The Duke of Marlborough at the Battle of Oudenarde, 1708

This painting by John Wootton depicts the Duke of Marlborough at the Battle of Oudenarde, fought on 11 July 1708 in Flanders. On the French side, command shared between the Duke of Vendôme and the Duke of Burgundy, grandson of Louis XIV, was torn apart by disagreement over strategy, and this discord was paid for on the battlefield with a heavy defeat. This disaster, followed weeks later by the siege of Lille, marked the start of a series of ordeals that would culminate in the great winter of 1709.