The siege of Lille, as part of the 1708 campaign in Flanders during the War of the Spanish Succession, was another brilliant victory for John Churchill, duke of Marlborough, although its fruits were mitigated somewhat by the tenacity and skill of the French defense.
Background
The War of the Spanish succession, fought between the nations of France and Spain and their allies, and England, the Holy Roman Empire, and their allies, over who would inherit the Spanish throne, following the extinction of the Spanish Hapsburg line, had been waging for nearly eight years by 1708. The 1708 campaign in Flanders, in the low countries, now a part of Belgium, had resulted in the brilliant Allied victory at the battle of Oudenarde, another of the great victories racked up by John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough, one of the most brilliant military commanders of his day, and indeed of all time.
John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough
Marlborough had skillfully gotten his army between his French foe and Paris, and the conclusion of the battle of Oudenarde, which found Vendome’s army beating a retreat to Ghent, removed him still farther from the frontier. The way was now open for Marlborough to strike for Paris, bypassing the French fortresses in his way, which stratagem Marlborough wished to employ.
Following the victory at Oudenarde, both the Allied army under Marlborough, and the defeated French army under Marshal Vendome were reinforced, the former by Prince Eugune of Savoy, a military commander of the Holy Roman Empire, with whom Marlborough had forged both a close personal and professional friendship, and the latter, by the Duke of Berwick. The reinforcement by Berwick’s corps raised Vendome’s numerical strength to over 110,000 men, and the combined force was the largest army that France had heretofore put into the field.
Marlborough counseled the Allied council of war to march directly to Paris, and bypass the fortified cities on the frontier. But the council disapproved of Marlborough’s plan, and not only the highly cautious and uncooperative Dutch, but even Marlborough’s friend, Eugune of Savoy. It was a bold plan to be sure—bold enough to work, but the risks were too great. Vendome’s massive army lay in the Allied rear, and it was simply too dangerous to undertake such a march.
Realizing that his colleagues would not consent to his plan, Marlborough suggested another one: to enter France and lay siege to the city of Lille, a fortified town on the French frontier. The advantages to be gained by seizing Lille were obvious. As the capital of French Flanders, a major trading center between the Netherlands and France, the city was rich and prosperous, her merchants fitting out French privateers, furnishing King Louis’ armies, and supplying the French king with a good portion of his revenue.
Its capture would be a serious blow to the power and prestige of the King of France, for that reason, but the strength of its fortifications rendered it a very imposing conquest on the other hand.
It was about a mile in length by three quarters of a mile broad; and was then…surrounded by walls and bastions, with a pentagonal citadel on its northwest side, and a strong series of outworks, constituting it a fortress of the first class.[2]
Marshal Vauban, the eminent French engineer was responsible for creating this fortress, and it was considered his best work. Besides erecting the citadel, and building the walls, bastions and outworks, Vauban had built a causeway between Lille and Ypres, twenty miles long, among other improvements. The city was garrisoned by 15,000 men, commanded by Louis Francois, the Marshal Duke de Boufflers, one of the ablest marshals in the French service, distinguished among his comrades for his stubbornness and skill in defending fortified places.
Marshal Boufflers
The capture of Lille would have not have been easy therefore under the best of conditions, but Marlborough had Vendome’s army of 110,000 men lying in his rear. Normally, the prudent thing to do in this circumstance would have been to tackle Vendome first, and then attack Lille, but Vendome was occupying a fortified and entrenched camp, between Ghent and Bruges, and was impregnable to attack. But if Vendome could not be attacked, his very presence was still a serious threat to Marlborough, for not only could his army come to the assistance of Lille’s garrison, but his position afforded him the ability to cut Marlborough’s line of supply along the Scheldt River and the canals from Holland.
Nevertheless, the undertaking was resolved upon, the latter threat being dismissed by the hope that Vendome would leave his entrenched camp and seek open battle with the Allies to raise the siege of Lille, rather than see such an important fortress fall into their hands.
Preparations for the Siege
The logistics necessary to undertake the siege of Lille were naturally immense, and were made harder by the fact that Vendome’s army was positioned to interfere with all the water navigation throughout the country. Unable to transport the military stores requisite for the siege by water, Marlborough was forced to bring them up by land, no small feat, for Brussels, his nearest military depot was 25 leagues distant. 16,000 horses were required to transport the supplies, which stretched for over fifteen miles in length when in line of march. Prince Eugune covered the supply train with fifty-three battalions and ninety squadrons, while Marlborough stood ready to reinforce him with the remainder of the army from his camp near Menin. The convoy started out from Brussels on August 6th, 1708, and reached the Allied camp near Lille on the 15th, without the loss of a single gun or wagon. Though Vendome detached 18,000 men to break up the supply train, he was unable to do so, and the supply train reached its destination unhindered.
The French for their part, could not believe that Marlborough was intending to undertake the siege of Lille, for it seemed too huge an undertaking, and assumed he was going to besiege Mons instead. Nevertheless, the feat of moving all the equipment to the camp near Lille won the admiration of the French, who recognized that they had been out-generaled by Marlborough once again. It was not the first time this had happened, and it would certainly not be the last. By this time, the French knew that Lille was indeed Marlborough’s target, for Prince Eugune had begun investing that place on August 13th.
The task of besieging Lille itself was entrusted to Prince Eugune with his 53 battalions and 90 squadrons, in all some 40,000 men, while Marlborough, with 60,000 men, in sixty-nine battalions and one hundred and forty squadrons, covered the besieging force against potential opposition from his camp at Helchin. From here, Marlborough kept covering further convoys of supplies to the camp near Lille, until 81 such convoys had been made, and 120 cannons, 60 mortars, and 4,000 wagons full of gunpowder and bullets had arrived from Brussels.
Six bridges were thrown across the Scheldt River, and 10,000 pioneers set to work to commence the lines of circumvallation, not only to shut up the defenders within, but to shut out relieving forces. Fifteen miles in circumference stretched the lines, and the ditch was fifteen feet wide and nine feet deep.[3]
Showdown between the Armies
While Prince Eugune busied himself with digging trenches and earthworks for the siege, Marlborough kept his eye on the armies of Vendome and Berwick. Marlborough’s position, masterfully chosen, prevented a rendezvous of the two armies until the 30th, by forcing Vendome to make a long and circuitous march to get around him. But when the rendezvous was complete, the combined armies of Berwick and Vendome numbered 110,000 men, as previously stated, not counting a 20,000-man detachment under the Count de la Motte, the former governor of Ostend, to cover Ghent and Bruges. Despite the numerical superiority of the French, Marlborough was intent to offer battle. Marlborough correctly guessed the route his adversary would take to relieve the siege of Lille, and so he drew up his army in order of battle, his right flank resting on the Dyle River at Noyelles, and his left flank on the Marne at Peronne. No sooner than two hours after he had taken up his position, the French army appeared in Marlborough’s front. Battle seemed imminent, but inexplicably did not occur, despite the great advantage the French possessed in manpower. It turned out that Vendome and Berwick, who were each jealous of the other’s reputation, could not agree on a battle plan, and they hemmed and hawed, arguing with each other. For six days, this state of affairs continued, each side warily watching the other. Finally, King Louis sent his minister of war, Marshal Chamillard, down to get things straightened out, and he broke the tie by ordering the French to attack after another six days. But by this time, Marlborough had so strengthened his position that an attack was impossible to succeed, and Chamillard, Vendome, Berwick, and the other French generals realized this, and unanimously called off the attack. The French army thus retired, taking up position between Brussels and Lille to wreak havoc on the line of supply to the British camp.
Beginning of the Siege
In the meantime, the siege of Lille had begun. By the 23rd of August, the lines of circumvallation were nearly finished, the first parallel having been completed the previous day, and Eugune was ready to begin offensive operations against Lille. It was resolved to attack the gates of Saint Martin and Madelaine. Eighty pieces of cannon opened up against the city in preparation for an attack on the morning of the 24th, Prince Eugune himself firing the first shot. That evening, a party of grenadiers stormed the chapel of the Madeliene, which had been turned into an advanced outwork, and took it by assault, killing or capturing all the French defenders. The parallel was thus extended, and two new batteries erected, which opened fire at daybreak the next day. On the 26th of August, 400 French troops slipped out from their defenses quietly and fell on the 200 Dutch troops who were garrisoning the chapel of Madelaine, driving them out or slaying them, and recapturing the chapel, which they set afire before retiring. When the Prince of Orange-Nassau, one of the Allied subordinate commanders, got wind of it, he ordered two battalions to come out of the trenches and retake the chapel, attacking from the right and left, but by the time, they could get to the scene, the French were gone. It was too late to save the chapel, however, which had serving as an advanced point for the besiegers, for it was burned down to its foundation.[4]
Prince Eugene of Savoy
Despite this setback, the siege continued unabated. The third parallel was built, and fresh batteries erected. By the 27th of August, all the artillery had been mounted and was in position. On the morning of the 28th, 120 cannons and 80 mortars began to hurl a deadly rain of ordnance against the walls of Lille. That day, the besiegers attacked a fortified mill near St. Andrews gate and took it at bayonet point, but the French poured such a heavy return fire from the town’s batteries down upon the attackers, that they were forced to retire, leaving it full of their dead and wounded.[5] A second attack was mounted the next day, with equally unsuccessful results, and Prince Eugune ordered it to be burned when the Allies retired for the second time.
But despite this setback, the siege continued favorably for the assailants. The guns pounding the walls of Lille made gradual progress, opening at least one breach in the side salient angle of the counterscarp of a horn-work. French deserters to the Allies reported that the breach was widening, and that Marshal Boufflers, realizing that the city would soon fall, had moved some of his artillery to the citadel.[6] Upon receipt of this news, Prince Eugune made preparations for attacking the counterscarp.
Attack on the Counterscarp
Prince Eugune assigned the following troops for the attack:
Eight hundred grenadiers, supported by the same number of fusiliers, with 2,000 workmen, and 30 carpenters designed for cutting down the palisades, were ordered for the right attack, below the lower Deule and the gate of St. Andrew, under the direction of Monsieur de Roques, while 1,600 grenadiers, supported by the same number of fusiliers, were detailed for the left, under an officer named DuMey. Besides the troops in the trenches, 2,000 men were in addition employed in the attack, being detached for that purpose from the grand army, and placed under the command of Brigadier General John Sabine, of the Welsh Fusiliers, who had been wounded at the battle of Schellenberg in 1704, and had shared in the glories of Blenheim and of Oudenarde.[7]
At about 8:00 pm, on September 7th, preceded by an artillery bombardment, the grenadiers and fusiliers marched out of the trenches with as much order as if they had been on the parade ground, and rushed the palisades, which they cleared of the enemy with the sword and bayonet. Several of the troops leapt into the covered way, and put to death all the Frenchmen there, except four officers and a few soldiers, who they took prisoner. The French artillery now played hotly upon the palisades, and detonated three mines under this point, which did “terrible execution” among the besiegers, who nevertheless managed to gain a foothold on the salient angle of the counterscarp and the angle of the tenaille. But the price of the foothold had been heavy; 2,000 of the attackers were either killed or wounded, among whom were sixteen engineers.
The Siege goes on
Following this attack, the siege dragged on. A French sortie on the 10th, did not slow the progress of the siege, which if extremely sluggish, was nevertheless moving in the favor of the allies. The French attempted a second sortie on the 12th of September, attacking the trenches from four directions, but were repulsed and driven back in disorder. Marlborough visited the besiegers lines on September 18th, and was displeased at the slow progress of the siege. Marlborough had good reason to be displeased. Lille’s garrison was stoutly holding on, and the confederate troops of the “Grand Alliance” – the alliance between those nations allied against Spain, France, and their allies – were running low on supplies and ammunition. To speed up the siege’s progress another assault was planned for September 20th.
Great preparations were put into this attempt. Huge quantities of fascines were made for filling up the ditch, and Marlborough lent 5,000 troops from his own army to Prince Eugune’s to lead the assault. Preparations for the attack being complete by the nineteenth, Prince Eugune gave the necessary orders, and the attack was to take place on the 20th, but was delayed a day by the activities of the French, who weren’t working according to the Allied timetable. That evening, the signal being given, the troops were advanced to the assault, preceded by a discharge of cannon fire, mortar fire, and the detonation of mines, on both the right and left. But the French fire was very hot and heavy, and three times, the allies were obliged to fall back before the murderous fire. Prince Eugune now rallied the troops and in person led the fourth assault. “Remember Hochstadt, Ramillies, and Oudenarde!” The prince shouted. Just then, a musket-ball grazed his forehead just above his left eye, knocking off his hat. Seeing this, the hereditary prince of Hesse-Casell, who happened to be near the prince, put his own hat on the prince’s head, and persuaded him to go the rear and have his wound dressed.
The allied troops swept forward, forcing their way into the outwork. The French mounted an obstinate and determined defense, reinforced by their comrades from within the city. The fighting was savage, bloody, and hand to hand. For two hours it raged, those in front, thrusting and clubbing at each other with bayonets and rifle butts, while French troops on the ramparts fired into the allied masses behind them. Slowly, but surely, the French were driven back, step, by step, leaving piles of corpses in front of them to testify to the tenacity of their resistance. The allies pressed on. On the right, the grenadiers mounted the breach of the Tenaille, and forcing the enemy back, gained a foothold there, while on the left, the allies forced back the French and held their ground, until the French threw in a great number of reinforcements, and in the fight that followed, killed the officer in command on that side, and forced the allies to retire. But while the allies were repulsed on the left, on the right, all opposition was overcome, and the allies burst through to capture a demi-bastion and several adjoining works, as well as to secure the covered way. The action was “very obstinate and bloody” costing the allies nearly 5000 men both killed and wounded, of whom 3000 were British.
Marlborough was seriously disturbed by the wounding of his colleague and friend. Not only was he personally affected, but the wounding of Eugune meant that he had to take over command of the siege operations as well as of the covering force until Eugune mended enough to resume command. Every morning at daybreak, he would rise and mount his horse, reconnoitering Vendome’s army. If all was quiet, he would ride to the lines and direct the siege until evening. In this manner, he handled both armies and their operations. The deputies of the States of Holland, displeased with the slow progress of the siege wished to raise it, but Prince Eugune would not do it. “My own honor is concerned in the event.” He protested.
On September 23rd, an attack was made upon the Tenaille on the left. 300 fusiliers, supported by 120 others, and 270 fusiliers attacked from one side, while 100 grenadiers, supported by 280 others and 270 fusiliers attacked from the left, Marlborough himself giving the signal to attack. The attack was both vigorous and successful. The French were dislodged from their post, and pushed back. Allied losses were light, and the French could not claim more than 1000 casualties. But despite the success, progress was slow, and the French defense stubborn and obstinate.
A brave and resourceful French captain
Vendome and his fellow French generals meanwhile, wished to know the state of things of Lille. A French captain named DuBois volunteered for the hazardous task of slipping through the lines to Lille and then back out again. The resourceful captain resolved to do by water. Leaving the French camp, he arrived at the place “where he proposed to make his attempt” and after stripping himself naked and hiding his clothes, swam over seven canals and ditches, and entered the Dyle near where it entered the lines of the besiegers. “Aided by the current, he swam under water for an incredibly long distance, so as to entirely elude the observation of the sentinels.”[8] In this manner, he entered the town. After receiving refreshment and dry clothes from Marshal Boufflers, he was shown around the walls by the general, who explained to him the circumstances under which the defense was being conducted. The next night, he again set out by the Dyle, carrying dispatches in wax envelope in his mouth, to keep it safe from moisture. “…after diving as before through the dangerous places, and running innumerable risks of detection, he arrived in safety in the French camp.”[9]
Ammunition Shortages and Resupply Attempts
By this time, the ammunition of both besieged and besieger was running seriously low. For the besieged, this was a more serious problem naturally. Marshal Boufflers informed Vendome that unless he received sufficient quantities of ammunition, he would have no option but to surrender. Upon receipt of this, Vendome concocted a daring plan to pass ammunition to the besieged garrison. On the night of the 28th, Vendome detached 2,000 cavalry from Douai, under the command of the Chevalier de Luxembourg, each horseman carrying forty pounds of gunpowder. Placing green boughs in their hats, which was the badge that all allied soldiers wore to identify themselves, the horsemen made their way along the causeway leading from Douai to Lille. Upon encountering some of the allied outposts, they feigned being Germans belonging to Marlborough’s army transporting prisoners to his camp, when challenged by the Dutch sentry. “Open quickly,” one of the French officers replied, “I am closely pursued by the French.” The sentry allowed them to pass, and eighteen hundred had passed through when one of the officers barked a command in French, noticing that his men were not keeping formation. That made one of the allied officers suspicious, and he decided they needed further scrutiny. However, when an officer tried to examine them more closely, the horsemen put spurs to their mounts and galloped along the causeway at full gallop, breaking through the lines of circumvallation. The trench-guards now opened fire upon them, some of the balls striking the powder bags and detonating the gunpowder. The resulting explosions caused a chain reaction of further explosions as powder bags blew. Sixty men with their horses were blown up and burned in these detonations. The 800 horsemen who had not yet made it past the outposts, fled back to Douai; the remainder rode hard for Lille, and succeeded in reaching the beleaguered city, save for thirty hapless horsemen “who were scorched to death by the explosion of their own powder, which was scattered on the causeway, from which the shoes of the galloping horses struck sparks of fire, and thus ignited it.”[10] “It was a dreadful spectacle to see the way strewn with dead carcasses, horses, heads, arms, and legs, half burnt,” a witness recorded.[11] In all, some 70,000 pounds of gunpowder were transported into the city, and this act did much improve French morale, as well as to prolong their means of defense.
The allies too, had their supply difficulties, but they didn’t have to resort to ruses and subterfuge to transport gunpowder and ammunition to their men. Instead, a convoy was sent out by General Erle, who had recently landed there with 6,000 men. He was given orders to get every horse and wagon he could get his hands on, load them with munitions, and send them to the allied army. The convoy would be escorted by General Webb and 6,000 men. This convoy which set out from Ostend on the 27th of November, comprised seven hundred wagons.
The Battle of Wyndendale
When rumors of the convoy reached the ears of the French generals, they immediately made plans to intercept and stop it, knowing that its loss would cause Marlborough and Eugune to raise the siege. The Count De La Mothe was ordered to march from Brussels and lead 22,000 men to attack the escort. Marlborough got wind of the French intentions and detached General William Cadogan with twelve battalions of 1,500 cavalry to march along a parallel road to support the convoy. Cadogan encountered French horsemen, and rather than attacking hastened to Tourant, where he joined up with Webb’s forces and began advancing upon Wynendale. Before long, they encountered the glint of steel that evidenced the presence of the enemy. General Webb rode forward to have a look and plainly saw the troops of La Mothe drawn up in a plain between the woods and a low coppice. Webb ranged his battalions in order of battle, posting two regiments on the woods on each flank, resting his right flank upon the castle of Wyndendale. Thus arranged, the British awaited the French, who now advanced their infantry under artillery fire from La Mothe’s nineteen artillery pieces. As the French attacked with their usual impetuously, confident in their great superiority of numbers, Webb’s grenadiers and skirmishers, hidden in the woods, on their flanks, took them under fire. The resulting action was sharp and severe, lasting two hours. The musketry fire of the grenadiers and skirmishers, which they poured into the French flanks and rear threw the French into confusion. Rallied by their officers, they made desperate attempts to charge their hidden enemy, but the fire was too hot, and the French too broken and bewildered. Driven back repeatedly, they finally broke and ran, despite the attempts of their officers to rally them, after two hours. Webb lost 912 men in the fight, while the French loss rose to nearly 4,000, and in their retreat, they left behind all their guns. General Webb was given the credit for this victory and was honored by Parliament. The convoy reached Menin the following day, and the Allied camp on September 30th, without the loss of a single wagon. The safe arrival of the supplies boosted the energy and morale of the besiegers, and the recovery of Prince Eugune relieved Marlborough from having to pull double duty any longer.
Further progress of the siege and surrender of the city
Three days later, at noon, the ravelin on the right was attacked, and succeeded so well that after an hour, the besiegers had gained a position on the ravelin, forcing those French soldiers, as were behind the traverses to leap into the water, where many of them drowned or were killed, and the allied soldiers took possession of the two-counter-guards and ravelin, in which they captured two cannons. The French knew of the attack beforehand, but believing that it would come at nightfall, they were not suitably ready to resist the attack when it came at noon instead.[12] The allied troops established themselves directly opposite the breaches of the ramparts, in preparation to storm the breach.
Vendome knew the situation in Lille was dire. To avert the catastrophe, he tried another ruse.
He marched a column from the Scheldt through Ghent and joined La Mothe between Moerkyke and the canal that connects Bruges with Plassendael. He opened the sluices there, as they had done elsewhere and laid the whole country under water to the very border of the dyke. He then…completely cut off all communication between the lines and Ostend.
Marlborough tried to prevent Vendome’s scheme, but he was too late. The situation was serious. If the allies would not transport their supplies to the army from Ostend, they would be forced to quit the siege. But the allies were resourceful. Packing ammunition in skins and then into flat bottomed boats, were they able to transport supplies once again to the army. Vendome’s scheme thus did not succeed.
The siege meanwhile dragged on.
From this time, to the twentieth, the besiegers gained some advantage, every night, made several new lodgments, and carried on their saps, mines, and other necessary preparations for a general storm, the besieged seeming resolute to dispute the passage of the ditch, with all their might. They continued to drain and fill the ditch, to make apertures in the walls, work on the galleries, perfect their lodgments and places of arms, and to finish their batteries, which now consisted of five and forty pieces of cannon, and five and forty mortars and howitzers…[13]
55 heavy guns soon boomed from the counterscarp onto the breaches, while thirty-six mortars swept all the works that commanded them. Marshal Bouflers knew that this heavy bombardment presaged a general assault. Knowing he was unable to withstand the forthcoming attack, he surrendered the city. The terms agreed upon were as follows:
That the French should that afternoon surrender the Magdalen-gate and all the magazines of provisions and ammunition in the town; that their sick and wounded should either be transported to Douai, or remain in Lille, for their recovery, at their own charge, that the horse who had entered the town since the siege, might be sent to Douai, with all the wives and families of the officers and soldiers, etc., that all prisoners taken during the siege be restored on both sides, and that the troops of the allies should not enter into the town before the five and twentieth of October, by which time the French garrison was to withdraw into the citadel.[14]
Siege of the Citadel
But while Boufflers had surrendered the city, he had not surrendered the citadel, and retreating here with the remainder of the garrison, about 5000 men, he resolved to continue the battle. And continue it he did, resisting for another month, and exacting a further 4,000 casualties from the allies. Ammunition was now running very scarce for the besieger as well as the besieged. On October 13th, the besiegers made a lodgment by the palisades of the first covered way, and the next day, took the whole counterscarp, except for two places which the French yielded up. On October 17th, the allies lodged themselves on the glacis of the second covered way, without loss. The second counterscarp was taken, and on the 7th of December, Prince Eugune offered Boufflers terms of surrender, and finally, desperately short of gunpowder, and expressly ordered by King Louis not to hazard the lives of his men any longer in an obviously futile defense, Boufflers beat a parley and surrendered the citadel. The siege of Lille was over. It had cost the allies 3,632 men killed, 8,322 wounded, and 7,000 from sickness. Of the 15,000 man garrison, reinforced by 1800 cavalrymen who made their way through the allied camp, only 4500 were still alive by the final surrender.
Aftermath
Marshal Boufflers was allowed to march his men out with all the honors of war, and retired to Douai, leaving the allies masters of Lille.
After Lille had fallen, Marlborough, by a feint of going into winter quarters, threw the French generals off their guard; and then by a rapid dash through their lines fell upon Ghent and Bruges, and recaptured those cities before Vendome had time to collect and bring up his army to save them.[15]
Thus ended one of the most remarkable sieges in military history, and another victory for the Duke of Marlborough, testament to his great military skill and his enduring professional partnership with Prince Eugune of Savoy.
[2] James Grant, British Battles on Land and Sea (London, Paris and New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Company, 1873) p. 519
https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/17403/pg17403-images.html#Ch23
[4] Thomas Lediard, The Life of John, Duke of Marlborough, Prince of the Roman Empire (London, J. Wilcox, 1745) [2nd Edition] II:57
[5] James Grant, British Battles on Land and Sea (London, Paris and New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Company, 1873) p. 520
[6] Thomas Lediard, The Life of John, Duke of Marlborough, Prince of the Roman Empire (London, J. Wilcox, 1745) [2nd Edition] II:58
[7] James Grant, British Battles on Land and Sea (London, Paris and New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Company, 1873) II:520
[8] G.A. Henty “The Cornet of Horse: A Tale of Marlborough’s Wars” https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/17403/pg17403-images.html#Ch23
[9] Ibid
[10]James Grant, British Battles on Land and Sea (London, Paris and New York: Cassell, Petter, Galpin & Company, 1873) II:521
[11] Thomas Lediard, The Life of John, Duke of Marlborough, Prince of the Roman Empire (London, J. Wilcox, 1745) [2nd Edition] II:72
[12] Ibid p. 80
[13] Ibid p. 81
[14] Ibid p. 85
[15] https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/17403/pg17403-images.html#Ch23
