So strong were the
defences, however, so desperate the resistance offered by the brave
body of Frenchmen, who were now alone against an army, that the
infantry attack was beaten back. The guns were then brought up, and
opened fire, and the French, whose case was now hopeless,
surrendered.
The battle of Blenheim was over. In this great battle Marlborough's
army lost 5000 men, Eugene's 6000. In all 11,000 men. The French
and Bavarians lost in killed and wounded 12,000, together with 1200
officers and 13,000 privates made prisoners, and 47 cannon. Their
total loss, including desertions in their retreat through the Black
Forest, was estimated by their own historians at 40,000 men--a
defeat as complete and disastrous as that of Waterloo.
Chapter 14: The Riot at Dort.
The Duke of Marlborough lost no time in utilizing the advantages
gained by the victory of Blenheim. He at once raised the siege of
Ingoldstadt, which, when all the country was in his power, must
sooner or later surrender, and detached a portion of the force
which had been there engaged to besiege Ulm, an important fortress
on the Danube. Then with the bulk of his army he marched to the
Rhine, crossed at Philipsburg on the 6th of September, and advanced
towards Landau.
Marshal Villeroi had constructed an entrenched camp to cover the
town; but on the approach of the victor of Blenheim he fell back,
leaving Landau to its fate.
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