Marlborough, having by
his masterly movement forced Vendome to fight with his face to
Paris, and in his retreat to retire still farther from the
frontier, now had France open to him, and his counsel was that the
whole army should at once march for Paris, disregarding the
fortresses just as Wellington and Blucher did after Waterloo.
He was however, overruled, even Eugene considering such an attempt
to be altogether too dangerous, with Vendome's army, 110,000
strong, in the rear; and it must be admitted it would certainly
have been a march altogether without a parallel.
Finding that his colleagues would not consent to so daring and
adventurous a march, Marlborough determined to enter France, and
lay siege to the immensely strong fortress of Lille. This was in
itself a tremendous undertaking, for the fortifications of the town
were considered the most formidable ever designed by Vauban. The
citadel within the town was still stronger, and the garrison of
15,000 picked troops were commanded by Marshal Boufflers, one of
the most skillful generals in the French army. To lay siege to such
a fortress as this, while Vendome, with this army of 110,000 men,
lay ready to advance to its assistance, was an undertaking of the
greatest magnitude.
In most cases the proper course to have taken would have been to
advance against and defeat Vendome before undertaking the siege of
Lille; but the French general had entrenched his position with such
skill that he could not be attacked; while he had, moreover, the
advantage, that if the allies stood between him and France, he
stood between them and their base, commanded the Scheldt and the
canals from Holland, and was therefore in position to interfere
greatly with the onerous operation of bringing up stores for the
British army, and with the passage to the front of the immense
siege train requisite for an operation of such magnitude as was now
about to be undertaken, and for whose transport alone 16,000 horses
were required.
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