BLENHEIM. 



593 



Elenheim. were repulsed a second time ; and it was only by the 

 arrival of the Duke of Marlborough in person, with 

 some fresh squf ^rons from the body of reserve, that 

 the enemy were compelled to retire. Prince Eugene 

 on the right, having surmounted a multitude of dif- 

 ficulties, sustained a most obstinate opposition, and ha- 

 ving seen his cavalry three times repulsed, had at length 

 begun to force the enemy from their ground. The 

 Duke of Marlborough, having completed the defeat 

 of the enemy's right wing, had made a disposition to 

 send l.im reinforcements ; but, before these could 

 arrive, the Prince had driven his opponents from O- 

 berklaw and Lutzingen, and pursued them as far as 

 Morsdingen and Teissenhoven. The confederates 

 being now masters of the field of battle, surrounded 

 the village of Blenheim, in which so large a propor- 

 tion of the French army had been posted at the be- 

 ginning of the engagement ; and as these troops 

 were thus cut off from all communication with the 

 rest of their army, as well as unable to force their 

 way through the ranks of the allies, they were under 

 the necessity of capitulating, and surrendered them- 

 selves prisoners of war. 



The success of the attack has been represented as 

 owing in a great measure to the errors committed by 



Frencii commander, in weakening his centre by 

 the detachment of so many troops to the village of 

 Blenheim ; in failing to advance against the right 

 wing of the confederates, while making its way 

 through the marshy plain ; and in neglecting to drive 

 back the attack upon Blenheim, before the Duke of 

 Marlborough had time to form the great body of his 

 troops after passing the valley in his front. The de- 

 tention of so many of his forces in the village, which 

 at once weakened his front and gave his opponents 

 the superiority in point of numbers ; and the distance 

 between his wings, which were still farther separated 

 by the confederates pressing upon their inner flanks, 

 and forcing them to give way in opposite directions, 

 must indeed have contributed in no small degree to 

 the success of the allied army. But the highest 

 praise must, nevertheless, be considered as due to 

 the Duke of Marlborough ; who concerted the pre- 

 vious arrangements with so much discernment ; who 

 took advantage of the mistakes of his antagonists ; 

 who rode through the hottest of the fire with the 

 greatest intrepidity ; and who issued his orders as 

 urrences required, with the utmost composure and 

 presence of mind. 



'Twas then Great Marlbro's mighty soul was proi'd, 



That, in the shock of charging hosts unmov'd, 



Amidst confusion, horror, and despair, 

 nined all the dreadful scenes of war : 



In peaceful thought, the field of death surveyed ; 



To fainti:;; sent the timely aid ; 



Inspired repuls'd battalions to engage ; 



And taught the doubtful battle where to rage. 

 _,, Addison's Campaign. 



1 he loss sustained in this battle by the vanquished, 

 was immense. " By several letter., intercepted, (says 

 the Duke of Marlborough, writing to the Duke of 

 Shrewsbury.) going from the enemy's camp at Del- 

 tingen to Pans, dated the 19th instant, they own, 

 that this battle has cost them upwards of 40,000 

 men, killed, prisoners, and by the desertion since, 

 upon their hasty march, or rather flight, towards the 



VOL. III. PART IV. 



Rhine." Ten thousand French and Bavarians were 

 left dead on the field ; the greater part of 30 squa- 

 drons of horse perished in the Danube ; thirteen 

 thousand were made prisoners; 100 pieces of can- 

 non, 24 mortars, 129 colours, 171 standards, 3600 

 tents, 300 laden mules, 15 barrels and eight casks of 

 silver, &c. were taken by the victors. On their side 

 5000 men were killed, and 7000 wounded. The 

 victory was not only complete in itself, but also 

 most important in its consequences. Augsburg was 

 quickly abandoned by the French, the garrison of 

 Ingoldstadt surrendered ; and the fortress of Ulm, 

 where the elector of Bavaria had retreated with the 

 wreck of his army, was taken after a short siege. 

 The house of Austria was saved from impending 

 ruin, and the face of affairs in the empire entirely 

 changed. 



The following account of this memorable engage- 

 ment, from the pen of Prince Eugene himself, may 

 probably prove gratifying to our readers ; and we 

 have, therefore, kept it distinct from the above state- 

 ment, which has been taken from the most approved 

 historians. " With patience, and without fighting, 

 Tallard and Marsin might have forced me to have 

 abandoned Bavaria ; for I had no other place than 

 Nordlingen for the establishment of my magazines. 

 But those gentlemen were impatient, and the elector 

 was enraged at the pillage which I had allowed Marl- 

 borough to commit ; who, by that means, was en- 

 tirely with me. We loved and esteemed each other. 

 He was a great statesman and general. They had 

 80,000, as well as ourselves. But why did they se- 

 parate the French from the Bavarians ? Why did 

 they encamp so far from the rivulet, which would 

 have impeded our attack ? Why did they throw 27 

 battalions and 12 squadrons into Blenheim ? Why 

 did they disperse so many other troops in the neigh- 

 bouring villages ? Marlborough was more fortunate 

 than myself in the passage of the rivulet, and in his 

 fine attack. A little steepness of the bank made me 

 half an hour later. My infantry behaved well : my 

 cavalry, very ill. I had a horse killed under me. 

 Marlborough was checked for a moment ; but not 

 repulsed. I succeeded in rallying some regiments, 

 which had at first been shy of attacking. I led them 

 back four times to the charge. Marlborough, with 

 his infantry and artillery, and sometimes with his ca- 

 valry, got rid of that of the enemy, and went to 

 take Blenheim. We were all driven back for a mo- 

 ment by the gendarmerie ; but we ended by pushing 

 them into the Danube. I had the greatest obliga- 

 tions to Marlborough for his alterations in the dis- 

 positions according to circumstances. A Bavarian 

 dragoon took aim at me ; one of my Danes luckily 

 prevented him. We lost 9000 men ; but 12,000 

 French killed, and 20,800 prisoners, prevented them, 

 this time, from singing the usual Te Deam for their 

 defeats ; which they make it a point never to ac- 

 knowledge." Memoires du Prince Eugene. See al- 

 so, Smollet's Hist, of England, vol. ii. p. 23; Tin- 

 <1 I's I list, of England, vol. vi. p. 549; Somerville's 

 Hist, of the Reign of Queen Anne, p. 60 ; Account 

 of the Battle of Hochstet, London, 1704 ; and Mili- 

 tary History of Marlborough, p. 58. (q) 



BLIGHT. See Agriculture Index. 

 4 F 



Blenheim, 

 Blight. 



