Marlborough, Duke of

marl'bur-o, Duke of (1650-1722), an English general. His original name was John Churchill. He was born in Devonshire. At the age of twelve, being a quick, attractive lad, he secured an appointment as page in the household of the Duke of York, afterward James II. His sister Arabella became a maid of honor to the duchess. Anticipating a little, we may say he married Sarah Jennings, a favorite attendant of Anne, the daughter of James II, who, after the expulsion of her father and the death of William of Orange, or William III, became Queen Anne. Sister and wife, not to say other ladies of the court, aided John Churchill to rise. He received a coveted appointment in the English army, saw service in Tangiers against the Moors, and in Holland, under the French Turenne, against the Dutch. Favored by native ability and friends at court, he rose rapidly.

When James II ascended the throne, he sent his handsome colonel to Paris on a special mission and made him a peer of England with the title of baron and a seat in the House of Lords. He was trusted by King James with the command of the army that suppressed the rising of the unfortunate Duke of Monmouth, and when William of Orange landed at Torbay, James so far trusted his new baron as to place him in command of the troops sent to oppose William's advance on London. Though loaded with honors by the unfortunate James, Churchill, seeing the drift of events, did not hesitate to hold correspondence with William. In fact, when a battle seemed imminent, a battle that meant crown and kingdom for James, Churchill stole away by night into the camp of the Dutch invader. For his treachery he was made Earl of Marlborough and given a seat in the privy council; yet later he opened correspondence with James again. For this he was thrown into the Tower and narrowly escaped execution as a traitor to William. In fact, William had no doubt of Marlborough's guilt, but for reasons of policy chose to liberate him.

In 1702 Anne, the patroness of Marlborough's wife, ascended the throne. The Duke was made commander-in-chief of the English army at home and abroad. In the formation of the Grand Alliance against France by England, Holland, and Austria, the united forces of the three countries were put under his command. He exhibited consummate tact in harmonizing the jealousies certain to arise between allies. In the war that followed, known in history as the War of the Spanish Succession, he won the victories of Blenheim in 1704; Ramillies in 1706; Oudenarde in 1708; and Malplaquet in 1709. The war was concluded by the Peace of Utrecht. He was loaded with honors and wealth for his successful management of the war. None the less Marlborough's later years were unhappy. His duchess and the queen quarreled. The former was dismissed from court. Her friends were humbled with a pertinacity born of affection converted into hatred. The duke died in 1722 and was buried first at Westminster Abbey; then removed to Blenheim. His widow, the duchess, to whom he owed much of his advancement in life, survived him twenty-two years and died lamenting his memory to the last.

Marlborough was a scheming, unprincipled man of handsome, dashing appearance, courteous manners, tact in meeting men, and of undoubted skill in military affairs. Were it not that his every move was determined by a calculating self-interest, his ability would cause his name to be held in honor. His name is attached to Marlborough House, the London residence of the Prince of Wales, to an aristocratic London club, and to a London road. His statue stands in many a British city, but, after all, he is not held up to the British schoolboy as one of England's truly great.

See Blenheim; Wellington