In which battle of 1709 did the allied English army under Marlborough defeat a French force led by Marshal Villars?
Battle of Denain and the Duke of Marlborough. In 1708, after the rout of Oudenaarde, nearly all the strongholds of northern France were under the control of the Austro-British coalition. There was also an economic crisis (the winter of 1708-1709 was one of the most rigorous of the 18th century) leading to famine and high mortality in the populace. The command of the French northern army went to Marshal Villars in 1709, who wasted no time in seeing to its reorganization. When the Allied campaign led by Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough engaged the French at Malplaquet, Villars was wounded and
Battle of Malplaquet bloodiest battle of the war, and prevented the Allies from invading northern France. After a late start to the campaigning season owing to the unusually harsh winter preceding it, the allied campaign of 1709 began in mid June. Unable to bring the French army under Marshal Villars to battle owing to strong French defensive lines and the Marshal's orders from Versailles not to risk battle, the Duke of Marlborough concentrated instead on taking the fortresses of Tournai and Ypres. Tournai fell after an unusually long siege of almost 70 days, by which time it was early September, and rather than