Editing Battle of Ramillies (section)

===Ramillies===
[[File:King's Horse at Ramillies 1706.jpg|thumb|''King's Horse at Ramillies, 1706''. Unknown author.]]

Meanwhile, the Dutch assault on Ramillies was gaining pace. Marlborough's younger brother, General of Infantry [[Charles Churchill (British Army general)|Charles Churchill]], ordered four brigades of foot to attack the village. The assault consisted of 12 battalions of Dutch infantry commanded by Major Generals [[Jobst von Scholten|Scholten]] and [[Karel Willem Sparre|Sparre]]; two brigades of Saxons under [[Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg|Count Schulenburg]]; a Scottish brigade in Dutch service led by the [[John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll|2nd Duke of Argyle]]; and a small brigade of Protestant Swiss.<ref>Falkner: ''Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles'', 75</ref> The 20 French and Bavarian battalions in Ramillies, supported by the Irish who had left Ireland in the [[Flight of the Wild Geese]] to join [[Clare's Dragoons]] who fought as infantry and captured a colour from the [[Buffs (Royal East Kent Regiment)|British 3rd Regiment of Foot]] and a small brigade of Cologne and Bavarian Guards under the [[Alessandro, Marquis de Maffei|Marquis de Maffei]], put up a determined defence, initially driving back the attackers with severe losses<ref>Falkner: ''Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles'', 77</ref> as commemorated in the song ''Clare's Dragoons''.

Seeing that Scholten and Sparre were faltering, Marlborough now ordered Orkney's second-line British and Danish battalions (who had not been used in the assault on Offus and Autre-Eglise) to move south towards Ramillies. Shielded as they were from observation by a slight fold in the land, their commander, Brigadier-General Van Pallandt, ordered the regimental colours to be left in place on the edge of the plateau to convince their opponents they were still in their initial position. Therefore, unbeknown to the French who remained oblivious to the Allies' real strength and intentions on the opposite side of the Petite Gheete, Marlborough was throwing his full weight against Ramillies and the open plain to the south. Villeroi meanwhile, was still moving more reserves of infantry in the opposite direction towards his left flank; crucially, it would be some time before the French commander noticed the subtle change in emphasis of the Allied dispositions.<ref>Falkner: ''Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles'', 78</ref>
[[File:Hendrik van Nassau-Ouwerkerk.jpg|thumb|''Henry of Nassau, Lord of Overkirk'']]

Around 15:30 Overkirk advanced his massed squadrons on the open plain in support of the infantry attack on Ramillies. 48 Dutch squadrons, supported on their left by 21 Danish squadrons, led by [[Claude Frédéric t'Serclaes, Count of Tilly|Count Tilly]] and Lieutenants Generals [[Reinhard Vincent Graf von Hompesch|Hompesch]], d'Auvergne, Ostfriesland and Dopff{{snd}}steadily advanced towards the enemy (taking care not to prematurely tire the horses), before breaking into a trot to gain the impetus for their charge.<ref>La Colonie: ''The Chronicles of an old Campaigner'', 313</ref>{{sfn|De Vryer|1738|p=50}} The [[Antoine de Pas de Feuquières|Marquis de Feuquières]] writing after the battle described the scene: "They advanced in four lines{{nbs}}... As they approached they advanced their second and fourth lines into the intervals of their first and third lines; so that when they made their advance upon us, they formed only one front, without any intermediate spaces."<ref>Falkner: ''Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles'', 80</ref> This made it nearly impossible for the French cavalry to perform flanking manoeuvres.{{sfn|Van Nimwegen|2020|p=291}}

The initial clash favoured the Dutch and Danish squadrons. The disparity of numbers{{snd}}exacerbated by Villeroi stripping their ranks of infantry to reinforce his left flank{{snd}}enabled Overkirk's cavalry to throw the first line of French horse back in some disorder towards their second-line squadrons. This line also came under severe pressure and, in turn, was forced back to their third-line of cavalry and the few battalions still remaining on the plain.<ref>Falkner: ''Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles'', 81</ref> But these French horsemen were amongst the best in Louis{{nbs}}XIV's army{{snd}}the ''[[Maison militaire du roi de France|Maison du Roi]]'',<ref>Maison du Roi (Household Cavalry): The mounted elements of the French ''Maison du Roi'' at Ramillies consisted of the ''Gardes du Corps'', the ''Royal Carabiniers'', the ''Mousquetaires'', the ''Compagnie des Grenadiers à Cheval'' and the ''Compagnie des Gens d’Armes''.</ref> supported by four elite squadrons of Bavarian Cuirassiers. Ably led by de Guiscard, the French cavalry rallied, thrusting back the Allied squadrons in successful local counterattacks.<ref>Falkner: ''Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles'', 82</ref> On Overkirk's right flank, close to Ramillies, ten of his squadrons suddenly broke ranks and were scattered, riding headlong to the rear to recover their order, leaving the left flank of the Allied assault on Ramillies dangerously exposed. Notwithstanding the lack of infantry support, de Guiscard threw his cavalry forward in an attempt to split the Allied army in two.
[[File:Slag bij Ramillies, 1706 Helden-Streich der Engel- und Holländischen Armée Unter dem Herzog von Marleburg Welchen Er den 23 Maji 1706 (..) (titel op object), RP-P-1910-2232.jpg|thumb|left|The Battle of Ramillies]]

A crisis threatened the centre, but from his vantage point Marlborough was at once aware of the situation.<ref name=chandler176/> The Allied commander now summoned the cavalry on the right wing to reinforce his centre, leaving only the English squadrons in support of Orkney. Thanks to a combination of battle-smoke and favourable terrain, his redeployment went unnoticed by Villeroi who made no attempt to transfer any of his own 50 unused squadrons.<ref name=chandler176/> While he waited for the fresh reinforcements to arrive, Marlborough flung himself into the ''mêlée'', rallying some of the Dutch cavalry who were in confusion. But his personal involvement nearly led to his undoing. A number of French horsemen, recognising the Duke, came surging towards his party. Marlborough's horse tumbled and the Duke was thrown{{snd}}"Milord Marlborough was rid over," wrote Orkney some time later.<ref>Falkner: ''Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles'', 83</ref> It was a critical moment of the battle. "[[Robert Murray (died 1719)|Major-General Murray]]," recalled one eyewitness: "...{{nbs}}seeing him fall, marched up in all haste with two Swiss battalions to save him and stop the enemy who were hewing all down in their way."<ref name=barnett168>Barnett: ''Marlborough'', 168</ref> [[Samuel Constant de Rebecque]] helped Marlborough back on his feet,{{Sfn|Wijn|1959|p=44}} while Marlborough's newly appointed aide-de-camp, [[Richard Molesworth, 3rd Viscount Molesworth|Richard Molesworth]], galloped to the rescue, mounted the Duke on his horse and made good their escape, before Murray's disciplined ranks threw back the pursuing French troopers.<ref name=barnett168/>

After a brief pause, Marlborough's equerry, Colonel Bringfield (or Bingfield), led up another of the Duke's spare horses; but while assisting him onto his mount, the unfortunate Bringfield was hit by an errant cannonball that sheared off his head. One account has it that the cannonball flew between the Captain-General's legs before hitting the unfortunate colonel, whose torso fell at Marlborough's feet{{snd}}a moment subsequently depicted in a lurid set of contemporary playing cards.<ref name=barnett168/> Nevertheless, the danger passed and Overkirk and Tilly restored order among the confused squadrons and ordered them to attack again, enabling the Duke to attend to the positioning of the cavalry reinforcements feeding down from his right flank{{snd}}a change of which Villeroi remained blissfully unaware.<ref>Falkner: ''Ramillies 1706: Year of Miracles'', 85</ref>{{sfn|De Vryer|1738|p=52}}