Page:Great Men and Famous Women Volume 2.djvu/36

 220 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS was approaching ; and, buoyed up by expectation, replied, " Since you have com- pelled me to draw the sword, I have thrown away the scabbard ! " Prince Eugene had hastened from the Rhine to join Marlborough, with a force of eighteen thousand men, and reached the plains of Hochstadt by the time Tallard joined the Elector. As the prince and Marlborough proceeded to survey the ground, previous to taking up their position, they perceived some squadrons of the enemy at a distance. The two generals mounted the steeple of a church close by, and, with their glasses, discovered the quarter-masters of the enemy marking out a camp between Blenheim and Ltitzingen. Charmed beyond meas- ure, they resolved to give battle before the enemy could strengthen themselves in their new position. Some officers, who knew the strength of the ground selected by the enemy, ventured to remonstrate, and to advise that no action should be hazarded. " I know the dangers of the case," said Marlborough, who had not made up his mind without due consideration, " but a battle is absolutely neces- sary ; and as for success, I rely on the hope that the discipline and courage of the troops will make amends for all disadvantages." Orders being issued for a general engagement, the whole army commenced preparations with cheerfulness and alacrity. Marlborough showed that he was resolved to conquer or to die in the at- tempt. Part of the night he passed in prayer, and toward morning received the sacrament. Then, after taking a short sleep, he concerted the arrangements for the action with Prince Eugene, particularly pointing out to the surgeons the proper place for the wounded. The forces of the duke and the prince formed an army of 33;5oo infantry and 18,400 cavalry. They were opposed by a force of 56,000 men. About six o'clock in the morning, Marlborough and Eugene took their sta- tion on a rising ground, and calling all the generals, gave the directions for the attack. The army then marched into the plain ; and being formed in order of battle, the chaplains performed service at the head of each regiment. The morning being hazy, the French and Bavarians did not even suspect the approach of their enemies, and were completely taken by surprise. A large gun boomed forth the signal for the onset ; and as great a battle was fought as the memory of man ever heard of. A panic seized the whole of the troops which composed the right of the French army, and they fled like a flock of sheep be- fore the victorious English, deaf to the threats and entreaties of their command- ers, and without observing whither their flight led them. A body of cavalry, the best and most renowned in the whole army, seized with fear, hurried away Marshal Tallard with them in their flight ; and, void of all thought, threw them- selves by squadrons into the Danube, men and horses, officers and troopers to- gether. Some escaped ; but the greater portion, who had sought to avoid an un- certain death on the field of battle and honor, found a certain and shameful death in the river. The poor marshal, after vainly endeavoring to stem this tor- rent of despair, was obliged to surrender himself a prisoner of war with several other general officers in his company. The defeat then became complete. Of