I have not endeavored to recount in detail the campaigns of the Duke of Marlborough, and the continual efforts that he made to obtain the assistance of the allied powers, as well as to control and harmonize their diverse and contradictory wills. Under an amiable and seductive exterior, Marlborough possessed by nature a character calm and impassive. He had not only to struggle against the obstinacy and patriotic restlessness of the Dutch, which all the zeal and authority of Heinsius could not control, but also against the slowness of the emperor and the intestine quarrels of the empire. The campaign of 1703 was constantly hindered by these petty jealousies. At the beginning of the year 1704, the general wrote to Godolphin: "I augur so ill of this campaign that I am extremely discouraged. May God's will be done, but I have great reasons for anxiety. In all the other campaigns I saw something definite for the common cause; this year all that I am able to hope is that some fortunate accident may permit me to arrive at a good result." Nevertheless it was in the same year, 1704, that Marlborough, in the 54th year of his age, laid the foundations of his glory.
The French commander, Marshal Villars, a braggart and a boaster, but bold, ingenious and resolute, had gained some successes in the preceding campaign. In 1704 he was detained in France by the Camisard insurrection. Marshals Tallard and Marsin commanded the French armies in Germany, and these were reinforced by the Elector of Bavaria. The emperor, threatened by a new insurrection, recalled Prince Eugene from Italy, where the Duke of Savoy had abandoned Louis XIV. and joined the Grand Alliance; and Marlborough united his forces with those of the prince by a rapid march, that Marshal Villeroi endeavored in vain to intercept.
On the 13th of August the hostile armies encountered each other between Blenheim and Hochstardt, near the Danube. The opposing forces were nearly equal, but on the part of the French the command was divided, and the corps acted separately. It was to the honor of both the Prince Eugene and the Duke of Marlborough, that during this long war they always combined their operations without jealousy or personal intrigue. "We, the Prince Eugene and I, will never quarrel about our share of the laurels." The prince had with great difficulty succeeded in conducting his troops to their assigned post. While this movement was in progress, public prayers were begun in the allied army. "The English chaplains," says Lord Macaulay, "read the service at the head of the English regiments. The Calvinistic chaplains of the Dutch army, with heads on which hand of Bishop had never been laid, poured forth their supplications in front of their countrymen. In the mean time, the Danes might listen to their Lutheran ministers, and capuchins might encourage the Austrian squadrons, and pray to the Virgin for a blessing on the arms of the Holy Roman Empire. The battle commences. These men, of various religions, all act like members of one body."
Marshal Tallard had sustained alone the attack of the English and Dutch under Marlborough; he was made prisoner; his son was killed at his side; the cavalry, deprived of their leader and driven by the enemy, fled in the direction of the Danube. Many officers and soldiers perished in the stream; the massacre was frightful. Marsin and the Elector repulsed five successive charges of Prince Eugene, and succeeded in securing their retreat; but the electorates of Bavaria and Cologne were lost. Landau was recaptured by the allies after a siege of two months. The French army recrossed the Rhine. Alsace was gained, and Germany was evacuated. "If the success of Prince Eugene had equalled his merit," said Marlborough, "we would have ended the war in this campaign."
The return of the Duke of Marlborough to England was a veritable triumph. Parliament and the queen vied with each other in generosity towards him. He received as a gift the estate of Woodstock, which took the name of Blenheim. The foundations of a magnificent palace were laid. In vain did the Tories, already envious of the duke, seek to rival his victorious campaign, by the maritime successes of Sir George Rooke; all eyes were fixed upon the general, all hope centered on him; his influence in England was equal to his power upon the continent. "If the duke gains the same successes in 1705 as he has gained in 1704," said the Tories, "the constitution of England will be lost." The discontented were reassured.
The brilliant results of the campaign of 1705, in Spain, under the Earl of Peterborough (formerly Lord Mordaunt), were counteracted, in Germany, by the internal discords of the Grand Alliance. Masters of Gibraltar since 1704, the English, in 1705, seized Barcelona. Bold, enterprising and peculiar, but of brilliant personal valor, Peterborough had taken possession of Barcelona in spite of his lieutenants and his soldiers. He rallied and led back to the assault the flying troops. Galloping to meet them and flourishing a half broken pike in his hand, he cried, "Return, and follow me, if you do not want the eternal infamy of having deserted your post and abandoned your general."
"We have been the object of a miracle," wrote he to the Duchess of Marlborough. "I know what was the temper of our nation, especially during the month of November. I believe, however, that one ought not to complain, but we are as poor as church mice, without money, and miracles are not sufficient."