General John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, was an English soldier and statesman whose career spanned the reigns of five monarchs. He served first under James, Duke of York in the late 1600's earning military and political advancement, and his statue overlooks the Harbour in The City of Portsmouth today.
Historian John H. Lavalle:
Marlborough's place as one of the finest soldiers Britain ever produced is well deserved. He possessed the personal courage, imagination, common sense, self-control, and quick wits that mark the best battlefield commanders. He had an unerring ability to sense an enemy's weaknesses and the ability to use stratagems to throw his enemy off balance.... It was in the realm of strategy, however, where Marlborough really shone. Marlborough's attention to logistics allowed him to break free of the bonds of the magazine system and ensured that his soldiers were fed, clothed, and paid, earning him the loyalty of his troops and the nickname "Corporal John".
Marlborough was equally adept at both battle and siege. Robert Parker writes:
In the ten campaigns he made against ; during all which time it cannot be said that he ever slipped an opportunity of fighting, when there was any probability of coming at his enemy: and upon all occasions he concerted matters with so much judgement and forecast, that he never fought a battle which he did not gain, nor laid siege to a town which he did not take.