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The Duke of Marlborough's 1709 Campaign and the Experience Of A Very Murdering Year: The Duke of Marlborough’s 1709 Campaign and the Experience of Battle at Malplaquet. By CALLUM ANDREW JOHNSTONE A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS BY RESEARCH College of Arts and Law University of Birmingham November 2017 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Table of Contents LIST OF MAPS.........................................................................................................ii A NOTE ON DATES ................................................................................................ iii INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 1 Malplaquet.................................................................................................................. 1 European Warfare ...................................................................................................... 3 Marlborough ............................................................................................................. 10 The Army ................................................................................................................... 18 Strategy ..................................................................................................................... 22 Economic Reality ...................................................................................................... 34 Primary Sources ........................................................................................................ 36 Methodology ............................................................................................................ 39 CHAPTER ONE: THE 1709 CAMPAIGN PRE-MALPLAQUET ...................................... 42 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 42 Prelude - Domestic Politics & Peace Discussions 1708-9 ......................................... 43 Planning .................................................................................................................... 46 The Siege of Tournai ................................................................................................. 59 Investment of Mons ................................................................................................. 78 Conclusion ................................................................................................................ 86 CHAPTER TWO: THE BATTLE OF MALPLAQUET ...................................................... 90 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 90 Planning and Manoeuvre ......................................................................................... 91 The Battle of Malplaquet .......................................................................................... 96 Aftermath ............................................................................................................... 101 Post-battle .............................................................................................................. 106 CHAPTER THREE: THE EXPERIENCE OF BATTLE AT MALPLAQUET ......................... 110 Introduction ............................................................................................................ 110 The Experience of Infantry at Malplaquet .............................................................. 110 Facing Artillery at Malplaquet ................................................................................ 130 The Experience of Cavalry at Malplaquet ............................................................... 138 Conclusion .............................................................................................................. 153 CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 157 BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................... 166 i LIST OF MAPS Figure 1: The Flanders Theatre p.46 Figure 2: The 1709 Campaign p.59 Figure 3: The Armies Prior to Malplaquet p.93 Figure 4: The Battle of Malplaquet p.101 ii A NOTE ON DATES All dates in the main text of this thesis use the New Style dating format with the year beginning 1 January. During the eighteenth century the Old Style calendar was still in use. When an Old Style date has been used in a Primary Source I have inserted the new Style Date immediately afterwards in the form [20 July N.S.]. iii INTRODUCTION Malplaquet The battle of Malplaquet, fought in 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession, was the largest battle of the eighteenth century. The War of Spanish Succession commenced in 1701 after the death of Carlos II of Spain, when the throne was offered to the French Bourbon grandson of Louis XIV, who became Philip V of Spain. The Maritime Powers of England and the Dutch Republic, along with Austria, opposed this and fought for the Austrian Archduke Charles to succeed to the throne. The conflict was to last until 1714 and the major Allied commanders, the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy, fought numerous engagement against the French forces, with great success, as victories were secured at Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706) and Oudenarde (1708). Malplaquet was Marlborough’s fourth major battle of the war and 190,000 men fought in the action. It was also the bloodiest battle of the war. Historians estimate the total casualties at around 32,000.1 It is puzzling then that so little has been written about the battle. Malplaquet is explored in most of the books focusing on Marlborough as a general. However, these often seem to be cursory examinations and are hardly sufficient for a battle on such a scale. One explanation for why Malplaquet has been somewhat downplayed is that it arguably represented the nadir of Marlborough’s generalship and, therefore, it has 1 R. Holmes, Marlborough: Britain’s Greatest General, (London, 2009), p.433. 1 not proved a popular topic among historians who wish the preserve his legacy as ‘Britain’s greatest general’.2 Hilaire Belloc wrote the last major English language work on Malplaquet in 1911. Belloc viewed Malplaquet as a stunning success, ‘It is with justice that Malplaquet is counted as the fourth of those great successful actions which distinguish the name of Marlborough, and it is reckoned with justice the conclusion of the series whose three other terms are Blenheim, Ramillies, and Oudenarde.’3 This view appears at odds with the losses sustained by the Allies compared to the French, who managed to withdraw the bulk of their forces intact. Even scholarly articles have paid little attention the battle. Ó Hannrachàin’s article ‘The Battle of Malplaquet’ 11 September 1709’, in spite of the promising title only focuses on the Irish contribution to the battle and even this is largely limited to the officers who took part and their conduct. Even as purely a study of the Irish involvement it appears inadequate, there is no mention, for example, of the combat between Irish troops in English and French pay described by Robert Parker.4 The article is littered with examples of the heroics of Irish troops, and particular attention is made to compare this to the French Guards who fled during the battle. Ó 2C. Barnett, Marlborough, (London, 1974), pp.236-240; I.F. Burton, The Captain-General: The Career of John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, from 1702-1711, (London, 1968), pp.151-161: D. Chandler, Marlborough as Military Commander, (London, 2000), pp.252-273; J.R. Jones, Marlborough, (Cambridge, 1993), pp.175-184: Holmes, Marlborough, pp.422-434. 3 H. Belloc, Malplaquet, (London, 1911), p.22. 4 D. Chandler, The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough, (Staplehurst, 1990), p.120. 2 Hannrachàin also appeared to suggest that the French were on the verge of victory but became undone by Boufflers’ fear of being enveloped.5 As a case study for warfare during the period Malplaquet is extremely interesting: it had combined arms combat, effective use of artillery, bravery in the face of fire, heroic leadership (both Villars and Eugene were wounded), cavalry engagements as well as frontal and flank attacks. The campaign also included a major siege in Tournai and thus serves as a microcosm of warfare during the period. This thesis will provide an in depth look at the operational history of the 1709 campaign, it will explore the formulating of plans for the campaign before focusing on the decisions and actions the Allied forces took. While looking at this the thesis will analyse Marlborough’s conduct during the campaign with particular attention paid to the siege of Tournai and the battle of Malplaquet and its subsequent impact. The thesis will also study the experience of battle at Malplaquet for the three major arms that took part: the infantry, cavalry and artillery,
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