Marlborough: His Life and Times, Volume III

475 Pages·2014·8.5 MB·English

by  Winston S. Churchill

SARAH CHURCHILL, FIRST DUCHESS OF MARLBOROUGH
Watercolor miniature by Bernard Lens the Younger, 1720 (detail), courtesy Victoria and Albert Museum,
London/Art Resource, NY.
Marlborough
His Life and Times
Volume Three
Winston S. Churchill
Copyright
Marlborough
His Life and Times, Volume Three
First published 1933–38. © Estate of Winston S. Churchill
Cover art to the electronic edition copyright © 2014 by RosettaBooks, LLC.
Image of Blenheim Palace, Oxfordshire, home of the Dukes of Marlborough and birthplace of Winston
Churchill, reproduced by permission of Curtis Brown, London, on behalf of The Broadwater Collection, an
archive of photographs owned by the Churchill family and held at the Churchill Archives Centre,
Cambridge.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any form or by any electronic or
mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from
the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review.
Electronic edition published 2014 by RosettaBooks, LLC, New York.
Cover design by Alexia Garaventa
ISBN Mobipocket edition: 9780795331589
CONTENTS
VOLUME THREE
Preface
I. THE WHIG APPROACH
II. PRINCE OF MINDELHEIM
III. THE WAR IN SPAIN
IV. THE TOTTERING ALLIANCE
V. FORTUNE’S GIFT
VI. THE BATTLE OF RAMILLIES
VII. THE CONQUEST OF BELGIUM
VIII. THE REVERSE OF THE MEDAL
IX. MADRID AND TURIN
X. THE YEAR OF VICTORY
XI. SUNDERLAND’S APPOINTMENT
XII. MARLBOROUGH AND CHARLES XII
XIII. ALMANZA AND STOLLHOFEN
XIV. TOULON
XV. MARLBOROUGH IN TRAMMELS
XVI. ABIGAIL
XVII. THE FALL OF HARLEY
XVIII. THE JACOBITE RAID
XIX. EUGENE COMES NORTH
XX. THE SURPRISE OF GHENT AND BRUGES
XXI. THE BATTLE OF OUDENARDE
XXII. THE MORROW OF SUCCESS
XXIII. THE THWARTED INVASION
XXIV. THE HOME FRONT
XXV. THE SIEGE OF LILLE
XXVI. WYNENDAEL
XXVII. THE WINTER STRUGGLE
XXVIII. CULMINATION
Bibliography
Endnotes
ABBREVIATIONS
B.M. = British Museum Library.
H.M.C. = Report of the Royal Historical Manuscripts Commission.
P.R.O. = Public Record Office.
S.P. = State Papers at the Public Record Office, London.
Documents never before made public are distinguished by an asterisk (*) and
left for the most part in their original form.
All italics are the Author’s, unless the contrary is stated.
In the diagrams, except where otherwise stated, fortresses held by the Allies
are shown as black stars and those occupied by the French as white stars.
METHOD OF DATING
Until 1752 dates in England and on the Continent differed owing to our delay
in adopting the Reformed Calendar of Gregory XIII. The dates which prevailed
in England were known as Old Style, those abroad as New Style. In the
seventeenth century the difference was ten days, in the eighteenth century eleven
days. For example, January 1, 1601 (O.S.), was January 11, 1601 (N.S.), and
January 1, 1701 (O.S.), was January 12, 1701 (N.S.).
The method used has been to give all dates of events that occurred in England
in the Old Style, and of events that occurred abroad in New Style. Letters and
papers are dated in the New Style unless they were actually written in England.
In sea battles and a few other convenient cases the dates are given in both styles.
It was also customary at this time—at any rate, in English official documents
—to date the year as beginning on Lady Day, March 25. What we should call
January 1, 1700, was then called January 1, 1699, and so on for all days up to
March 25, when 1700 began. This has been a fertile source of confusion. In this
book all dates between January 1 and March 25 have been made to conform to
the modern practice.
ILLUSTRATIONS
SARAH, COUNTESS OF MARLBOROUGH
VOLUME THREE
Maps and Plans
THE CAPTURE OF BARCELONA
THE DESCENT
THE NORTHERN FRONT (MAY 1706)
VILLEROY’S OPENING
CONTACT
THE HORNS
THE BRITISH ATTACK
THE COMBAT BY TAVIERS
THE GENERAL ENGAGEMENT
THE CAVALRY BATTLE
MARLBOROUGH’S INTERVENTION
ORKNEY’S WITHDRAWAL
THE NEW FRONT
THE PURSUIT
THE DIRECT PURSUIT AFTER RAMILLIES
MARLBOROUGH THREATENS VILLEROY’S COMMUNICATIONS (MAY 30)
THE CAPTURE OF MADRID
ITALY (MAY 1706)
EUGENE’S MARCH
THE BATTLE OF TURIN
THE FRENCH RETREAT FROM ITALY
FLANDERS (JULY 1706)
THE SIEGE OF MENIN
THE BATTLE OF ALMANZA
MAY 1707
MOVEMENTS, MAY
THE LINES OF STOLLHOFEN
STRATEGIC SITUATION OF TOULON
EUGENE’S MARCH TO TOULON (I)
EUGENE’S MARCH TO TOULON (II)
THE SIEGE OF TOULON
VILLARS’S INVASION OF GERMANY
AUGUST 11–14, 1707
VENDÔME’S CHOICES (MAY 1708)
MOVEMENTS IN THE FIRST WEEK OF JUNE 1708
BURGUNDY’S MARCH
EVENING OF JULY 5, 1708
FRENCH CONTROL OF THE WATERWAYS
THE MAIN ARMIES (JULY 10, 1708)
GENERAL SITUATION (JULY 10, 1708)
SITUATION, DAYBREAK, JULY 10
BIRON’S DISCOVERY
CADOGAN’S ATTACK, 3 P.M.
RANTZAU’S CHARGE
OUDENARDE, 5 P.M.
OUDENARDE, 6 P.M.
THE ENCIRCLEMENT
NATZMER’S CHARGE
8.30 P.M.: THE NET CLOSES
THE BATTLE OF OUDENARDE
ALTERNATIVE COURSES AFTER OUDENARDE
THE FIRST CONVOY
THE THWARTED INVASION
THE GREAT CONVOY
AUGUST 27–SEPTEMBER 5, 1708
SEPTEMBER 5, 1708
VENDÔME CUTS THE ALLIED COMMUNICATIONS
COMMUNICATIONS, OSTEND–LILLE
SITUATION, MORNING, SEPTEMBER 28
THE ACTION OF WYNENDAEL
OCTOBER 7, 1708
MARLBOROUGH FORCES THE SCHELDT
MINORCA
GENERAL MAP OF THE WESTERN NETHERLANDS
GENERAL MAP OF EUROPE
GENERAL MAP OF SPAIN