THE ARMY. JOHN CHURCHILL, DUKE OF MARLBOROUGH. JOHN CHURCHILL was born at Ash, in Devonshire, on the 24th of June, 1650. He was descended from the Courcils of Poitou, who came over with William the Conqueror; and his more immediate ancestors were sufferers, for their loyalty, in the civil wars. He was educated, partly by his father, Sir Winston Churchill, author of Divi Britannici, partly by a neighbouring clergyman of strict protestant principles and exemplary life, and, finally, at the school of St. Paul's, in London; where the plates in a work by Vegetius on the art of war, attracted his early Sir Winston notice and admiration. Churchill being clerk of the green cloth, found means to obtain for his son, and Arabella his daughter, an introduction to court; the former being appointed page of honour to the Duke of York, while the latter, after having for some time acted as an attendant on the person of the duchess, became mistress to the duke, by whom she had several children, one of whom was the famous Duke of Berwick. Young Churchill's passion for a military life was so kindled by the sight of reviews, which he was constantly witnessing, that when the Duke of York inquired what profession he preferred, he entreated, on his knees, for a pair of colours in the guards, which he appears to have procured; and, at voluptuous the age of sixteen, quitted court to make his first essay in arms at Tangier, in Africa, then belonging to the British crown. His employment on this service has, however, been attributed to jealousy: the singular beauty of his person having, as some adproper assert, attracted more than miration from the Duchess of York; and, according to others, from the He was soon recalled from Africa, made a captain of grenadiers, and, in 1672, accompanied the English auxiliaries, despatched under the Duke of Monmouth as to assist the French, headed by Turenne and Condé, against the Dutch. Throughout the war, he volunteered his services on every occasion of danger. At the siege of Nimeguen, Turenne having laid a wager, that "the handsome Englishman,' Churchill was then termed by that eminent commander, would retake and defend a post with a small number of men, which another officer had abandoned, though supported by a strong detachment, he cheerfully undertook the service, and won the wager by his In the following admirable gallantry. year, he saved the life of Monmouth at the siege of Maestricht; and after having excited universal admiration by his intrepidity, and received the thanks of the French king at the head of the army, he returned to England, fraught with valuable military experience, in 1677. He was now made a lieutenantcolonel, as well as master of the robes, and gentleman of the bed-chamber to the Duke of York; and, in the following year, secretly married Sarah Jennings, the companion of Princess Anne. This lady, to a beautiful form and VOL. II. 13 He features, added a powerful intellect and insatiable ambition. The match was disinterested on either side; he had refused a wealthier bride selected by his parents, and she had rejected the suit of the Earl of Lindsey. Churchill had, by this time, acquired a large share of royal confidence and favour. attended the Duke of York to the Netherlands and Scotland, and was wrecked with him in Yarmouth roads, in 1682: on this occasion, the duke displayed his great regard for Churchill, by insisting that the latter should have a place in the only boat they possessed, while many persons of quality were left to perish. By the interest of his royal master he soon afterwards procured a Scotch peerage, and a colonelcy in the guards; and, on the duke's accession to the throne, was sent as ambassador to notify that event to the French court. While in Paris, on receiving intelligence of the arbitrary conduct of the new monarch, he avowed to Lord Gallway, in a letter, that if his majesty should attempt to change the religion and constitution of the state, he would quit his service. On his return, he was created a British peer, by the title of Baron Churchill, of Sandridge, Herts. During Monmouth's insurrection, he became major-general; and, by his vigilance and skilful manoeuvres, compensated for the deficiency and ignorance of Lord Faversham, the commander-in-chief: he saved the army from a surprise on the eve of battle; and was mainly instrumental in obtaining the victory of Sedgemoor, on the following day. During the remainder of the reign, he acted with more prudence than gratitude. Either from interested views, or, as his advocates assert, from a conscientious regard for the due support of the protestant faith, he gradually estranged himself from his sovereign, and at length entered into a correspondence with the Prince of Orange. It seems, however, that previously to deserting James, which he did when that monarch was in his utmost need, and transferring his allegiance to William of Nassau, he had given the bigotted king much wholesome but ineffectual counsel. James, during a conciliatory progress through the kingdom, having touched several persons who were afflicted with the evil, in Winchester cathedral, asked Churchill, at dinner, what his subjects said about it. Truly," was the reply, "they do not approve it; and it is the general opinion that your majesty is paving the way for the introduction of popery." His wife, it is said, prevailed upon the Princess Anne to postpone her own right of succession in favour of her sister; and their united efforts, on behalf of the new sovereigns, were deemed to have been of such importance, that Churchill, on the accession of William and Mary, in 1689, was created Earl of Marlborough, and appointed commander-in-chief of the British forces attached to the army of the Prince of Waldeck, in the Low Countries. A short campaign ensued; during which, Marlborough, in the prince's opinion, manifested greater military talents in a single battle, than generals of longer experience had shewn in many years. He was soon afterwards sent to Ireland, where he reduced Cork and Kinsale with great promptitude and skill. William treated him with much honour and gratitude for his exertions; but no sooner did it appear, that the new monarch's tenure of the throne was so insecure, that a probability existed of the exiled family being recalled, than Marlborough entered into a correspondence with the deposed monarch, and, promising to atone for past infidelity by unswerving attachment for the future, obtained a pardon for himself and his connexions, in the event of a counter-revolution. A groundless charge, founded on forged letters, was soon after brought against the earl, whose committal to the Tower ensued. He, however, speedily obtained his release, but was dismissed from all his employments, in consequence, it has been supposed, of his correspondence with James having been discovered during the investigation. But his treachery rendered him only a temporary alien from court, to which the evident value of his services gradually effected his restoration; and on the death of Queen Mary, whom Marlborough and his wife had offended, by taking part with the Princess Anne in a quarrel between the royal sisters, he was appointed governor to the young Duke of Gloucester, with this brief and flattering instruction from the king:"Teach him to be like yourself, and he will not want accomplishments." He now entirely regained his previous high consideration at court, and was consulted on the most important occasions, by William; who, it is said, he mainly contributed to dissuade from abandoning a crown, which was to him little better than a chaplet of thorns. When Philip the Fifth mounted the throne of Spain, Marlborough was intrusted with the command of the forces in the Netherlands; and, at the same time, invested with powers to negotiate a grand alliance. While acting in this double capacity, he displayed much talent as a diplomatist; and gave the king, on various occasions, such sound and statesman-like counsel, that he was recommended by the dying monarch to his successor, as the man most able to serve her in the cabinet as well as in the field. On the accession of Anne, Marlborough received the insignia of the Garter, and was appointed captaingeneral of the forces at home and abroad, and ambassador extraordinary to the states general. In May, 1702, he embarked from Margate for the theatre of war, after tearing himself away from the countess with the romantic regret of a new-married bridegroom. On his arrival in Holland, he was constituted generalissimo, with an allowance of £10,000 a year, in preference to many royal and princely competitors, and quickly projected an extensive plan for the ensuing campaign. But he was not at liberty to carry his gigantic schemes into execution; being thwarted by the jealousies of his defeated rivals, hampered by the dissensions of the allies, and shackled by the ignorance of the Dutch field deputies. In spite of these drawbacks, his achievements were brilliant. Venloo, Stevenswaert, and Ruremond, surrendered; and the capture of Liege, which Boufflers attempted in vain to prevent, terminated the campaign. The earl then departed from Maestricht for the Hague; and, embarking on the Meuse, would have been taken prisoner by a French partisan, had not his servant, Gell, slipped into his hand, unperceived, an old French passport, formerly granted to General Churchill, the earl's brother, when he quitted the army from ill health. This artifice happily succeeded: and thus, by the address of a servant, was averted a loss which might have materially affected the liberties of Europe. His arrival at the Hague was welcomed with intense delight, and the pensionary, Heinsius, conveyed to him the thanks of the states in an eloquent oration. On returning to England he was elevated to a dukedom, received the thanks of both houses of parliament, and the house of commons voted him a pension of £5,000 a year. The popularity he enjoyed at this time was, however, much embittered by the death of his eldest son, Lord Blandford, who fell a victim to the small pox, in his seventeenth year, while pursuing his studies at Cambridge. In 1703, he returned to the Low Countries, and military operations were soon recommenced. Having taken Bonn, the duke determined on pushing into the heart of Brabant and West Flanders. The French avoiding a battle, he endeavoured to make them retire behind their lines, and then to get possession of Antwerp and Ostend. This object was defeated by the cupidity of the Dutch generals, who invaded the country of Waes, to levy contributions, in opposition to the orders of Marlborough, and to the total ruin of his plans. The campaign closed, greatly to his dissatisfaction, with the reduction of Huy, Limburg, and Guelder; and he was at once so much disgusted with his coadjutors, and so apprehensive that the English ministers were about to confine the war to defensive operations only, that he solicited the queen's permission to resign: but on Harley and St. John being admitted to her councils, and at her majesty's urgent entreaty, he consented to retain his command. Austria was, at this time, seriously menaced by the Elector of Bavaria, the French armies on the Rhine, and the Hungarian rebels. Marlborough, to avoid the impending evil, concerted, with Prince Eugene of Savoy, a gigantic plan of operations. Their first object was to seize on Donawerth, which was protected by a strong body of the elector's troops, who had fortified themselves on the height of Schellenberg. |