Shortly thereafter, Churchill was commissioned Captain in the Duke of York's Admiralty Regiment, part of the British brigade, commanded by the Duke of Monmouth. ![]() When the Franco-Dutch War began in 1672, Churchill was present at the Battle of Solebay on 28 May, possibly aboard James' flagship, the Prince, which was crippled in the action. Louis XIV paid him £230,000 per year for this. In the 1670 Treaty of Dover, Charles II agreed to support a French attack on the Dutch Republic and supply a British brigade of 6,000 troops for the French army. īattle of Solebay, Churchill's first major action Their relationship led to appointments for her brothers John was appointed page to James, and in September 1667 made an ensign in the Foot Guards. This lasted over a decade James had four acknowledged children by her, including the Duke of Berwick (1670–1734). The family fortune was made in 1665 when Arabella Churchill became maid of honour to Anne Hyde and began an affair with her husband, James, Duke of York. On returning to London in 1663, he was knighted and received a position at Whitehall, with John attending St Paul's School. Īfter the 1660 Restoration of Charles II, Winston became Member of Parliament for Weymouth and from 1662 served as Commissioner for Irish Land Claims in Dublin. Only five of their children survived infancy: Arabella (1648–1730), who was the eldest followed by John George (1654–1710) and Charles (1656–1714). Winston served with the Royalist Army in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms he was heavily fined for doing so, forcing his family to live at Ash House with his mother-in-law. The Drake home of Ash, in Devon, rebuilt by Sir John Drake, 1st Baronet (1625–1669) after its near-destruction during the Civil WarĬhurchill was the second but eldest-surviving son of Sir Winston Churchill (1620–1688) of Glanvilles Wootton, Dorset, and Elizabeth Drake, whose family came from Ash, in Devon. However, he was also instrumental in moving away from the siege warfare that dominated the Nine Years' War, arguing one battle was worth ten sieges.Įarly life and career (1650–1678) He is often remembered by military historians as much for his organisational and logistic skills as his tactical abilities. Marlborough's leadership of the Allied armies fighting Louis XIV from 1701 to 1710 consolidated Britain's emergence as a front-rank power, while his ability to maintain unity in the fractious coalition demonstrated his diplomatic skills. He returned to favour with the accession of George I to the British throne in 1714, but a stroke in 1716 ended his active career. Incurring Anne's disfavour, and caught between Tory and Whig factions, Marlborough was forced from office and went into self-imposed exile. His wife's stormy relationship with the Queen, and her subsequent dismissal from court, was central to his own fall. As de facto leader of Allied forces in the Low Countries, his victories at Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), Oudenarde (1708), and Malplaquet (1709) ensured his place in history as one of Europe's great generals. Marriage to Sarah Jennings and her relationship with Anne ensured Marlborough's rise, first to the captain-generalcy of British forces, then to a dukedom. William recognised his abilities by appointing him as his deputy in Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium) before the War of the Spanish Succession in 1701, but not until the accession of Queen Anne in 1702 did he secure his fame and fortune. Rewarded by William III with the title Earl of Marlborough, persistent charges of Jacobitism led to his fall from office and temporary imprisonment in the Tower of London. ![]() From a gentry family, he served first as a page at the court of the House of Stuart under James, Duke of York, through the 1670s and early 1680s, earning military and political advancement through his courage and diplomatic skill.Ĭhurchill's role in defeating the Monmouth Rebellion in 1685 helped secure James on the throne, but he was a key player in the military conspiracy that led to James being deposed during the Glorious Revolution. ) was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs. General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, 1st Prince of Mindelheim, 1st Count of Nellenburg, Prince of the Holy Roman Empire, KG, PC ( – 16 June 1722 O.S.
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