Marlborough's
magnificent march from the Netherlands to the upper Danube is one of
the finest things in military story.
Marlborough and Prince Eugene met with the French and Bavarian forces
near the village of Blenheim, on the same river, and close to
Hochstaedt, the scene of the defeat of the allied troops the year
before, and joyfully the leaders prepared to join battle. The
commanders on the side of the enemy were Marshal Marsin, the Prince of
Bavaria, and Marshal Tallard. The last of these had managed to slip
past Eugene some time before and join his colleagues.
The order of battle on the side of the Allies was this. The right was
commanded by Eugene, the left by Lord Cutts, a gallant officer, the
centre, a vast body of cavalry mainly, by Marlborough himself. Opposed
to Eugene were the Elector and Marsin, while Tallard faced the Duke,
but on the farther bank of the little brook Nebel, which empties
itself into the Danube just below. Tallard's centre was weak, as he
had crowded no fewer than seventeen battalions into the village of
Blenheim, on his extreme right and close to the bank of the great
river.
"Now, gentlemen, to your posts." These words, quietly and pleasantly
spoken by Marlborough, began the great battle of Blenheim.
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