In these hopes, however, he was thwarted. The Prince of Baden would
do nothing beyond defending his own dominion. The cabinets of
Berlin and Copenhagen fell to quarrelling, and both refused to
supply their promised contingents. The Hanoverians and Hessians had
also grievances, and refused to join in any general plan, or to
send their troops to form part of the allied army. Thus all ideas
of a campaign in the south were destroyed; but Marlborough
persuaded the Dutch to send 10,000 of the troops in their pay
across the Alps to assist Prince Eugene, under the promise that he
with the English and Dutch troops would defend Flanders.
So the campaign commenced; and on the 19th of May Marlborough
joined his army, which lay encamped on the Dyle, on the French
frontier. On the 22nd a Danish contingent, which had at the last
moment been dispatched in answer to an urgent appeal of the duke,
arrived; and his army now consisted of 73 battalions and 123
squadrons, in all 60,000 men, with 120 guns. Marshal Villeroi's
force, which lay on the other side of the Dyle, consisted of 74
battalions and 128 squadrons--62,000 men, with 130 guns. They had
also, as at Blenheim, the advantage that the troops were all of one
nationality, and accustomed to act together, while Marlborough's
army consisted of troops of three nations, at least half of them
new to war, and unused to act with each other.
Marlborough opened the campaign by moving towards Tirlemont, with a
view of laying siege to Namur, where many of the citizens were
anxious to throw off the French yoke.
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