During the War of the Spanish Succession, Britain was allied with the Netherlands, Austria and a number of small German states against the might of Louis XIV's France. As France threatened Vienna, the commander of the Allied army in Holland, John Churchill, first duke of Marlborough, decided to relieve the Austrian capital and take his enemies by surprise. This he did with an army of approximately 56,000 men at the Bavarian village of Blenheim (now Blindheim in Germany), on the river Danube, where the French and their allies, the Bavarians, were camped – about 60,000 in all.
The hitherto invincible French and the Bavarians were not evenly dispersed along the four-mile-long ridge. Marlborough decided to attack the centre, which was heavily fortified, hoping that the element of surprise would be on his side. In an attack that was, in the words of the novelist John Buchan, 'one of the great feats of human discipline in the world's history', five British battalions crossed 150 metres of meadow to attack a French palisade, not firing until they were within 30 paces of the enemy, despite undergoing fire that killed one in three of them.
When the finest regiments of France were bottled up in Blenheim village, Marlborough finally attacked the centre of the line, successfully breaking it and surrounding the village. The French then surrendered, but not until 40,000 of their men had been killed, wounded or captured.
This was not just a defeat, but the complete destruction of an army. It ended Louis XIV's plans to dominate Europe and extend his power from Spain to the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. Bavaria also retired completely from the war.
As for the victor, Marlborough, the victory brought him fame and the thanks of a grateful nation in the form of a huge grant to pay for the building of a fabulous house for the military hero. He would call it Blenheim Palace.
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 Blenheim – August 1704: 21st
www.army.mod.uk/rhf/regimental_history/b
lenheim.htm
The battle according to the British Army website, which concentrates on the feats of the '21st – Marlborough's Own'.
Two Eyewitness Accounts of the Battle of Blenheim
www.kipar.org/military-history/kirkes_bl
enheim.html
From The Salacious Historian's Lair website, two eyewitness accounts of the battle: first, the duke of Marlborough's own telling of the conflict; and then an account by Dr Hare, the duke's chaplain.
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