This force was to be augmented en route such that by the time Marlborough reached the Danube, it would number 40, 000 ( 47 battalions, 88 squadrons ).

On 26 May, Marlborough reached Coblenz, where the Moselle meets the Rhine.

Also on 5 August, Eugene reached Höchstädt, riding that same night to meet with Marlborough at Schrobenhausen.

On 11 January 1706, Marlborough finally reached London at the end of his diplomatic tour, but he had already been planning his strategy for the coming season.

It was not until the accession of Queen Anne in 1702 that Marlborough reached the zenith of his powers and secured his fame and fortune.

He set it in Marlborough, Wiltshire ; Follett chose it as the cathedrals of Winchester, Gloucester, and Salisbury could be reached from there within a few days on horseback.

When he reached high school, he played for Marlborough High School boy's team and was named the 1987 Massachusetts High School Player of the Year.

On their left, on the broad plain between Taviers and Ramillies – and where Marlborough thought the decisive encounter must take place – Overkirk drew the 69 squadrons of the Dutch and Danish horse, supported by 19 battalions of Dutch infantry and two artillery pieces.

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.

Being the last vicus on Ermin Street before the scarp slope of the Marlborough Downs, Durocornovium was a site where horses were watered before the steep climb off the Oxfordshire plain.

Being the last vicus on Ermin Street before the scarp slope of the Marlborough Downs, Durocornovium was a site where horses were watered before the steep climb off the Oxfordshire plain.

Marlborough skillfully encouraged this apprehension by constructing bridges across the Rhine at Philippsburg, a ruse that not only encouraged Villeroi to come to Tallard's aid in the defence of Alsace, but one that ensured the French plan to march on Vienna remained paralysed by uncertainty.

In any case, Marlborough had promised to return to the Netherlands if a French attack developed there, transferring his troops down the Rhine on barges at a rate of a day.

" With Marlborough ’ s departure north, the French now transferred troops from the Moselle valley to reinforce Villeroi in Flanders, while Villars marched off to the Rhine.

Marlborough wrote an appeal to the Duke of Württemberg, the commander of the Danish contingent – " I send you this express to request your Highness to bring forward by a double march your cavalry so as to join us at the earliest moment …" Additionally, the King in Prussia, Frederick I, had kept his troops in quarters behind the Rhine while his personal disputes with Vienna and the States-General at The Hague remained unresolved.

With the subsequent fall of Landau on the Rhine, and Trier and Trarbach on the Moselle, Marlborough now stood as the foremost soldier of the age.

Nevertheless, major setbacks in Spain at Almanza and along the Rhine in Southern Germany, had caused Marlborough great anxiety and made the Dutch even less cooperative, vetoing the Duke's plans for any major action in the Low Countries.

She was christened at Marlborough House on 6 August 1868 by Archibald Campbell Tait, Bishop of London, and her godparents were: her paternal grandmother Queen Victoria ( for whom The Duchess of Cambridge stood proxy ), The Emperor of Russia ( for whom the Russian ambassador Philipp, Graf de Brunnow, stood proxy ), The Tsarevitch of Russia, The Prince Arthur ( her paternal uncle ), Prince Ludwig of Hesse and by Rhine ( her father's brother-in-law ), Prince George of Hesse-Cassel ( her mother's great-uncle ), her mother's sister-in-law The Queen of Greece ( for whom The Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz stood proxy ), The Dowager Queen of Denmark, The Dowager Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the Queen's cousin Princess Francis of Teck and Princess Frederick Augustus of Anhalt-Dessau.

Marlborough, realising the only way to ignore Dutch wishes was by the use of secrecy and guile, set out to deceive his Dutch allies by pretending to simply move his troops to the Moselle – a plan approved of by The Hague – but once there, he would slip the Dutch leash and link up with Austrian forces in southern Germany.

If the Allies were not to be outnumbered on the Danube, Eugene realised he must either try to cut Tallard off before he could get there, or, he must hasten to reinforce Marlborough.

Probably the social event there was the 1895 wedding reception of Vanderbilt's daughter, Consuelo, to the duke of Marlborough.

Marlborough did not wish for a Jacobite restoration, but William was conscious of his military and political qualities, and the danger the Earl posed: " William was not prone to fear ," wrote Thomas Macaulay, " but if there was anyone on earth that he feared, it was Marlborough.

To this end, Marlborough moved his English troops to the Moselle ( a plan approved of by The Hague ), but once there he planned to slip the Dutch leash and march south to link up with Austrian forces in southern Germany.

From there the river flows through Marlborough, Hungerford and Newbury before flowing into the Thames on the reach above Sonning Lock at Reading in Berkshire.

Rego was signed by the London based gallery Marlborough Fine Art in 1987, and has shown there on numerous occasions, including a series of works based on Peter Pan in 1992, the celebrated ' Dog Woman ' series in 1994, and ' Oratorio ', a triptych format altarpiece, in 2010 created for the exhibition ' Mat Collishaw, Tracey Emin & Paula Rego at the Foundling Museum ', held at the Foundling Museum, London.

As of the census of 2000, there were 1, 089 people, 467 households, and 295 families residing in the CDP, or main village of Marlborough.

While a new port at Clifford Bay would have an impact on the economy of Picton, there are positive options to focus Picton as a tourist centre, and the gateway to the Marlborough Sounds.

The Duke of Marlborough lived there when he was Colonel Churchill, as did Isaac Newton ( at number 88, from 1696-1700 and then moving next door to number 86, from 1700 to 1710, during his time working in London as Warden of the Royal Mint ), the mid-18th century highwayman and apothecary William Plunkett, the Duchess of Richmond, the Countess of Northumberland and the artist Sherwin ( in whose rooms in 1782 the actress Sarah Siddons sat for him for her portrait as the Tragic Muse ).

Renamed the Royal Dragoons of Ireland, they went on to serve with the Duke of Marlborough during the Spanish War of Succession and earned three battle honours there.

In litigating that issue there is not only a difference of opinion with respect to the value of the hundreds of paintings in this estate but also whether a blockage discount should be given to the estate and whether a further discount should be available due to the inter vivos contract for an exclusive agency in favor of Marlborough Galleries for seven years after death, and finally whether a discount should be enjoyed by the estate for commissions which must be paid for selling many of the paintings by agents of the estate.

Durrington Walls, north of Amesbury, are probably the remains of a British village, and there are vestiges of others on Salisbury Plain and the Marlborough Downs.

From there, the Alpine Fault runs along the western edge of the Southern Alps, before splitting into a set of smaller dextral strike-slip faults north of Arthur's Pass, known as the Marlborough Fault System.

He and his wife Jane Isabella Grahame ( an aunt of Kenneth Grahame, author of Wind in the Willows ) brought up their family there ; their son Anthony Hope, who also grew up to be an author, was educated at the school until he was old enough to be sent to Marlborough College.

On leaving there he gained a scholarship to Marlborough College in Wiltshire.

Unfortunately, there was no time to change and as the play was in modern dress, this must have been an interesting occasion for the audience who came to watch a Beethoven piano quartet in The Adderly at Marlborough College.

In 1769 he inherited a plot of land which had a frontage of on Oxford Street and contained two houses, behind which there was a large piece of ground enclosed by the gardens of houses in Great Marlborough Street, Poland Street and Oxford Street.

There is a reference to the game at St Paul's School, London about 1665 concerning John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, who studied there.

If only for this modest masterpiece of military history, Blenheim is likely to be read and reread long after newer interpretations have perhaps altered our picture of the Marlborough wars.

Prince Eugene met Marlborough for the first time in 1704.

Some Allied officers who were acquainted with the superior numbers of the enemy, and aware of their strong defensive position, ventured to remonstrate with Marlborough about the hazards of attacking ; but the Duke was resolute – " I know the danger, yet a battle is absolutely necessary, and I rely on the bravery and discipline of the troops, which will make amends for our disadvantages ".

" Nevertheless, although the war dragged on for years, the Battle of Blenheim was probably its most decisive victory ; Marlborough and Eugene, working indivisibly together, had saved the Habsburg Empire and thereby preserved the Grand Alliance from collapse.

In February 1705, Queen Anne, who had made Marlborough a Duke in 1702, granted him the Park of Woodstock and promised a sum of £ 240, 000 to build a suitable house as a gift from a grateful crown in recognition of his victory – a victory which British historian Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy considered one of the pivotal battles in history, writing – " Had it not been for Blenheim, all Europe might at this day suffer under the effect of French conquests resembling those of Alexander in extent and those of the Romans in durability.

The reluctance of his Dutch allies to see their frontiers denuded of troops for another gamble in Germany had denied Marlborough the initiative, but of far greater importance was the Margrave of Baden ’ s pronouncement that he could not join the Duke in strength for the coming offensive.

Moreover, Marlborough had to cope with the death of Emperor Leopold I in May and the accession of Joseph I, which unavoidably complicated matters for the Grand Alliance.

" What a disgrace for Marlborough ," exulted Villeroi, " to have made false movements without any result!

The Anglo-Dutch forces gained minor compensation for the failed Moselle campaign with the success at Elixheim and the crossing of the Lines of Brabant in the Spanish Netherlands ( Huy was also retaken on 11 July ), but a chance to bring the French to a decisive engagement had eluded Marlborough.

The year 1705 proved almost entirely barren for the Duke whose military disappointments were only partly compensated by efforts on the diplomatic front where, at the courts of Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Vienna, Berlin and Hanover, Marlborough sought to bolster support for the Grand Alliance and extract promises of prompt assistance for the following year ’ s campaign.

Villeroi still believed ( on 22 May ) the Allies were a full day ’ s march away when in fact they had camped near Corswaren waiting for the Danish squadrons to catch up ; for his part, Marlborough deemed Villeroi still at Jodoigne when in reality he was now approaching the plateau of Mont St. André with the intention of pitching camp near Ramillies ( see map at right ).

Marlborough wrote to Lord Raby, the English resident at Berlin: " If it should please God to give us victory over the enemy, the Allies will be little obliged to the King for the success.

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.

The final Allied reinforcements for the cavalry contest to the south were at last in position ; Marlborough ’ s superiority on the left could no longer be denied, and his fast-moving plan took hold of the battlefield.

" Malines, Lierre, Ghent, Alost, Damme, Oudenaarde, Bruges, and on 6 June Antwerp, all subsequently fell to Marlborough ’ s victorious army and, like Brussels, proclaimed the Austrian candidate for the Spanish throne, the Archduke Charles, as their sovereign.

By the time Marlborough had closed down the Ramillies campaign he had denied the French most of the Spanish Netherlands west of the Meuse and north of the Sambre – it was an unsurpassed operational triumph for the English Duke.

The title of Earl of Marlborough, which was created for Churchill in 1689, had been created one time previously in British history, for James Ley, in 1626.

The Statute of Marlborough became a basis for royal government, and the relationship between the king and his subjects, and as such the Dictum lived on in English constitutional history.