How a bloody two-hour assault on a hill changed the War of the Spanish Succession
In July 1704, the Duke of Marlborough faced a desperate choice: a slow siege or a brutal, direct storming of the fortified Schellenberg heights. With the enemy reinforcements closing in, he chose the latter. The resulting two-hour slaughter secured a vital Danube bridgehead but cost thousands of Allied lives.
The Battle of Schellenberg, fought on 2 July 1704, was a pivotal moment in the War of the Spanish Succession. Marlborough aimed to protect Vienna from Franco-Bavarian forces by seizing Donauwörth, a strategic town on the Danube. To defend this position, Count d'Arco was sent with 12,000 men to fortify the Schellenberg heights, a commanding position featuring dilapidated 70-year-old defences, including a fort built by Gustavus Adolphus during the Thirty Years' War.
Marlborough, commanding 22,000 Allied troops, rejected a protracted siege after learning that Marshal Tallard was marching with 35,000 reinforcements. The assault began at 18:00. Two initial charges by Allied infantry were repulsed with heavy losses, including the death of General Johan Wijnand van Goor. However, the intensity of these attacks drew d'Arco’s forces away from his left flank, leaving it vulnerable. The Margrave of Baden, leading Imperial troops, exploited this gap to breach the defences near the town walls.
The breakthrough turned the tide, leading to a rout of the Franco-Bavarian defenders. As they fled, a pontoon bridge collapsed, causing many to drown in the Danube. The victory was costly; over 5,000 Allied soldiers became casualties, including an unprecedented number of senior officers. Despite the triumph, the battle was followed by an anti-climactic period of indecision. While Marlborough secured the bridgehead and forced the Elector of Bavaria to retreat, the subsequent campaign of destruction across Bavaria failed to immediately force the Elector to abandon his alliance with Louis XIV, setting the stage for the larger Battle of Blenheim the following month.
Source: Battle of Schellenberg
