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MARLBOROUGH, JOHN CHURCHILL, 1ST DUKE...

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Originally appearing in Volume V17, Page 740 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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MARLBOROUGH, See also:JOHN See also:CHURCHILL, 1ST See also:DUKE OF (1650-1722) , See also:English soldier, was See also:born in the small See also:manor See also:house of Ash, in Musbury, See also:Devonshire, near See also:Axminster, in May or See also:June 165o. Arabella Churchill, his eldest See also:sister, and the See also:mother of the duke of See also:Berwick, was born in the same house on the 28th of See also:February 1648. They were the See also:children of Winston Churchill of Glanville See also:Wotton in See also:Dorset and See also:Elizabeth the See also:fourth daughter of See also:Sir John See also:Drake, who died in 1636; his widow, after the See also:close of the See also:civil See also:war, received her son-in-See also:law into her own house. From 1663 to 1665 John Churchill went to St See also:Paul's school, and there is a tradition that during this See also:period he showed the See also:bent of his See also:taste by See also:reading and re-reading See also:Vegetius De re mililari. When fifteen years old he became See also:page of See also:honour to the duke of See also:York, and about the same See also:time his sister Arabella became maid of honour to the duchess, two events which contributed greatly to the See also:advancement of the Churchills. On the 14th of See also:September 1667 he received through the See also:influence of his See also:master a See also:commission in the See also:Guards, and See also:left See also:England for service at See also:Tangier but returned See also:home in the See also:winter of 167o-1671. For a See also:short See also:interval Churchill remained in attendance at the See also:court, and it was during this period that the natural carefulness of his disposition was shown by his investing in an See also:annuity a See also:present of £5,000 given him by the duchess of See also:Cleveland. In June 1672, when England to her shame sent six thousand troops to aid See also:Louis XIV. in his See also:attempt to subdue the Dutch, Churchill was made a See also:captain in the See also:company of which the duke of York was See also:colonel, and soon attracted the See also:attention of See also:Turenne, by whose profound military See also:genius the whole See also:army was directed. At the See also:siege of Nimeguen Churchill acquitted himself with such success that the See also:French See also:commander predicted his ultimate rise to distinction. When Maestricht was besieged in June 1673 he saved the See also:life of the duke of See also:Monmouth, and received the thanks of Louis XIV. for his- services. In 1678 he was married to Sarah Jennings (b. June 5, 166o), the favourite attendant on the Princess See also:Anne, younger daughter of the duke of York.

Her See also:

father, See also:Richard Jennings of Sandridge, near St Albans, had twenty-two See also:brothers and sisters; one of the latter married a See also:London tradesman named See also:Francis See also:Hill, and their daughter See also:Abigail Hill afterwards succeeded her See also:cousin the duchess of Marlborough as favourite to See also:Queen Anne. On the See also:accession of See also:James II. the Churchills received a See also:great increase in See also:fortune. Colonel Churchill had been created a Scotch peer as See also:Lord Churchill of See also:Eyemouth on the 21St ui See also:December 1682; and as a See also:reward for his services in going on a See also:special See also:mission from the new monarch to Louis XIV. he was II advanced on the 14th of May 1685 to the English See also:peerage under the See also:title of See also:Baron Churchill of Sandridge in See also:Hertfordshire. When the duke of Monmouth attempted his See also:ill-fated enterprise in the western counties, the second position in command of the See also:king's army was bestowed on Lord Churchill, and on the 3rd of See also:July 1685 he was raised to the See also:rank of See also:major-See also:general. Through his vigilance and See also:energy at the See also:battle of Sedgemoor (July 6) victory declared itself on the king's See also:side. After the See also:death of Monmouth he withdrew as far as•possible from the See also:administration of public business, but both he and his wife remained the favourite attendants of the princess Anne. Whilst on his See also:embassy to the French court he had declared with emphasis that if the king of England should See also:change the See also:religion of the See also:state he should at once leave his service, and it was not See also:long before the See also:design of James became apparent to the See also:world. Churchill was one of the first to send overtures of obedience to the See also:prince of See also:Orange, to whom he had gone on a commission in 1678. Although he continued in a high position under James and See also:drew the emoluments of his places, he promised See also:William of Orange to use every exertion to bring over the troops to his side. James had been warned against putting any See also:trust in the See also:loyalty of the See also:man on whom he had showered so many favours, but the warnings were in vain, and on the landing of the Dutch prince at See also:Brixham Churchill was promoted to be See also:lieutenant-general (Nov. 7, 1688) and was sent against him with five thousand men. When the royal army had advanced to the See also:downs of See also:Wiltshire and a battle seemed imminent, James was dismayed at finding that in the dead of See also:night his general had stolen away like a thief into the opposite See also:camp.

Churchill was sworn as a privy councillor on the 14th of February 1688/9 and on the 9th of See also:

April became See also:earl of See also:Marl-See also:borough. William See also:felt, however, that he could not See also:place implicit reliance in his friend's integrity; and, with a clear sense of the manner in which Marlborough's talents might be employed without any detriment to the stability of his See also:throne, he sent him in June 1689 with the army into the See also:Netherlands, and in the autumn of 1690 into See also:Ireland, where owing to his generalship See also:Cork and See also:Kinsale See also:fell into his hands after short sieges. For some time there was no open avowal of any distrust in Marl-borough's loyalty, but in May 1692 he was thrown into the See also:Tower on an See also:accusation of See also:treason. Though the See also:evidence which could be brought against him was slight, and he was soon set at See also:liberty, there is no doubt that Marlborough was in close relations with the exiled king at St Germains, and that he even went so far as to disclose,. in May 1694, to his See also:late master the intention of the English to attack the See also:town of See also:Brest. The talents of the statesmen of this reign were chiefly displayed in their attempts to convince both the exiled and the reigning king of England of their See also:attachment to his fortunes. The See also:sin of Marlborough See also:lay in the fact that he had been favoured above his See also:fellows by each in turn, and that he betrayed both alike apparently without See also:scruple or without shame. Once again during the See also:Fenwick See also:plot of 1696 he was charged with treason, but William, knowing that if he pushed Marlborough and his See also:friends to extremities there were no other statesmen on whom he could rely, contented himself with ignoring the accusation of Si' John Fenwick, and with executing that conspirator himself. In 1698 the forgiven traitor was made See also:governor to the See also:young duke of See also:Gloucester, the only one of Anne's numerous children who gave promise of attaining to manhood. During the last years of William's reign Marlborough once more was placed in positions of responsibility. His daughters were married into the most prominent families of the See also:land; Henrietta, the eldest, became the wife of Francis, the eldest son of Lord See also:Godolphin; the second, the loveliest woman at the court, with her father's tact and See also:temper and her mother's beauty, married See also:Charles, Lord See also:Spencer, the only surviving son of the earl of See also:Sunderland. Higher honours came on the accession of Queen Anne in See also:March 1702. He was at once appointed a See also:Knight of the Garter, captain-general of the English troops both at home and abroad, and master-general of the See also:ordnance.

The new queen did not forget the life-long service of his wife; three positions at the court by which shewas enabled to continue by the side of the See also:

sovereign were See also:united in her See also:person. The queen showed her devotion to her friend by another See also:signal See also:mark of favour. The rangership of See also:Windsor See also:Park was granted her for life, with the especial See also:object of enabling See also:Lady Marlborough to live in the Great See also:Lodge. These were the opening days of many years of fame and See also:power. A See also:week or two after the death of William it was agreed by the three great See also:powers, England, See also:Holland and See also:Austria, which formed the See also:grand See also:alliance, that .war should be declared against See also:France on the same See also:day, and on the 4th of May 1702 the War of the See also:Spanish See also:Succession was declared by the three countries. Marlborough was made commander-in-See also:chief of the united armies of England and Holland, but throughout the war his plans were impeded by the See also:jealousy of the commanders who were nominally his inferiors, and by the opposite aims of the various countries that were striving to break the power of France. He himself wished to penetrate into the French lines; the anxiety of the Dutch was for the See also:maintenance of their frontier and for an See also:augmentation of their territory; the See also:desire of the See also:Austrian See also:emperor was to secure that his son the See also:Archduke Charles should See also:rule over See also:Spain. To secure concerted See also:action by these different powers taxed all the See also:diplomacy of Marlborough, but he succeeded for the most See also:part in his desires. In the first See also:year of the See also:campaign it was shown that the armies of the French were not invincible. Several fortresses which Louis XIV. had seized upon surrendered to the See also:allies. See also:Kaiserswerth on the See also:Rhine surrendered on the 15th of June, and See also:Venlo on the See also:Meuse on the 23rd of September. The prosperous commercial town of See also:Liege with its commanding citadel capitulated on the 29th of See also:October.

The successes of Marlborough caused much rejoicing in his own See also:

country, and for these brilliant exploits he was raised (Dec. 14, 1702) to be duke of Marlborough, and received a See also:grant of £5000 per annum for the queen's life. In the See also:spring of the following year a crushing See also:blow fell upon the duke and duchess. Their eldest and only surviving son, the See also:marquess of See also:Blandford, was seized whilst at King's See also:College, See also:Cambridge (under the care of Francis See also:Hare afterwards See also:bishop of See also:Chichester), with the small-pox, and died on the loth of February 1703, in his seventeenth year. His talents had already justified the prediction that he would rise to the highest position in the state. The result of the campaign of 1703 inspired the French king with fresh hopes of ultimate victory. The dashing plans of Marlborough were frustrated by the opposition of his Dutch colleagues. When he wished to invade the French territory they urged him to besiege See also:Bonn, and he was compelled to accede to their wishes. It surrendered on the 15th of May, whereupon he returned to his See also:original See also:plan of attacking See also:Antwerp; but, in consequence of the incapacity of the Dutch leaders, the generals (See also:Villeroi and See also:Boufflers) of the French army surprised the Dutch See also:division on the 3oth of June and inflicted on it a loss of many thousands of men. Marlborough was forced to abandon his enterprise, and all the See also:compensation which he received was the See also:capture of the insignificant forts of Huy and See also:Limburg. After a year of See also:comparative failure for the allies, Louis XIV. was emboldened to enter upon an offensive See also:movement against Austria; and Marlborough, smarting under the misadventures of 1703, was eager to meet him. A magnificent army was sent by the French king, under the command of See also:Marshal Tallard, to join the forces of the elector of See also:Bavaria and to march by the See also:Danube so as to seize See also:Vienna itself.

Marlborough divined the intention of the expedition, and while making a feint of marching into See also:

Alsace led his troops into Bavaria. The two armies (that under Marlborough and Prince See also:Eugene numbering more than fifty thousand men, whilst Tallard's forces were nearly four thousand stronger) met in battle near the See also:village of See also:Blenheim on the left See also:bank of the Danube. The French commander made the See also:mistake of supposing that the enemy's attack would be directed against his position in the village, and he concentrated an excessive number of his troops at that point. The See also: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 See also:cavalry failed on their first attack in breaking the See also:line of the enemy's centre. But in the end the victory of the allies was conclusive. Nearly See also:thirty thousand of the French and Bavarians were killed and wounded, and eleven thousand of the French who had been driven down to the Danube were forced to surrender. Bavaria fell into the hands of the allies. Never was a victory more eagerly welcomed than this, and never was a conquering See also:leader more rewarded than Marlborough. Poets and See also:prose writers were employed to do him honour, and the lines of See also:Addison comparing the English commander to the See also:angel who passed over See also:pale Britannia " in the See also:storm of 1703 have been famous for over two centuries. The manor of See also:Woodstock, which was transferred by See also:act of See also:parliament from the See also:crown to the duke, was a reward more after his own See also:heart. The See also:gift even in that See also:form was See also:noble, but the queen heightened it by instructing Sir John See also:Vanbrugh to build a See also:palace in the park at the royal expense, and £240,000 of public See also:money was spent on the buildings.

He was also created a prince of the See also:

empire and the principality of Mindelheim was formed in his honour. The following year was not marked by any stirring incident. Marlborough was hampered by tedious formalities at the See also:Hague and by jealousies at the See also:German courts. The armies of the French were again brought up to their full See also:standard, but the generals of Louis were instructed to entrench themselves behind earthworks and to act on the defensive. In the darkness of a July night these lines were broken through near Tirlemont, and the French were forced to take shelter under the walls of See also:Louvain. Marlborough in vain urged an attack upon them in their new position, and when 1705 had passed away the forces of the French king had suffered no diminution. This See also:immunity from disaster tempted Villeroi in the next spring into See also:meeting the allied forces in an open fight, but his assurance proved his ruin. Through the See also:superior See also:tactics of Marlborough the battle of See also:Ramillies (May 23, 1706) ended in the See also:total rout of the French, and caused the transference of nearly the whole of See also:Brabant and See also:Flanders to the allies. Five days afterwards the See also:victor entered See also:Brussels in state, and the inhabitants acknowledged the rule of the archduke. Antwerp and See also:Ostend surrendered themselves with slight loss. See also:Menin held out until three thousand of the soldiers of the allies were laid See also:low around its walls, but Dendermonde, which Louis had See also:forty years previously besieged in vain, quickly gave itself up to the resistless Marlborough. Again a year of activity and See also:triumph was succeeded by a period of languor and depression.

During the whole of 1707 fortune inclined to the other side, with the result that in July 1708 See also:

Ghent and See also:Bruges returned to the See also:allegiance of the French, and Marlborough, fearing that their example might be followed by the other cities, advanced with his whole army towards Oudenarde. Had the counsels of See also:Vendome, one of the ablest of the French generals, prevailed, the fight might have had a different issue, but his suggestions were disregarded by the duke of See also:Burgundy, the See also:grandson of Louis, and the battle, which raged on the high ground above Oudenarde, ended in their defeat (July 11, 1708). After this victory Marlborough, ever anxious for decisive See also:measures, wished to advance on See also:Paris, but he was over-ruled. The allied army invested the town of See also:Lille, on the fortifications of which See also:Vauban had expended an immensity of thought; and after a struggle of nearly four months, and the loss to the combatants of thirty thousand men, the citadel was surrendered by Marshal Boufflers on the 9th of December. By the end of the year Brabant was again subject to the rule of the allies. The suffering in France at this time weighed so heavily upon the See also:people that its proud king humbled himself to See also:sue for See also:peace. Each of the allies in turn did he supplicate, and Torcy his See also:minister endeavoured by promises of large sums of money to obtain the support of Marlborough to his proposals. These attempts were in vain, and when the winter passed away a French army of one See also:hundred and ten thousand, under the command of See also:Villars, took the See also:field. On the 3rd of September 1709 Tournay capitulated, and the two leaders, Marlborough and Eugene, led their forces to See also:Mons, in spite of the attempt of Villars to prevent them. For the last time during the protracted war the two armies metin See also:fair fight at See also:Malplaquet, on the See also:south of Mons (See also:Sept. 11, 1709), where the French leader had strengthened his position by extensive earthworks. The fight was long and doubtful, and although the French ultimately retreated under the direction of Boufflers, for Villars had been wounded on the See also:knee, it was in See also:good See also: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. All that the English could plume themselves on was the acquisition of a few such fortresses as See also:

Douai and See also:Bethune, and all that the French had to fear was the See also:gradual tightening of the enemy's See also:chain until it reached the walls of Paris. The energies of the French were concentrated in the construction of fresh lines of See also:defence, until their commander boasted that his position was impregnable. In this way the war dragged on until the conclusion of the Peace of See also:Utrecht in June 1712. These victorious See also:campaigns had not prevented the position of Marlborough from being undermined by party intrigues at home. In the early part of Queen Anne's reign his See also:political friends were to be found among the Tories, and the See also:ministry under See also:Sidney Godolphin was chiefly composed of members of that 'party. After a year or two, however, the more ardent Tories withdrew, and two younger adherents of the same cause, Harley and St John, were introduced in May 1704 into the ministry. The duchess, partly through the influence of her son-in-law, the earl of Sunderland, who came into See also:office against the queen's wish on the 3rd of December 1706, and partly through the opposition of the Tories to the French war, had gone over to the Whig cause, and she pressed' her views on the sovereign with more vehemence than discretion. She had obtained for her indigent cousin, Abigail Hill, a small position at court, and the poor relation very soon began to injure the benefactor who had befriended her. With Hill's assistance Harley and St John widened the See also:breach with the queen which was commenced by the imperious manner of the duchess. The love of the two friends changed into hate, and no opportunity for humiliating the See also:family of Marlborough was allowed to pass neglected. Sunderland and Godolphin were the first to fall (July–Aug.

171o); a few months later the duchess was dismissed from her offices; and, although Marlborough himself was permitted to continue in his position a short time longer, his fall was only delayed until the last day of 1711. Life in England had become so unpleasant that he went to the See also:

Continent in See also:November 1712 and remained abroad until the death of Anne (Aug, 1, 1714). Then he once more returned to England and resumed his old military posts, but he took little part in public affairs. Even if he had wished to regain his commanding position in the country, ill See also:health would have prevented him from obtaining his desires. See also:Johnson indeed says, in the Vanity of Human Wishes, that " the streams of dotage " flowed from his eyes; but this is a poetical exaggeration. It is certain that at the time of his death he was able to understand the remarks of others and to See also:express his own wishes. At four o'See also:clock on the See also:morning of the 16th of June 1722 he died at Cranbourn Lodge, near Windsor. His remains were at first deposited in See also:Westminster See also:Abbey, in the vault' at the See also:east end of King See also:Henry VII.'s See also:chapel, but they now See also:rest in a See also:mausoleum in the chapel at Blenheim. His widow, to whom must be assigned a considerable See also:share both in his rise and in his fall, survived till the 18th of October 1744. Those years were spent in See also:bitter animosity with many within and without her own family. Left by her See also:husband with the command of boundless See also:wealth, she used it for the vindication of his memory and for the See also:justification of her own resentment. Two of the leading opponents of the Whig ministry, See also:Chesterfield and See also:Pitt, were especially honoured by her attentions.

To Pitt she left ten thousand pounds, to the other statesman twice that sum and a reversionary See also:

interest in her landed See also:property at See also:Wimbledon. Whilst a widow she received numerous offers of See also:marriage from titled suitors. She refused them all: from her marriage to her death her heart had no other inmate than the man as whose wife she had become almost a See also:rival to See also:royalty. The rapid rise of Marlborough to the highest position in the State was due to his singular tact and his See also:diplomatic skill in the management of men. In an See also:age remarkable for See also:grace of manner and for adroitness of compliment, his courteous demeanour and the See also:art with which he refused or granted a favour extorted the admiration of every one with whom he came in contact. Through his See also:consideration for the welfare of his soldiers he held together for years an army See also:drawn from every nation in Christendom. His talents may not have been profound (he possessed " an excellent See also:plain understanding and See also:sound See also:judgment " is the See also:opinion of Lord Chesterfield), but they were such as Englishmen love. Alike in planning and in executing, he took See also:infinite pains in all points of detail. Nothing escaped his observation, and in the hottest moment of the fight the coolness of his See also:intellect shone conspicuous. His enemies indeed affected to attribute his See also:uniform success in the field to fortune, and they magnified his love of money by See also:drawing up See also:balance sheets which included every See also:penny which he had received, but omitted the pounds which he had spent in the cause he had sincerely at heart. All that can be alleged in excuse of his attempts to serve two masters, the king whom he had deserted and the king who had received him into favour, is that not one of his associates was without sin in this respect. The books on Marlborough are very numerous.

Under his name in the See also:

catalogue of the See also:British Museum there are 165 entries, and 44 under that of his wife. The chief See also:works are Lediard's, See also:Arch-See also:deacon William See also:Coxe's (1818-1819), Sir See also:Archibald See also:Alison's (1855), and See also:Viscount See also:Wolseley's (1894) Lives, but Wolseley stops with the accession of Queen Anne; a French memoir in three volumes, 18o8; Marlborough's Letters and Despatches, edited by Sir See also:George See also:Murray (5 vols., 1845); and the interesting summaries of Mrs See also:Creighton (1879) and George See also:Saintsbury (1885). The descriptions in John Hill See also:Burton's Reign of Queen Anne of the battle scenes of Marlborough are from See also:personal observation. A good See also:account of his birthplace and country will be found in G. P. R. Pulman's See also:Book of the See also:Axe See also:District (4th ed., 1875) ; and for the home of the duchess the reader can refer to the See also:History of Hertfordshire, by J. E. Cussans. A memoir of her, by one of her descendants, Mrs See also:Arthur See also:Colville, appeared in 1904. The See also:pamphlets written on her conduct at court relate to matters of little interest at the present time. (W.

P.

End of Article: MARLBOROUGH, JOHN CHURCHILL, 1ST DUKE OF (1650-1722)

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