Catalogue description Elector of Mainz to Marlborough: the French having crossed the Rhine, entered the...

Elector of Mainz to Marlborough: the French having crossed the Rhine, entered the Swabian circle and threatened Bavaria, the emperor [Joseph I], together with those electors who still have troops in the field, must deploy them in the most threatened locations. As the 7,000 troops that King Augustus [of Saxony] has committed to England and the Netherlands are already on the march for the low countries, can Marlborough arrange for them to hasten their journey and divert them to the Rhine in the vicinity of Philippsburg? Together with the garrisons of Landau and Philippsburg they could form a corps 15,000 strong, forcing the enemy to retreat or draw troops from the low countries. The troops could easily be later transported to the low countries by the Rhine. He agrees with the elector Palatine that the elector of Hanover should have command. ff. 618, 619