703 
ENGLAND. 
The duke, in his next campaign, was, for this reafon, 
determined to aft more offenfively ; and, furnifhed with 
proper authority from queen Anne, he informed the 
Dutch that it was his intention to march to the relief of 
the empire that had been for fome time oppreffed by the 
French forces. The ftates-general, either willing to fe- 
cond his efforts, or fearing to weaken the alliance by dif- 
truft, gave him full power to march wherever he thought 
proper, with afftirances of their ailiftance in all his endea¬ 
vours. The French king now appointed marfhal Ville- 
roy to lead his army ; the brave and gallant Boufflers 
being no longer thought an equal match for the enter- 
prifing duke of Marlborough. See the enterprifing cha¬ 
racter of Boufflers, vol.iii. p. 307. 
Villeroy was brave, generous, and polite, but unequal 
to the great talk of commanding an army ; and (till more 
fo, when oppofed to fuch a rival. Marlborough, there¬ 
fore, who was famous for ftudying the difpofition and 
abilities of the general he was to oppofe, having no ap- 
prehenfions from his prefent antagonift, inftead of going 
forward to meet him, he flattened to the fuccour of the 
emperor, as. had been agreed at the commencement of the 
campaign. The Englifir general, who was refolved to 
ftrike a vigorous blow for Iris relief, took with him about 
thirteen thoufand Englifh troops, traverfed extenfive 
countries by forced marches, arrived unexpectedly on the 
banks of the Danube, defeated a body of French and 
Bavarians ftationed at Donavert, then pafTed the Danube 
with his triumphant army, and laid the dukedom of Ba¬ 
varia, which had fided with the enemy, under contribu¬ 
tion. Villeroy, who affetted to hang upon his rear, 
feemed all at once to have loft fight of his enemy ; nor 
was he fure of his route, till informed of his fucceffes. 
Marfhal Tallard, in his turn, prepared to obftruft the 
duke of Marlborough’s retreat ; and being joined by the 
duke of Bavaria’s forces, the French army in that part of 
the continent amounted to fixty thoufand men, com¬ 
manded by two of the bed generals in the French fervice. 
Tallard had eft iblifhed his reputation by many former 
victories ; he was aCtive and penetrating, and had rifen 
by his merits alone to the firft ftation in the army. The 
duke of Bavaria was equally experienced in the field, 
and had ftill ftronger motives for his activity. His coun¬ 
try was ravaged and nillaged before his eyes ; and nothing 
remained of his pofteffions but the army lie commanded. 
To oppofe thefe powerful generals, M irlborough was 
joined by a body of thirty thoufand men, under prince 
Eugene, wh.ofe troops were well difciplined, but ftill 
more formidable by the conduct and fame of their gene¬ 
ral. Prince Eugene had been bred from his infancy in 
camps ; he w'as almoft equal to Marlborough in difcern- 
ment, and his fuperior in the art of war. Their talents 
were of a iimilar kind ; and, inftead of any mean rival- 
fhip or jealoufy, they concurred in the fame defigns; and 
the fame good fenfe determined them always to the fame 
objeCt. 
This allied army, at the head of which Eugene and 
Marlborough commanded, amounted to about fifty-two 
thoufand men, troops which had been accuftomed to con¬ 
quer, and that had feen the French, the Turks, and the 
Ruffians, fly before them. The French, as already ob- 
ferved, amounted to fixty thoufand, who had ftiared in 
the conquefts of their great monarch, Louis XIV. and 
had been familiar with victory. Both armies, after many 
marchings and countermarchings, approached each other. 
The French were polled on a hill near the town of 
Hochftet; their right covered by the Danube and the 
village of Blenheim, their left by the village of Liitzen- 
gen, and their front by a rivulet, the banks.of which 
were fteep, and the bottom marfhy. In this advan¬ 
tageous pofition, the French awaited the affault of the 
enemy ; and the allied army hefitated not to attack them. 
The right wing of the French was commanded by mar- 
ftial Tallard ; their left by the duke of Bavaria, and un¬ 
der him general Marfin, an experienced Frenchman, 
Marlborough and Eugene were ftimulated haftily to en¬ 
gage, from an intercepted letter from Villeroy, intimating 
that he was preparing to cut off all communication be¬ 
tween the Rhine and the allied army. The difpofitions 
being therefore made for the attack, the allied forces ad¬ 
vanced into the plain, and were ranged in order of battle. 
The cannonading began about nine in the morning, and. 
continued to about half after twelve. Then the troops 
advanced forward ; the right under the direction of prince 
Eugene, the left headed by Marlborough, and oppofed 
to marfhal Tallard. The duke of Marlborough, at the 
head of the Englifh, having paffed the rivulet, attacked 
the cavalry of Tallard with great bravery. Prince Eu¬ 
gene, on the left, had not yet engaged the forces of the 
eleCtor ;■ and it was near an hour before he could bring 
up his troops to their line. Tallard fupported the aftiort 
with wonderful intrepidity : his cavalry were thrice 
driven hack, and rallied as often. Fie had ported a large 
body of forces in the village of Blenheim ; and lie now 
made an attempt to bring them to the charge ; but they 
were attacked by a detachment of Marlborough’s forces 
fo vigoroufly, that, inftead of affifting Tallard, they could 
hardly maintain their ground. The French cavalry being 
now attacked in flank, were foon defeated. The Englifh 
army, thus half victorious, penetrated between the two 
bodies of the French commanded by the marfhal and the 
eleCtor, while at the fame time the forces in the village 
of Blenheim were feparated by another detachment. In 
this awkward fituation, Tallard endeavoured to rally 
fome flying fquadrons ; but, from his fliort-fightednefs p 
miftaking a detachment of the enemy for his own, he was 
taken prifoner by the Heffian troops. In the mean time 
prince Eugene, after having been thrice driven back, at 
laft put the enemy into confufton. The rout then be¬ 
came general, and the carnage dreadful. The confterna- 
tion was fuch, that the French foldiers threw themfelves 
into the Danube, without knowing where they fled. 
The allies now furrounded the village of Blenheim, 
where thirteen thoufand men ftill kept their ground ; but 
feeing themfelves cut off from all communication with 
the reft of the army, they threw down their arms, and 
firrrendered prifoners of war. Thus ended the famous 
battle of Blenheim, one of the mod complete viClories 
that was ever obtained. Twelve thoufand French and 
Bavarians were (lain in the field, or drowned in the Da¬ 
nube, and thirteen thoufand were made prifoners of war. 
Of the allies, about five thoufand were killed, and eight 
thoufand wounded. The lofs of the battle was imputed 
to two capital errors committed by marfhal 1 allard ; 
namely, his weakening the centre by placing fo large a 
body of troops in the village of Blenheim, and his fuf- 
fering the Englifh to crofs the rivulet, and form on the 
other fide, without once attempting to obftruCf them. 
The next day, when the duke of Marlborough vifited 
his prifoner the marfhal Tallard, he condefcendingly took 
him by the hand, when Tallard remarked, truly charac- 
teriftic of a Frenchman, “Sir, you have overcome an 
army of the belt foldiers in the world.”—“I hope, fir, 
(replied the duke of Marlborough,) you will except 
thole by whom they have been beaten.” A country of 
a hundred leagues in extent fell by this defeat into the 
hands of the viCtors ; and the duke, foon after the finifh- 
ing of the campaign, repaired to Berlin, where he pro¬ 
cured a reinforcement of eight thoufand Pruffians, to 
ferve under prince Eugene in Italy. Thence he pro¬ 
ceeded to negociate for further fupplies at the court of 
Flanover, and foon after returned to England, where he 
was received with open arms, as his fervices juftly merited. 
In the mean time, the arms of England were not lefs 
fortunate by fea. The French having been employed in 
equipping a ftrong fquadron at Breft, fir Cloudefley Shovel 
and fir George Rooke were lent to watch their motions. 
Sir George, however, had further orders to convoy a body 
of forces to Barcelona, where a fruitless attack was made 
by the prince of HefTe. Finding no hopes from this ex- 
pedition 3 
