Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XI.djvu/189

 MARLBOROUGH 177 MiRLBOROUGH, John Churchill, duke of, a British general, born at Ashe, in Devonshire, June 24, 1650. died in London, June 16, 1722. le was the son of Sir Winston Churchill, a Dyalist of some note, who procured for him place of page to the duke of York, short- after the restoration. His education was ight, but he was a favorite with the duke, rho made him an ensign in the guards at the of 16. He served at Tangiers against Moors, and in the auxiliary force which )harles II. sent to aid the French in their at- 3k on Holland, where he won the praise of irenne by his courage and capacity. Louis [IV. made him a colonel, and on his return England after the peace of Nimeguen the Luke of York gave him high appointments in household. He owed his advancement as mch to the influence of his sister Arabella as to his own merits, she being the mistress of the duke of York. He was engaged in not a few intrigues of gallantry, and is said to have jumped from the window of the chamber of the duchess of Cleveland, one of the most notori- ous of the king's mistresses, to avoid the king. The lady rewarded him by the present of 5,000, with which he purchased an annuity of 500 a year. In 1678 he married Sarah Jennings, a young woman of good family, in the service of the duchess of York, who be- came famous for her talents and imperious temper. He received military promotion, and was made Lord Churchill in the peerage of Scotland ; and soon after, on the marriage of the princess Anne with Prince George of Den- mark (1683), Lady Churchill was made chief lady of her bedchamber. The ladies had been friends for some time, though no two persons could be more unlike; Anne being as dull, heavy, and yielding as Sarah was lively, change- able, and imperious. They corresponded, when unavoidably separated, under the names of Mrs. Morley and Mrs. Freeman. The in- fluence thus established lasted for more than a quarter of a century, and would have ended only with Anne's life if Lady Churchill had known how to govern her temper. On the duke of York becoming James II., Churchill was made general and baron of Sandridge, and was sent as ambassador to France. On the rebellion of the duke of Monmouth, he performed important military services, and the victory of Sedgemoor was due to him. He was not conspicuous during the reign of James II., and was opposed to the policy of that prince ; but his opposition was not of a demonstrative character, and down to the last moment he enjoyed the king's confidence. The influence of his wife over Anne was used with effect to keep the princess opposed to her fa- ther's policy, and in 1687 Churchill communi- cated that fact to William of Orange. On the landing of William, Churchill was made a lieu- tenant general, and appointed to an important command. He induced Lord Cornbury, son of the earl of Clarendon and brother-in-law of James, to join William, and soon followed him, accompanied by several military men, and by the duke of Grafton, an illegitimate son of Charles II. His example was followed by Prince George of Denmark, while Lady Churchill found no difficulty in persuading Anne to leave London, and to join the north- ern insurgents. The influence of the Church- ills was employed to induce Anne to waive her superior claim to the throne over William. For this Lord Churchill received valuable ap- pointments, and was made earl of Marlbor- ough. In the subsequent disputes between William and Anne he sided with the latter. He was sent in 1689 to command the British forces in the Low Countries, and repulsed the French at Walcourt. The next year he led an army to Ireland, and took Cork and Kinsale. He early began a correspondence with the ex- iled king, and completely deceived him. His object was not to aid James, but to overthrow William III., place Anne at the head of the nation, and rule her and England through his wife. In 1692 he was dismissed from his em- ployments, and sent to the tower, where he remained for some time. He sent to James an account of the expedition against Brest, which enabled the French to defeat the Eng- lish with great slaughter, one of his objects being to ruin Talmash, a military rival, who lost his life on the occasion. After the death of Queen Mary, Marlborough was restored to favor, and made governor to the duke of Gloucester, Anne's son. At the beginning of the war of the Spanish succession he was ap- pointed commander of the forces in Holland, and ambassador to that country. He was very successful as a diplomatist, and the king, in anticipation of his death, recommended him to Anne as one most competent to advise and command. When Anne became queen reg- nant (1702), Marlborough was made captain general and master of the ordnance, and a knight of the garter. Lady Marlborough re- ceived several valuable appointments in the royal household, and two of her daughters were made ladies of the bedchamber. Through his own influence with Godolphin, the prime minister, who was his son-in-law, and that of his wife with the queen, Marlborough now practically ruled the kingdom. As ambassa- dor to Holland, he completed the arrange- ments for the declaration of war against France, and was appointed generalissimo of the armies of the grand alliance, when he entered upon a surprising career of victory. After various successes, the campaign of Blen- heim, in cooperation with Prince Eugene, took place in the summer of 1704, and on Aug. 13 the battle of that name was won. He had previously been made a duke, and now the manor and honor of Woodstock were conferred upon him, and the queen ordered that a palace should be there built for him, to be called Blen- heim. He was successful in the operations of 1705, when the German emperor conferred