General D'Arco, the French commanding officer, withdrew some of his
men from the centre to hold the Prince of Baden in check; and
Marlborough profited by the confusion so caused to endeavour, for
the fourth time, to carry the hill. His force was however, now
fearfully weakened; and General Lumley, after conferring with him
for a moment, rode back to the cavalry.
"The 5th dragoons will dismount and join the infantry," he said.
In a moment every soldier was on his feet; and five minutes later
the regiment, marching side by side with the infantry, advanced up
the hill.
This time the assault was successful. The enemy, confused by the
fact that the allies had already forced their line on the left,
wavered. Their fire was wild and ineffectual; and with a tremendous
cheer the allies scaled the height and burst into the works. Close
behind them General Lumley led his cavalry, who made their way
through the gaps in the entrenchments, and fell upon the fugitives
with dreadful slaughter. The French and Bavarians fled to a bridge
across the Danube below Donauwoerth, which, choked by their weight,
gave way, and great numbers were drowned. The rest retreated
through Donauwoerth, their rear being gallantly covered by General
D'Arco, with a small body of troops who held together. Sixteen guns
and thirteen standards fell into the victors' hands.
The loss of the allies, considering the force that they brought
into the field--for the main army had not arrived when the victory
was decided--was extraordinary, for out of a total of 10,500 men,
including cavalry, they lost 1500 killed, and 4000 wounded, or more
than half their force; and the greater part of these were English,
for upon them fell the whole brunt of the fighting.
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