William was succeeded by the princess Anne, who had married George prince of Denmark. She .ascend cd the throne in the thirty-eighth year of her age, to the general satisfaction of all parties. She had been taught by her relations of the Clarendon family to favour the Tories ; but the influence which the countess of Marl borough, whose husband headed the opposite faction, prevailed against Rochester, and those who opposed the war with France. When the privy council had there fore assembled and deliberated, the queen declared her intention of continuing warlike preparations, and abid ing the cause of her allies. Her promise was confirm ed by the arrival of the earl of Marlborough as ambas sador to the states, who inspirited the Dutch, and con certed the operations of the campaign. By agreement, war was declared against France, in one day, at Vienna, London, and the flame. Marlborough, who had been named by the queen commander of forces both abroad and at home, was chosen by the allies generally. a. of the whole army. An indefatigable warrior in the camp, and a skilful politician in the court, he be came the most fatal enemy to France that England had produced since the days of Cressy and Agincourt. He had learnt the art of war under Turenne, in whose army he was known by the name of the handsome English man, and, from his early displays of skill and gallantry, Turenne himself had predicted his greatness. To this general was opposed, on the side of France, the duke of Burgundy, grandson of the king : a youth more fitted to grace a court than to conduct an army, but who was supported by the talents of the marshal Boufflers, his second in command. In the first campaign Marlborough repaired to the camp of the allies at Nimegnen, where he found himself at the head of 60,000 men By motions at once bold and sagacious, he obliged the French to re tire before him, without their daring to hazard a pitch ed battle ; drove them out of Spanish Guelderland ; and, having concluded the campaign by taking Liege, returned to reap his honours in London, where he was thanked by the House of Commons, and created a duke by the queen.
The national arms were less successful by sca. Sir John Munden was dismissed the service for suffering a French squadron to escape into Corunna.- Admiral Benbow, in the West Indies, attacked a squadron of the enemy ; but, being supported by only one ship, through the cowardice or treachery of his captains, he fought with unavailing gallantry against ,superior num bers, till his own ship lay like a wreck in the water, while the enemy escaped. The captains Wade and Kirby, who deserted him, were shot on their return to Plymouth, and others of his officers were disgraced. An attempt was made upon Cadiz by a force of 50 ships of the line, under sir George Rooks, and 14,000 men on board, commanded by the duke of Ormond ; but the troops were reimbarked, after sending an ineffectual summons to Fort St Catharine. At Vigo, however, the same commanders retrieved their honour by the capture or destruction of 18 French ships of war, and the spoils of 11 galleons, with above a million of silver.
The glory of Marlborough's .first campaign only in cited the nation to aim at new triumphs. The I louse of Commons voted 40,000 seamen, and the same num ber of soldiers (an .additional 10,000 were soon after
voted) to act in concert with the allies ; and Marlbo rough returned to the field with greater confidence and larger authority than before. lie opened the cam paign on the Rhine by taking Bonn, the residence of the Elector of Cologne ; he next retook Huy, Limbourg, and became master of all the lower Rhine. In 1704, the presence of the Duke of Marlborough was loudly demanded by the emperor, who was pressed by the arms of France. Marlborough took with him about !3,000 English troops, advanced by hasty marches to the banks of the Danube, and, having defeated a body of French and Bavarians at Donawert, who were sta tioned to oppose him, crossed the river, and laid Bava ria under contribution. Villeroy, who had superseded the duke's late opponent Bouffiers, could not watch, much less oppose, the active movements of the English commander. Marshal Tallard, however, prepared by another route to obstruct the Duke of Marlborough's retreat with 30,000 men ; and, being joined by the Duke of Bavaria, those two generals, the most reputed in France, were now at the head of 60,000 disciplined ve terans. On the other hand, the Duke of Marlborough was joined by the imperial general Prince Eugene, whose talents and designs coalesced admirably with his own. Their combined army amounted to 52,000. As the battle which ensued, both from the talents of the commanders and the discipline of the troops, is reckoned the most remarkable in the earliest part of the last cen tury, it has been generally given in minute detail.
The French, under Tallard, were posted on a hill near the town of ilochstet ; their right being covered by the Danube and the village of Blenheim, their left by time village of Lutzengen, and their front by a rivulet, the sides of which were steep, and the bottom marshy. In this strong position, they rather waited than offered battle ; but Marlborough and Eugene resolved to attack them, and advanced upon a plain in their front. The cannonading began at nine in the morning, and conti nued to about half after twelve. Marlborough then passed the rivulet at the head of the English, and at tacked Tallard's cavalry on the right. That general was, at the time, reviewing his troops on the left, and his cavalry fought for sonic time without his presence. It was an hour before prince Eugene could bring up his forces to attack the other wing of the enemy commanded by the Elector of Bavaria. When Tallard had repaired to the scene of Marlborough's attack, he found that the French cavalry had been thrice repulsed, and had ral lied as often. He had posted a large body of troops in the village, and attempted to bring them to the charge ; but these could hardly maintain their ground, being furi ously charged by a detachment of the English. All the French cavalry being thus attacked in flank, was totally defeated. The English army, already hall victorious, pierced up between the two wings of the French, while the forces in the village of Blenheim were separated by another detachment. In this terrible situation, Tallard flew to rally some of his squadrons; but, from shortness of sight, he mistook a Hessian for a French corps, and was made prisoner. Prince Eugene, in the mean time, had been thrice repulsed on the left, but at last broke the enemy.