Bloodbath

The Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 was the bloodiest engagement of the War of the Spanish Succession (1702-13). Malplaquet lies close to the French border, about nine miles (15km) from the Belgian town of Mons. It was here, on 11 September 1709, that an Allied army commanded by the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene, engaged a French army under Marshal Villars. The French occupied a strong defensive position, but after desperate hand-to-hand fighting the Allies won the day at a cost of over 20,000 men.

These were some of the heaviest casualties seen in eighteenth century warfare and Marlborough’s popularity declined as a result. The Allies had suffered so many casualties that they were prevented from marching on Paris, so the battle was a strategic victory for France. The death toll at Malplaquet was to traumatize the nations of Europe just as much as the horrific loss of life at the Somme and Verdun did over two hundred years later.

To the right, the Duke of Marlborough gives orders to his troops whilst fighting continues in the background. On the left, some of the women who followed the Army are stripping the dead of their clothing.