Got side-tracked from playing Campaign’s of Marlborough and got to thinking how on earth did Marlborough manage to win the Battle of Blenheim?
The French defensive position was almost perfect. Terrain wise, the only flaw was that a possible retreat of the French right wing would be blocked by the Danube River. The Battle Plan was sound, 3 fortified villages would enfilade Allied brigades assaulting both the Ditches & Thickets Area and the Sloped Fields Area with heavy artillery fire.
The French defensive position was almost perfect. Terrain wise, the only flaw was that a possible retreat of the French right wing would be blocked by the Danube River. The Battle Plan was sound, 3 fortified villages would enfilade Allied brigades assaulting both the Ditches & Thickets Area and the Sloped Fields Area with heavy artillery fire.
During the battle the Allies carried out 2 grand tactical moves. Marlborough moved Lumley to the Sloped Fields Area and Eugene moved Valsassina to the Ditches & Thickets Area. If the French had managed to move Marinvaux to the Sloped Fields Area I have come to the conclusion that the likely outcome of the Battle of Blenheim would have been a retreat by the Allied Army.
Mérode-Westerloo later gave a description of the terrible circumstance the Blenheim garrison found themselves in. “The village was in flames and the troops were so constricted that they suffered extra losses because enemy fire was bound to hit someone. "
Mérode-Westerloo later gave a description of the terrible circumstance the Blenheim garrison found themselves in. “The village was in flames and the troops were so constricted that they suffered extra losses because enemy fire was bound to hit someone. "
| Blenheim OB.pdf |
| Blenheim Deployment.pdf |
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