blimery. 
—_—\y— 
Campaign 
of 1706, 
610 
tor of Bavaria had been forced by Marlborough, near 
Donawert, with considerable loss; but the appearance 
of Tallard inspired that prince with fresh confidence, 
and it was determined to hazard a general battle. This 
battle was fought near Blenheim, and, by its result, im- 
mortalized Marlborough, and exposed the Electorate of 
Bavaria to the ravages of the conquerors. Upon this 
Villars was recalled, and by prudently remaining on the 
defensive, obliged the Duke of Marlborough to relin- 
quish his plan of penetrating into France by the course 
of the Moselle. : 
The Duke of Marlborough having returned to Flan- 
ders, Villars was employed in watcHing the numerous 
armies of the empire on the Rhine, and succeeded in 
baffling them by his skill. In Italy, the Duke of Ven- 
dome on Prince Eugene and the Duke of Sa- 
voy ; bought the bloody but indecisive battle of Cassi- 
nato; and menaced Turin with a siege. These advan- 
tages of the French were balanced by the good for- 
tune of the allies in Spain, where the Archduke Charles, 
whom they proclaimed king, made himself master of 
most of that country. 
In 1706, the Marshal Villeroi was defeated by the 
Duke of Marlborough at Ramillies ; and the greatest 
of Spanish Flanders rewarded the victors. Louis, 
instead of re ing, endeavoured to console the Mar- 
shal for this defeat ; ‘“ People at our time of life, Mon- 
sieur Marshal,” said he, “ are not fortunate.” In Italy, 
the siege of Turin was begun by the Marshal Feuillarde, 
son-in-law of the minister Chamillard. The siege was 
covered by the Duke of Orleans, the nephew of Lonis, 
who was however controlled by the superior, but secret 
wers of the Marshal Marsin. As the preparations 
for this si were immense, great expectations were 
formed of its success ; but Feuillarde was by no means 
fit for his situation ; he was ignorant, obstinate, and so 
conceited, that when Vauban offered to direct the ope- 
rations of the siege as engineer, he rejected the offer with 
disdain, The city, however, notwithstanding the in- 
capacity of the Marshal, was reduced to the greatest 
distress, when Prince Eugene rapidly approached to its 
relief. The Duke of Orleans rmiaiied to have lett his 
lines, and met the enemy; but he was overruled by 
Marshal Marsin, and the French waited the attack in 
their entrenchments. In two hours, the Prince obtain- 
ed a complete victory : the Duke of Orleans was wound- 
ed, Marshal Marsin killed, and the duchies of Milan, 
Mantua, and Piedmont, with the kingdom of Naples, 
were by this one battle wrested from the House of 
Bourbon. The affairs of Louis in Spain were equally 
te; but in a short time fortune changed sides 
there, and Charles was obliged to evacuate his capital, 
and fly before the Duke of Berwick, who triumphed at 
Almanza over the forces of the confederates. 
Louis having in vain endeavoured to the King 
of Sweden in his cause, began seriously to think of put- 
ting an end to.a war, by which his arms had been dis- 
graced, and his subjects impoverished. He according- 
y ordered the Elector of Bavaria to write letters to the 
Duke of Marlborough, and the field deputies of the 
United Provinces, ing a ess; offering, 
az a proof of his sincerity, to give up all the Spanish do- 
minions. in Italy to the ‘Archduke Charles ; to the Uni- 
ted Provinces, a barrier in the Netherlands; and to the 
Duke of Savoy, a com tion for the-waste made by 
the war in his territories. In return, he asked the re- 
storation of Bavaria to its native Prince ; and that Phi- 
lip V. should be allowed to possess Spain and her Ame- 
rican colonies. This offer was, however, indignantly 
FRANCE, 
and wantonly rej , the views of the allies i 
with their ptndes ing humbled Fenae diet 
now wished to conquer Spain. They accordingly in- 
formed Louis, that no peace set ke made ma 4 the 
House of Bourbon, so long as a prince of that house ‘sat 
on the throne of Spain, , ' - 
Louis was not so humbled in means or in hopes, as 
to be willing to accept these conditions, and he resol- 
ved to prosecute the war with vigour; but he was at a 
loss for money. In this emergency, he issued bills upon’ 
the mint toa very large amount, but most foolishly re-. 
fused to take them in payment of taxes. The conse-) 
quence was, that they fell into such discredit, as to be. 
at more than 50 per cent. discount. He therefore was: 
obliged to continue the practice of loans, and to antici- 
pate the royal revenue. Still his efforts were astonish~| His asto- 
ing: The coasts of the Channel and Mediterranean( Dishing ef- 
were defended by a line of militia; an army was sta~ 
tioned in Flanders, under the Duke of V e; an- 
other in the neighbourhood of Strasburg, under Vil-: 
lars ; two smaller armies were“collected in Navarre and: 
Rousillon ; and the Duke of Berwick, who still com- 
manded in Spain, was strongly reinforced. These re- 
inforcements came from Italy, where the French troops, 
amounting to 15,000 men, been obliged, b i~ 
tulation, to evacuate Lombardy. i} new 
In Spain, use of Bourbon was successful. The 
Duke of Or ho assumed the command after the, 
battle of Almanza, reduced Valentia and and 
took Lerida in Catalonia, which had formerly resisted the: 
great Condé. In Germany, Louis was also fortunate ; 
for Marshal Villars, having passed the Rhine, laid Swa- 
bia and Franconia under contribution. France itself, 
however, was exposed to danger in the midst of these: 
successes ; for Prince Eugene and the Duke of Savoy; 
being perfectly at liberty, in consequence of the French. 
army having evacuated Lombardy, formed a plan, in 
conjunction with the maritime powers, to reduce Toulon: 
or Marseilles, But, unfortunately for the allies, before 
the Prince appeared with the van of the Imperialists, 
the French had found. means to throw.8000 men inte> 
Toulon, the place which they ultimately had resolved 
to attack. ‘They had also taken ion of all the 
eminences that commanded the city ; and the allies, in 
attempting to dislodge them, were repulsed with con-— 
siderable loss.. In consequence, the rals deemed it. 
prudent to give up the attempt. Ineidentally, how-) 
ever, this expedition was detrimental to France; for 
the detachments drawn from the army of Marshal Vil-: 
lars for the defence of Toulon, obliged him to abandon . 
his projects against Germany, and to. ‘the Rhine. 
repass 
In the month of July 1708, the French army un~ Campaign 
der the Duke of Vendome was defeated by the Duke of 1708. 
of Marlborough at Oudenarde. Immediately after 
this battle, the former were joined by a re~- 
inforeement under the Duke of Berwick from. the 
Rhine, and the latter by Prince Eugene's army. The» 
iege of Lisle, the principal city in French Hiandese 
on the second in the dominions of Louis, was now be- + 
Seealy and’ Marlbsron meyer soem | 
directly, and Mar coveri siege. Into. 
this lai Marshal iteolamen old i 
officer, had thrown himself with some of the best troops. 
of France ; but notwithstanding his gallant.efforts, and 
4 
his utmost skill, in the +“ of two months he was Lisle taken 
n 
obliged to capitulate, I 
tempted to pass through Switzerland, in order to join } 
the troops of the empire in Alsace, and penetrate into 
France on that side ; but he was so vigorously opposed 
, the Duke of Savoy at- ay tea al. 
