Malplaquet

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

The Battlefield Today

Considering the changes and upheavals that have taken place over the last three hundred years in both France and Belgium, then the quite fields around the villages of Malplaquet, Aulnois and Blaregnies remain remarkably untouched by the juggernaut of progress. Although the great woods of Sars and Lanieres no longer exist, the modern plantations that now occupy some of their original area give the visitor a very good impression of how the field must have looked on that foggy morning of the 11th September 1709.

When visiting the battlefield for the first time it is quite easy to become disorientated by the many small roads and farm trails that criss-cross the site. My two travelling companions and I discovered that the best plan was to go directly to the village of Aulnois. Here there is a small café, which stands at the intersection of the road leading across the French frontier to the Town of Taisnieres sur-Hon, and thereafter on to Bavay. If you have transportation, then you can park your vehicle near the War Memorial in Aulnois, which stands directly opposite the café, and walk the ground around the outskirts of the village. It was from here that the massed battalions of the Prince of Orange, supported by the cavalry squadrons under Hesse-Cassel deployed before moving to their bloody attacks on the French entrenchments, which covered their right wing from the farm of Blerion to the Wood of Lanieres. It is still possible to trace the line of the re-entrant that cut-into the French position at this point, and which was used to such good effect to conceal their hidden battery of twenty cannon from the approaching Dutch, Swiss and Scottish formations, who were decimated by the enfilading fire from these guns.

The Wood of Tiry, although possibly not being anything like its former size or having the same composition of trees, is nevertheless still represented by a modern coppice, which helps to set the scene when trying to picture the battlefield in 1709. A farm track takes the visitor from Aulnois directly to this group of trees, and then onto the farm of Blairon where Marlborough spent the night of the 11th September after the battle. A plaque on the farm wall commemorates this event. Retracing our steps we returned to Aulnois and then drove to Malplaquet village, passing the now disused and crumberling custom control offices. This part of the field was behind the French front line entrenchments, and was covered by the massed squadrons of French horse. Near Malplaquet itself Marshal Villars established his headquarters. As in Aulnois, the visitors can park their transport in the square of Malplaquet and proceed on foot to explore the surrounding area. I would advise caution when walking the main road that leads from the village northward to the Battlefield Monument, and the French main lines. There are no footpaths, so care must be exercised, always bearing in mind that traffic will be approaching from different directions than it does in England!

It is possible to walk the entire length of the French front line by taking farm tracks and some of the paved roads that cross the battlefield all around this area, and splendid views are obtainable across to the Allied positions running from the edge of the modern Wood of Tiry to the new plantations of trees that cover some of the land on which the Wood of Sars once stood. The fields here are almost all cultivated, and at the time of our visit in May, crops were already quite tall. One would like to be able to obtain some aerial photographs of these fields after the harvest, and preferably during a dry summer, as there are some tantalizing banks and ridges just discernable at ground level, which could well be the lines of the old French redoubts and entrenchments?

The ground has now been subject to modern drainage systems, but here and there one comes across the occasional boggy stretch of land, in particular near some of the small brooks that meander across the plain between Blaregnies and the outskirts of the site of the Wood of Sars. These give a very good impression of what it must have been like for Lottums columns as they wheeled to their right to attack the Sars salient. There is the possibility that some of the mass grave pits can be located, certainly there must have been several of these scattered across the battlefield to accommodate the thousands of bodies that covered the field. One such site could be near the Blairon Farm, while another maybe about two kilometres to the south west of Blaregnies, near where the Sars salient once stood. Here some artefacts have been found, but as yet no firm proof of any human remains; however if eventually these last resting places of so many brave men are discovered, one feels that some form of suitable monument would be fitting to remember them by.

Do not leave without paying a visit to Bavay, and the wonderful little military museum of Messieurs Arthur Barabera, 'Musee du 11 September 1709.' Here you will find maps, uniforms, weapons and artefacts dealing with the battle, as well as a friendly welcome. Messieurs Barabera has written an account of the part played by the Swiss regiments who fought on both sides during the battle, entitled, 'L'Affaire des Suisses a Malplaquet.' This booklet is well worth reading, and although only available in French, it does contain a great deal of information regarding the battlefield and the various dispositions of the opposing armies.

Unlike Waterloo, the battlefield of Malplaquet has no tourist or trinket shops and maybe all the better for that. One can walk the site and reflect on what must have occurred across these now peaceful meadows without having to be surrounded by coach loads of sightseers, or loosing any of its character by being confronted with a mound of earth with a monument on the top, which destroys any of its features. Possibly a re-enactment group could put on a display of drill and weaponry each year on the anniversary of the battle, other than that I feel that the site should be left very much as it now is.