In terms of military history the beautiful and fertile Danube valley was as much a fighting ‘cockpit’ as Belgium. Staying at Donauworth, we shall study three spectacular campaigns in particular. In 1704 John Churchill, the Duke of Marlborough, erupted into South Germany and inflicted a crushing defeat on the armies of two French marshals and their Bavarian allies. The Battle of Blenheim was the start of a serious brake on the grand schemes of Louis XIV.

A century later,In 1805 Napoleon conducted one of his most brilliant campaigns. Descending on the Danube from the north, in a dizzying series of actions and small battles his Grand Army cut off and encircled the main Austrian field army. The ‘unfortunate’ General Mack was forced to capitulate at Ulm before Napoleon sped east to take Vienna and meet the Austro-Russian armies at Austerlitz.

In 1809 the Archduke Charles, leading a re-invigorated Austrian army, had the chance to crush the French garrisons in Bavaria. Marshal Davout had other ideas and Napoleon was soon back in Germany from Spain. In a series of action the French call ‘five victories in five days’, and a manoeuvre that Napoleon always thought his finest achievement, the Austrians were sent reeling back along the Danube.

We will examine the changes in tactics, weapons, organisation and supply over this century and in particular look at how the personalities and experiences of the commanders affected their plans. Your guide, John Lee, specialises in the evolution of tactics on the battlefield from 1700 to 1918.

ITINERARY
Day 1 (Tuesday): Fly from London Heathrow to Munich. Coach to our Hotel on the Schellenburg overlooking Donauworth. Study of the bloody storming of the Schellenburg Fort in 1704. Background talk to the tour. Dinner and overnight (3 nights).
Day 2: The battle of Blenheim with the Battlefield little changed from 1704. Group lunch overlooking the Battlefield itself. We we then the museums at Hochstadt.
Day 3: The Battles of 1805 at Gunsburg,Wertigen, Haslach, and Elchingen as the Austrians tried to escape the tightening French net. The final capitulation at Ulm.
Day 4: To Ingolstadt, the river town that became the concentration point for Napoleons forces in the initial stages of the 1809 Campaign.Davout’s isolated advance force occupying strategically important Ratisbon (Regensberg) narrowly escapes encirclement and fight their way to safety at the battle of Teugn-Hausen .The French advance is halted at the battle of Abensberg. Dinner and overnight (2 nights).
Day 5: The storming of Landshut as the French force the Austrian left wing under Archduke Louis to retire to Austria. The remainder of the Austrians under the Archduke Charles are forced to fight the two day Battle of Eggmuhl after which the decision is made to retire over the Danube using the bridge at Ratisbon. The Austrian rearguard fights a delaying cavalry battle with the French and Bavarian pursuers at Alt Eglofsheim. This ends the first phase of the 1809 campaign as the Austrian Armies retreat to Vienna.
Day 6: Visit the excellent Bavaria Museum in Ingolstadt. Coach to Munich to catch our afternoon flight to London Heathrow.