battle and campaign of Blenheim

Blenheim, battle and campaign of (1704), the most important campaign of the War of the Spanish Succession. The name itself is the Anglicized version of Blindheim, a village in Bavaria on the left bank of the river Danube. In May 1704 a possible Franco-Bavarian invasion threatened Austria, which would have triggered the collapse of the Grand Alliance against France. In a strategically decisive move Marlborough led his army on a surprise march from the Netherlands down the Rhine valley, his aim being to crush the elector of Bavaria in his own state, along with his French allies. Only a minority of Marlborough's men were British, two-thirds being Germans and Danes.

His route was chosen to mislead the French into pursuing him, rather than marching directly to reinforce the elector. It required a miracle of planning. Such long marches in the 18th century usually resulted in mass desertion, while those who remained were soon in poor condition. Margrave Louis of Baden and Prince Eugène of Savoy met Marlborough briefly on 10 June at Mundelsheim, and it was agreed that Eugène should distract the French under Villeroi from intervening in Bavaria, while Baden accompanied Marlborough. On 2 July, Marlborough and Baden carried Donauworth, an important crossing point over the Danube, in the swift but costly battle of Schellenberg. They then proceeded to devastate the vicinity in an effort to draw their opponents into battle. Eugène, on discovering that the French army under Tallard had slipped away, himself marched to join Marlborough. They joined forces on 12 August at Blindheim, 10 miles (16 km) west of Donauworth. Baden having been despatched to besiege Ingolstadt, their combined strength was about 56, 000.

Their Franco-Bavarian opponents, Marsin and the elector of Bavaria under the overall command of Marshal Count Camille de Tallard, slightly outnumbered the allies at 60, 000. Advancing in nine columns, Marlborough and Eugène spent the morning of 13 August deploying, covered by artillery fire. Tallard, who was taken by surprise, deployed hastily to a poor position between Blindheim, on the Danube, to his right and Lutzingen on his left. In the centre was a third fortified village, Oberglau. Eugène faced Marsin and the elector between Lutzingen and Oberglau, while Marlborough stood opposite Tallard from Oberglau to Blenheim. Each Franco-Bavarian force deployed with infantry in the centre and cavalry on the wings, the two cavalry wings meeting in Oberglau. At 12.30 battle commenced when Lord John Cutts attacked Blenheim twice, which drew in French reserves, while Marlborough tried to break through at Oberglau, the hinge of Tallard's two armies. Eugène meanwhile attacked the elector and Marsin in a classic fixing operation, which presented them from supporting Tallard elsewhere. While Eugène's attack distracted Tallard's attention, Marlborough got his infantry across the obstacle of the Nebel stream, which ran across the battlefield between the armies. Once across, his men deployed in a unique formation—two lines of infantry sandwiched between two lines of cavalry—which was able to beat off French cavalry charges. Marlborough personally led a cavalry countercharge and by 17.30 had breached Tallard's centre, his forces pouring through the gap. Blenheim surrendered, after fierce fighting, to Gen Charles Churchill, the duke's brother, at 23.00.

The battle of Blenheim, 13 August 1704.
(Click to enlarge)

In a model of coalition warfare, the armies of the two great Allied commanders had acted in perfect harmony with one another to inflict a crushing defeat on the Franco-Bavarian force, whose losses totalled 38, 000, the blow to their prestige being even more fundamental. Marlborough and Eugène suffered 12, 000 casualties and the former's prestige and that of his army was without precedent. Significantly, he named his country house in Oxfordshire after his finest battle, but it had been a costly affair: 43 per cent of all troops engaged had been killed, wounded, or taken prisoner.

— Peter Caddick-Adams