Editing Battle of Blenheim (section)

===Final positioning===
[[Image:Maneuvers before the Battle of Blenheim, 6-13 August 1704.gif|thumb|250px|[[Maneuver warfare|Manoeuvres]] before the battle, 9–13 August]]

Tallard, with 34,000 men, reached Ulm, joining with Maximilian and Marsin at Augsburg on 5 August, although Maximilian had dispersed his army in response to Marlborough's campaign of ravaging the region.{{sfn|Falkner|2004|p=44}}{{efn|Lynn (2013, p. 290) states Tallard reached Augsburg on 3 August.}} Also on 5 August, Prince Eugene reached [[Höchstädt an der Donau|Höchstädt]], riding that same night to meet with Marlborough at [[Schrobenhausen]]. Marlborough knew that another crossing point over the Danube was required in case Donauwörth fell to the enemy; so on 7 August, the first of Margrave Louis William's 15,000 Imperial troops left Marlborough's main force to besiege the heavily defended city of [[Ingolstadt]], {{cvt|32|km}} farther down the Danube, with the remainder following two days later.{{sfn|Holmes|2008|p=279}}{{efn|Modern historians including Falkner, Holmes and David consider this may have been a device to get the "cautious and obstructive Margrave out of the way". In a letter of 31 July 1704 Marlborough assured the Dutch statesman [[Anthonie Heinsius]] that the decision to commence a siege was sound.{{sfn|Falkner|2014|p=66}}{{sfn|Holmes|2008|p=279}}{{sfn|David|2012|p=103}}}}

[[File:August Allebé - Anno 1704. Willem Vleertman verkent het terrein bij Höchstadt - SA 4856 - Amsterdam Museum.jpg|thumb|left|150px|Dutch officer [[Willem Vleertman]] scouts the marshy terrain near Blenheim at the risk of his own life]]

With Prince Eugene's forces at Höchstädt on the north bank of the Danube, and Marlborough's at Rain on the south bank, Tallard and Maximilian debated their next move. Tallard preferred to bide his time, replenish supplies and allow Marlborough's Danube campaign to flounder in the colder autumn weather; Maximilian and Marsin, newly reinforced, were keen to push ahead. The French and Bavarian commanders eventually agreed to attack Prince Eugene's smaller force. On 9 August, the Franco-Bavarian forces began to cross to the north bank of the Danube.{{sfn|Falkner|2004|p=47}} On 10 August, Prince Eugene sent an urgent dispatch reporting that he was falling back to Donauwörth. By a series of swift marches Marlborough concentrated his forces on Donauwörth and, by noon 11 August, the link-up was complete.{{sfn|Chandler|2003|p=141}}

During 11 August, Tallard pushed forward from the river crossings at Dillingen. By 12 August, the Franco-Bavarian forces were encamped behind the small River Nebel near the village of [[Blindheim|Blenheim]] on the plain of Höchstädt. On the same day, Marlborough and Prince Eugene carried out a reconnaissance of the French position from the church spire at [[Tapfheim]], and moved their combined forces to [[Münster, Bavaria|Münster]] – {{cvt|8|km|mi|0|spell=on}} from the French camp. A French reconnaissance under [[Jacques Joseph Vipart, Marquis de Silly]] went forward to probe the enemy, but were driven off by Allied troops who had deployed to cover the [[Pioneer (military)|pioneers]] of the advancing army, labouring to bridge the numerous streams in the area and improve the passage leading westwards to Höchstädt.{{sfn|Churchill|2002|p=842}}{{efn|The French had captured four prisoners. Under examination they declared that the whole Allied army was going to move off towards Nördlingen the next morning.{{sfn|Churchill|2002|p=842}}}} Marlborough quickly moved forward two brigades under the command of Lieutenant General [[John Wilkes (soldier)|John Wilkes]] and Brigadier [[Archibald Rowe]] to secure the narrow strip of land between the Danube and the wooded Fuchsberg hill, at the [[Schwenningen, Bavaria|Schwenningen]] defile.{{sfn|Coxe|1847|p=188}} Tallard's army numbered 56,000 men and 90 guns; the army of the [[Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg)|Grand Alliance]], 52,000 men and 66 guns. Some Allied officers who were acquainted with the superior numbers of the enemy, and aware of their strong defensive position, remonstrated with Marlborough about the hazards of attacking; but he was resolute –{{sfn|Coxe|1847|p=188}} partly because the Dutch officer [[Willem Vleertman]] had scouted the marshy ground before them and reported that the land was perfectly suitable for the troops.{{sfn|De Witt|1912}}