master of the ordnance, and a knight of the garter. Soon after, he was
sent to Holland to aid the Dutch against the French. He was appointed
by them generalissimo of the forces, with a salary of L10,000 a year.
With his army he crossed the river Meuse, and advanced to the siege of
Rheinberg. "I hope soon to deliver you from these troublesome
neighbors!" he exclaimed to the Dutch deputies who accompanied him on
a reconnoitring party; and had it not been for the timidity of the
Dutchmen he would have fulfilled his intentions. He however, took
three towns out of the hands of the French, and the campaign ended by
the taking of Liege.

Marlborough soon returned to England, when the queen created him
Marquis of Blandford and Duke of Marlborough, an honor he reluctantly
accepted, and chiefly because it would give him more consideration if
again called upon to serve his country abroad.

In 1703 the duke was once more in Flanders, leading operations against
the French with his usual success.

The celebrated Prince Eugene was appointed his colleague; and the
first time these two generals met, they conceived that mutual esteem
and confidence, which afterward rendered them partners in the same
glory.

At the head of a noble army, the two generals penetrated into the
heart of Germany, driving the Elector of Bavaria before them, ere his
French allies could join him. It would take too much space to describe
all the victories, and relate the details of the burning of three
hundred towns, villages, and castles! These stern necessities of war
were far from pleasing to Marlborough, who grieved to see the poor
people suffering from their master's ambition. The Elector shed tears
when he heard of these devastations, and offered large sums to prevent
military execution on the land. "The forces of England," replied the
duke, "are not come into Bavaria to extort money, but to bring its
prince to reason and moderation. It is in the power of the Elector to
end the matter at once by coming to a speedy accommodation."

But the Elector knew that Marshal Tallard, with a powerful French
army, was approaching; and, buoyed up by expectation, replied, "Since
you have compelled me to draw the sword, I have thrown away the
scabbard!"

Prince Eugene had hastened from the Rhine to join Marlborough, with a
force of eighteen thousand men, and reached the plains of Hochstadt by
the time Tallard joined the Elector. As the prince and Marlborough
procee