(Aug. 13, 1704) Famous victory of the duke of Marlborough and Eugene of Savoy against the French in the War of the Spanish Succession , fought at Blenheim (now Blindheim) on the Danube River in Bavaria.
English and Austrian troops led by Marlborough and Eugene surprised the unprepared French and Bavarian forces, broke through their centre, and captured 13,000 of their troops; another 18,000 were killed, wounded, or drowned. The French army suffered its first major defeat in more than50 years, and Bavaria was removed from the war.