The bulk of the army was on the right bank. On the left bank was
the height of Schellenberg, covering the passage of the river at
Donauwoerth, and held by 12,000 men, including 2500 horse. Along
the front of this hill was an old rampart, which the French were
engaged in strengthening when the allied army arrived. The latter
were not when they came up, according to the ordinary military
idea, in a condition to attack. Their camp had been broken up at
three in the morning, and it was two in the afternoon before they
arrived, after a long and fatiguing march, in front of the enemy's
position.
Thinking that it was probable that he would be forced to fight
immediately upon arriving, Marlborough had selected 530 picked men
from each battalion, amounting to 6000 men, together with thirty
squadrons of horse, as an advance guard; and close behind them
followed three regiments of Imperial grenadiers, under Prince
Louis. The total strength of this force was 10,500 men.
The French and Bavarian generals did not expect an attack, knowing
the distance that the troops had marched, and therefore quietly
continued their work of strengthening the entrenchments. The Duke
of Marlborough, seeing the work upon which they were engaged,
determined to attack at once, for, as he said to the Prince of
Baden, who wished to allow the men a night's rest, "Every hour we
delay will cost us a thousand men." Orders were therefore given for
an instant assault upon the hill of Schellenberg.
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