Battle of Malplaquet 1709
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate. Wikidata lists more than one location for this battle; the first is shown.
Key facts
| Date | 11 September 1709 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1709 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | France | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | War of the Spanish Succession | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of Great Britain | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 50.3197, 3.8367 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Malplaquet, 11 September 1709, was fought during the War of the Spanish Succession, near Taisnières-sur-Hon, close to the then border between France and Belgium. A French army of around 75,000 men, commanded by the Duke of Villars, engaged a Grand Alliance force of 86,000 under the Duke of Marlborough. In one of the bloodiest battles of the 18th century, the Allies won a narrow victory, but suffered heavy casualties.
Allied advances in 1708 led to the renewal of peace talks, which collapsed in April 1709. After taking Tournai in early September, the Allies besieged Mons, whose capture would allow them to enter France itself, and Louis XIV ordered Villars to prevent its loss. Although this proved impossible, he decided to fight anyway, and the two armies made contact on 10 September. Marlborough's attack was delayed until the next day, giving the French time to construct strong defensive positions.
After an opening artillery barrage, the Allied infantry made simultaneous assaults on the French flanks. These were intended to divert troops from their centre, weakening it sufficiently so it could then be broken by a mass allied cavalry charge.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Malplaquet (revision 1381293865), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
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- Siege of Maubeuge (1793) 1793 · 11 km
- Battle of Jemappes 1792 · 16 km
- Siege of Le Quesnoy (1793) 1793 · 16 km
- Battle of Grand-Reng 1794 · 16 km
- Siege of Mons (1572) 1572 · 17 km
Other battles of the War of the Spanish Succession
- Assault on Brussels (1708) 1708
- Battle of Oudenarde 1708
- Battle of Wijnendale 1708
- Siege of Lille (1708) 1708
- Wager's Action 1708
- Battle of La Gudiña 1709
- Siege of Tournai (1709) 1709
- Battle of Brihuega 1710
- Battle of Rio de Janeiro (1710) 1710
- Battle of Syracuse (1710) 1710
All 61 battles of the War of the Spanish Succession →
Browse more: battles in France · Europe · Early modern battles