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Home A Period of Foreign Wars, 1689-1714 Part 9 |
Part 9The third success of the Allies in 1706 was won in Spain. Two years previously the Allies had determined to attempt to put the Archduke Charles on the Spanish throne. At first not much was done, but in 1705 Peterborough captured Barcelona (The evidence for this and other achievements of Peterborough depends upon the Memoirs of Captain Carleton, memoirs which were for long accepted as genuine by historians, and which were edited in 1809 by Sir Walter Scott. It has recently been proved, however, that these memoirs are fictitious, and that they were written probably either by Defoe or Swift, and there is good reason for thinking; that the credit for the capture of Barcelona really belongs to Peterborough's subordinate officers) by a brilliant feat of arms, and occupied Catalonia and Valencia, In 1706 the Allies under Galway marched from Portugal and occupied Madrid, whilst Peterborough and his army marched from the east and effected a junction Later in the year, however, Madrid had to be evacuated, and the joint army retreated to Valencia, But the year had been so disastrous to Louis XIV, that he offered terms of peace that the Allies would have done well to accept.The year 1707 was a set back to the Allies, as Eugene failed in an attempt to invade France, Marlborough could do nothing in the Netherlands, and in Spain Galway was severely defeated at Almanza owing to the flight of the Portuguese contingent, which left the English to contend against a force three times then number. In the following year (1708], however, Marl-borough won another great victory at Oudenarde, which led to the practical completion of the capture of the Spanish Netherlands and also to the capture of Lille, one of the most important of the French barrier fortresses. Moreover, the English captured Minorca, and by so doing secured what was most important-a harbour in the Mediterranean in which a fleet could winter; whilst stormy weather led to the failure of a French expedition which was sent up the Firth of Forth to capture Edinburgh. Louis again offered peace, and was prepared to preserve for Philip only Naples and Sicily. The Allies insisted that he should also, if necessary, assist them in expelling Philip from Spain by force. Such a proposal naturally not only infuriated the French king, but the French nation as well, and gave them both fresh energy for the war. And then, in 1709, came the last and the most costly of Marlborough's victories, Malplaquet) and the capture of Mons. Our great series of successes ended with Malplaquet. French enthusiasm revived. The Allies became slack, and a Tory Ministry in favour of peace succeeded to power in Great Britain. This Ministry dismissed Marlborough in 1711, and Ormonde, his successor, was given instructions-which he was to keep secret from the Allies-not to undertake offensive operations (This was perhaps the most dishonourable action ever done by a British Government, Ormonde, in obedience to instructions from home, finally withdrew his forces altogether, though there was a brilliant opportunity of defeating the French. "Then the British camp", wrote a contemporary describing the scene, "resounded with curses against the Duke of Ormonde as a stupid tool and general of straw. The colonels, captains, and other brave officers were so overwhelmed with vexation that they sat apart in their tents, looking on the ground for very shame with downcast eyes, and for several days shrank from the sight even of their fellow soldiers"). In Spain the Allies, though they managed temporarily to occupy Madrid, were defeated in two battles in 1710; and the accession in the following year of the Archduke Charles to the Austrian dominions, and his election as Emperor, made it absurd for the Allies to go on fighting in order that he might succeed to the Spanish dominions as well. |
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