A Grand Alliance army under the command of Arnold van Keppel, 1st Earl of Albemarle closed in on Arras with the aim of destroying the supplies held there.

As a result of the 1710 British general election, the Whigs had been swept from power in Great Britain and replaced by the Tories, who were opposed to further involvement in the conflict.

To keep their allies in the dark and maintain a strong negotiating position with France, the Harley ministry decided to participate in a new campaign in 1712, if only superficially.

Ormonde had been given secret instructions to frustrate the Allied war effort as much as possible, which would make the Dutch and Austrians more inclined to seek peace.

[6] Marlborough, having conquered Bouchain in the previous year, had left most of his troops to occupy the outermost border towns, so that the French would be prevented from building up lines to cover their remaining lands during the winter.

In January, this prompted a plan in The Hague to burn down a large hay storehouse, set up by the French within Arras, which would prevent them from getting their armies into the field early in the year.

The Earl of Albemarle, governor of Tournai and the most senior commander in the Dutch army in the absence of Count Tilly and Hereditary Prince of Hesse-Kassel, led the mission to Arras.

[7] In Februari, Albemarle, with 36 infantry battalions and 44 cavalry squadrons, supported by Reinhard Vincent Graf von Hompesch, Frederik Sirtema van Grovestins and William Cadogan, launched a series of diversions that led the French to believe he wanted to undertake some along the river Sambre.

Instead, he ordered the garrisons of Oudenaarde, Courtrai, Menen, Ath, Aire, Lille, Bethune, and Tournai to move towards Douai, where they would cross the Scarpe towards Arras.

[2] These had the effect that the hay, straw and other supplies, which lay in thirty-six large piles on a plain between the city and the citadel, caught fire about 11 o'clock in the evening.

Such a fire as this, which produced light burning dust, instilled fear in both the governor and the citizens that it might spread to the citadel's arsenal, and by igniting the gunpowder could destroy the whole city.

The rest of the army departed in the morning at 8 o'clock with flying banners and blowing trumpets, after which he sent them all back to the towns they had previously occupied.