On the seventeenth general d'Auverquerque took the post of Waterloo; and next day the confederate army was drawn up in order of battle before the enemy, who extended from Overysche, near the wood of Soignies, to Neerysche, with the little river Ysche in their front, so as to cover Brussels and Louvain.

The duke of Marlborough proposed to attack them immediately, before they should recollect themselves from their consternation; and d'Auverquerque approved of the design; but it was opposed by general Schlangenburg and other Dutch officers, who represented it in such a light to the deputies of the states, that they refused to concur in the execution.

The duke being obliged to relinquish the scheme, wrote an expostulatory letter to the states-general, complaining of their having withdrawn that confidence which they had reposed in him while he acted Germany.

This letter being published at the Hague, excited murmurs among the people, and the English nation were incensed at the presumption of the deputies, who wrote several letters in their own justification to the states-general; but these had no effect upon the populace, by whom the duke was respected even to a degree of adoration.

The states being apprised of the resentment that prevailed over all England, and that the earl of Pembroke, lord-president of the council, was appointed as envoy-extraordinary to Holland, with instructions to demand satisfaction, thought proper to anticipate his journey by making submissions to the duke, and removing Schlangenburg from his command.
The confederate army returned to Corbais, from whence it inarched to Perwitz, where it encamped.