The allies had suffered so much, and were so completely exhausted by the fatigue of this bloody and protracted battle, that they gave them very little molestation. Contenting themselves with pursuing as far as the heath of Malplaquet, and the level ground around Taisnière, they halted, and the men lay down to sleep. Meanwhile the French, in the best order, but in deep dejection, continued their retreat still in three columns; and after crossing the Hon in their rear, reunited below Quesnoy and Valenciennes, about twelve miles from the field of battle.*

38.

battle to the

Such was the desperate battle of Malplaquet, the most bloody and obstinately contested which had yet ocResults of the curred in the war, and in which it is hard to say allies. to which of the gallant antagonists the palm of valor and heroism is to be given. The victory was unquestionably gained by the allies, since they forced the enemy's position, drove them to a considerable distance from the field of battle, and hindered the siege of Mons, the object for which both parties fought, from being raised. The valor they displayed had extorted the admiration of their gallant and generous enemies.† Both Eugene and Marlborough exposed themselves more constantly than they had ever done in any former action; and cordial as had been their understanding on all previous occasions, it was generally observed that on this they seemed animated only by a generous emulation which should most aid and support the other. On the other hand, these advantages had been purchased at an enormous sacrifice,

* Coxe, v., 54-63. Disp., v., 562, Marlborough to Mr. Secretary Boyle, Sept. 11, 1709, and to Mr. Wauchope, same date, v., 598.

"The Eugenes and Marlboroughs ought to be well satisfied with us during that day, since till then they had not met with resistance worthy of them. They may now say with justice that nothing can stand before them; and, indeed, what shall be able to stay the rapid progress of these heroes, if an army of one hundred thousand men of the best troops, strongly posted between two woods, trebly intrenched, and performing their duty as well as any brave men could do, were not able to stop them one day? Will you not then own with me that they surpass all the heroes of former ages ?"Letter of a French Officer who fought at Malplaquet. Coxe, v., 65.

and never since the commencement of the contest had the scales hung so even between the contending parties. In truth, the battle of Malplaquet was a desperate duel between France and England, in which the whole strength of each nation was put forth, and the successful result was rather owing to the superior talent of the English general, and the unconquerable resolution he had communicated to his followers, than to any superiority either of military skill or national resources enjoyed by the victorious party. Nothing had occurred like it since Azincour; nothing occurred like it again till Waterloo. Blenheim itself was not nearly so hard fought. The allies lost, killed in the infantry alone, five thousand five hundred and forty-four; wounded and missing, twelve thousand seven hundred and six; in all, eighteen thousand two hundred and fifty, of whom two hundred and eighty-six were officers killed, and seven hundred and sixty-two wounded. Including the casualties in the cavalry and artillery, their total loss was not less than twenty thousand men, or nearly a fifth of the number engaged.*

39. Loss of the

French, and humanity of Marl

borough.

The French loss, though they were worsted in the fight, was less considerable; it did not exceed fourteen thousand men an unusual circumstance with a beaten army, but easily accounted for, if the formidable nature of the intrenchments which the allies had to storm in the first part of the action is taken into consideration. In proportion to the numbers engaged, the loss to the victors was not, however, nearly so great as at Waterloo.† Then was seen the prophetic wisdom with which Marlborough had so strongly urged upon the British government the propriety of augmenting the allied force at the commencement of the

*KAUSLER, 791. CoxE, v., 64.

† At Waterloo, there were sixty-nine thousand six hundred and eightysix men in Wellington's army, and the loss was twenty-two thousand four hundred and sixty-nine, or one in three nearly; at Malplaquet, it was one in five; at Talavera, one in four-five thousand being killed and wounded out of nineteen thousand eight hundred engaged.-SIEORNE'S Waterloo, ii.,

352 and 519.

campaign. But for these, the campaign would have been indecisive, or terminated in misfortune. With the additional troops he so strongly pleaded for, it would have terminated in a decisive victory, and Malplaquet had been Waterloo. Few prisoners, not above five hundred, were made on the field; but the woods and intrenchments were filled with wounded French, whom Marlborough, with characteristic humanity, proposed to Villars to remove to the French head-quarters, on condition of their being considered prisoners of war-an offer which that general thankfully accepted. A solemn thanksgiving was read in all the regiments of the army two days after the battle, after which the soldiers of both armies joined in removing the wounded French on two hundred wagons to the French camp. Thus, after the conclusion of one of the bloodiest fights recorded in modern history, the first acts of the victors were in raising the voice of thanksgiving, and doing deeds of mercy.* No sooner were these pious cares concluded, than the allies resumed the investment of Mons; Marlborough, with the English and Dutch, having his headcampaign, 26th quarters at Belian, and Eugene, with the GerOctober. mans, at Quaregnon. The Prince of Orange, with thirty battalions and as many squadrons, was intrusted with the blockade. Great efforts were immediately made to get the necessary stores and siege equipage up from Brussels; but the heavy rains of autumn set in with such severity, that it was not till the 25th of September that the trenches could be opened. Boufflers, though at no great distance, did not venture to disturb the operations. On the 9th of October, a lodgment was effected in the covered way; on the 17th, the outworks were stormed; and on the 26th, the place surrendered with its garrison, still three thousand five hundred strong. By this important success, the conquest of Brabant was finished; the burden and expense of the war removed from the Dutch provinces; the barrier which they had so long sought

40. Capture of Mons, and conclusion of the

* Marlborough to Marshal Villars, 13th of September, 1709, and to Mr. Secretary Boyle, 16th of September, 1709; Disp., v., 596-599. Coxe, v., 64.

after was rendered nearly complete; and the defenses of France were so far laid bare, that by the reduction of Valenciennes and Quesnoy, in the next campaign, no fortified place would remain on this great road between the allies and Paris. Having achieved this important success, the allied generals put their army into winter quarters at Ghent, Bruges, Brussels, and on the Meuse, while fifty battalions of the French, with one hundred squadrons, were quartered, under the command of the Duke of Berwick, in the neighborhood of Maubeuge, and the remainder of their great army in and around Valenciennes and Quesnoy.*

41. Continued de

During the progress of this short but brilliant campaign, Marlborough was more than ever annoyed and disheartened by the evident and increasing decline cline of Marlborough's influof his influence at home. Harley and Mrs. Ma- ence at court. sham continued to thwart him in every way in their power, and scarcely disguised their desire to make the situation of the duke and Godolphin so uncomfortable, that out of spleen they might resign, in which case the entire direction of affairs would have fallen into their hands. Influenced by these new favorites, the queen became cold and resentful to the Duchess of Marlborough, to whom she had formerly been so much attached; and the duke, perceiving this, strongly advised her to abstain from any correspondence with her majesty, being convinced that to continue it would be more likely to increase than diminish the estrangement so rapidly growing between them. The duchess, however, was herself of too irritable a temper to follow this wise advice; reproaches, explanations, and renewed complaints ensued on both sides; and, as usual in such

*

621.

Marlborough to Mr. Secretary Boyle, October 21, 1709. Disp., v., 617

↑ "Be assured that Mrs. Masham and Mr. Harley will, underhand, do every thing that can make the business uneasy, particularly to you the lordtreasurer, and me, for they know well that if we were removed every thing would be in their power. This is what they labor for, believing it would make them both great and happy; but I am very well persuaded it would be their destruction."-Marlborough to Godolphin, Nov. 1, 1709. CoXE, v., 105.

cases, where excessive fondness has been succeeded by coldness, all attempts to repair the breach had only the effect of widening it. Numerous events at court, trifles in themselves, but to the jealous "confirmation strong," served to show in what direction the wind was setting. The duchess took the strong and injudicious step of intruding herself on the queen, and asking what crime she had committed to produce so great an estrangement between them. This drew from her majesty a letter, exculpating her from any fault, but ascribing their alienation to a discordance in political opinion, adding, “I do not think it a crime in any one not to be of my mind, or blamable, because you can not see with my eyes, or hear with my ears." While this relieved Marlborough from the dread of a personal quarrel between the duchess and her royal mistress, it only aggravated the precarious nature of his situation, by showing that the split was owing to a wider and more irremediable division on political subjects.*

42.

Unjust criticisms and cen

sures on the

campaign.

Encouraged by this powerful support at court, Harley now openly pursued his design of effecting the downfall of Marlborough, and his removal from office and the command of the armies. The whole campaign, which had terminated so gloriously, was criticised in the most unjust and malignant spirit. The siege of Tournay was useless and expensive; the battle of Malplaquet an unnecessary carnage. It was even insinuated that the duke had purposely exposed the officers to slaughter, that he might obtain a profit by the sale of their commissions. The preliminaries first agreed to at the Hague were too favorable to France; when Louis rejected them, the rupture of the negotiations rested with Marlborough. In a word, there was nothing done by the English general, successful or unsuccessful, pacific or warlike, which was not made the subject of strong condemnation and unmeasured invective. Harley even corresponded with the disaffected party in Holland, in order to induce them to cut short the duke's career of

* COXE, v., 105-111.