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The engagement itself came about after a series of offensive and defensive manoeuvres between an Allied army under the command of Marlborough and a French army under the command of the Duc de Bourgogne. The two French commanders quarrelled about the direction their army should take, although roughly a month before the battle, the French army moved westwards and captured the Allied-held fortresses of [[Bruges]] and [[Ghent]]. This proved to be an unexpected and worrying action to Marlborough, who waited until Eugene had joined his army before he decided to undertake any offensive operations. The French moved to attack again, aiming to capture the city of Oudenarde, which would cut off communication and supply routes between Marlborough and England and thus allow for a significant victory over the Grand Alliance. Marlborough managed to figure out the French plan of action, and forced marched his men towards Oudenaarde to defend it from the expected French attack. On 11 July, the two forces met near the city.<ref name=Simms2008>{{cite book|title=Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire, 1714-1783|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izhwqC3W23UC&pg=PA56|year=2008|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-7867-2722-3|page=56}}</ref><ref name=lynn207/>{{sfn|Chandler|1973|p=222}}
 
During the engagement, Allied [[cavalry]] moved to engage the French forward positions, killing or capturing many soldiers and pushing them back. For unknown reasons, a significant portion of the French army kept in [[Military reserve|reserve]] was never ordered to move up and engage, thus leading to a significantly weakened French force facing the Allies. The infantry battalions on both sides moved to engage each other, with skilled deployment of cavalry by [[William Cadogan, 1st Earl Cadogan|Cadogan]] ensuring the [[rout]] of many of the French infantry battalions, weakening the Frenchtheir positions. Both sides settled into an engagement on opposing sides of the river, with several further mostly fruitless cavalry charges attempted by both sides. Marlborough initiated a [[flanking manoeuvre]], gaining the allies a significant tactical and strategic advantage. Faced with mounting casualties, the French commanders made the decision to withdraw from the field. The battle was the third major victory that Marlborough had obtained during the war;, boosting his military renown alongside that of Eugene, whose tactical contributions were vital to this victory.<ref name=Simms2008>{{cite book|title=Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire, 1714-1783|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=izhwqC3W23UC&pg=PA56|year=2008|publisher=Basic Books|isbn=978-0-7867-2722-3|page=56}}</ref><ref name=lynn207/>{{sfn|Chandler|1973|p=222}}
 
==Background==
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