MALPLAQUET, SEPTEMBER 11, 1709. A medal was struck by Queen Anne to commemorate this victory, and in the reign of Queen Victoria the regiments which were present were permitted to add the name "Malplaquet" to the other distinctions won in more recent battles: 1st King's Dragoon Guards. 3rd Dragoon Guards. 5th Dragoon Guards. Carabiniers. 7th Dragoon Guards. Royal Scots Greys. 5th Lancers. Grenadier Guards. Coldstream Guards. Royal Scots. Buffs. King's Liverpool Regiment. Lincolns. East Yorkshire. Bedfords. Royal Irish. Yorkshire Regiment. Royal Scots Fusiliers. Royal Welsh Fusiliers. South Wales Borderers. Cameronians. Hampshire Regiment. Prior to the Battle of Malplaquet, the Royal Scots, the Buffs, and the Hampshires had been actively employed at the siege and capture of the Fortress of Tournay, in which they suffered heavily; but no distinction was awarded for this siege, save a medal struck by Queen Anne, the word "Tournay" borne by the West Yorkshire, the Hampshire, and the Shropshire, being granted for the action, which took place in the same neighbourhood in 1794, and which I have dealt with on page 94. Leaving a force to level the fortifications of Tournay, which was looked upon as one of the masterpieces of the great master, Vauban, Marlborough moved towards Mons, where the French, under Marshal Villars, lay with 95,000 men. Their position was a most formidable one. From the forest of Laignieres to the wood of Blangier (a distance of three miles) a series of entrenchments had been thrown up, following the sinuosities of the ground. In advance of this position a number of formidable redans had been constructed, in some of which as many as twenty guns were placed. Fortune, however, favoured the allies in many ways. In front of the position, but out of cannon shot, were the woods of Sart, which enabled Marlborough to conceal his intended movements from the French; whilst the nature of the ground in rear of the French entrenchment prevented Marshal Villars from making any use of his cavalry in the early stages of the fight. On this occasion at any rate we had no reason to complain of the conduct of our allies. The Dutch, under the Duke of Orange, fought with unaccustomed gallantry, whilst the Germans showed that they were not disposed to allow the English to carry off all the honours of the day. Of the details of the battle but little is known, except that it was one of the bloodiest ever fought, scarcely exceeded even by the passage of the Beresina. Although we were the victors, there is no doubt that our losses were greater than those of the French. Sixteen guns and twenty colours remained in our hands. The twenty British battalions engaged lost 36 officers and 571 men killed, 66 officers and 1,281 men wounded.