There was no pursuit, and there could be none. The allied army slept upon the ground it had gained; rested, evacuated its wounded, and restored its broken ranks through the whole of the morrow, Thursday. It was not until the Friday that it was able to march back again from the field in which it had triumphed at so terrible an expense of numbers, guns, and colours, and with so null a strategic result, and to take up once more the siege of Mons. Upon the 9th of October Mons capitulated, furnishing the sole fruit of this most arduous of all the great series of Marlborough's campaigns. No battle has been contested with more valour or tenacity than the battle of Malplaquet. The nature of the woodland fighting contributed to the enormous losses sustained upon either side. The delay during which the French had been permitted to entrench themselves so thoroughly naturally threw the great balance of the loss upon the assailants. In no battle, free, as Malplaquet was free, from all pursuit or a rout, or even the breaking of any considerable body of troops (save the Dutch troops and Highlanders on the left in the earlier part of the battle, and the Bavarians and Cologne men in the redans at the close of it), has the proportion of the killed and wounded been anything like so high. In none, perhaps, were casualties so heavy accompanied by so small a proportion of prisoners. The action will remain throughout history a standing example of the pitch of excellence to which those highly trained professional armies of the eighteenth century, with their savage discipline, their aristocratic command, their close formations, and their extraordinary reliance upon human daring, could arrive. FINIS PRINTED BY NEILL AND CO., LTD., EDINBURGH. BRITISH BATTLE BOOKS _Illustrated with Coloured Maps_ BY HILAIRE BELLOC _F'cap 8vo, cloth, 1s. net; leather, 2s. 6d. net_ _HISTORY IN WARFARE_ The British Battle Series will consist of a number of monographs upon actions in which British troops have taken part. Each battle will be the subject of a separate booklet illustrated with coloured maps, illustrative of the movements described in the text, together with a large number of line maps showing the successive details of the action. In each case the political circumstances which led to the battle will be explained; next, the stages leading up to it; lastly, the action in detail. 1. BLENHEIM 2. MALPLAQUET 3. TOURCOING 4. WATERLOO Later volumes will deal with Crecy, Poitiers, Corunna, Talaveras, Flodden, The Siege of Valenciennes, Vittoria, Toulouse. London: STEPHEN SWIFT & CO., LTD., 10 John St., Adelphi THE PARTY SYSTEM BY HILAIRE BELLOC AND CECIL CHESTERTON _Crown 8vo. 3s. 6d. net_ _THE THOUGHTS OF THINKING MEN_