238: Marlborough, The British, & The Bloodiest Battle in 18th Century Europe

Send me a messageChris Green is The History Chap; telling stories that brings the past to life.The Bloodies European Battle in the 18th Century - Malplaquet 1709.The Duke of Marlborough's fourth victory over the French and the one that led to his downfall.Ways You Can Support My Channel:Become A PatronMake A DonationOther episodes in this series:The Battle of Blenheim 1704The Battle of Ramillies 1706The Battle of Oudenarde 1708You might also be interested in this book, that I used extensively during my research for this series."Marlborough: Britain's Greatest General" by Richard Holmes(This is my Amazon affiliate link)The Battle of Malplaquet, fought on the 11th September 1709 was the Duke of Marlborough's fourth victory over the French. It was also the bloodiest European battle of the whole 18th century.Between 30,000 - 40,000 men were killed or wounded in just one day.Despite, been forced from the field by the comined allied army consisting of Dutch, German, Austrian, Danish and British soldiers, , the French were able to keep their army intact, ready to fight another day - their (sort of) Dunkirk moment.That French escape, along with his heavy losses, was the beginning of the end for John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough. Within two years, arguably the greatest military commander in British history, was sacked. Despite it being a tactical victory, malplaquet was a pyrrhic victory for Marlborough and his allied army.The Allies  lost nearly 21,000 men killed or wounded (almost a quarter of their army).The Dutch alone had lost over 8,000 men, whilst the British had lost nearly 1,800.The French army, on the other hand had suffered somewhere between 11,000 - 14,000 casualties.Support the show