John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough
William's general

As part of William III and Mary II 's coronation honours, Churchill was created Earl of Marlborough on 9 April 1689 (O.S.); he was also sworn as a member of the Privy Council and made a Gentleman of the King's Bedchamber. His elevation, however, led to accusatory rumours from King James's supporters that Marlborough had disgracefully betrayed his erstwhile king for personal gain; William himself entertained reservations about the man who had deserted James. Marlborough's apologists, including his biographer and most notable descendant Winston Churchill, have been at pains to attribute patriotic, religious, and moral motives to his action; but in the words of David G. Chandler, it is difficult to absolve Marlborough of ruthlessness, ingratitude, intrigue and treachery against a man to whom he owed virtually everything in his life and career to date.

Marlborough's first official act was to assist in the remodeling of the army – the power of confirming or purging officers and men allowed the Earl to build a new patronage network that would prove beneficial over the next two decades. His task was urgent, for less than six months after James II's departure, England joined the war against France as part of a powerful coalition aimed at curtailing the ambitions of Louis XIV. With his experience it was logical that Marlborough took charge of the 8,000 English troops sent to the Low Countries in the spring of 1689; yet throughout the Nine Years' War (1688–97) he saw only three years service in the field, and then mostly in subordinate commands. However, at the Battle of Walcourt on 25 August 1689 Marlborough won praise from the Allied commander, Prince Waldeck – "despite his youth he displayed greater military capacity than do most generals after a long series of wars... He is assuredly one of the most gallant men I know".

Since Walcourt, though, Marlborough's popularity at court had waned. William and Mary distrusted both Lord and Lady Marlborough's influence as confidants and supporters of Princess Anne (whose claim to the throne was stronger than William's). Sarah had supported Anne in a series of court disputes with the joint monarchs, infuriating Mary who included the Earl in her disfavour of his wife. Yet for the moment the clash of tempers was over-shadowed by more pressing events in Ireland where James had landed in March 1689 in an attempt to regain his thrones. When William left for Ireland in June 1690 Marlborough became commander of all troops and militia in England and was appointed a member of the Council of Nine to advise Mary on military matters in the King's absence, but she made scant effort to disguise her distaste at his appointment – "I can neither trust or esteem him", she wrote to William.

William III's victory at the Battle of the Boyne on 1 July 1690 (O.S.) forced James II to abandon his army and flee back to France. In August Marlborough himself left for Ireland engaged upon his first independent command – a land/sea operation upon the southern ports of Cork and Kinsale. It was a bold, imaginative project aimed at disrupting Jacobite supply routes, and one which the Earl conceived and executed with outstanding success. Cork fell on 27 September (O.S.), and Kinsale followed in mid-October. Although the campaign did not end the war in Ireland as Marlborough hoped, it taught him the significance of the minutiae of logistics, and the importance of cooperation and tact when working alongside other senior Allied commanders. It would, however, be more than ten years before he once again took charge in the field.
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