The opening years of the conflict were largely indecisive but, in 1704, the Grand Alliance found itself faced with a major crisis: French and Bavarian forces stood poised to capture Vienna and thus knock Austria out of the war. In response to this threat, Marlborough, who was in command of the Allied forces in the Low Countries, acted decisively. He marched his army some 400 kilometres from Flanders to invade Bavaria, where he joined forces with his ally, the Imperial general Prince Eugene of Savoy. It was a triumph of organisation and logistics, and it was in a large part due to the efforts of the Dutch, who laid on much-needed supplies at very short notice.

The battle of Blenheim begins

On 13 August, Marlborough confronted the Franco-Bavarians near Höchstadt. Two armies had joined forces to face him: one under Marshal Tallard and one under Marshal Marsin and Elector Maximilian of Bavaria. On the face of it, the Franco-Bavarian position was a strong one. Their troops were drawn up on higher ground behind marshy land along the Nebel stream, with their flanks protected on one side by the River Danube and on the other by woods. They further strengthened their lines by fortifying three villages: Blenheim, Oberglau and Lutzingen.

But Marlborough had spotted a flaw in the way the enemy had deployed. Instead of uniting into a single line of battle, Tallard and Marsin had drawn up their forces separately and, while their flanks were strong, the area where the two armies met was dangerously weak. Marlborough’s plan was simple: pin down the Franco-Bavarians on the flanks before smashing through the centre.

It took a while for Prince Eugene’s forces to march into their positions on the right of the Allied line, so Marlborough ordered the bands in his army to strike up a tune. The French responded in kind and for some time the only battle was a musical one, as the bandsmen of each army sought to outdo each other before the fighting began. Eventually, the artillery of both armies opened fire, and while Marlborough was riding up and down supervising the bridging of the Nebel stream, a large French cannonball came bouncing along towards him. Much to the relief of those nearby, it narrowly missed him, but left him liberally coated with dust.

Marlborough began the battle by ordering an assault on the village of Blenheim on the French right. Led by Lord Cutts, a much-wounded veteran who was nicknamed ‘the Salamander’ because he could always be found where the fire was hottest, two brigades of British redcoats marched forward in close order. The village had been fortified with barricades of overturned carts and, as the British came into range, the French defenders opened a devastating fire. The redcoats were mown down in droves and the attack faltered.

Into flames

Undeterred, the British tried again, this time with the support of Hessian troops, but once again the attack came to a halt in the face of the withering French musketry. Blenheim remained in French hands, but the British attacks had panicked Clerambault, the French commander on the spot, into pouring even more troops into the village. Soon Blenheim was packed with 12,000 men and the French centre was even weaker than ever.

Meanwhile, on the far side of the battlefield, Eugene was attacking the Elector of Bavaria and Marshal Marsin’s troops around the villages of Oberglau and Lutzingen. His men also suffered heavy casualties and three attacks were beaten back, but their determined assaults pinned down large numbers of Franco-Bavarians and prevented them from intervening where it really mattered – the centre of the battlefield. Marlborough now launched masses of infantry and cavalry against that very spot.