The battle of Malplaquet was fought on the 11th September 1709 between
a French army under Marshal Villars (rated as the best French general of the
time) and an allied army of British, Dutch and Germans under the joint command
of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene.
The duke of Marlborough’s last and most useless battle.
After a long series of victories (Ramillies, Oudenaarde), the allied armies
intended to destroy the French army and then invade France. The French main
army was south of Mons, waiting behind field fortifications near the woods of
Malplaquet. Marlborough and Prince Eugene, with their 7,500 men, intended to
use the same tactical dispositions they had used formerly for Bleinheim and
Ramillies, a straightforward advance on the enemy lines. The duc de Villars,
commanding the French, had taken a defensive position, protected on his two
wings by occupied forests forming a funnel-shaped line. The center was on
higher grounds and the fortifications were defended by his elite regiments.
The first shots were fired at 7:30 A.M. on the French left
wing by Eugene’s troops; the wood of Sars was taken at 11:00, but the winning
troops were too exhausted to follow the reforming French. The French right was
attacked by Dutch troops, who were repulsed; the French commander was too
cautious to give orders to pursue the hesitating Dutch. Villars had reinforced
the wings from his well-defended center when no attack had been launched by
noon. He wanted now to attack and gathered 50 battalions, but the British
artillery covered the French front with a deadly fire. Two events turned the
tide of the battle: Villars was wounded and taken away from the battlefield,
and Marlborough and Eugene, seeing the weakened French center, launched a
decisive attack. The fortifications were assaulted at a terrible human cost.
Boufllers, now in command, ordered his cavalry to charge against the emerging
infantry around 1:00 P.M., and six futile charges ensued. The French then
decided to retire in good order, while the allies were too exhausted to pursue.
Malplaquet was the bloodiest battle of the eighteenth
century, with no fewer than 11,000 killed and 22,000 wounded. The allied
casualties were higher than those the French suffered; they were unable to
follow their invasion plan. Malplaquet was seen as a glorious defeat in France
and raised the fighting spirit of the army. Conversely, this dubious victory
gave Marlborough’s court enemies an argument to undermine Marlborough’s
position, and he was recalled in 1711.
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It is chiefly of note because it was the Duke of Marlborough's
last victory in a pitched battle, but it was the first one to bought at a very
terrible cost (circa 12,000 French losses to circa 24,000 allied, though some
estimates do vary quite widely).
In every previous battle Marlborough had won very convincingly,
but the French withdrew from this one in good order, and considered it, quite
rightly, a moral victory. If they had lost this battle as badly as previous
ones then they would almost certainly have lost the war, whereas instead they
were able to continue until 1713, by which time Britain had had enough of the
war and had pulled out of the allied coalition.
It is also of note in Jacobite history as the claimant to
the British throne, James Francis Edward, led numerous charges of the French
household cavalry during the battle, being lightly wounded in the process.
Others around him such as Lord Butler were not so lucky, and if James had also
fallen then there wouldn't have been a Bonnie Prince Charlie nor a battle of
Culloden...
References and further reading: Corvisier,André. La bataille
de Malplaquet. Paris: Economica, 1997. Wijn, Jan W.“Les troupes hollandaises à
la bataille de Malplaquet.” Revue Internationale d’Histoire Militaire 19
(1957), 334–379.
Battle of Malplaquet
1709 (Marlburian) 2-4 December 2011
http://www.wargameshc.co.uk/index.php/battle-of-malplaquet-1709-marlburian/
A real pyrrhic victory, can you repeat the success of the Anglo-German
and Dutch force against the French, take the Redans and drive them before you,
or will you raise the hat of Boufflers and lead the counter charge of the
Maison du Roi….This is a real tough battle for the allies and the French are
significantly outnumbered, so take your pick and change the course of the
battle!
Malplaquet, 1709 - Refought
in June 2009
The Battle of
Malplaquet 11th September 1709 Redux
Victoria
awards the day to Marlborough and Prince Eugene, as
possession of the battlefield is the hallmark of victory. But they have a sea
of wounded men to care for, so pursuit is out of the question; the extent of
these casualties will only become apparent later in the day as they tour the
battlefield together.
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