hrough the hill country of
Wurtemberg he joined the Imperial army under the Prince of Baden,
stormed the heights of Donauwerth, crossed the Danube and the Lech, and
penetrated into the heart of Bavaria. The crisis drew two other armies
which were facing one another on the Upper Rhine to the scene. The
arrival of Marshal Tallard with thirty thousand French troops saved the
Elector of Bavaria for the moment from the need of submission; but the
junction of his opponent, Prince Eugene, with Marlborough raised the
contending forces again to an equality. After a few marches the armies
met on the north bank of the Danube near the small town of Hochstaedt and
the village of Blindheim or Blenheim, which have given their names to
one of the most memorable battles in the history of the world.

[Sidenote: Battle of Blenheim.]

In one respect the struggle which followed stands almost unrivalled, for
the whole of the Teutonic race was represented in the strange medley of
Englishmen, Dutchmen, Hanoverians, Danes, Wurtembergers and Austrians
who followed Marlborough and Eugene. The French and Bavarians, who
numbered like their opponents some fifty thousand men, lay behind a
little stream which ran through swampy ground to the Danube. Their
position was a strong one, for its front was covered by the swamp, its
right by the Danube, its left by the hill-country in which the stream
rose; and Tallard had not only entrenched himself but was far superior
to his rival in artillery. But for once Marlborough's hands were free.
"I have great reason," he wrote calmly home, "to hope that everything
will go well, for I have the pleasure to find all the officers willing
to obey without knowing any other reason than that it is my desire,
which is very different from what it was in Flanders, where I was
obliged to have the consent of a council of war for everything I
undertook." So formidable were the obstacles, however, that though the
allies were in motion at sunrise on the 13th of August it was not till
midday that Eugene, who commanded on the right, succeeded in crossing
the stream. The English foot at once forded it on the left, and attacked
the village of Blindheim in which the bulk of the French infantry were
entrenched; but after a furious struggle the attack was repulsed, while
as gallant a resistance at the other end of the line held Eugene in
check. It was the centre however, where the French believed themselves
to be unassailable, and whic