The Siege of Bouchain (9 August - 12 September 1711), following the Passage of the Lines of Ne Plus Ultra (4/5 August 1711), was a siege of the War of the Spanish Succession, and the last major victory of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. In a masterpiece of manoeuvre warfare, Marlborough broke through the French defensive lines without losing a man to enemy action, and took Bouchain after a siege of 34 days. Its capture left Cambrai the only French-held fortress between the allied army and Paris. Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain. ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... 1711 (MDCCXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... Bouchain is a former part of French Flanders, located halfway between Cambrai and Valenciennes. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right)1 Capital Winchester, then London from 11th century. ... Map of Dutch Republic by Joannes Janssonius United Netherlands redirects here. ... Germany is a federation of 16 states called Länder (singular Land, which may be translated as country) or unofficially Bundesländer (singular Bundesland, German federal state). ... John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries. ... Marshal Villars of France. ... Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain. ... Combatants Austria France Commanders Prince Eugene of Savoy Nicolas Catinat Strength 30,000 25,000 Casualties unknown unknown The Battle of Carpi was a serie of manoeuvres in the summer of 1701, and the first battle of the War of the Spanish Succession that took place on July 9, 1701... The Battle of Chieri was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession that took place on September 1, 1701 between France and Austria. ... The Battle of Cremona was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession that took place on February 1, 1702 between France and Austria. ... Combatants Austria France Commanders Eugene of Savoy Duc de Vendôme Strength 25,000 30,000 Casualties 2,500 4,000 {{{notes}}} Battle of Luzzara was battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. ... Combatants Spain England United Provinces Commanders Francisco de Villadarias George Rooke James, Duke of Ormonde Strength 300 infantry 150 cavalry 50 ships 14,000 infantry Casualties Unknown Unknown The Battle of Cádiz was a siege of the Spanish city of Cádiz in 1702 by an Anglo-Dutch fleet... Combatants France Holy Roman Empire Commanders Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars Louis, Margrave of Baden-Baden Strength Casualties The Battle of Friedlingen was fought in 1702 between France and the Holy Roman Empire. ... The Battle of Vigo Bay, 23 October 1702 by Ludolf Bakhuizen, painted c. ... Combatants Austria France Bavaria Commanders Limburg Styrum Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau Claude de Villars Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria Strength 16,000 24,000 Casualties 5,000 dead, wounded and (mainly) prisoners. ... The Battle of Schellenberg was fought on 2 July 1704. ... Combatants England,[1] Austria, Dutch Republic, Prussia, Denmark, Hesse, Hanover France, Bavaria Commanders Duke of Marlborough, Eugene of Savoy Duc de Tallard, Maximilian II Emanuel, Ferdinand de Marsin Strength 52,000, 60 guns[2] 56,000, 90 guns Casualties 4,542 killed, 7,942 wounded 20,000 killed, drowned, or... Combatants France Spain England United Provinces Commanders Comte de Toulouse Victor-Marie dEstrées George Rooke Strength 50 warships 6 frigates (3,577 guns) 24,275 men 53 ships of the line 6 frigates 7 fireships (3,614 guns) 22,543 men Casualties no ships lost 1,600-3... Combatants France Austria Prussia Commanders Louis Joseph, duc de Vendôme Eugene of Savoy Leopold I, Prince of Anhalt-Dessau Strength 30,000 29,000 Casualties unknown unknown The Battle of Cassano, fought on August 16, 1705, was a hard fought battle in the Italian theatre of the War of... Combatants France Austria Commanders Duc de Vendôme Reventlow Strength 41,000 19,000 Casualties unknown 6,000 The Battle of Calcinato was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession. ... Combatants England Dutch Republic German states France Commanders Duke of Marlborough Hendrik van Nassau-Ouwerkerk Duc de Villeroi Strength 14,000 (initially) 3,000 - 15,000 Casualties 50 - 200 3,000 The Battle of Elixheim, 18 July 1705, also known as the Passage of the Lines of Brabant was a... The Battle of Ramillies was a major battle in the War of Spanish Succession, May 23, 1706. ... The Battle of Turin took place on 7 September 1706 west of the city of Turin during the War of the Spanish Succession. ... Combatants Philippists Kingdom of France Kingdom of Spain Austriacists Britain Portugal United Provinces Commanders Duke of Berwick Marquis de Ruvigny Marquês das Minas Strength 25,000 22,000 Casualties 3,500 dead or wounded 5,000 dead or wounded 12,000 captured The Battle of Almansa, fought on April... Combatants Britain Austria United Provinces Savoy France Spain Commanders Victor Amadeus II of Savoy Prince Eugene of Savoy René de Froulay de Tessé Strength 35,000 15,000 Casualties 10,000 dead or wounded Unknown The Battle of Toulon took place in 1707 in the War of the Spanish Succession. ... The Battle of Oudenarde (or Audenaarde) was a key battle in the War of the Spanish Succession. ... The Battle of Malplaquet was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession that took place on September 11, 1709 between France and a British–Austrian alliance (known as the Allies). ... Combatants Spain Austria Britain United Provinces Cataluña Commanders Marquis de Bay Guido Starhemberg Lord Stanhope Strength 20,000 23,000 - 30,000 Casualties 7,000 - 10,000 dead or wounded 4,000 - 5,000 captured Unknown, probably 1,500 dead or wounded The Battle of Saragossa (Spanish: Zaragoza) took... Combatants Spain Austria Britain United Provinces Commanders Francisco de Villadarias Guido Starhemberg Lord Stanhope Strength 22,000 18,000 Casualties 1,000 dead 3,000 captured 400 dead The Battle of Almenara took place on July 27, 1710 in the War of the Spanish Succession. ... Combatants France Spain Britain Commanders Louis Joseph de Vendôme James Stanhope Strength 20,000–24,000 16,000–18,000 (4,000 present) Casualties 1,000 dead 600 dead 3,400 wounded or captured The Battle of Brihuega took place on December 8, 1710 in the War of the... Combatants France Spain Austria United Provinces Portugal Commanders Louis Joseph de Vendôme Guido Starhemberg Strength 20,000 12,000–14,000 Casualties 2,000–3,000 dead or wounded 2,000–3,000 dead or wounded The Battle of Villaviciosa took place on December 10, 1710 in the War... Combatants Austria United Provinces Britain France Commanders Eugene of Savoy Claude de Villars Strength 105,000 120,000 Casualties 18,000 dead or wounded 5,000 dead or wounded The Battle of Denain was fought on July 24, 1712, as part of the War of the Spanish Succession, and resulted... The Siege of Barcelona was a battle at the end of the War of Spanish Succession (1701-1714), which pitted Archduke Charles (backed by Britain, Austria, and the Netherlands), against Philip V, backed by France and Spain in a contest for Spanish lands. ... August 9 is the 221st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (222nd in leap years), with 144 days remaining. ... September 12 is the 255th day of the year (256th in leap years). ... 1711 (MDCCXI) was a common year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Monday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar). ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... August 5 is the 217th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (218th in leap years), with 148 days remaining. ... Charles II was the last Habsburg King of Spain. ... John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs throughout the late 17th and early 18th centuries. ... Cambrai (Dutch: Kamerijk) is a French city and commune, in the Nord département, of which it is a sous_préfecture. ... City flag City coat of arms Motto: Fluctuat nec mergitur (Latin: Tossed by the waves, she does not sink) Paris Eiffel tower as seen from the esplanade du Trocadéro. ...

Prelude

Throughout the early summer of 1711 Marlborough's army, having taken the important fortress of Douai the previous year, manoeuvred indecisively in northern France, blocked by the French Lines of Ne Plus Ultra - a massive series of fieldworks stretching from the Channel coast to the Ardennes at Namur. The allied army had been weakened by the withdrawal of Prince Eugene's army to cover the upper Rhine, as the deposed Elector of Bavaria attempted to take advantage of the disruption caused by the death of the Emperor Joseph. On 6 July, Marlborough captured the small fortress of Arleux, just to the north of the Lines, west of Bouchain, both to deny its use to the French as a sally-port, and to secure the water supply to Douai, which could be cut off by damming the canal that supplied the town. The Duke was then wrong-footed by Villars as the French army crossed the Lines on 22/23 July and retook Arleux, with the allied army too far to the west to intervene in time, and the defences were levelled before the French retreated back across the Lines. Marlborough, initially furious, soon retook the initiative by marching his army as if to assault the Lines near Arras, and carrying out a detailed personal reconnaissance there on the 4 August in full view of Villars' covering army. That night the army struck camp, leaving their campfires burning to deceive the French, and marched eastwards to Arleux. At midnight a force from Douai under Cadogan crossed the unguarded French lines, and by 8am the advance guard of the main army was also crossing over. Villars, arriving on the scene with a few hundred cavalry, realised he had been outmanoeuvred, and though he attempted to offer battle in front of Bourlon Wood, Marlborough declined to attack, the Marshal's position being even stronger than the one in which he had given Marlborough's army such a mauling two years earlier at Malplaquet. He thus drew off and attempted to hinder Marlborough's siege of Bouchain which followed. Douai is a city and commune in the north of France in the département of Nord, of which it is a sous-préfecture. ... // Events April 10 - The worlds first copyright legislation became effective, Britains Statute of Anne Ongoing events Great Northern War (1700-1721) War of the Spanish Succession (1702-1713) Births January 3 - Richard Gridley, American Revolutionary soldier (d. ... Satellite view of the English Channel The English Channel (French: La Manche (IPA: ), the sleeve) is the part of the Atlantic Ocean that separates the island of Great Britain from northern France and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. ... The Ardennes (pronounced ar-DEN) (Dutch: Ardennen) is a region of extensive forests and rolling hill country, primarily in Belgium and Luxembourg, but stretching into France (lending its name to the Ardennes département and the Champagne-Ardenne région). ... Namur is the name of a city in Belgium, capital of Wallonia, as well as a province and a diocese named after it. ... Prince Eugen von Savoyen in a contemporary painting François-Eugène, Prince of Savoy-Carignan, known as Prinz Eugen von Savoyen in German (October 16, 1663 – April 24, 1736) was a noted general. ... The River Rhine (Dutch: ; French: ; German: ; Italian: ; Romansh: ) is one of the longest and most important rivers in Europe at 1,320 kilometres (820 miles), with an average discharge of more than 2,000 cubic meters per second. ... July 6 is the 187th day of the year (188th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 178 days remaining. ... (Redirected from 22 July) July 22 is the 203rd day (204th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 162 days remaining. ... July 23 is the 204th day (205th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 161 days remaining. ... Arras (Dutch: ) is a town and commune in northern France, préfecture (capital) of the Pas-de-Calais département. ... August 4 is the 216th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (217th in leap years), with 149 days remaining. ... The Battle of Malplaquet was a battle of the War of the Spanish Succession that took place on September 11, 1709 between France and a British–Austrian alliance (known as the Allies). ...

The Siege

To defend the the town Bouchain's governor, de Ravignau, had some 5,000 men against Marlborough's besieging army of 30,000, and the advantage of one of the strongest fortresses left to France, surrounded by the marshy land of the confluence of the rivers Scheldt and Sensée. In addition, Villars' strong army had taken up position to the west of the allied camp, and had managed to open a tenuous link to the besieged garrison. Marlborough responded by using earthwork gun batteries to counter Villars, used a crack assault force managed by 18 August to once more cut the Marshal's communication with Bouchain, and established a fieldwork-protected corridor from the siege camp to his main supply port at Marchiennes on the Scarpe. Frequent raids by Villars on both the supply convoys on the Scarpe, and towards Douai, failed to interrupt the siege, and the garrison marched out to become prisoners of war on 13 September 1711. August 18 is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... September 13 is the 256th day of the year (257th in leap years). ...

Aftermath

Bouchain was Marlborough's last campaign. On the last day of the year he was stripped of his position as Captain-General, and of all his other offices. Command of the army on the continent for the campaign of 1712 was given to the Duke of Ormonde, and strict limitations were placed on his freedom of movement. Particularly he was prohibited from engaging the French in battle, as Anglo-French peace talks were well advanced, and the opportunity of seizing Cambrai and marching on Paris, opened by Marlborough's gains the year before, was abandoned. Before the year was out, the British army would withdraw from the alliance, leaving the remaining allies, under Eugene to be defeated at Denain.

References

Chandler, D. G.: Marlborough as Military Commander, (Spellmount, Staplehurst, 2003)
Hussey, J.: Marlborough: Hero of Blenheim, (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, London, 2004)