Duke of Marlborough Biography

Dromo's Den

MARLBOROUGH, John Churchill, first Duke of (1650–1722). A celebrated English general. He was born probably June 24, 1650, at Ashe in the Parish of Musbury, Devonshire, the second son of Sir Winston Churchill, a politician and historian and a stanch supporter of the Stuarts. John Churchill was educated at St. Paul's School, but early in life entered the army. He saw some service at Tangier against the Moors, and from 1672 to 1677 he bore arms on the Continent against the Netherlands, serving part of the time under the great Turenne. A new era in the history of war was then beginning. Artillery and musketry had displaced entirely the old pikeman, and rapidity of movement henceforth decided campaigns. In 1674 Louis XIV made Churchill a colonel of his regiment, and in 1678 he was made colonel of foot in the English service. Though there was no question of Churchill's ability, still the rapidity of his promotion was due also to the fact that some time between 1665 and 1668 his sister Arabella had become the mistress of the Duke of York. About 1676 Churchill fell in love with Sarah Jennings (q.v.), who was a lady in waiting of Princess Anne (later Queen Anne), and noted for her imperiousness and her beauty. The couple were married early in 1678, and thus Churchill gained the favor of Princess Anne, who was under the complete domination of her dictatorial attendant. In the following years he was occasionally employed in diplomatic missions to Holland, but usually he was in attendance on the Duke of York. In 1682 he was created Baron. When in 1685 the Duke of York ascended the throne as James II, Churchill became still more prominent. He commanded a body of troops to suppress the rebellion of the Duke of Monmouth (q.v.), and his coolness prevented a serious disaster to the royal troops at Sedgemoor (q.v.). Churchill was strongly attached to the English church, and his eulogists have maintained that he would not have betrayed it under any circumstances. This may be doubted, but he certainly did not desert the cause of the Church when he noticed the current of public opinion turning more and more against King James. The result was that he withdrew gradually from participation in the acts of this reign, and, though still affecting loyalty to the King, he began negotiations with William of Orange, and when the latter landed in England in 1688 Churchill was one of the first to go over to him with his troops. During the early part of the reign of William III he was in high favor; in 1689 was made Earl of Marlborough, and distinguished himself greatly during the invasion of Ireland, but lost all favor when he was suspected, and justly so, of preparing to betray William III and aid James II to recover the throne, of which he had helped to deprive him. Nevertheless, on the commencement of the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701 Marlborough was intrusted by William III with the command of the British army in the Netherlands. On March 8, 1702, however, the King died.

With the accession of Anne began the great epoch of Marlborough's life. Through his wife he controlled the Queen, while the son of the powerful minister Godolphin (q.v.) had in 1698 married his daughter. Thus he had a fairly free hand to carry out his great military exploits, though the allies, Dutch and Germans, often caused difficulties. The troops of the Emperor Leopold I were commanded by the great Prince Eugene (q.v.). Marlborough, who had been elected also captain general of the Dutch forces, took command in May, 1702, and in December was created Duke of Marlborough. He had under him about 10,000 English troops, 20,000 Dutch troops, and as many mercenaries, chiefly Germans. He was opposed by a French army of 75,000 men. The great danger to the allies was that the French would control the Rhine valley and thus completely isolate Austria. In order to prevent this Marlborough, who had been conducting a series of brilliant operations in the Low Countries, in the summer of 1704 made a rapid march to Bavaria and, having joined Prince Eugene, met the French on equal terms at Blenheim (q.v.) on Aug. 13, 1704. The battle was decided when Marlborough, by a skillful use of his cavalry, broke through the French centre and the enemy retired in great confusion. In this series of operations, instead of the old method of detailed operations and sieges, the two great leaders had concentrated all their forces in the important territory, and there by one decisive victory had won the whole campaign. Not the whole credit of the successes of the allies is due to Marlborough, a full half belonging to Eugene. For this victory great honors and pecuniary rewards were bestowed on Marlborough and he was made a Prince of the Empire (Austria). (See Blen Heim House.) He won other important victories during the war, as when he compelled the French under Villeroi to evacuate the whole of Flanders by his victory at Ramillies on May 23, 1706, and, together with Eugene, defeated Vendôme at Oudenarde on July 11, 1708. By this last victory and the capture of Lille the road to Paris was opened, but Marlborough had no longer a free hand. His wife had had several quarrels with Anne, and the Queen was ridding herself of the complete ascendancy of the Duchess. Moreover, England was suffering from the burdens imposed by the long struggle, and the Tories, who opposed the war, were coming into power. On Sept. 11, 1709, Marlborough and Eugene won a doubtful victory at Malplaquet, but it was the last great battle of the English general. The same year the Duchess was dismissed by Anne, a Tory ministry assumed office, and in 1711 Marlborough was relieved of his command. His enemies accused him of having embezzled the public money, and for a time he was deprived of his offices, though the charge was not pressed. In his last years he was without influence or friends, being, in spite of his victories, unpopular on account of his avarice. Godolphin had died and most of the great lords were his enemies. Upon the accession of George I in 1714 he was made captain general and master of the ordnance, but took little part in public affairs. He died June 16, 1722, leaving a large fortune.

Marlborough has often been severely treated by historians. He was unquestionably unscrupulous and avaricious. On the other hand, it was a time when this was true of nearly all public men, regardless of party, and Marlborough has received more blame simply because he was more prominent. His military abilities, however, have never been questioned. Unlike his two great successors, Frederick the Great and Napoleon, he was never entirely unhampered. He was always compelled to have regard for the wishes of his allies and the political situation in England. But he was the first since classic times to impress upon generals the need of rapidity of movement and the execution of campaigns as a whole. Moreover, he had the ability, which only the greatest commanders have, to amalgamate the different elements of his army, to become the hero of his soldiers. His campaigns always showed a grasp of the proportion of things. He never frittered his strength away on details, but waited for the decisive battle. Among generals, he is one of the very few who never lost a battle, and never failed in a campaign.

The New International Encyclopaedia, Vol. XV (New York: Dodd, Mead & Co., 1920) 108.