paign would give him what he so ardently desired, the rest consequent upon a general peace.*

War being resolved on, Marlborough and Eugene met at Tournay on the 28th of April, and commenced 3.

as

Plan of the cam

between Eugene

ough.

the campaign by besieging the fort of Mortagne, paign agreed on which capitulated on the same day. Their force and Marlboralready amounted to sixty thousand men, and the troops were daily coming up from their cantonments, it was expected soon to amount to double that number. The plan of operations was soon settled between these two great men; no difference of opinion ever occurred between them, no jealousy ever marred their co-operation. They determined to commence serious operations by attacking Douay, a strong fortress, and one of the last of the first order which in that quarter guarded the French territory. To succeed in this, however, it was necessary to pass the French lines, which were of great strength, and were guarded by Marshal Montesquieu at the head of forty battalions and twenty squadrons. Douay itself was also strongly protected both by nature and art. On the one side lay the Haine and the Scarpe; in the center was the canal of Douay; on the other side were the lines of La Bassie, which had been strengthened with additional works since the close of the campaign. Marlborough was very sanguine of success, as the French force was not yet collected, and he was considerably superior in number; and he wrote to Godolphin on the same night, "The orders are given for marching this night, so that I hope my next will give you an account of our being in Artois."†

* "I am very sorry to tell you that the behavior of the French looks as if they had no other desire than that of carrying on the war. I hope God will bless this campaign, for I see nothing else that can give us peace either at home or abroad. I am so discouraged by every thing I see, that I have never, during this war, gone into the field with so heavy a heart as at this time. I own to you that the present humor in England gives me a good deal of trouble, for I can not see how it is possible they should mend till every thing is yet worse."-Marlborough to the Duchess, Hague, 14th of April, 1710. COXE, iv., 179.

↑ Marlborough to Godolphin, 20th of April, 1710. COXE, iv., 182.

4.

Passage of the lines of the

The duke operated at once by both wings. On the one wing he detached the Prince of Wirtemberg, with fifteen thousand men, by Pont-a-Tessin to Pont-aScarpe, 28th April. Vendin, where the French lines met the Dyle and the canal of Douay, while on the other Prince Eugene moved forward Count Fels, with a considerable corps, toward Pont Auby on the same canal. The whole army followed in two columns, the right commanded by Eugene, and the left by Marlborough. The English general secured the passage at Pont-a-Vendin without resistance; and Eugene, though baffled at Pont Auby, succeeded in getting over the canal at Sant and Courieres without serious loss. The first defenses were thus forced; and that night the two wings having formed a junction, lay on their arms in the plain of Lens, while Montesquieu precipitately retired behind the Scarpe, in the neighborhood of Vitry. Next morning, the troops, overjoyed at their success, continued their advance. Marlborough sent forward General Cadogan, at the head of the English troops, to Pont-a-Rache, to circumscribe the garrison of Douay, on the canal of Marchiennes, on the north, while Eugene, encamping on the other side of the Scarpe, completed the investment on the west. The perfect success of this enterprise without any loss was matter of equal surprise and joy to the duke, who wrote to the duchess in the highest strain of satisfaction at his bloodless triumph. It was entirely owing to the suddenness and secrecy of his movements, which took the enemy completely unawares; for had the enterprise been delayed four days longer, its issue would have been extremely doubtful, and thousands of men must, at all events, have been sacrificed.*

* "In my last I had but just time to tell you we had passed the lines. I hope this happy beginning will produce such success this campaign as must put an end to the war. I bless God for putting it into their heads not to defend their lines; for at Pont-a-Vendin, when I passed, the Marshal D'Artagnan was with twenty thousand men, which, if he had stayed, must have rendered the event very doubtful. But, God be praised, we are come without the loss of any men. The excuse the French make is, that we came

Douay, which was immediately invested after this success, is a fortress of considerable strength, in the second 5. Description line which covers the French province of Artois. of Douay. Less populous than Lille, it embraces a wider circuit within its ample walls. Its principal defense consists in the marshes, which, on the side of Tournay, where the attack might be expected, render it extremely difficult of approach, especially in the rainy season. Access to it is defended by Fort Scarpe, a powerful outwork, capable of standing a separate siege. The garrison consisted of eight thousand men under the command of the Marquis Albergotti, an officer of the highest talent and bravery; and under him were the renowned Valory, to direct the engineers, and the not less celebrated Chevalier de Jaucourt, to command the artillery. From a fortress of such strength, so defended, the most resolute resistance might be expected, and no efforts were spared on the part of the allied generals to overcome it.

Its investment

and siege,

which Villars tries to raise,

11th May.

The investment was completed on the 4th, and the trenches opened on the 5th of May. On the 7th, the head 6. of the sap was advanced to within two hundred and fifty yards of the exterior palisades; but the besiegers that night experienced a severe check from a vigorous sally of the besieged with twelve hundred men, by which two English regiments were nearly cut to pieces. But, on the 6th, a great train of artillery, consisting of two hundred pieces, with a large supply of ammunition, arrived from Tournay; on the 11th, the advanced works were strongly armed, and the batteries were pushed up to the covered way, where they thundered across the ditch against the rampart. The imminent danger of this important stronghold now seriously alarmed the French court; and Marshal Villars, who commanded their great army on the Flemish frontier, received the most positive orders to advance to its relief. By great exertions, he had now collected one hundred and fifty-three bat

four days before they expected us."-Marlborough to the Duchess, 21st of April, 1710. COXE, ix., 184.

talions and two hundred and sixty-two squadrons, which were pompously announced as mustering one hundred and fifty thousand combatants, and certainly amounted to more than ninety thousand. The allied force was almost exactly equal in battalions and squadrons; it consisted of one hundred and fiftyfive battalions and two hundred and sixty-one squadrons, but the number of men was less than that of the French, being only eighty thousand.

7.

Both armies expect an

Villars broke up from the vicinity of Cambray on the 21st of May, and advanced in great strength toward Douay. Marlborough and Eugene immediately other battle. made the most vigorous preparations to receive him. Thirty battalions only were left to prosecute the siege; twelve squadrons were placed in observation at Pont-a-Rache; and the remainder of the army, about sixty thousand strong, were concentrated in a strong position, so as to cover the siege, on which all the resources of art, so far as the short time would admit, had been lavished. Every thing was prepared for a mighty struggle. The whole guns were mounted on batteries four hundred paces from each other; the infantry was drawn up in a single line along the intrenchment, and filled up the entire interval between the artillery; the cavalry were arranged in two lines, seven hundred paces in rear of the foot soldiers. It seemed another Malplaquet, in which the relative position of the two armies was reversed, and the French were to storm the intrenched position of the allies. Every man in both armies expected a decisive battle; and Marlborough, who was heartily tired of the war, wrote to the duchess that he hoped for a victory which should at once end the war and restore him to private life.*

* "I hope God will so bless our efforts, that if the queen should not be so happy as to have a prospect of peace before the opening of the next session of Parliament, she and all her subjects may be convinced we do our best here in the army to put a speedy and good period to this bloody war."— Marlborough to the Duchess, May 12, 1710.

"I hear of so many disagreeable things, that make it very reasonable, both for myself and you, to take no steps but what may lead to a quiet life. This being the case, am I not to be pitied that am every day in danger of expos

8. Villars retires without fighting.

Yet there was no battle. The luster of Blenheim and Ramillies played round Marlborough's bayonets, and the recollection of Turin tripled the effective force of Eugene's squadrons. Villars advanced on the 1st of June, with all the pomp and circumstance of war, to within musket-shot of the allied position; and he had not only the authority, but the recommendation of Louis to hazard a battle. He boasted that his force amounted to a hundred and sixty thousand men. * But he did not venture to make the attack. To Marlborough's great regret, he retired without fighting; and the English general, at the age of threescore, was left to pursue the fatigues and the labors of a protracted campaign, in which, for the first time in his life, he was doubtful of success, from knowing the malignant eyes with which he was regarded by the ruling factions in his own country. “I long," said he, for an end of the war, so God's will be done; whatever the event may be, I shall have nothing to reproach myself with, having, with all my heart, done my duty, and being hitherto blessed with more success than was ever known before. My wishes and duty are the same; but I can't say I have the same prophetic spirit I used to have; for in all the former actions I never did doubt of success, we having had constantly the great blessing of being of one mind. I can not say it is so now; for I fear some are run so far into villainous faction, that it would more content them to see us beaten; but if I live, I will be watchful that it shall not be in their power to do much hurt. The discourse of the Duke of Argyll is, that when I please there will then be peace. I suppose his friends speak the same language in England; so that I must every summer venture my life in a battle, and be found fault with in winter for not bringing home peace. No, I wish for it with all my heart and soul."†

ing my life for the good of those who are seeking my ruin? God's will be done. If I can be so blessed as to end this campaign with success, things must very much alter to persuade me to come again at the head of the army." —Marlborough to the Duchess, 19th of May, 1710. CoXE, iv., 191, 192. * Marlborough to Godolphin, 26th of May and 2d of June, 1710. ↑ Marlborough to the Duchess, 12th of June, 1710. CoXE, iv., 197.