Editing Battle of Blenheim (section)

===Protagonists march to the Danube===
[[File:March to the Danube 1704.png|thumb|180px|right|Map of the march to the Danube, May 1704 to August 1704]]
[[File:Hendrik van Nassau-Ouwerkerk.jpg|thumb|180px|right|[[Henry de Nassau, Lord Overkirk]], took control of Allied forces in the Netherlands]]

{{blockquote|A scarlet caterpillar, upon which all eyes were at once fixed, began to crawl steadfastly day by day across the map of Europe, dragging the whole war with it. – [[Winston Churchill]]{{sfn|Churchill|1934|p=324}}}}

Marlborough's march started on 19 May from [[Bedburg]], {{cvt|32|km}} northwest of [[Cologne]]. The army assembled by Marlborough's brother, General [[Charles Churchill (British Army general)|Charles Churchill]], consisted of 66 [[Squadron (cavalry)|squadrons]] of [[cavalry]], 31 [[battalion]]s of [[infantry]] and 38 guns and mortars, totalling 21,000 men, 16,000 of whom were British.{{sfn|Chandler|2003|p=128}}{{efn|The initial force of 21,000 men were accompanied by 1,700 supply carts drawn by 5,000 draught horses. The artillery needed as many more.{{sfn|Phelan|1990|p=36}}}} This force was augmented en route, and by the time it reached the Danube it numbered 40,000{{snd}}47 battalions and 88 squadrons. While Marlborough led this army south, the Dutch general, [[Henry de Nassau, Lord Overkirk|Henry Overkirk, Count of Nassau]], maintained a defensive position in the [[Dutch Republic]] against the possibility of Villeroi mounting an attack. Marlborough had assured the Dutch that if the French were to launch an offensive he would return in good time, but he calculated that as he marched south, the French army would be drawn after him.{{sfn|Falkner|2004|p=19}} In this assumption Marlborough proved correct: Villeroi shadowed him with 30,000 men in 60 squadrons and 42 battalions.{{sfn|Chandler|2003|p=129}}{{efn|Barnett and Coxe states 45 squadrons and 36 battalions.}} Marlborough wrote to Godolphin: "I am very sensible that I take a great deal upon me, but should I act otherwise, the Empire would be undone ..."{{sfn|Webb|2013|p=59}}

In the meantime, the appointment of Henry Overkirk as [[Field Marshal]] caused significant controversy in the Dutch Republic. After the [[Godert de Ginkel, 1st Earl of Athlone|Earl of Athlone]]'s death, the Dutch States General had put Overkirk in charge of the [[Dutch States Army]], which led to much discontent among the other high-ranking Dutch generals. [[Ernst Wilhelm von Salisch]], [[Daniël van Dopff]] and [[Menno van Coehoorn]] threatened to resign or go into the service of other countries, although all were eventually convinced to stay. The new infantry generals were also disgruntled — the [[Frederik Johan van Baer|Lord of Slangenburg]] because he had to serve the less experienced Overkirk; and the [[Jacques-Louis Comte de Noyelles|Count of Noyelles]] because he had to serve the orders of the 'insupportable' Slangenburg. Then there was the major problem of the position of the [[John William Friso|Prince of Orange]]. The provinces of [[States of Friesland|Friesland]] and [[Groningen (province)|Groningen]] demanded that their 17-year-old [[stadtholder]] be appointed supreme infantry general. This divided the parties so much that a second [[:nl:Grote Vergadering|Grand Assembly]], as had existed in 1651, was considered. However, after pressure from the other provinces, Friesland and Groningen adjusted their demands and a compromise was found. The Prince of Orange would nominally be appointed infantry general, behind Slangenburg and Noyelles, but he would not really be in command until he was 20.{{sfn|Wijn|1956|pp=409–410}}

While the Allies were making their preparations, the French were striving to maintain and re-supply Marsin. He had been operating with Maximilian II against Margrave Louis William, and was somewhat isolated from France: his only lines of communication lay through the rocky passes of the [[Black Forest]]. On 14 May, Tallard brought 8,000 reinforcements and vast supplies and munitions through the difficult terrain, whilst outmanoeuvring {{ill|Johann Karl von Thüngen|de}}, the Imperial general who sought to block his path.{{sfn|Falkner|2004|p=20}} Tallard then returned with his own force to the Rhine, once again side-stepping Thüngen's efforts to intercept him.{{sfn|Falkner|2004|p=20}}{{efn|Chandler, p. 131, states that many men were lost on the return journey through desertion.}}

On 26 May, Marlborough reached [[Coblenz]], where the Moselle meets the [[Rhine]]. If he intended an attack along the Moselle his army would now have to turn west; instead it crossed to the right bank of the Rhine, and was reinforced by 5,000 waiting [[Hanoverians]] and [[Prussia]]ns.{{sfn|Tincey|2004|p=31}} The French realised that there would be no campaign on the Moselle.{{sfn|Falkner|2004|p=22}} A second possible objective now occurred to them{{snd}}an Allied incursion into Alsace and an attack on Strasbourg. Marlborough furthered this apprehension by constructing bridges across the Rhine at [[Philippsburg]], a ruse that not only encouraged Villeroi to come to Tallard's aid in the defence of Alsace, but one that ensured the French plan to march on Vienna was delayed while they waited to see what Marlborough's army would do.{{sfn|Barnett|1999|p=89}}

Encouraged by Marlborough's promise to return to the Netherlands if a French attack developed there, transferring his troops up the Rhine on barges at a rate of {{cvt|130|km|-1}} a day, the Dutch States General agreed to release the [[Danish Auxiliary Corps in Anglo-Dutch service 1701–1714|Danish contingent]] of seven battalions and 22 squadrons as reinforcements.{{sfn|Chandler|2003|p=129}} Marlborough reached [[Ladenburg]], in the plain of the [[Neckar]] and the Rhine, and there halted for three days to rest his cavalry and allow the guns and infantry to close up.{{sfn|Barnett|1999|p=91}} On 6 June he arrived at [[Wiesloch]], south of [[Heidelberg]]. The following day, the Allied army swung away from the Rhine towards the hills of the [[Swabian Jura]] and the Danube beyond. At last Marlborough's destination{{Clarify|date=November 2023|reason=What was the assumed destination? "The Danube" is a bit too vague}} was established without doubt.{{sfn|Barnett|1999|p=91}}