s army, and so
halted his troops and formed order of battle.

The country in which the battle of Oudenarde was about to be fought
is undulating, and cut up by several streams, with hedgerows,
fields, and enclosures, altogether admirably adapted for an army
fighting a defensive battle. The village of Eynes lies about a mile
below Oudenarde and a quarter of a mile from the Scheldt. Through
it flows a stream formed by the junction of the two rivulets. At a
distance of about a mile from the Scheldt, and almost parallel with
that river, runs the Norken, a considerable stream, which falls
into the Scheldt below Gavre. Behind this river the ground rises
into a high plateau, in which, at the commencement of the fight,
the greater portion of the French army were posted.

The appearance of Colonel Cadogan with his advanced guard
completely astonished the French generals. The allies were known to
have been fifteen miles away on the preceding evening, and that a
great army should march that distance, cross a great river, and be
in readiness to fight a great battle, was contrary to all their
calculations of probabilities.

The Duke of Burgundy wished to continue the march to Ghent. Marshal
Vendome pointed out that it was too late, and that although a
country so intersected with hedges was unfavourable ground for the
army which possessed the larger masses of men, yet that a battle
must be fought. This irresolution and dissension on the part of the
French generals wasted time, and allowed the allies to push large
bodies of troops across the river unmolested. As fast as they got
over Marlborough formed them up near Bevere, a village a few
hundred yards north of Oudenarde. Marlborough then prepared to take
the offensive, and ordered Colonel Cadogan to retake Eynes.

Four English battalions, under Colonel Sabine, crossed the stream
and attacked the French forces in the village, consisting of seven
battalions under Pfiffer, while the cavalry crossed the rivulets
higher up, and came down on the flank of the village. The result
was three French battalions were surrounded and made prisoners, and
the other four routed and dispersed.

The French generals now saw that there was no longer a possibility
of avoiding a general action. Vendome would have stood on the
defensive, which, as he had the Norken with its steep and difficult
ground in his front, was evidently the proper tactics to have
pursued. He was, however, overruled by the Duke