At conference it was decided that Eugene would return with 28, 000 men to the Lines of Stollhofen on the Rhine to keep an eye on Villeroi and Tallard, and prevent them going to the aid of the Franco-Bavarian army on the Danube.

Knowing Marlborough's destination, Tallard and Villeroi met at Landau in Alsace on 13 June to rapidly construct an action plan to save Bavaria, but the rigidity of the French command system was such that any variations from the original plan had to be sanctioned by Versailles.

" Approval from Louis arrived on 27 June: Tallard was to reinforce Marsin and the Elector on the Danube via the Black Forest, with 40 battalions and 50 squadrons ; Villeroi was to pin down the Allies defending the Lines of Stollhofen, or, if the Allies should move all their forces to the Danube, he was to join with Marshal Tallard ; and General de Coignies with 8, 000 men, would protect Alsace.

Nevertheless, the Duke could think of no circumstances why the French would leave their strong positions and attack his army, even if Villeroi was first reinforced by substantial transfers from Marsin ’ s command.

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 ).

The following day, at 01: 00, Marlborough dispatched Cadogan, his Quartermaster-General, with an advanced guard to reconnoitre the same dry ground that Villeroi ’ s army was now heading, country that was well known to the Duke from previous campaigns.

Tactically, it was imperative for Villeroi to occupy Taviers on his right and Autre-Eglise on his left, but by adopting this posture he had been forced to over-extend his forces.

Although Villeroi had the option of enveloping the flanks of the Allied army as they deployed on the plateau of Jandrenouille – threatening to encircle their army – the Duke correctly gauged that the characteristically cautious French commander was intent on a defensive battle along the ridge-line.

The Battle of Ramillies was Villeroi ’ s last command.

Villeroi ’ s right flank fell into chaos and was now open and vulnerable.

" De La Colonie managed to rally some of his grenadiers, together with the remnants of the French dragoons and Greder Suisse battalions, but it was an entirely peripheral operation, offering only fragile support for Villeroi ’ s right flank.

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.

What was left of Villeroi ’ s army was now broken in spirit ; the imbalance of the casualty figures amply demonstrates the extent of the disaster for Louis XIV ’ s army: ( see below ).

Villeroi was now replaced by the Duc de Vendôme, who, despite the drawn Battle of Luzzara in August and a considerable numerical superiority, proved unable to drive Eugene from Italy.

While Marlborough's attempted invasion of France down the Moselle came to nought, and although he managed to wrong-foot Villeroi and break through the Lines of Brabant, he was unable to bring the French commander to battle.

The stalemate was broken in 1706, as Marlborough drove the French out of most of the Spanish Netherlands, decisively defeating troops under Villeroi in the Battle of Ramillies in May and following up with the conquest of Antwerp and Dunkirk.

In keeping with French royal tradition that princes should be put in the care of men when they reached their seventh birthdays, Louis was separated from his governess, Madame de Ventadour, in February 1717, and placed in the care of the Duke of Villeroi, who had been designated as his governor in Louis XIV's will of August 1714 and whose secretary was the young Pierre-François Godard de Beauchamps.

The duc de Villeroi served under the formal authority of the duc du Maine, who was charged with overseeing the king's education.

* 1644 – François de Neufville, duc de Villeroi, French soldier ( d. 1730 )

Whilst Marlborough led his army, General Overkirk would maintain a defensive position in the Dutch Republic in case Villeroi mounted an attack.

In this assumption Marlborough proved correct: Villeroi shadowed the Duke with 30, 000 men in 60 squadrons and 42 battalions.

" There will be no campaign on the Moselle ", wrote Villeroi who had taken up a defensive position on the river, " the English have all gone up into Germany.

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.

With Villeroi shadowing Marlborough's every move, Marlborough's gamble that the French would not move against the weakened Dutch position in the Netherlands paid off.

However, if he withdrew from the Rhine to the Danube, Villeroi might also make a move south to link up with the Elector and Marsin.

Encouraged by these early gains Louis XIV urged Marshal Villeroi to go over to the offensive in the Spanish Netherlands and, with victory, gain a ' fair ' peace.

Marshal Villeroi, exerting considerable pressure on the Dutch commander, Count Overkirk, along the Meuse, took Huy on 10 June before pressing on towards Liège.

" 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.

" Accordingly, on 18 May, Villeroi set off from Leuven at the head of 70 battalions, 132 squadrons and 62 cannon – comprising an overall force of some 60, 000 troops – and crossed the river Dyle to seek battle with the enemy.

Spurred on by his growing confidence in his ability to out-general his opponent, and by Versailles ’ determination to avenge Blenheim, Villeroi and his generals anticipated success.

The French moved first to Tirlemont, ( as if to threaten Zoutleeuw, abandoned by the French in October 1705 ), before turning southwards, heading for Jodoigne – this line of march took Villeroi ’ s army towards the narrow aperture of dry ground between the Mehaigne and Petite Gheete rivers close to the small villages of Ramillies and Taviers ; but neither commander quite appreciated how far his opponent had travelled.

With a short lift in the mist, Cadogan soon discovered the smartly ordered lines of Villeroi ’ s advance guard some four miles ( 6 km ) off ; a galloper hastened back to warn Marlborough.

Villeroi ’ s right rested on the villages of Franquenée and Taviers, with the river Mehaigne protecting his flank.

On the French side of the stream the ground rises to Offus, the village which, together with Autre-Eglise farther north, anchored Villeroi ’ s left flank.

Meanwhile Villeroi deployed his forces.

Along the Ramillies – Offus – Autre Eglise ridge-line, Villeroi positioned Walloon and Bavarian infantry, supported by the Elector of Bavaria's 50 squadrons of Bavarian and Walloon cavalry placed behind on the plateau of Mont St. André.

But the time came when I was no longer innocent and therefore no longer helpless.

For example, he captured some persons from York County, who with teams were taking to Philadelphia the furniture of a man who had just been released from prison through the efforts of his wife, and who apparently was helpless to prevent the theft of his household goods.

Now, driving the horse and sulky borrowed from Mynheer Schuyler, he felt as if every bone was topped by burning oil and that every muscle was ready to dissolve into jelly and leave his big body helpless and unable to move.

It would be fine publicity for the man who was willing to walk to the mayor's throne over the broken reputation of a helpless girl!!

After an unspeakable siege, lasting the better part of two months, it was announced that the studio `` owed '' the government a tax debt in excess of eight million dollars while I, who had always remained aloof from such iniquitous practices as paying taxes on the salary I had earned and the little I legally inherited as Morris' helpless relict, was `` stung '' with a personal bill of such astronomical proportions as to `` wipe out '' all but a fraction of my poor, hard-come-by savings.

She found she could cope with all kinds of problems for which she was once considered too helpless.

He was fuzzy in his mind and, for a moment, helpless on the lobby floor, but he was conscious, and free of the weight of Roberts' body.

But, admit or not, Bonner was helpless.

He was too honorable to leave his wife penniless and leave those helpless children without their daddy.

In one Greek myth, Prometheus stole fire from the gods to protect the otherwise helpless humans, but was punished for this charity.

The efforts of some Esperantists to expel Jewish colleagues and align themselves with the Reich were finally helpless and Esperanto was forbidden in 1936.

He was above all the mediator between Husserl and the students, for he understood extremely well how to deal with other persons, whereas Husserl was pretty much helpless in this respect.

The first was the Kurosawa epic Seven Samurai, about a band of hired samurai who protect a helpless village from a rapacious gang of thieves.

In January 1997, the newborn baby whale J. J. was found helpless near the coast of Los Angeles, California, long and in weight.

He attempted to use humor to keep everyone's spirits up even though he believed that the situation was helpless and that the X-Men were living in the last days of mutantkind.

Many of Tenniel's political cartoons expressed strong hostility to Irish Nationalism, with Fenians and Land leagues depicted as monstrous, ape-like brutes, while " Hibernia "— the personification of Ireland — was depicted as a beautiful, helpless young girl threatened by these " monsters " and turning for protection to " her elder sister ", the powerful armoured Britannia.

The most dangerous moment was the act of surrender, when helpless soldiers were sometimes shot down.

Since the bottle was sealed with Solomon's seal, the genie was helpless to free himself, until freed many centuries later by a fisherman who discovered the bottle.

By 1790, on the political front, the First Polish Republic had deteriorated into such a helpless condition that it was successfully forced into an unnatural and ultimately deadly alliance with its enemy, Prussia.