ods. From it the two Gheets, the Mehaigne and
the Dyle, take their source, and flow in different directions, so that
it is the most elevated ground in the whole country. The descents from
the summit of the plateau to the Great Gheet are steep and abrupt; but
the other rivers rise in marshes and mosses, which are very wet, and
in some places impassable. Marlborough was well aware of the strength
of the position on the summit of this eminence, and he had used all
the dispatch in his power to reach it before the enemy; but Villeroi
had less ground to go over, and had his troops in battle array on the
summit before the English appeared in sight. The position which they
occupied ran along the front of a curve facing inwards, and
overhanging the sources of the Little Gheet. Their troops extended
along the crest of the ridge above the marshes, having the village of
Autre Eglise in its front on the extreme left, the villages of Offuz
and Ramilies in its front, and its extreme right on the high grounds
which overhung the course of the Mehaigne, and the old _chaussee_ of
Brunehand which ran near and parallel to its banks. Their right
stretched to the Mehaigne, on which it rested, and the village of
Tavieres on its banks was strongly occupied by foot-soldiers. The
French foot were drawn up in two lines, with the villages in their
front strongly occupied by infantry. In Ramilies alone twenty
battalions were posted. The great bulk of their horse was arranged
also in two lines on the right, across the chaussee of Brunehand, by
which part of the Allied column was to advance. On the highest point
of the ridge occupied by the French, and in the rear of their extreme
right, commanding the whole field of battle, behind the mass of
cavalry, was the tomb or barrow of Ottomond, a German hero of renown
in ancient days, which it was evident would become the subject of a
desperate strife between the contending parties in the conflict which
was approaching.

Marlborough no sooner came in sight of the enemy's position than he
formed his own plan of attack. His troops were divided into ten
columns; the cavalry being into two lines on each wing, the infantry
in six columns in the centre. He at once saw that the French right,
surmounted by the lofty plateau on which the tomb of Ottomond was
placed, was the key of the position, and against that he resolved to
direct the weight of his onset; but the better to conceal his real
design, he determined to