However, in preparation for the 1704 campaign, Marlborough, the Allied commander, had assigned 18,000 German and Dutch troops under Frederick of Hesse to retake Trier and Traben-Trarbach on the Moselle.

[7] Lack of a unified command structure meant the two segments of the Allied force effectively fought as separate units during the subsequent battle.

Leaving 6,000 men outside Landau, the rest of his army reached Essingen late that night, while Pracomtal abandoned his slow moving infantry, and continued with his cavalry.

[7] Although their scouts encountered French cavalry outside Essingen on 14 November, Frederick and Nassau-Weilburg assumed Tallard's main force was still at Landau, and Pracomtal too far away to affect their operations.

[9] Shortly after daybreak, Tallard's army began marching the 22 kilometres (14 mi) to Speyer, his cavalry on either wing, infantry and artillery in the centre.

Eventually, Otto von Vehlen took charge of the process, forming the Allied army on level ground 7 kilometres (4 mi) outside Speyer.

Their left wing, composed of Nassau-Weilburg's troops, was anchored on the Rhine, with Frederick's men holding positions running from the centre into woods bordering the Speyerbach on their extreme right.

They were repulsed by Palatine infantry with heavy loss, but a counter-attack by their cavalry under Nassau-Weilburg pursued the French too far, and was in turn thrown back in confusion.

[10] With Nassau-Weilburg's troops crumbling under pressure from French infantry, a gap developed between the Allied left and centre, exposing both to attacks from two sides.