Claude-Louis-Hector de Villars

Following the decisive victory at Almansa, Franco-Spanish troops pursue their reconquest of Catalonia. In June, Marshal Villars's army besieges Lleida, a fortified city held by troops loyal to Charles of Austria. After several weeks of bombardment and coordinated attacks on the outer bastions, the defenders yield. The Catalan governor Moragues is captured. The city is occupied as part of the pacification campaign in northeastern Spain.

On 11 September 1709 at Malplaquet in the Netherlands, Villars and Boufflers inflicted on Marlborough's and Prince Eugene's Allies the heaviest losses of the War of the Spanish Succession: about 22,000 killed and wounded against 12,000 French. Allies gained tactical success by holding the field, but fierce French resistance broke their offensive toward France and forced Marlborough to negotiate.

The Battle of Arleux pits Villars's French troops against an Allied detachment charged with holding the fortified bridgehead on the Sensée Canal. Launching a well-coordinated surprise attack, Villars retakes Arleux and destroys the enemy works. This modest tactical success boosts French morale, erodes the Allied position, and prepares the counter-offensive of the following year.

The Battle of Denain marks a decisive turning point in the war. Villars, thanks to perfect reconnaissance and local complicity, crosses the River Scarpe and surprises the Allied camp at Denain, held by an isolated Imperial corps. Despite Allied numerical superiority in the region, Villars neutralizes the camp, forces the general withdrawal of the Imperial army, and reverses the dynamics of the conflict in Flanders.