Battle Of Blenheim

An End to the Threat of French Hegemony in Europe

Henry IV

When Henry IV, the first Bourbon king of France, was murdered by the fanatic Ravaillac on 14 May, 1610, he was succeeded by his son Louis XIII. Since Louis was a minor, Henry’s second wife, Marie de’ Medici, was appointed regent, and she was content to entrust the power to Cardinal Richelieu. From 1624 to 1642, Richelieu, as the first of a long line of chief ministers, tried to subdue the great nobles of France, especially the royal princes and princesses, abolished the privileges of the Huguenots in 1628, and in 1635 launched France into the Thirty Years War against the two great Hapsburg powers, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire. While he strengthened the absolute monarchy, he failed to abolish the abuses of unequal taxation, the sale of offices and unbudgeted expenditure.

Under his successor, Cardinal Mazarin, an Italian favoured by Anne of Austria, Louis XIII’s queen, during her regency for her son Louis XIV, more increased taxation and dishonest finance led to internal trouble. The revolt of the Frondes, as the civil wars were known, lasted for five years, from 1648 to 1653, and during it such parliaments as existed supported the princes and clergy fighting against the crown.

Louis XIV (1638–1715)

The crushing of the Frondes brought early glory to Louis, who, at the age of fifteen, found himself the centre of his Court’s admiration. From this time, though he did not begin to exercise his personal rule directly for another six years, Louis gained more and more control over the affairs of his country, and his long reign of seventy-two years was to become one of the most glorious periods of France’s history, due exclusively to the policies and actions of Le Roi Soleil, the Sun King.

Surrounded by such thinkers and poets as Pascal, Corneille and La Rochefoucauld, Louis lost no time in securing his personal power. Very soon he was at the centre of every national activity. A man of tremendous industry, it was no empty boast when he proclaimed “L’Etat, cest moi” (“I, the Monarch, am the State”).

His hand was in almost every move of European politics, planning aggressions, arranging campaigns, buying alliances. All these matters he conducted personally, and yet he found time to oversee the building of palaces, encourage literature and the arts, this was France’s Golden Age in this field, and to take his fill of pleasure.

John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough 26 May, 1650–16 June, 1722

Louis carried on a series of wars, designed to make him dictator of Europe, and it was here that he came into conflict with one of the greatest soldiers of all time, an Englishman, John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough.

Born of a good Dorset family on 24 June, 1650, as a boy Marlborough had entered the household of James, Duke of York, as a page. A few years later he became an ensign in the Guards, at sixteen saw service in Tangier, and won a colonelcy as a reward for skill and courage in the campaign in the Netherlands, where England was helping the Dutch to withstand the pressure of France. In 1678 he married Sarah Jennings, a maid-in-waiting to the Duchess of York, and the intimate friend of the Duchess’s daughter Anne, later queen, a union which was to have great consequences for the brilliant soldier.

Among all the powers of Europe, England could least afford to see France assume a dictatorship of the Continent. Under England’s leadership, in the reign of James II, a coalition of European powers was organized to challenge the growing threat of the Sun King. Since the only way by which French aggression might be checked was active war, English armies crossed to the Continent.

In the army of James II, John Churchill, by now Lord Churchill, held high command, but in 1688, when William of Orange landed in England, he deserted James and transferred his allegiance to William. On accepting the English crown, William created Churchill Earl of Marlborough, and after the Battle of the Boyne, at which James was finally defeated, he left the Earl in Ireland to conduct a brief campaign there.

Battle of the Boyne between James II and William III, 11 June 1690

For a time, however, Marlborough lost royal favour, because it became known that he was intriguing with the exiled James. When Mary died in 1694, and it was understood that William would be succeeded by Anne, Lady Marlborough’s intimate friend, the motive for intrigue with James was removed, and William restored him to favour.

Indeed the country was desperately in need of Marlborough’s genius as a soldier. During all these events the war with France had been continued, and by 1694 Louis had reached the peak of his power in Europe. The coalition powers seemed unable to prevent his establishing his autocratic rule over the whole Continent.

William had personally led the Dutch and English armies, but in 1702, when it looked as if France was on the verge of achieving her goal, events in England required his presence there, and it was Marlborough whom he appointed to take over the command during his absence.

Anne

William had not been long in England when he died as the result of being thrown from his horse, and was succeeded by Anne. The new queen confirmed Marlborough in his command, and was content to leave the whole conduct of the war to him.

Hampered at every turn by the Dutch civil commissioners, whose assent to all military operations was required, and by intrigues at home, Marlborough nevertheless succeeded in the next two years in manoeuvring the French out of one position after another, until in 1704 he found his great opportunity for inflicting a major defeat upon them.

The most effective of England’s allies in the struggle against France were the Austrians, whose armies were led by a soldier who, though not in quite the same rank of military genius as Marlborough, was nevertheless a leader of great dash, high reputation and wide experience. Prince Eugene, French-born, had already won several victories over the French in the War of the Spanish Succession when Austria joined the coalition.

In 1704 the French plan of campaign was to send an army to unite with their allies the Bavarians, and then march down the Danube and capture Vienna. Meeting Eugene in the Netherlands Marlborough outlined to him a plan for frustrating this French design which surprised even the experienced Eugene, who, however, readily consented to assist in its operation.

In May, Marlborough left the Netherlands, and by his first movements gave the impression that he was preparing for a campaign on the Moselle, but before his true intentions could be even suspected he swooped from the Rhine to the Danube and threw himself between the French and Vienna. Meanwhile, the French and the Bavarians, led by Marshals Tallard and Marsin, marched on Augsburg to join forces there. The two rival armies came face to face around a village near Hochstadt, actually called Blindheim, but more commonly now known as Blenheim.

The French, though aware of Eugene’s presence near Hochstadt, did not know for certain whether Marlborough had joined him there, though there were rumours that he was marching to do so. Differences of opinion regarding plans broke out between the French marshals and the commander of their Bavarian ally, which soon developed into fierce quarrels. Tallard wished to winter his troops in the fortified base at Dillingen, but the Elector would not hear of it, insisting that Eugene should be attacked before Marlborough had time to join him. Though Tallard would not agree to the latter, he did compromise to the extent of moving forward by the road across the Pulverbach marshes, and occupying the plain between Lutzingen and Blenheim.

The French had just completed this move when Marlborough arrived, and when he and Eugene, from the top of the tower of Tapfheim church, five miles away, spied upon the enemy through telescopes, what they saw decided them that here was the opportunity they had been hoping for. Yet only two men of military genius would have decided to join battle here. For Lord Orkney, one of Marlborough’s best subordinate commanders, expressed the view of the most responsible officers in the English and Austrian armies when he wrote: “I confess it is entirely owing to my Lord Duke, for I declare, had I been asked to give my opinion, I had been against it, considering the ground where they were camped and the strength of the army.”

The French right rested on Blenheim itself and on the Danube which flowed past it. On Tallard’s insistence, the village had been fortified. The English and Austrians had their right protected by woods. Between the two armies flowed a stream called the Nebel.

Manoeuvres before the battle 9–13 August.

At one o’clock in the morning of 13 August, 1704, Marlborough and Eugene broke camp at Munster. Crossing the Kessel Bach by pontoon bridges, which had been laid the day before, they moved westward through the night in eight columns, as silently as an army can move and enshrouded by thick mist.

When in the dawn the French saw the heads of the first columns through the mist, they were not alarmed, for they believed them to be a reconnaissance party, covering the retreat of the Allied armies from Munster to Nordlingen. Even when the mist rolled back and revealed the whole Allied Army, the French commanders still did not imagine that Marlborough had come to give battle, but that he was retreating across their front. Though this would have been a move of ludicrous madness, the French were so confident that no one would dare to attack them in their present position, that this was the only explanation they could give themselves.

By seven o’clock, however, Marlborough’s real intentions were apparent even to the haughty French, and hurried orders were given to prepare to resist the Allied attack. Taken by surprise, the French commanders made serious mistakes in their order of battle, for instead of an order adapted to the proper defence of the actual ground, the order of encampment was adopted, and this made the centre desperately weak.

From seven until midday the two armies watched one another. Until Eugene’s Danish and Prussian infantry and Austrian cavalry had reached their positions on the right flank Marlborough did nothing but lay bridges of pontoon planks and faggots across the marshes of the Nebel. He also personally attended to the siting of each of his batteries of artillery, and waited until ranging shots had been fired, to make sure that each was in the best position. Short religious services were held, and the bands played popular music.

At last a messenger came with the news that Eugene was now in position. He had had some difficulty, for the way lay through marshes and woods, which had made his progress so slow.

The battle opened at one o’clock, when Marlborough sent some troops against the village of Blenheim. They reached the defences of the village, neither firing nor being fired on, but once there the French took a heavy toll of them, while the foremost English regiments desperately tried to tear down the palisades. This initial attack was a failure, though some success was achieved by some English horsemen sent up to help.

Soon Marlborough, noticing that the French had concentrated their strength on their right, discovered the fatal mistake that Tallard and Marsin had made in their dispositions, their weak centre. So ordering the attack against Blenheim to be maintained as a feint only, he turned his attention to the vulnerable point.

He called up his cavalrymen, who crossed the Nebel where a stone bridge carried the high road over the stream, and where four pontoon bridges had been constructed. The French seized the moment when the English troops were in disorder after crossing, not having had time to form up, to send their own cavalry in, and in the ensuing struggle the French went through Marlborough’s lines more than once.

This manoeuvre having gained no advantage after two or three hours of fighting, at five o’clock Marlborough sent about six thousand Hanoverians against the Bavarians, who held a strong point at Oberglau, a small village between the armies. The Hanoverians were also driven back in disorder and their commander was captured. Marsin, in command of the Bavarians, took advantage of this success to launch a cavalry attack against the shaken troops. Putting himself at the head of a brigade of Danes, Marlborough led them to meet the French cavalry, and called on Eugene to help.

Eugene, whose task was to hold the Bavarians, had himself suffered a check, but despite this he hurried to the assistance of the com­mander-in-chief with a body of cuirassiers, who arrived in the nick of time and fell upon the flank of the French cavalry, saved the Danish brigade and so restored the battle.

By now it was six o’clock and little daylight remained. But at last all Marlborough’s troops were over the Nebel. Again the French infantry opened fire, but the cavalry hesitated to charge.

The moment for the counter-stroke had arrived, and drawing up his cavalry in one great line, Marlborough sent in the last mag­nificent charge. Had the French advanced in like fashion, they might have withstood the assault better than they did, but they stopped “to present their fusils”. Before they could fire effectively, the English were upon them.

They routed the French horse, broke up the line of infantry at the junction of the French and Bavarian armies, and drove the two allies apart. Neither from Blenheim on his right, nor from Marsin on his left could Tallard get help in time, and while he was wonder­ing what to do he found himself a prisoner.

Marlborough now advanced on fortified Blenheim and cut off the very large body of defenders there. When this became known the Bavarian troops decided they had had enough, and they and many of the French began to retreat with haste. Before darkness fell Marlborough and Eugene were masters of the field.

Before the clash of arms had died down, Marlborough took out his writing case and wrote to his Duchess what has since become the most famous of all his letters.

Aug. 13 1704

I have not time to say more, but to beg you will give my duty to the Queen and let her know Her Army has had a Glorious Victory. Monsr. Tallard and two other generals are in my coach and I am following the rest: the bearer my Aide de Camp Coll. Parke will give Her an account of what has pass’d. I shall doe it in a day or two by another more att large.

Marlborough

Though Blenheim did not put an end to the war with France, and several more engagements were to be fought and won by Marlborough, the battle marked the end of the threat of superiority in Europe. The sun of “Le Roi Soleil” had begun to set, and when at last peace between France and the coalition was concluded with the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 the terms exacted were deeply humiliating. Louis survived it by only two years.