Battle of Ramillies their disastrous defeat at Blenheim in 1704, the next year brought the French some respite. The Duke of Marlborough had intended the 1705 campaign – an invasion of France through the Moselle valley – to complete the work of Blenheim and persuade King Louis XIV to make peace but the plan had been thwarted by friend and foe alike. The reluctance of his Dutch allies to see their frontiers denuded of troops for another gamble in Germany had denied Marlborough the initiative but of far greater importance was the Margrave of Baden’s pronouncement that he could not join the Duke
George Hamilton, 1st Earl of Orkney of Virginia in 1698 but appears never to have visited the colony. Promoted to major general on 9 March 1702, Hamilton fought under John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough at the Siege of Stevensweert in October 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession. Promoted to lieutenant general on 1 January 1704, he was appointed a Knight of the Order of the Thistle later that year. He led the final assault at the Battle of Blenheim attacking the village churchyard with eight battalions of men and then receiving the surrender of its French defenders in August 1704. After marching his