Malplaquet

Background
The Campaign
Disposition
The Battle.
Battlefield Today
Some Thoughts
General Withers.
Bibliography.
Photographs

The Campaign

The peace negotiations that took place during the spring and early summer of 1709 had reached deadlock, with neither party willing to concede ground. Louise XIV, under pressure from all sides, now became determined to reject all proposals and terms outright. He now entrusted the salvation of France to Marshal Villars, saying, 'All I have left is my confidence in God and in you, my outspoken friend'.

The ravages of the previous campaigns, together with one of the worst winters in history had left their mark on the once mighty French army. Bread was in short supply, and the materials of war, such as shoes, uniforms and muskets were all lacking. In a magnificent show of patriotic fervour, the French peasantry came forward in droves to offer their lives and service for the salvation of their country, and slowly the regiments began to build up into something resembling a respectable fighting force, but the battalions were well under strength. Grand schemes such as the retaking of Lille, or a surprise attack on Courtrai had to be ruled out as totally impractical given the state of the French army, and therefore a defensive policy was adopted in which Villars proposed the building of containment lines between the Douai and the Upper Lys. With these lines in place the French army could prepare itself for further operations.

Having assembled their army at Ghent, Marlborough and Eugene began to advance on Courtrai on June 13th. A reconnaissance was carried out to discover the strength of the French lines, and although still incomplete, they were nevertheless found to be formidable; therefore an alternative plan was implemented which put aside any form of mobile warfare in favour of the siege of Tournai.

Manoeuvring as if to strike at Ypres or Bethune, the allies bluffed Villars into moving troops from the garrison of Tournai to meet the threat; as he did so they moved rapidly towards Tournai, which they invested on the 27th June. However, Villars was not unduly perturbed, as his real weak point had been Ypres, and the modern defences, plus the remaining substantial forces in Tournai, some 7,000 men, gave him confidence of being able to withstand a protracted siege.

On September 3rd Tournai capitulated to the allies at the cost of 5,340 casualties. The French lost some 3,000 men during the siege, and a further 300 officers and 3,325 men were paroled.

To keep up the pressure the allies now marched on Mons, which was invested on September 6th. This came as somewhat of a relief to Marshal Villars who was far more concerned for the safety of Ypres, however Villars was nevertheless eager to confront the allied army when a favourable moment presented itself, and he now moved his entire force into a covering position south of Mons, near Malplaquet. It was on the rolling fields and woodlands around this little French village that Marlborough decided to engage and crush the last army of France.