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Marshal Villeroy on the 12th/23rd of May 1706. The position of the French on the high ground about Ramillies was marked by the villages of Autreglise (Anderkirch) on the See also:

LEFT

left, Offuz on the left centre, Ramillies on the right centre and Taviers on the right See also:

close to the See also:

RIVER

river Mehaigne. In front of the last was a smaller village, Franquenay, which was held as an advanced See also:

POST

post. Between these points d'appui the ground was mostly open upland, and the position as a whole was defective in so far that the villages were barely within See also:

CANNON (a word common to Romance languages, from the Lat. canna, a reed, tube, with the addition of the augmentative termination -on, -one)

cannon-shot of each other. It was particularly strong on the flanks, which were protected by the marshy beds of the Mehaigne and the Little Gheete. Ramillies stands almost on the See also:

WATERSHED

watershed of these adjacent valleys, and here Marlborough decided to deliver his See also:

main attack. The forces were about equal, and were at first equally distributed along the whole See also:

LINE

line of either party. See also:

MARL (from O. Fr. marle, Late Lat. margila, dim. of marga; cf. Du. and Ger. Mergel)

Marl-See also:

borough's See also:

LOCAL

local concentration of force at the spot where the attack was to be pressed See also:

home was made not before, but after the See also:

ACTION

action had opened (cf. See also:

NEERWINDEN

NEERWINDEN). Villeroy's left wing of See also:

CAVALRY (Fr. cavalerie, Ger. Kavallerie or Reiterei, derived ultimately from late Lat. caballus, horse)

cavalry and See also:

INFANTRY

infantry was secure—and at the same See also:

time immobilized—behind the upper course of the Little Gheete, and the French See also:

COMMANDER

commander allowed himself to be imposed upon by a demonstration in this See also:

QUARTER (through Fr. from Lat. quartarius, fourth part)

quarter, convinced perhaps by the presence of the See also:

BRITISH

British contingent that a serious attack was intended. The See also:

MORNING

morning was spent in arraying the lines of See also:

BATTLE

battle, and it was about 1.30 when the cannonade opened.

Soon the first lines of infantry of the Allied centre and left (Dutch) opened the attacks on Franquenay and Taviers and on Ramillies, and, when after a severe struggle Taviers See also:

fell into the hands of the Dutch, their commander, Marshal Overkirk, led forward the whole of the left wing cavalry and fiercely engaged the French cavalry opposed to it. The ground was open, both parties had placed the greater See also:

PART

part of their See also:

HORSE (a word common to Teutonic languages in such forms as hors, hros, ros; cf. the Ger. ross)

horse on this See also:

side, and it was only after a severe and prolonged engagement (in which Marlborough himself took part like a trooper and was unhorsed) that the Allies were definitely victorious, thanks to the arrival of a force of cavalry brought over from the Allied right wing. Meanwhile the See also:

PRINCIPAL

principal attack on Ramillies had been successfully pressed home, the necessary concentration of force being secured by secretly and skilfully withdrawing some British battalions from the right wing. While Villeroy was trying to bring up supports from the left to take part in the cavalry battle, the French in Ramillies were driven out into the open, where the Allied cavalry, having now gained the upper See also:

hand, rode down many battalions. Most of the French cavalry from the other wing, having to force its way through the baggage trains of the See also:

army (these had been placed too near the fighting lines), arrived too See also:

LATE

late, and once Ramillies had fallen the whole line of the Allies gradually took up the offensive. It was not See also:

long before the French line was rolled up from right to left, and the See also:

RETREAT (O. Fr. retrete, mod. retraite, from Lat. retrahere, to draw back)

retreat of the French was only effected in considerable confusion. Then followed for once a relentless pursuit, carried on by the British cavalry (which had scarcely been engaged) to See also:

LOUVAIN (Flem. Leuven)

Louvain, 20 M. from the See also:

field of battle. Marlborough's unequalled See also:

TACTICAL

tactical skill and See also:

JUDGMENT

judgment thus sufficed not merely to win the battle, but to win it with so large a margin of force unexpended that the fruits of his victory could be gathered. The French army lost, in killed, wounded and missing, some 15,000 men, the Allies (amongst whom the Dutch See also:

HAIL (O. Eng. kcegl and hagol, 1 cf. the cognate Teutonic hagel, as in German, Dutch, Swedish, &c.; the Gr. K&XX17E, pebble, is probably allied)

hail See also:

BORNE, KARL LUDWIG (1786–1837)

borne the brunt of the fighting) scarcely one-third as many.

End of Article: RAMILLIES

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