page_title: Battle of Oudenarde
section_title: Aftermath
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Oudenarde / Aftermath
caption_attribution_description: English: White metal medallion struck to commemorate the victory of the Duke of Marlborough &amp; Prince Eugene of Savoy won at Oudenaarde on July 11, 1708 (obverse): two helmeted and armed riders moving right, stars above heads, inscription: SALVTARIVM SIDERVM APPARITIO^; in exergue: EVGENII ET MARLEBO:/RVGII FELIX CON./IVNCTIO Polski: Awers medalu upamiętniającego zwycięstwo ks. Marlborough i Eugeniusza Sabaudzkiego pod Oudenaarde 11 lipca 1708 r. z łacińską inskrypcją okolicznościową. Niemcy (prawdopodobnie G. H. Vestner, Norymberga lub Martin Brunner), XVIII wiek
context_page_description: The Battle of Oudenarde, also known as the Battle of Oudenaarde, was a major engagement of the War of the Spanish Succession, pitting a Grand Alliance force consisting of eighty thousand men under the command of the Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy against a French force of eighty-five thousand men under the command of the Duc de Bourgogne and the Duc de Vendôme, the battle resulting in a great victory for the Grand Alliance. The battle was fought near the city of Oudenaarde, at the time part of the Spanish Netherlands, on 11 July 1708. With this victory, the Grand Alliance ensured the fall of various French territories, giving them a significant strategic and tactical advantage during this stage of the war. The battle was fought in the later years of the war, a conflict that had come about as a result of English, Dutch and Hapsburg apprehension at the possibility of a Bourbon succeeding the deceased King of Spain, Charles II, and combining their two nations and empires into one.
context_section_description: The French army retreated in disorder towards Ghent, with the Duc de Bourgogne and the Duc de Vendome quarreling amongst themselves on who was to blame for the defeat; only nightfall and a few broken pontoon bridges saved the French army from total annihilation. For unknown reasons, about half of the total forces the French had at their disposal during the battle were kept in reserve, never being called up to participate in the battle. There was a great mass of French cavalry and infantry in some raised ground north of the Norken River along with many of Burgundy's troops that remained inactive in the battle and did not advance forwards to assist their fellow Frenchmen, even when the tactical situation of the battle turned against the French with the arrival of Overkirk's Dutch troops. Many of the French cavalry squadrons had remained in reserve, mainly because of the advice they had been given that the ground before them was impassable by their horses.
  The French commanders had made several catastrophic tactical errors during the battle: The entire French left wing (the troops under Burgundy and the large mass north of the Norken) was kept in reserve. They could easily have destroyed the weakened right wing of the Allied army. Had a concerted attack been carried out, with Vendôme attacking with his main body to envelop the Allied right flank, while Burgundy attacked with the left wing (before Overkirk and the rest of Argyll's troops arrived), the French army could have easily won. The decision of the Duc de Bourgogne to march personally into battle may have provided a welcome boost to French morale, but denied him for the rest of the battle the opportunity to command his troops, which proved disastrous when the Allies overwhelmed the French via a flanking manoeuvre. The French army had lost about fourteen to fifteen thousand soldiers overall (with about eight thousand of whom becoming prisoners-of-war) and twenty-five artillery guns, while the Allies lost roughly three thousand men.
  On the other hand, the reputation of the Allied commanders were greatly enhanced by this victory. For Marlborough, his eye for choosing the correct ground, his sense of timing and his keen knowledge of the enemy were again amply demonstrated. Eugene's reputation was also enhanced- while Marlborough remained in overall command, Eugene had led the crucial right flank and centre. Once again the Allied commanders had co-operated remarkably well. "Prince Eugene and I," wrote the Duke, "shall never differ about our share of the laurels." The success restored the strategic initiative to the Allies, who now opted to besiege Lille, the strongest fortress in Europe. While the Duke commanded the covering force, Eugene oversaw the siege of the town, which surrendered on 22 October; however, it was not until 10 December that the resolute Boufflers yielded the citadel. Yet for all the difficulties of the winter siege, the campaign of 1708 had been a remarkable success, requiring superior logistical skill and organisation. The Allies re-took Brughes and Ghent, and the French were driven out of almost all the Spanish Netherlands: "He who has not seen this", wrote Eugene, "has seen nothing".
caption: Commemorative medal struck after the battle, depicting the victorious allied commanders as the Dioscuri.
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