The battle of Oudenarde, fought on July 11th, 1708, was a major battle of the war of the Spanish succession, and one of several resounding victories for John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, one of the foremost military commanders of his age.
Background
The war of Spanish succession pitted the Grand Alliance (England, Holland, the Holy Roman Empire, and their allies), and France, Spain, Bavaria, and their allies. The issue of contention was the Spanish throne, which King Louis XIV of France wished to acquire by nominating his nephew for the throne. Fearing the alteration of the European balance of power should Louis XIV control not nearly France, but the Spanish Empire, through his nephew, multiple European powers formed themselves into the “Grand Alliance” and went to war with France and her allies in 1701. It was during this war that John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough proved himself as one of history’s great military commanders by besting the renowned French army at both Blenheim (1704) and Ramillies (1706)
Following the end of the campaign in 1706, with the surrender of the towns of Dundermond and Ath, as well as the important Menin, Marlborough returned to London where he was received enthusiastically the British people, and the thanks of Parliament was given to him.[1] Nothing important much happened during 1707, but 1708 was a different matter. Marlborough landed at the Hague on the 2nd of April 1708, where he met his old colleague Prince Eugune of Savoy. The two men concocted their plans for the ensuing campaign. The war in Italy had gone well for the Allies, and Prince Eugune was able to come give his personal attention to the campaign in the Low Countries. Two great armies would be formed, one under Marlborough at Brabant, and the other on the Moselle, under Prince Eugune. The Elector of Hanover would act on the defensive, and Eugune would join Marlborouugh, and with their united force enter the Spanish Netherlands to force the French to battle. But as usual, Marlborough’s plan did not go over well with the other Allied powers, and Marlborough had to go to Hanover to win the Elector personally to his plan.
The war had by this time degenerated into a stalemate, with neither side able to gain an advantage. The French army had control of the Netherlands, but the Allies retained their control of Flanders, won during the 1706 campaign. As usual, their previous defeats had not affected the French from raising a large army, the skillful and famous Marshal Vendome, being in command.
On the 9th of May after his visit to Hanover, where he smoothed over the ruffled Elector’s feathers, Marlborough joined the Allied army, waiting at Ghent, and proceeded to Brussels to coordinate matters with the skillful Dutch General Overkirk, with whom Marlborough had served at the previous battle of Ramillies.
He now marched his army to Anderlach, near Brussels, where he joined his forces with that of the other Allied nations, the Dutch, Prussians, and the Hanoverians. On May 26th, they marched to Billinghen, where Marlborough set up his headquarters.
Upon notice of these movements, Marshal Vendome assembled his army, and marched, beginning on the 26th of May, to St. Simpronien and then to Soignens. It was assumed that Marshal Vendome would have total command of the French army during the ensuring campaign, but King Louis XIV interfered, as totalitarian rulers are wont to do with their armies, and placed the French Duke of Burgundy at the head of the army, Vendome retaining a subordinate position beneath him.
Vendome had in the meantime put into operation an audacious and skillful plan. Having diverted Marlborough’s attention on the Louvain, by a feint, and forcing Marlborough to march his army amid a torrential rainfall to Parc, where he put his army in position to cover that fortress, Vendome had marched his army to liberate the towns of Flanders, where the people were finding the occupation of the Dutch oppressive, and longing to be back under French rule once again. He had been in secret correspondence with several citizens of Ghent, the capture of which would be a serious blow to Marlborough, for the city commanded the course of Schedlt and Lys rivers, Marlborough’s water communications route. The capture of Ghent, and of Oudenarde, whose fortifications were in disrepair, in Flanders, would cut Marlborough’s communications and sever the connecting link between Flanders and Brabant, forcing the English army to fall back to Antwerp on the Scheldt River, thus depriving them of the fruits of the victory won at Ramillies.[2]
On the 4th of July, Vendome took Ghent without firing a shot, and Bruges surrendered into his hands. The small but important fortress of Plasendael was carried by storm. Vendome’s army now invested the fortress of Oudenarde, the capture of which would complete the severance of Marlborough’s supply line and force his army to fall back to Antwerp. Marlborough had meanwhile refrained from much fighting because he was waiting on Prince Eugune and his troops to join his army, which would give it a rough equality with his French opponents, but the usual delays of the German powers caused Prince Eugune’s arrival to be delayed, but at last Prince Eugune got underway with his army toward Brabant.
Vendome was not waiting on Prince Eugune. He completed investing Oudenarde on the 9th of July, and ordered up siege artillery to begin a siege of the place, while he took a strong position with the covering army on the Dender river at Lessines[3].
As a result of this bad news, Marlborough lapsed into a fever, and his physician counseled him to leave camp and retire to Brussels, but Marlborough wouldn’t hear of it, and retained command of the army. On July 7th, Prince Eugune arrived, in advance of his army, which he had preceded. “I am not without hopes of congratulating your highness on a great victory, for my troops will be animated by the presence of so distinguished a commander.” Marlborough told Eugune, whom he was very glad to see, even without his army. Prince Eugune and Marlborough held a council of war and determined to attack the French at Oudenarde and lift the siege of that place. The plan was a roundabout one, however. Rather than attacking the army directly, the two men resolved to throw the army upon Vendome’s line of communications and interpose their army between Vendome and Paris, forcing him to fight them “with his face toward Paris and back to Antwerp.”[4] No time was lost in putting this plan into execution. At two in the morning on the 9th of July, the allies quit their camp and marched in four great columns toward Lessines and the French frontier. Bridges were put in place spanning the Dender, and the next morning the army crossed, the army now standing between the French and their own frontier.
The maneuver completely upset Vendome’s plan. Marlborough was in position to disrupt his communications, and threatened to force the French to fall back, and give up the siege of Oudenarde. Vendome was greatly “disconcerted” to use Alison’s phrase, at Marlborough’s maneuver, and he immediately ordered his army to fall back upon Gavre on the Scheldt, intending to cross below Oudernarde.
Prelude
As soon as the intention of Vendome became known to Marlborough, he followed with his whole army, intending to break the siege of Oudernarde, and if possible, to force the French to give battle. The advantage lay with Marlborough, since the French were in the midst of a retreat. The Allied generals marched with as must speed as they could muster in their troops, anxious to close with the French while their baggage and columns were in the very act of crossing that river, which would render them extremely vulnerable. Accordingly, General Cadogan, “one of the most trusted of the duke’s generals,”[5] with a strong advance guard was pushed forwards daybreak on the 11th. His advance guard comprised the whole cavalry and twelve battalions of infantry. Cadogan reached the Scheldt by 11:00 am, and having thrown bridges over it, he crossed with his force.
Advancing to the summit of the plateau on the left bank of the river, Cadogan formed his force in battle array, the infantry opposite Eynes, and the cavalry extending on the left together Schaerken. Meanwhile, Marlborough and Eugene, with the army’s main body, had reached the river and were engaged in getting the troops across the narrow bridges, but as yet only a small portion of their army had crossed. The main body was still half a league from the Scheldt, the clouds of dust that rose behind the artillery and baggage trains being a dead giveaway as its location. Vendome, seeing this, determined to crush the advance guard before the rest of Marlborough’s army could come to its relief. To accomplish this object, he halted his troops and drew them up in order of battle. G.A. Henty writes:
The country in which the battle of Oudenarde was about to be fought is undulating, and cut up by several streams, with hedgerows, fields, and enclosures, altogether admirably adopted for an army fighting for a defensive battle. The village of Eynes lies about a mile below Oudenarde and a quarter of a mile from the Scheldt. Through it flows a stream formed by the junction of the two rivulets. At a distance of about a mile from the Scheldt, and almost parallel with that river, runs the Norken, a considerable stream, which falls into the Scheldt below Gavre. Behind this river the ground rises in a high plateau, in which, at the commencement of the fight, the greater portion of the French army were posted.
Advancing down the river, Cadogan’s advance guard bumped into the French advance guard under a Frenchman named Biron. Cadogan hurled his cavalry upon them, and took several prisoners, driving them toward Synghem. But Biron advanced with twelve squadrons, repulsed the assailants and reached the windmill behind the village of Eyne. Here he saw the Allied advance force in position, and believing that the rest of the army must have crossed already, decided to withdraw, lest he attack the whole Allied army with a force far inferior in numerical strength.
As the fast as the allied army crossed the Scheldt, Marlborough formed them along the high ground stretching from village of Bevere, a few hundred yards north of Oudernarde, to Mooregrem Mill, with their right flank resting on the Scheldt. The appearance of the Allies, caused a great shock in the French ranks. G.A. Henty wrote that: “The allies were known to have been fifteen miles away on the preceding evening, and that a great army should march that distance, cross a great river, and be in readiness to fight a great battle, was contrary to all their calculations of success.” Only Vendome reacted quickly and with firm decision. He immediately gave orders to secure the plain of Huerne, and cover the deployment of his lines, by directing a subordinate, Pfeffer, with seven battalions, to occupy the village of Eynes, and the cavalry of the right wing, to draw up near the windmill. This was done as a prerequisite to making further dispositions, but the Duke of Burgundy countermanded them. He wished to continue the retreat to Ghent, but Marshal Vendome pointed out that it was too late. A battle had been forced upon them, and it must be fought, despite the disadvantage that it offered to the army with the greater masses of men, due to the hedges that intersected the country.
Map of the battle of Oudenarde
Battle
Pfeffer took his post in Eyne, but the cavalry that were supposed to form up near the windmill were recalled by the Duke of Burgundy, leaving Pfeffer vulnerable. Marlborough and Prince Eugune wasted no time taking advantage of the indecision of the enemy, which wasted precious time. General Cadogan, under Marlborough’s direction, struck the first blow. Brigadier Sabine, leading the four English battalions, of Cadogan’s twelve, descended the hill, forded the rivulet near Eyre, while Cadogan’s cavalry, under Danish General Jorgen Rantzau, passed above the village, and flanked the French while they were engaged with the infantry. Three entire battalions were surrounded and forced to surrender; eight squadrons tried to escape the trap and were cut to pieces in striving to escape across the Norken.
This blow appraised the French generals that battle was indeed unavoidable. Vendome would have preferred to make the battle a defensive one from the French standpoint, which made sense considering that the Norken in front of him with its steep and difficult ground. But the Duke of Burgundy overruled him, as did the other generals, and resolved to go on the offensive. So, the French army quit its able defensive position, and advanced to the attack.
The French and Allied armies were roughly equal in size. The French had 85,000 men, in 121 battalions and 198 squadrons, while the allies had 80,000 men in 112 battalions, and 180 squadrons.
It was four in the afternoon when the battle commenced in earnest. The Duke of Burgundy directed General Grimaldi to lead sixteen squadrons across the Norken. Grimaldi advanced a little way, passing the Norken, found the Prussian cavalry formed up ahead of him, and the British advancing, and drew back. Vendome now directed his left to advance, believing that was the most optimum place for an attack, but the Duke of Burgundy countermanded the order, and the French left remained in position. The Duke of Burgundy alleged that an impassible morass separated the two armies in that quarter, but the real reason for his canceling of Vendome’s order, was that he was jealous of Vendome’s reputation. Naturally, the contradictory orders produced uncertainty and indecision in the French lines, and Marlborough guessing its cause, took instant advantage of it.
The Duke of Marlborough at the battle of Oudernarde 1708
Marlborough correctly guessed that the real attack of the enemy would be made on his left by their right in front of the castle of Bevere, and ordered twelve battalions of infantry under Cadogan to reinforce the left, from Heurene and Eynes which they occupied. Marlborough himself advanced with the Prussian cavalry, by Heurne, and took post on the flight flank. He also posted twenty battalions in reserve with some artillery. Hardly had Marlborough completed these defensive arrangements when the attack was upon him. The French right wing, which comprised thirty battalions, the French and Swiss guards, the cream of the crop of their army, now advanced from the woods and hedges near Groenvelde, and attacked the four battalions posted there with such vigor that they forced them to retreat, though in good order. The French pressed on, shouts of victory echoing from their lips. The success of the French on the right attracted the attention of vigilant Marlborough. He raced in person to the left flank of the army, dispatching Eugune to take command on the right, and directed Count Lottnow, with twenty battalions, to extend his right flank to support Eugune.
The reinforcements were sorely needed and were much welcomed by the prince, for the prince was being assailed by superior numbers and was nearly overwhelmed. Cadogan’s men had resisted stoutly but finally were forced to fall back after out of the woods which they occupied near Herlehem, and were retiring in disorder over the plain in front. But reinforced by Lottnow’s twenty battalions, Eugune again advanced and broke through the enemy’s first line. General Natzmer, of the Prussian cavalry, wasted no time in taking advantage of the opportunity, and charged through the enemy with his cuirassiers, through their second line, onto the plain. But the French Horse-guards in reserve stopped him, and from every hedgerow and copse, a musket flamed. A terrible fire raked Natzmer’s men, and half of them fell. The remainder recoiled in disorder, and Natzmer himself wounded several times, only escaped by leaping over a broad ditch, while the French troops were hard in pursuit.
On the left, an even more desperate fight was raging. Marlborough with the Dutch and Hanoverian battalions had a tough fight on their hands. Maintaining their ground only with difficulty, Marlborough led them to the attack. The French resisted tenaciously, and disputed every inch of ground. Alison describes the nature of the combat.
The ground on which the hostile lines met were so broken, that the battle in that quarter turned almost into a series of partial conflicts, and even personal encounters. Every bridge, every ditch, every wood, every hamlet, every enclosure, was obstinately contested, and so incessant was the roll of musketry, and so intermingled did the hostile lines become, that the field, seen from a distance, appeared an unbroken line of fire. If the resistance however, was obstinate, the attack was no less vigorous; and at length the enthusiastic ardor of the French yielded to the steady valor of the Germans. Gradually they were driven back, literally at the bayonet’s point, and at length recoiling at every point, they yielded all the ground they had won at the commencement of the action.[6]
The Battle of Oudernarde
The French fell back, fighting for every inch of ground. The Allies recovered Barlancy and Barwaen, but not before the French set fire to every house they could not hold. Despite the fierce resistance and the obstacles in their way, the British drove them back at musket point from one enclosure to another, until at the hamlet of Diepenbeck, they were forced to halt, for the French resistance there was so violent they not move forward. Marlborough’s military instinct now came to his aid. Perceiving that the right of the enemy only extended to the hill of Oycke, which was unoccupied, he saw that their right flank might be turned and cut off from their main body. He ordered Overkirk with the reserve cavalry and twenty Dutch and Danish battalions to occupy it. Overkirk executed the important and decisive action well. The wooded ravines near the castle of Bevere were cleared of the enemy, and the hill of Oycke and the plateau behind were immediately occupied by the Danish and Dutch battalions. Finding no enemy on the summit of the hill, the whole mass of infantry and cavalry charged front to the right and extended their left toward De Keele, forming a vast semicircle around the right wing of the French army, which was nearly cut off from the center and left of their army.[7]
The French right wing had advanced far beyond their center, which had made Overkirk’s movement achievable, and it was now thrown back and grouped into the plain of Diepenback. Observing the effects of this, Marlborough directed Overkirk to press his left forward still further and sees the passes of Mullem and Royegham, by which the French were still maintaining communication with the right and center, but with difficulty. The Prince of Orange and General Oxenstiern, two able subordinates executed the order with vigor and with success. The infantry rushed down the height overlooking Marolen, penetrated the defiles, and aided by twelve squadrons of Danish troops under Count Tilly, formed in two lines. Here they encountered a corps of French grenadiers backed by household cavalry and a series of volleys and charges resulted.
But cut off from their own army, the French were bunched together in wild confusion, and driven back by the allies, whose loud cheers echoed over the battlefield. Seven regiments of French dragoons made a valiant effort to check the Allies enough for the grenadiers to retreat, but it vain. The better part of seven regiments were taken prisoners or cut down. Seeing his right wing collapsing, Marshal Vendome tried to rescue it gallantly. Dismoounting, he led the infantry of his left near Mullum to the fate of their comrades, but the thick hedgerows and copses, as well as other obstructions on the ground hindered them, and when they approached the plain of Diepenbeck, the British were drawn up on the edge of the plain ready to meet them, with the sturdy infantry of Eugune advancing to meet them.
Darkness had now fallen, though the battle still raged. Musket flashes sounded, with the shouts of the Allies, and it showed only too clearly to the French that extreme danger beckoned. The musket flashes rolled round the narrowing circle of the French, until the right of Prince Eugune and the left of the Prince of Orange encountered each other, firing into each other in the darkness until the mistake was remedied. The troops were ordered to halt, so that friendly fire would not be caused. Thus, at nine that evening, the Allies halted and held their position. This allowed the greater part of the French center and left to escape unobserved. Had daylight continued for another two hours, all would have been captured or killed.
Under the cover of darkness some thousands of the enemy slipped through an opening in the Allied lines near the castle of Bevere, and fled toward the French frontier, but the greater part of the right wing was killed or taken prisoner. Vendome formed a rear guard of a few battalions to cover the retreat of the center and left, but the retreat turned into a rout, when the Duke of Burgundy and many generals lost their heads and joined it. A mass of fugitives fled headlong into wild disorder toward Ghent, Vendome covering the retreat with a few battalions and twenty-five squadrons.
At dawn, Marlborough dispatched forty squadrons of cavalry in pursuit of the fugitives making for Ghent, and turned to collect the wounded of both sides. Count Lottnow was sent with thirty battalions and fifty squadrons to capture the strong lines the French had constructed between Ypres and Warneton. Lottnow succeeded and took back five hundred prisoners.
The battle of Oudernarde cost the French 6,000 killed, and wounded, along with 9,000 prisoners, and a hundred standards, while the Allies lost five thousand men.
Aftermath
Marlborough wasted no time in attempting to capitalize on the fruits of his victory. Eugune’s army soon joined his own, and with this large force, Marlborough proposed marching on Paris. But Prince Eugune wouldn’t have it. He said that such an attempt would be too dangerous, because Marshal Vendome’s shattered army, now reinforced by the Duke of Berwick to 110,000 men, in his rear, made it so.
Finding that his colleague would not countenance a march on Paris, Marlborough determined instead to enter Paris and lay siege to Lille, an immensely strong fortress.
This plan was undertaken. And so Marlborough capitalized on his victory at Oudenarde, another of the great victories that won him a place in the annals of military history as a great general of troops.
[1] Archibald Wilberforce The Great Battles of All Nations (New York, New York: Peter Fenelon, Collier and Son, 1899) I:404
[2] Archibald Alison The Military Life of Marlborough (New York, New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1848) p. 182
[3] Ibid p. 184
[4] Ibid p. 185
[5] Archibald Wilberforce The Great Battles of All Nations (New York, New York: Peter Fenelon, Collier and Son, 1899) I:405
[6] Archibald Alison The Military Life of Marlborough (New York, New York: Harper & Brothers, Publishers, 1848) pp. 191-192
[7] Archibald Wilberforce The Great Battles of All Nations (New York, New York: Peter Fenelon, Collier and Son, 1899) I:411
