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| French infantry deploy |
Lest I forget! Today is the anniversary of that 'dine out' Waterloo of the 18th century... The Battle of Blindheim. Giving acknowledgement to this great feat of arms is completely justified. It was an astounding and decisive victory.
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| British squadrons and Blood's artillery |
What should not be forgotten is that in achieving this signal triumph, the bleeding was done by a Grand Alliance force. fourteen from sixty-nine infantry battalions and thirteen from one hundred and fifty seven squadrons were British meaning, 21% of the infantry and 8% of the cavalry hailed from the Sceptred Isle. Of those 14, 7 were English, 4 Scots, 2 Welsh and 1 Irish. Of the 13 squadrons 10 were English, 2 Irish and 1 Scots.
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| French Allies on home soil - The Elector's Bavarians |
42 battalions were German including 14 Prussian, 7 battalions were Danish, 2 were Swiss, 3 were Dutch. 21 squadrons were Danish, 34 were Austrian with the rest being from German states either aligned to the Austrian Empire or acting as subsidy troops to the Maritime Powers.
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| English infantry painted by the real Bob Lorton |
Command was shared by two men recognized as pre-eminent generals in their age; John Churchill, Duke of Marlborough and his French co-leader Prince Eugene of Savoy, the doyen of the Imperial Army. Having rejected his French heritage and embraced the Habsburg Empire, he enjoys far greater prominence beyond Anglo-Saxon shores. Marlborough commands roughly two thirds of the army on the day and Eugene one third which has been the main reason in the UK at least for Blenheim being appropriated as a British victory.
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| More of Bob Lorton's wonderful work |
There is no doubting the effort expended by the British contingent but it has been allowed to overshadow the efforts of the rest of the army much of which fought just as hard to deliver the great victory.
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| Crossing the Nebel |
Although I have fought sections of Blenheim many times I have run the full battle only once which resulted in a French victory. It is a great wargaming experience particularly if run as a multiplayer event. Alas, I have no digitial pictures of that great game which involved Graham Cummings, Gordon McLean, the late Lee Maxwell and David Shuttleworth amongst others.
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| The bulk of the cavalry was Imperial or German - more than 30 Cuirassier squadrons |
So raise a glass today to Corporal John, Prince Eugen and all the victors of this epic struggle and don't forget that it was a hard won victory against a very determined and brave Franco-Bavarian Army!
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| The Prussian contingent was more or less as large as the British. |
I hope you enjoy this little commemoration.
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| The ubiquitous Danes were there too - Anything for a Thaler! |