During the last years of William's reign Marlborough once more was placed in positions of responsibility. Higher honours came on the accession of Anne in March 1702. He was appointed a Knight of the Garter, captain-general of the English troops both at home and abroad, and master-general of the ordnance. A week or two after the death of William it was agreed by England, Hol land and Austria that war should be declared against France on the same day, and on May 4, 1702 the War of the Spanish Suc cession was declared by the three countries. Marlborough was made commander-in-chief of the united armies of England and Holland, but throughout the war his plans were impeded by the jealousy of the commanders who were nominally his inferiors, and by the opposite aims of the allied countries. He himself wished to penetrate into the French lines ; the anxiety of the Dutch was for the maintenance of their frontier and for an augmenta tion of their territory; the desire of the Austrian emperor was to secure that his son the Archduke Charles should rule Spain. In the first year of the campaign it was shown that the armies of the French were not invincible. Several fortresses which Louis XIV. had seized upon surrendered to the allies ; Kaiserswerth on the Rhine surrendered in June; Venlo on the Meuse in Sept., and Liege on Oct. 29. For these brilliant exploits Marlborough was raised (Dec. 14, 1702) to be duke of Marlborough, and received 15,000 per annum for the queen's life. His only surviving son, the marquess of Blandford, was seized whilst at King's College, Cam bridge, with smallpox, and died on Feb. 20, 1703.
The result of the campaign of 1703 inspired the French king with fresh hopes. The plans of Marlborough were frustrated by his Dutch colleagues. When he wished to invade the French terri tory they urged him to besiege Bonn, and he was compelled to give way. It surrendered in May, whereupon he returned to his original plan of attacking Antwerp ; but because of the incapacity of the Dutch leaders, the French surprised the Dutch division in June and inflicted on it a loss of many thousands of men. Marl borough was forced to abandon his enterprise, and all the com pensation which he received was the capture of the insignificant forts of Huy and Limburg. After a year of comparative failure for the allies, Louis XIV. entered upon an offensive movement against Austria ; and Marlborough, smarting under the misadven tures of 1703, was eager to meet him. The French were sent to join the forces of the elector of Bavaria and to march by the Danube to seize Vienna. Marlborough divined their intention, and while making a feint of marching into Alsace led his troops into Bavaria. The two armies met near the village of Blenheim on the left bank of the Danube. The early part of the fight was in favour of the French. Three times were the troops led by Prince Eugene, which were attacking the Bavarians, the enemy's left wing, driven back in confusion; Marlborough's cavalry failed on their first at tack in breaking the line of the enemy's centre. But in the end the victory of the allies was conclusive. Nearly 30,000 of the French and Bavarians were killed and wounded, and ii,000 of the French who had been driven down to the Danube were forced to sur render. Bavaria fell to the allies. Poets and prose writers were
employed to do Marlborough honour, and the lines of Addison comparing the English commander to the angel who passed over "pale Britannia" in the storm of 1703 have been famous for over two centuries. The manor of Woodstock, which was transferred by act of parliament from the crown to the duke, was a reward more after his own heart. A palace was built in the park at the royal expense, and £240,000 of public money was spent on the buildings. Marlborough was also created a prince of the empire and the principality of Mindelheim was formed in his honour.
During the following year Marlborough was hampered by tedi ous formalities at The Hague and by jealousies at the German courts. The armies of the French were again brought up to their full standard, but the generals of Louis were instructed to entrench themselves behind earthworks and to act on the defensive. On a July night these lines were broken through near Tirlemont, and the French were forced to shelter in Louvain. Marlborough in vain urged an attack, and when 1705 had passed away the forces of the French king had suffered no diminution. This tempted Villeroi in the next spring into meeting the allies in an open fight. But through the superior tactics of Marlborough the battle of Ramillies (May 23, 1706) ended in the total rout of the French, and caused the transference of nearly the whole of Bra bant and Flanders to the allies. Five days afterwards the victor entered Brussels in state, and the inhabitants acknowledged the rule of the archduke. Antwerp, Ostend, Menin and Dendermonde soon surrendered. Again a year of triumph was succeeded by a period of depression. During 1707 fortune inclined to the other side, with the result that in July 1708 Ghent and Bruges returned to the allegiance of the French, and Marlborough, fearing that their example might be followed by other cities, advanced towards Oudenarde. The battle, which raged on the high ground above Oudenarde, ended in the defeat of the French (July II, 1708).
Marlborough then wished to advance on Paris, but he was over ruled. The allied army invested the town of Lille, and after nearly four months, and a loss to the combatants of 30,00o men, the citadel surrendered in December. By the end of the year Brabant was again subject to the allies. The French king sued for peace, and Torcy his minister endeavoured by promises of large sums to obtain the support of Marlborough to his proposals. These attempts were vain, and when the winter passed a French army of I 10,000, under the command of Villars, took the field. In Sept. 1709 Tournay capitulated, and the two leaders, Marlbor ough and Eugene, led their forces to Mons. For the last time during the protracted war the two armies met in fair fight at Malplaquet, on the south of Mons (Sept. II, 1709). The fight was long and doubtful, and although the French ultimately re treated, it was in good order, and their losses were less than those of their opponents. The campaign lasted for a year or two after this indecisive contest, but it was not signalized by any such "glorious victory" as Blenheim. The French concentrated on the construction of fresh lines of defence, and the war dragged on until the Peace of Utrecht in June 1712.