They were immediately conducted to the victorious commander, and received with all the attention which was due to their character and misfortune.

During these events Hompesch had continued to press on the broken squadrons of the retreating enemy. They attempted to rally after crossing the Brunnen near Diessenhofen; but on the approach of their pursuers, were seized with a panic, and fled towards Morselingen. At the same time two battalions of infantry, who had formed with them, purchased their safety by yielding up their arms.

From the verge of the wood above Lutzingen, where Eugene had halted after his last attack, he witnessed the advance of his colleague, and the final charge, which ended in the wreck of Tallard's army. Observing the right of Marsin filing towards the rear, and the Bavarian infantry pouring into Lutzingen, he rightly judged that his opponents were preparing to retreat. He instantly renewed the conflict with the infantry, though supported only by two squadrons, and forced his way through the woods and ravines towards Lutzingen. After an arduous struggle, his troops emerged into the plain, and he halted for the approach of the cavalry, who had pressed on the Bavarian horse in their retreat. The flames which burst forth at Oberglauh and Lutzingen, proved that the enemy had abandoned those places, and were hastening to withdraw from their perilous situation.

The attention of Marlborough was now turned to the movements of the Elector and Marsin. Perceiving the advance of Eugene, and the conflagration at Oberglauh and Lutzingen, he recalled the cavalry of Hompesch, and joining them with additional squadrons, prepared to charge the enemy, who were rapidly filing in good order along the skirt of the wood towards Morselingen. Such an attack would probably have terminated in the utter ruin of their whole army; but it was prevented by one of those accidents which often occur in the confusion of battles. The troops of Eugene appeared behind those of the enemy, in a situation to bear on the flank of the victorious cavalry; and as the fall of night, and the clouds of smoke which hung over the field, rendered the view indistinct, they were mistaken for a part of the electoral army. Marlborough, therefore, countermanded the order for harassing the Gallo-Bavarians in their

retreat; and although closely pursued by the cavalry of Eugene, they drew up under cover of the wood between Lutzingen and Morselingen. Having collected the remnant of the defeated wing, they fell back on the approach of night in the direction of Dillingen.

The fate of the troops posted in Blenheim still remained undecided. They had witnessed the effect of the battle without making any attempt to escape, because the officer despatched with the order had been prevented from reaching the village by the last fatal charge. Finding themselves insulated by the defeat of the cavalry, they used the utmost exertion to maintain their post to the last extremity. The commander, Monsieur de Clerambault, being lost in the Danube, they were left without a chief and without orders, but awaited their destiny with a firmness which merited a better fate.

As soon as the plain was cleared, General Churchill left his infantry towards the rear of the village, and extended his right flank to the Danube; while General Meredith, with the Queen's regiment, took possession of a small barrier which had been formed to preserve a communication along the bank with Hochstadt. These movements roused the enemy from a sullen desperation. They first attempted to escape by the rear of the village, and being repulsed, rushed towards the road leading to Sonderheim. Here they were again checked by the Scots Greys, who had been led forward to the crest of the acclivity by General Lumley. They finally attempted to emerge by the opening towards Oberglauh, when eight squadrons of horse under General Ross compelled them again to take refuge behind the houses and inclosures.

Though encompassed by inevitable perils, they obstinately maintained their post, and it became necessary to recur to a general attack on every accessible point of the village. Lord Cutts was ordered to occupy their attention on the side of the Nebel, while Lord Orkney, with eight battalions, attacked the churchyard, and General Ingolsby, with four more, supported by the dragoons of Ross, endeavoured to penetrate on the side of the opening towards Oberglauh. Several batteries, planted within musket shot, co-operated in these

attacks, and one of the howitzers set fire to several houses and barns.

A vigorous conflict appeared likely to ensue. But on one side the prospect of a sanguinary, though successful attack, and on the other of a fruitless, though destructive defence, induced the contending parties to spare the effusion of blood. A parley took place, and the French proposed a capitulation ; but General Churchill, riding forward, insisted on an unconditional surrender. No resource remained: to resist was hopeless, to escape impossible. With despair and indignation the troops submitted to their fate; and the regiment of Navarre, in particular, burned their colours, and buried their arms, that such trophies might not remain to grace the triumph of an enemy. Twenty-four battalions and twelve squadrons, with all their officers, surrendered themselves. prisoners of war; and thus closed the mighty struggle of this eventful day.

The field being cleared of the enemy, and night approaching, the Duke ordered the army to be drawn up, with the left extending to Sonderheim, the right towards Morselingen, and the soldiers to lie all night under arms, on the field of battle. They quickly possessed themselves of the enemy's tents, with great quantities of vegetables. Nearer the Danube lay about a hundred oxen, which were to have been distributed to the hostile troops. These were no unwelcome booty to the victorious soldiers, after their long and hard services.

After this, his Grace gave orders for dressing the wounded, and putting them under cover. Then he made a repartition of the prisoners, who amounted to eleven or twelve thousand men. The enemy had at least as many more killed or wounded. These prisoners, with their generals, being divided and disarmed, were ordered to the adjacent villages, in the rear of our army, guarded by several squadrons of horse and dragoons.

Such a battle was not to be gained without heavy loss on the side of the victors. The French and Bavarians had been strongly posted, and had fought well. In the armies of Marlborough and Eugene about four thousand five hundred were killed, and about seven thousand five hundred wounded.

With the exception of the Prince of Holstein Beck, and the brave Brigadier Rowe, few officers of high rank were killed; but Lord North and Lord Mordaunt were among the wounded.

During the whole of this tremendous conflict, the Duke of Marlborough exerted himself with his characteristic coolness, vigilance, and energy, superintending the manoeuvres in every part, and appearing in every point where the presence of the general was necessary, to revive the courage, to restore the order, or to direct the attacks of his troops.*

Following so closely on the disaster of Schellenberg, the great battle of Blenheim quite destroyed the confident French prestige; and the name of Marlborough became in France a watchword of fear.

According to their own confessions, as contained in letters that were intercepted by Marlborough's troopers, the French and Bavarians lost in the battle, and the consequent flight, nearly forty thousand men. Thousands were drowned in the Danube; thousands were lost in the precipitate retreat to the Black Forest, either by desertion, or by the pursuit of hussars and vindictive peasants, who made a great slaughter of the stragglers. So decisive an action had not been fought for ages: the Gallo-Bavarian army may be said to have been annihilated.

• Archdeacon Coxe, Memoirs of Marlborough. Dr. Hare's Journal.

RAMILIES.

A. D. 1706. Whitsunday, May 23.

THROUGH the short-comings of our allies, the war was again transferred to the Low Countries, and was even there languidly conducted for some time. But even in the year 1705, Marlborough, with rare skill and promptitude, broke the celebrated French lines, which were held by Marshal Villeroi and the Elector of Bavaria, and which had been carefully fortified. The whole of that year's campaign proved how well our great general knew the art of war, and really did him as much honour as the more brilliant campaign of 1704.

In 1706, the opposing armies took the field rather more early than usual. The exertions of Marlborough to get all the confederate troops in readiness were painfully long. But once ready he felt sure of success.

"With courage on he goes; doth execute

With counsel; and returns with victory." *

On the 22nd of May, having drawn towards the Lower Gheet, the Duke of Marlborough encamped with his right at Borchloen, and his left at Corswaren. He received intelligence that the Danish troops he expected to join him, were arrived at a point not three miles off. This accession would bring up his army to seventy-three battalions, and one hundred and twenty-three squadrons, making a total of about sixty thousand men; which so nearly approached the force of the enemy, as to leave very little cause for apprehending the result of a battle. In the mean time, the French had crossed the Great Gheet, and were moving on Judoigne, where they could draw no great advantage of position either from nature or from art. Marlborough re

• Daniel.