Battle of Wijnendale The Battle of Wijnendale was a battle in the War of the Spanish Succession fought on 28 September 1708 near Wijnendale , Flanders , between an allied force protecting a convoy for the Siege of Lille ( 1708 ) and forces of Bourbon France and Spain . It ended in a victory for the allies , leading to the taking of Lille . Prelude . After their great victory in the Battle of Oudenaarde ( July 11 , 1708 ) , Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy decided to besiege Lille . But Lille was very well defended by modern fortifications designed by Vauban and a garrison of 16 . 000 men . The allied siege didn ' t go as well as planned and a lack of ammunition was imminent . To make things worst , the supply lines from the east were cut by the French , so the only remaining line of supply was by ship from England to the port of Ostend , some 75 km from Lille . < br > Marlborough ordered the necessary goods to be shipped to Ostend and a large convoy of 700 slow wagons was organised there to travel further over land to Lille . The convoy was protected by 6 . 000 infantry and 1 . 500 cavalry under command of general - major John Richmond Webb . The commander of the French garrison of Bruges , Count de la Mothe , was informed of the convoy and gathered a force of 22 to 24 . 000 men towards Wijnendale to intercept the convoy . The battle . Webb was aware of the advancing French army and knew a confrontation was unavoidable . He drew up a plan to compensate for his numerical disadvantage . Using the wooded landscape around Wijnendale , he chose an open spot , flanked on both sides by woods and hedges . He placed his troops in two long lines , closing off this open space . Later a third line was formed with reinforcements coming from Oudenburg . Meanwhile behind these lines , the convoy continued slowly towards Lille . While Webb was deploying his troops , Prussian general Carl von Lottum , with only 150 cavalry harassed the approaching French army , gaining valuable time , and preventing de la Mothe to gather knowledge of the terrain and the plans of the allies . Having arrived at the open space , de la Mothe , expecting an easy victory , deployed his army as expected . Between 4 and 5 pm the French artillery opened fire . When de la Mothe saw the effects on the enemy were limited , he ordered his infantry forward . The large French force was hampered by the narrow terrain and suffered badly from the fire of the allied first line , which held its ground . Then Webb ordered the Prussian , Hanoverian and Dutch regiments who were hidden in the woods on both flanks , to open fire . Despite suffering heavy casualties , de la Mothe ordered a second attack , which initially pushed the allied first line back . But with the help of the second line and the continuous fire from the flanks , the French were stopped and forced to withdraw and leave the battlefield . When the battle was as good as won , allied cavalry under command of William Cadogan arrived at the battlefield . He was sent from Lille by Marlborough , who was worried about the convoy . Aftermath . The toll of this two - hour battle was heavy : 3 . 000 to 4 . 000 French and Spanish were killed or wounded . The allies lost 900 dead and wounded . The convoy reached Lille intact on September 29 , allowing the siege to continue . Three weeks later , on October 22 , the city was taken . For political reasons , Marlborough gave in his initial dispatch the credit for the victory to William Cadogan , also a Whig . But Webb subsequently received full credit and the thanks of Parliament for the action , and the following year he was promoted to Lieutenant - General . From this point onwards Webb became the centre of Tory agitation against Marlborough .