French forces.

The states-general, either willing to second his efforts, or fearing to weaken the alliance by distrust, gave him full power to march as he thought proper, with assurances of their assistance in all his endeavours. The French king now appointed marshal Villeroy to head the army of opposition; for Boufflers was no longer thought an equal to the enterprising duke.

Villeroy was son of the French king's governor, and had been educated with that monarch. He had been always the favourite of Louis, and had long been a sharer in his amusements, his campaigns, and his glory. He was brave, generous, and polite, but unequal to the great task of commanding an army; and still more so, when opposed to so great a rival. Marlborough, therefore, who was peculiarly famous for studying the disposition and abilities of the general he was to oppose, having no very great fears from his present antagonist, instead of going forward to meet him, flew to the succour of the emperor, as had been already agreed at the commencement of the campaign. The English general, who was resolved to strike a vigorous blow for his relief, traversed extensive countries by hasty marches, arrived at the banks of the Danube, defeated a body of French and Bavarians, stationed at Donawert to oppose him, then passed the Danube with his triumphant army, and laid the dukedom of Bavaria, that had sided with the enemy, under contribution. Villeroy, who at first attempted to follow his motion, seemed all at once to have lost sight of his enemy; nor was he apprised of his route, till informed of his successes. Marshal Tallard prepared by another route to obstruct the duke of Marlborough's retreat with an army of thirty thousand men. He was soon after joined by the Bavarian forces, so that the army in that part of the continent amounted to sixty

thousand veterans, commanded by the two best reputed generals then in France.

Tallard had established his reputation by many former victories; he was active and penetrating, and had risen by his merits alone to the first station in the army. But his ardour often rose to impetuosity; and he was so short-sighted as to be incapable of seeing objects at a very small distance. The duke of Bavaria was equally experienced in the field, and had still stronger motives for his activity. His country was ravaged and pillaged before his eyes, and nothing remained of his possessions but the army which he commanded. It was in vain that he sent entreaties to the enemy to stop the fury of their incursions, and to spare his people; the only answer he received was, that it lay in his own power to make his enemies friends, by alliance or submission. To oppose these powerful generals, Marlborough was now joined by a body of thirty thousand men, under the conduct of prince Eugene, whose troops were well disciplined, but still more formidable by the conduct and fame of their general. Prince Eugene had been bred up from his infancy in camps, he was almost equal to Marlborough in intrigue, and his superior in the art of war. Their talents were of a similar kind; and, instead of any mean rivalship or jealousy between such eminent persons, they concurred in the same designs; for the same good sense determined them always to the same object.

This allied army, at the head of which Eugene and Marlborough commanded, amounted to about fifty-two thousand men, troops that had long been accustomed to conquer, and that had seen the French, the Turks, and the Russians fly before them. The French, as was already observed, amounted to sixty thousand, who had shared in the conquests of their great monarch, and

had been familiar with victory. Both armies, after many marchings and countermarchings, approached each other. The French were posted on a hill near the town of Hochstet; their right covered by the Danube, and the village of Blenheim; their left by the village of Lutzengen; and their front by a rivulet, the banks of which were steep, and the bottom marshy. It was in this advantageous position that the allied army resolved to attack them. As this engagement, which has since been known by the name of the battle of Blenheim, both from the talents of the generals, the improvements in the art of war, and the number and discipline of the troops, is reckoned the most remarkable of this century, it demands a more particular detail than I have usually allotted to such narrations.

The right wing of the French, which was covered by the Danube and the village of Blenheim, was commanded by marechal Tallard. Their left, defended by another village, was commanded by the duke of Bavaria, and under him by general Marsin, an experienced Frenchman. In the front of their army ran a rivulet, which seemed to defend them from an attack; and in this position they were willing to await the enemy, rather than offer battle. On the other hand, Marlborough and Eugene were stimulated to engage them at any rate, by an intercepted letter from Villeroy, who was left behind, intimating that he was preparing to cut off all communication between the Rhine and the allied army. The dispositions being made for the attack, and the orders communicated to the general officers, the allied forces advanced 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 to the attack; the right under the direction of prince Eugene, the left

headed by Marlborough, and opposed to marechal Tallard.

Marlborough, at the head of his English Aug. 2, troops, having passed the rivulet, attacked 1704. the cavalry of Tallard with great bravery. This general was at that time reviewing the disposition of his troops to the left; and his cavalry fought for some time without the presence of their commander. Prince Eugene on the left had not yet attacked the forces of the elector: and it was near an hour before he could bring up his troops to the engagement.

Tallard was no sooner informed that his right was attacked by the duke, than he flew to its head, where he found a furious encounter already begun; his cavalry being thrice driven back, and rallying as often. He had posted a large body of forces in the village of Blenheim; and he made an attempt to bring them to the charge. They were attacked by a detachment of Marlborough's forces so vigorously, that, instead of assisting the main body, they could hardly maintain their ground. All the French cavalry, being attacked in flank, were totally defeated. The English army, thus half victorious, penetrated between the two bodies of the French commanded by the marechal and elector, while at the same time the forces in the village of Blenheim were separated by another detachment. In this distressed situation, Tallard flew to rally some squadrons; but, from his short-sightedness, mistaking a detachment of the enemy for his own, he was taken prisoner by the Hessian troops, who were in English pay. In the mean time prince Eugene, after having been thrice repulsed, threw the enemy into confusion. The rout then became general, and the flight precipitate. The consternation was such, that the French soldiers threw themselves into the Danube, without knowing

where they fled. The officers lost all their authority, and there was no general left to secure a retreat.

The allies now being masters of the field of battle, surrounded the village of Blenheim, where a body of thirteen thousand men had been posted in the beginning of the action, and still kept their ground. These troops, seeing themselves cut off from all communication with the rest of the army, threw down their arms, and surrendered themselves prisoners of war. Thus ended the battle of Blenheim, one of the most complete victories that was ever gained. Twelve thousand French and Bavarians were slain in the field, or drowned in the Danube, and thirteen thousand were made prisoners of war. Of the allies, about five thousand men were killed, and eight thousand wounded or taken. The loss of the battle was imputed to two capital errors committed by marechal Tallard; namely, his weakening the centre by placing so large a body of troops in Blenheim, and his suffering the English to cross the rivulet, and form on the other side.

The next day, when the duke of Marlborough visited his prisoner, the marechal, intending a compliment, assured him that he had overcome the best troops in the world. "I hope, sir," replied the duke, "you will except those troops by whom they were conquered." A country of a hundred leagues in extent fell by this defeat into the hands of the victors. Not contented with these conquests, the duke, soon after he had closed the campaign, repaired to Berlin, where he procured a reinforcement of eight thousand Prussians to serve under prince Eugene in Italy. Thence he proceeded to negotiate for succours at the court of Hanover, and soon after returned to England, where he found the people in a phrensy of joy. He was received as the deliverer of the state, as one who had retrieved