During the War of the Spanish Succession, the Duke of Marlborough led a march across Europe to defeat a superior Franco-Bavarian force at Blenheim on the Danube . This victory not only ensured the safety of the Habsburg capital, but also Marlborough's reputation as one of the great military commanders in history.
Blenheim data
- Who: A Franco-Bavarian army under Marshal Tallard (1652-1728) faced an allied army under the Duke of Marlborough (1650-1722) and Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663-1736).
- Like: Marlborough's aggressive combat tactics, coupled with superior infantry firepower, stronger artillery, and cavalry shock tactics, signaled the end of French military supremacy in the War of the Spanish Succession.
- Where: In the town of Blenheim (Blindheim) on the Danube in central Bavaria.
- When: August 13, 1704.
- Why: The Grand Alliance wished to limit Franco-Bavarian power by decisively defeating their forces on the field.
- Result: Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy defeated the Franco-Bavarian army, thus saving Austria from invasion.
Background
On November 1, 1700, King Charles II of Spain died without natural heirs, leaving his vast empire to Louis XIV's grandson, Philip, Duke of Anjou, to rule as an undivided kingdom, which the powers of the anti-French «Grand Alliance» were determined to prevent . Louis XIV had no desire to provoke another war, although, at the same time, he could not accept that an Austrian Hapsburg, Archduke Charles, should become King of Spain and thus leave France surrounded on all sides by enemy states. If what he wanted was to keep the peace and yet see his grandson Philip on the throne of Spain, Louis could do no worse. In February 1701 his armies occupied the Spanish Netherlands, including some forts controlled by the Dutch, thus violating a series of international treaties and introducing his most dangerous enemy, King William III of England, and Holland , in a conflict that neither of them was looking for. In September 1701, in response, William had reactivated the Grand Alliance (Austria, the Netherlands, and England) against Louis XIV.
Cape jhon
Unfortunately, William III fell from his horse and died of his injuries on March 8, 1702, leaving the throne to his sister-in-law Queen Anne (reigned 1702-1714). The Anglo-Dutch alliance was now to be under the command of the most notable military and political leader of the day:Sir John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough .
Corporal John, as his troops affectionately called him, had realized that the advent of new flintlock muskets, coupled with the replacement of the pike by the bucket bayonet, had returned the offensive to infantry tactics. Likewise, cavalry had to be used in dense formations, using shock tactics and charging with swords drawn. Marlborough, therefore, unlike his colleagues, following in the footsteps of Gustavus Adolphus II, avoided unnecessary maneuvering and sought a quick resolution through a fiercely contested pitched battle to defeat the enemy with a tremendous blow.
The campaign
At the beginning of 1704 the war, which had been inconclusive for the last three years, was beginning to be in a very critical and dangerous state for the allies. A large Franco-Bavarian army was prepared to march on Vienna forcing Emperor Leopold I to call his most brilliant commander, Prince Eugene of Savoy, to return from Italy with his army . The Austrians also called their Anglo-Dutch allies to their aid.
Allied armymarching south
Marlborough knew that the unprotected Netherlands and the war would be lost if the enemy defeated the Imperial army and took control of Vienna. However, the Dutch Estates General asked the English commander to move 'his' army away from the Dutch border. Marlborough appeased the Dutch by stating that he would only move his army to the Moselle River, and no further.
Leaving 70,000 men to guard the Low Countries, Marlborough, with 70,000 men and 48 guns, marched south along the Rhine. He was facing 60,000 French at Strasbourg and the 60,000-strong Franco-Bavarian army, and was vital, if the allies had to have some hope of success, keeping these two armies apart. Prince Eugene (with 30,000 men) therefore took up positions in Baden to hold off Marshal Villeroi while Marlborough, who had arrived at Donauwórth on 1 July, dealt with Marshal Marsin and the Elector of Bavaria, Prince Maximilian Emmanuel. II.
Marlborough had to take this strategically located, fortified town without a lengthy siege if he was to cross the Danube unscathed and be able to defeat the Franco-Bavarians before the campaigning season was over.
Marlborough Strategy
The Elector of Bavaria had sent 14,000 soldiers under Marshal D'Arco to build a fort near Donauwórth, called the Schellenberg, and to defend this vital ford against Marlborough's advances. The allied army, now reinforced by Prince Louis, Elector of Baden, had taken up positions near the fort by noon on July 2. Marlborough ordered his quartermaster general to pitch the tents to give the impression that his army would attack the next day. This simple trick worked.
At 17:00, the artillery opened fire on the Schellenberg, and at 18:15, 6,000 English foot soldiers attacked in three columns, backed by cavalry, and made three unsuccessful assaults on the fortified structures.
D'Arco's garrison was now pinned down, giving Luis occasion to attack with a second force against the northwest side of the fort at 19:30. The issue was then decided in fierce hand-to-hand combat between the Allies and the Bavarian troops, though in the end the defenders, losing a staggering 10,000 men, were crushed by the intensity and ferocity of the assault. Marlborough suffered 1,400 dead and 3,800 wounded.
Layouts
These casualties were light compared to the Allied advances:the road to the Danube through Nordlingen was now open. Marlborough's army crossed the River Lech on 8 July and began to brutally and systematically devastate the Bavarian countryside, leaving no towns or farms left in the path of the advancing Allies. Marlborough was now approaching his prey and requested, on August 11, that Eugene join him, especially since the experienced French Marshal and Count Camille de Tallard had assumed command in Bavaria .
francobarvara layout
Tallard's Franco-Bavarians had taken up positions a short distance west of Blenheim (or Blindheim) on 12 August. Their camp was atop a slight rise 1 mile west of the swampy Nebel Creek, which formed a sodden "moat" facing north and the advancing enemy . The Elector's Bavarians were stationed around Lutzingen, Marsin at Oberglau and Tallard at Blenheim. The left (western) flank was supported by a series of hills and forests, and the right (eastern) by the Danube.
Tallard and his colleagues felt quite safe in this "impugnable" fortress-like position, and could not believe that Marlborough and Eugene would have the audacity or recklessness to attack them, especially when they were outnumbered. The enemy commanders were ruthless and daring, especially Marlborough, and the fall of Donauwórth had clearly shown that not even a true fortress could stand against Corporal John and his ferocious redcoats.
grandalliancelayout
At dawn on August 12, Marlborough made a personal reconnaissance of the enemy's position in and around Blenheim. At 02:00 the next day, the Allied army set out west in four columns, crossed the Kessel Creek at 03:00, and three hours later had reached high ground at Wolperstetten . At 07:00 the morning mist lifted at the edge of the field, revealing to the Franco-Bavarians the unwelcome presence of the Allied army just a stone's throw from their lines.
Unbelievably, Tallard, Marsin, and the Elector still believed that the enemy would retreat, and with some horror, they realized that the Allies meant business. The general alarm was raised, sending troops, horses and wagons in all directions to occupy their fighting positions. The Allied commanders noted with satisfaction that they had caught their enemies by surprise, and neither the Italian Duke nor the Prince were the kind of commanders who would waste such an opportunity . Some 56,000 English, Imperial and Dutch soldiers faced 60,000 French and Bavarians.
The battle
The battle could finally start, and it did, with a massive artillery barrage from the French at 08:30, which was answered by an equally deafening explosion from the English batteries (numbering about 90 guns). Tallard had no time to conceive an elaborate battle plan. The Franco-Bavarians would remain on the defensive, although the two armies would fight separately. Marsin would defend the center, the elector, the left wing, and Tallard himself, the area around Blenheim to the Danube . Marsin and the Elector would occupy positions up to the very banks of the Nebel, while Tallard's force would hold a position some 1,000m south of the stream. Tallard hoped that Marlborough would advance across the Nebel, be caught in the crossfire between Oberglau and Blenheim and thus allow Tallard to counterattack and drive the English back into the marshes flanking the Nebel.
Marlborough had observed that the enemy's right wing was stronger than his left, so he would attack the stronger flank . Marlborough had a premonition about Tallard's ruse and sent Eugene to pin down the Elector while he advanced to neutralize the French garrisons at Blenheim and Oberglau. The English and French artillery dueled for four hours as Lord Cutts' column crossed the Nebel and created a bridgehead on the south bank. Marlborough waited impatiently for news that Eugene, trudging toward Lutzingen, had attacked and pinned down the Elector's Bavarians before attacking.
Finally, the Savoyard's aide-de-camp arrived with the desired news, and at 12:30 Marlborough told his general:"Gentlemen, to his posts." Fifteen minutes later General Rowe's English brigade attacked Blenheim, where rather uselessly 12,000 French soldiers were contained . Two assaults, in which Rowe fell with a third of his men, were repulsed, although they had achieved their objective. In the center, Prince Holstein-Beck's Germans attacking Oberglau had a difficult time, until Marlborough sent Eugene's Austrian cavalry to repulse the French cavalry with heavy losses. Holstein-Beck pushed the French into the town and kept them confined there for the rest of the battle .
By 3:00 p.m. the Elector had been unable to join the French while the towns were prevented from supporting Tallard's counterattack. Marlborough finally crossed with the rest of his army an hour later, and at 16:30 came the welcome news that Eugene had thrown the Elector of Lutzingen . Tallard at last realized that Marlborough had outmaneuvered him tactically and sent nine battalions hastily to defend the position near Oberglau. The battalions fought fiercely to defend their positions; however, they were massacred to the last man standing, while the vaunted French cavalry fled into the marshy waters and banks of the Danube. By 17:30 the battle was over, Tallard having fallen into English hands, and the entire Franco-Bavarian army had ceased to exist as an organized military force . To their perennial honour, the French garrisons at Blenheim and Oberglau held out until 9:00 p.m., when they, too, finally tired of the slaughter.
Aftermath
It had not been an easy or bloodless victory.** A fifth of the allied army was gone (4,500 dead and 7,500 wounded), but this was nothing compared to the destruction caused to the Franco-Bavarians, who had lost 15,000 prisoners and 13,600 dead, wounded and drowned in the Danube.
Marlborough had advanced his army 400 km into the heart of enemy territory, without the French being able to intercept or block his advance, and had won one of the greatest victories in European military history, a victory that could be compared to Agincourt, as France's reputation for military excellence and invincibility had once again been destroyed. Europe was saved from French hegemony.**