“ The Allies had no troops left intact for the pursuit, and those engaged had expended their last efforts. Moreover Boufflers, experienced soldier as he was, drew off his men before they had lost their order and discipline.
Thus this “very murdering battle” as Marlborough called it—the last and greatest pitched battle of the war—was almost barren of results. The Allies lost not less than twenty thousand men, or nearly a quarter of the whole force, the thirty battalions of the Dutch infantry losing half their numbers. On the French side there were some twelve thousand casualties. ”

“ The forces in presence, over 90,000 on each side, were exceptionally large, and the French army in particular represented the spirit of its nation to a degree unusual in the armies of that time. Villars was the best general in the service of Louis XIV. and the veteran Marshal Boufflers, though senior to him, had volunteered to serve as his second in command. Marlborough and Eugène lay with their army between Mons and the French camps, which were almost within cannon shot. ”

“ The country to the west and south of Mons is enclosed by a semicircular wall of woods and broken ground, through which there are only two important gaps—that of Jemappes (famous in 1792) to the west, and that of Aulnois, in which stands the village of Malplaquet, to the south. In the latter gap and the woods on either side Villars took up his position facing north-eastwards, on August 29/September 9. ”