In 1713 Louis Laguerre was commissioned to decorate the walls of the main hall and the two flanking staircases of Marlborough House, the London residence of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. The subject was to be the significant battles of the Spanish Wars of Succession (1701-14); led by the Duke of Marlborough, Britain and the Allies saw victories at Blenheim (1704), Ramillies (1706), Oudenard (1708) and, less decisively, Malplaquet (1709). The murals were to be 'the only signs of bravura or ornamentation in a house that was otherwise very plain and simple' (John Charlton, Marlborough House, 1978). Laguerre was paid £500 for them. The murals have had a chequered conservation history and parts have been almost entirely repainted.

The staircase to the left of the main central hall (Blenheim Saloon) is decorated with scenes from the battle of Malplaquet (RCINs 408438-40); and a scuffle on the fringes of the battle (RCIN 408441).

A soldier on horseback and dressed in red – probably one of the French uniforms for foreign regiments – attacks a soldier in a buff coat (perhaps a Dutch uniform) also on horseback, who shoots back at him. Two further soldiers are approaching from the right. A castle is visible in the distance.

As with the other smaller panels on this staircase (RCINs 408441 and 408436) it would seem likely that this scene is intended to represent one of the towns or villages around Malplaquet. However, unlike on the Ramillies staircase, where the towns and cities captured in the wake of Marlborough's victory provide a ready source for these smaller panels, the Battle of Malplaquet focuses around Mons and Tournai, both already more easily identified elsewhere in this staircase. It is possible either that this scene is indeed intended to repeat Mons or Tournai, but from a different angle, but perhaps more likely that it represents a more distant view of the main action at Malplaquet, focusing on an individual incident of the French retreat.