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Blenheim, Ramilles , Oudenarde, Malplaquet _ much has been written about the brilliant victories of the Duke of Marlborough's Anglo-Dutch army over the armies of Louis XIV of France during the War of the Spanish Succession. Less attention has been focused on the men and the military organization that made these achievements possible - the soldiers, the commanders, the army structure and administration, the logistics, engineering, weapons and finance. That is why James Falkner's penetrating account of the composition and operation of Marlborough's army is of such value. His clear analysis gives a fascinating insight into Marlborough's war machine and into the conduct of war in Europe 300 years ago.
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The War of the Spanish Succession, fought between 1701 and 1714 to decide who should inherit the Spanish throne, was a conflict on an unprecedented scale, stretching across most of western Europe, the high seas and the Americas. Yet this major subject is not well known and is little understood. That is why the publication of James Falkner's absorbing new study is so timely and important. rn In a clear and perceptive narrative he describes and analyses the complex political manoeuvres and a series of military campaigns which also involved the threat posed by Ottoman Turks in the east and Sweden and Russia in the north. Fighting took place not just in Europe but in the Americas and Canada, and on the high seas. All European powers, large and small, were involved France, Spain, Great Britain, Holland, Austria and Portugal were the major players.rn The end result of eleven years of outright war was a French prince firmly established on the throne in Madrid and a division of the old Spanish empire. More notably though, French power, previously so dominant, was curbed for almost ninety years.
Coalition warfare is an important area of military study for today. During the War of the Spanish Succession, the Duke of Marlborough successfully led a coalition of over twenty nations and states against the armies of Louis XIV of France. During the war, he waged ten campaigns applying military brilliance to defeat French military preeminence on the continent. His victories propelled England to a position of power in Europe. He achieved his many successes despite being crippled by the myriad problems incumbent in coalition warfare. It examines how the Duke of Marlborough dealt with the challenges presented by his coalition partners. It concludes with potential lessons for those who might wage coalition warfare today.
An often neglected aspect of Marlborough's war is its crucial campaign in Spain and Portugal, also known as the First Peninsula War of 1702-1712. Whilst this campaign was critical to the outcome of the war, relatively little information is available about it or the army that fought it. This work not only provides a detailed look at the army that fought the Spanish and Portuguese campaigns of Marlborough's war, but it also offers an insight into the course of the war in Iberia. It aims to provide more detail and understanding of a relatively little known part of a war that helped to shape and strengthened Britain's position amongst the main European players. Several chapters look at the national contingents that made up the confederate armies fighting in Spain and Portugal. The work concentrates not only on the reasonably well known British contribution but also on the equally important role of the less well known Austrian, Dutch, Palatine, Portuguese and Spanish contingents. These chapters provide general information about the units involved, their organization, tactics and other relevant detail. In other chapters the work concentrates in detail on the developments in the Spanish and Portuguese campaigns in each year of the war. Details of the composition of the armies in each campaign, their activities and battles, the size of the units, if known, in each year are provided. Attention is paid not only to the most famous engagement at Almanza but also to the other battles and skirmishes of the Iberian campaigns. The book provides a complete guide to the forces fighting in Marlborough's armies in Iberia. It will be a valuable addition to the library of both the casual reader and the serious history student with interest in this important part of British and European history. It not only offers for the first time an overview of all the contributions to the war effort in Iberia, but also presents the reader with a valuable contrast not only to Marlborough's campaigns of the time, but also perhaps to Wellington's later campaign.
