the year 1709 when France, apparently helpless, was roused to a great effort of self-defence by the stringent demands of the Coalition. In that year he was called to command the main army opposing Prince Eugène of Savoy and Marlborough on the northern frontier. During the famine of the winter he shared the"
"the following year he was promoted to Lieutenant-General. From this point onwards Webb became the centre of Tory agitation against Marlborough. Battle of Wijnendale The Battle of Wijnendale was a battle in the War of the Spanish Succession fought on 28 September 1708 near Wijnendale, Flanders, between an allied force protecting a convoy for the Siege of Lille (1708) and forces of Bourbon France and Spain. It ended in a victory for the allies, leading to the taking of Lille. After their great victory in the Battle of Oudenaarde (11 July 1708), Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy decided to"
"Villars, deceived and outmanoeuvred, was helpless to intervene, compelling the fortress's unconditional surrender on 12 September. Chandler writes – ""The pure military artistry with which he repeatedly deceived Villars during the first part of the campaign has few equals in the annals of military history ... the subsequent siege of Bouchain with all its technical complexities, was an equally fine demonstration of martial superiority"". For Marlborough, though, time had run out. His strategic gains in 1711 made it virtually certain that the Allies would march on Paris the following year, but Harley had no intention of letting the war progress"
"weaken his centre, thus enabling Marlborough to breakthrough and claim victory. Villars was unable to save Mons, which subsequently capitulated on 21 October, but his resolute defence at Malplaquet—inflicting up to 25% casualties on the Allies—may have saved France from destruction. In August 1709 Eugene's chief political opponent and critic in Vienna, Prince Salm, retired as court chamberlain. Eugene and Wratislaw were now the undisputed leaders of the Austrian government: all major departments of state were in their hands or those of their political allies. However, another attempt at a negotiated settlement at Geertruidenberg in April 1710 failed, largely because"
"Rantzau made a significant contribution, capturing three French battalions. In all, the campaigns of 1708 led to 3,500 casualties in the Danish corps, but its ranks were soon filled by new recruits, many of which were defectors and deserters from the French lines. In 1709 the Danish corps remained in its winter quarters until June, awaiting the one million guilders owed by the Dutch Republic. The campaign of 1709 began with the capture of Tournai, followed by the battle of Malplaquet, where the Danish corps lost 1,300 soldiers. Marlborough paid homage to the Fynske Regiment as the most distinguished unit"
"lost his hold on the Queen. The military setbacks of 1707 continued through the opening months of 1708 with the defection of Brugge and Gent to the French. Marlborough remained despondent about the general situation, but his optimism received a major boost with the arrival in theatre of Prince Eugene, his co-commander at Blenheim. Heartened by the Prince's robust confidence, Marlborough set about to regain the strategic initiative. After a forced march, the Allies crossed the river Schelde at Oudenaarde just as the French army, under Marshal Vendôme and the duc de Burgundy, was crossing farther north with the intent"
"of besieging the place. Marlborough – with renewed self-assurance – moved decisively to engage them. His subsequent victory at the Battle of Oudenaarde on 11 July 1708 demoralised the French army in Flanders; his eye for ground, his sense of timing and his keen knowledge of the enemy were again amply demonstrated. The success, aided by the dissension of the two French commanders, restored the strategic initiative to the Allies, who now opted to besiege Lille, the strongest fortress in Europe. While the Duke commanded the covering force, Eugene oversaw the siege of the town, which surrendered on 22 October;"
"into making substantial concessions, Eugene prepared for a major campaign. However, on 21 May 1712—when the Tories felt they had secured favourable terms with their unilateral talks with the French—the Duke of Ormonde (Marlborough's successor) received the so-called 'restraining orders', forbidding him to take part in any military action. Eugene took the fortress of Le Quesnoy in early July, before besieging Landrecies, but Villars, taking advantage of Allied disunity, outmanoeuvred Eugene and defeated the Earl of Albermarle's Dutch garrison at Denain on 24 July. The French followed the victory by seizing the Allies' main supply magazine at Marchiennes, before reversing"
"Fort Marlborough. In late February both French and EIC squadrons returned to the Indian Ocean. The Dutch frigate ""Amazone"" subsequently captured two French corvettes at Sourabaya. In the early spring of 1794, during a major campaign in the Atlantic, a British force led by Captain Peter Rainier in the 74-gun ship of the line , also including , , and , was sent to the Indian Ocean. This force diverged ""en route"", with ""Orpheus"", ""Resistance"" and ""Centurion"" cruising off Île de France in May. On 5 May this force encountered the captured ""Princess Royal"", now armed as a warship and"
"school. Chandler, D. G.: ""Marlborough as Military Commander"", (Spellmount, Staplehurst, 2003)<br> Hussey, J.: ""Marlborough: Hero of Blenheim"", (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2004) Siege of Bouchain (1711) The Siege of Bouchain (9 August – 12 September 1711), following the Passage of the Lines of ""Ne Plus Ultra"" (5 August 1711), was a siege of the War of the Spanish Succession, and the last major victory of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. Marlborough broke through the French defensive lines and took Bouchain after a siege of 34 days. Its capture left Cambrai the only French-held fortress between the allied army and"
"problems. Marshal Villeroi, exerting considerable pressure on the Dutch commander, Count Overkirk, along the Meuse, took Huy on 10 June before pressing on towards Liège. With Marshal Villars sitting strong on the Moselle, the Allied commander – whose supplies had by now become very short – was forced to call off his campaign on 16 June. ""What a disgrace for Marlborough,"" exulted Villeroi, ""to have made false movements without any result!"" With Marlborough's departure north, the French transferred troops from the Moselle valley to reinforce Villeroi in Flanders, while Villars marched off to the Rhine. The Anglo-Dutch forces gained minor"
"his English troops to the Moselle (a plan approved of by The Hague), but once there he planned to slip the Dutch leash and march south to link up with Austrian forces in southern Germany. A combination of strategic deception and brilliant administration enabled Marlborough to achieve his purpose. After marching from the Low Countries, the Allies fought a series of engagements against the Franco-Bavarian forces ranged against them on the Danube. The first major encounter occurred on 2 July 1704 when Marlborough and Prince Louis of Baden stormed the Schellenberg heights at Donauwörth. However, the main event followed on"
"elevated to the dukedom of Marlborough. During the war he won a series of victories, including the Battle of Blenheim (1704), the Battle of Ramillies (1706), the Battle of Oudenarde (1708), and the Battle of Malplaquet (1709). For his victory at Blenheim, the Crown bestowed upon Marlborough the tenancy of the royal manor of Hensington (situated on the site of Woodstock) to site the new palace, and Parliament voted a substantial sum of money towards its creation. The rent or ""petit serjeanty"" due to the Crown for the land was set at the peppercorn rent or quit-rent of one copy"
"to the continent and, having been promoted to major-general early in 1706, served as a brigade commander under Marlborough at the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706 and at the Siege of Ostend in June 1706. After being appointed colonel of Prince George of Denmark's Regiment in 1707, he went on to command a brigade at the Battle of Oudenarde in July 1708 and at the Siege of Lille in Autumn 1708. Promoted to lieutenant general in April 1709, he also took part in the Siege of Tournai in June 1709 and the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709. Appointed"
"a crack assault force managed by 18 August to once more cut the Marshal's communication with Bouchain, and established a fieldwork-protected corridor from the siege camp to his main supply port at Marchiennes on the Scarpe. Frequent raids by Villars on both the supply convoys on the Scarpe, and towards Douai, failed to interrupt the siege, and the garrison marched out to become prisoners of war on 13 September 1711. Bouchain was Marlborough's last campaign. On the last day of the year he was stripped of his position as Captain-General, and of all his other offices. Command of the army"
"1706 during the War of the Spanish Succession. During the Battle of Ramillies, which took place the following day, Molesworth offered Marlborough his own horse after Marlborough fell from the saddle. Molesworth then recovered his master's charger and slipped away: by these actions he saved his master's life. Promoted to captain in the Coldstream Guards and lieutenant colonel in the Army on 5 May 1707, he was present at the relief of Brussels in 1708 and at the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 and was wounded by a mine at the Siege of Mons in October 1709. He commanded"
"levelled and the town of Tirlemont dismantled. Siege of Zoutleeuw The Siege of Zoutleeuw or the Siege of Léau (29 August 1705 – 5 September 1705) was a siege of the War of the Spanish Succession. Allied troops with 16 artillery pieces under the command of the English Captain general the Duke of Marlborough, besieged and captured the small French-held Flemish fortified town of Zoutleeuw in the Spanish Netherlands. After piercing the French fortified lines Lines of Brabant at Elixheim on 18 July 1705, the Duke of Marlborough found his plans to bring the French army under Duc de Villeroi"
"financially exhausted, the severe winter of 1708/09 led to widespread famine and Louis XIV was forced to withdraw French troops from Spain to reinforce his northern frontier. However, although the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 was technically an Allied victory, the casualties shocked Europe and halted their advance into France. In Spain, forces loyal to the Bourbon candidate Philip V recaptured Alicante in April 1709 and won a resounding victory over an Anglo-Portuguese army at La Gudiña in May. The Portuguese now declared an informal truce, allowing trade and agriculture to recommence. All sides wanted peace but negotiations in"
"naval blockade surrounding France. The British fleet, led by Admiral Earl Howe, was tasked with destroying the convoy and the French squadron. The French and British fleets engaged in battle on May 28 until June 1, 1794. On June 1, Douville and the rest of the French navy faced off against Admiral Earl Howe""in which [Douville] dismasted the British ship of the line, ""Marlborough"", of seventy-four guns."" However, Douville gained eighteen wounds from the battle, and he and his ship were captured by the British. Douville died on July 17, 1794, in Forton Prison, located in Gosport, England. He was"
"at the Duke of Marlborough's victories of Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde and Malplaquet. It was renamed ""Villier's Foot"" when it was commanded by Major-General Sir Ambrose Villiers, colonel from 1742–1748. It served in War of the Austrian Succession (1740–1748) at Dettingen and Fontenoy. It then returned home to battle the Young Pretender's forces at the battles of Falkirk and Culloden in 1746. They served in the Seven Years' War (1754–1763) in North America as part of General Braddock's Expedition (1755) and was part of General Wolfe's Expedition to Quebec (1759). They later returned to America in 1772, serving in the Revolutionary"
"intimate friend – ensured Marlborough's rise, first to the Captain-Generalcy of British forces, then to a dukedom. Becoming ""de facto"" leader of Allied forces during the War of the Spanish Succession, his victories on the fields of Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), Oudenarde (1708), and Malplaquet (1709), ensured his place in history as one of Europe's great generals. But his wife's stormy relationship with the Queen, and her subsequent dismissal from court, was central to his own fall. Incurring Anne's disfavour, and caught between Tory and Whig factions, Marlborough, who had brought glory and success to Anne's reign, was forced from"
"their disastrous defeat at Blenheim in 1704, the next year brought the French some respite. The Duke of Marlborough had intended the 1705 campaign – an invasion of France through the Moselle valley – to complete the work of Blenheim and persuade King Louis XIV to make peace but the plan had been thwarted by friend and foe alike. The reluctance of his Dutch allies to see their frontiers denuded of troops for another gamble in Germany had denied Marlborough the initiative but of far greater importance was the Margrave of Baden’s pronouncement that he could not join the Duke"
"French withdrew at the end of the day's fighting, and left Marlborough's army in possession of the battlefield, but with double the casualties. In contrast with the Duke's previous victories, however, the French army was able to withdraw in good order and relatively intact, and remained a potent threat to further allied operations. Villars claimed that a few more such French defeats would destroy the allied armies and the historian John A. Lynn in his book ""The Wars of Louis XIV 1667–1714"" terms the battle a Pyrrhic victory, but the attempt to save Mons failed and the fortress fell on"
"On the latter front Marshal Vendôme defeated the Imperial army at Calcinato on 19 April, pushing the Imperialists back in confusion (French forces were now in a position to prepare for the long-anticipated siege of Turin). In Alsace, Marshal Villars took Baden by surprise and captured Haguenau, driving him back across the Rhine in some disorder, thus creating a threat on Landau. With these reverses, the Dutch refused to contemplate Marlborough's ambitious march to Italy or any plan that denuded their borders of the Duke and their army. In the interest of coalition harmony, Marlborough prepared to campaign in the"
"French blockade of Mons. In 1695, he directed the siege of Namur with Dutch military engineer Menno van Coehoorn. He was promoted to field marshal of the Spanish cavalry and, two years later, commanded the Lorraine Regiment of Cavalry. In the Spanish War of Succession, Verboom was in command of Antwerp's defenses in 1702. He also took part in the siege of Hulst along with Captain General Isidro de la Cueva-Benavides. In 1706, the Frenco-Spanish Army—commanded by François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi—was defeated by troops commanded by the Duke of Marlborough at the Battle of Ramillies. Troops from Antwerp"
"By June 1701, war had again broken out with France, and it sailed for the Netherlands once more. The regiment saw continuous service in the Netherlands and Germany in 1702–1712 under the command of the Duke of Marlborough. It participated in the capture of Liège in 1702, the Battles of Schellenberg and Blenheim in 1704, the Battle of Ramillies in 1706, the Battle of Oudenarde and Siege of Lille in 1708, and the Battle of Malplaquet in 1709. In 1714, the regiment sailed from Dunkirk to Leith in Scotland. It was subsequently stationed in Stirling before moving to garrison Fort"
"from those of his fleet which had escaped Howe's assault. In the melee itself several very hard-fought engagements took place—particularly that between HMS ""Brunswick"" and ""Vengeur du Peuple"". At least twelve ships were dismasted, with the British battleships HMS ""Marlborough"" and HMS ""Defence"" losing all three masts and ten French vessels suffering similarly. By 11:30 the initial action was dying down, and Villaret brought his reconstituted force back towards the battle site to contest ownership of the dismasted hulks floating there. Howe likewise reformed his main force and met Villaret, who failed to capture any of the battered British ships"