Breitenfeld, Battles of 1631,1642

At First Breitenfeld on 17 September 1631 Gustavus Adolphus with 30,000 Swedes and John George of Saxony with 10,000 electoral troops faced 32,000 Imperialists serving under Tilly. Gustavus intended to capture Leipzig, but found Tilly's troops drawn up in the rolling country five miles to the north. After some desultory artillery fire from both sides, the Imperialists mounted a cavalry attack on both flanks. The Saxons standing on Gustavus' left were soon put to flight, but on the opposite flank Pappenheim's much vaunted black cuirassiers could make little progress against the disciplined Swedish horse. The Swedes were able to extend their line, protecting their exposed left flank, and smash their way through Pappenheim's cavalry into the side of the Imperialist infantry. The Swedish centre under Horn ground forward to meet Tilly's sixteen large infantry formations or tercios, denying them the space to manoeuvre, and eventually gaining the upper hand by dint of much hard fighting. The Imperialists lost over 7,000 killed or wounded, and a similar number of prisoners against Swedish losses of 1,500 and Saxon casualties of 3,000. Tilly pulled back westward across the Weser, leaving Gustavus a free hand in Bohemia and the valley of the Main.

Military pundits often cite first Breitenfeld as demonstrating the superiority of the smaller and handier Swedish battalion system over the Imperial Tercio, but in truth this was a victory for combined arms: infantry, cavalry and guns (in this case captured and turned on their former owners) working together. Moreover, tackling the massive Imperial formations head on was no pushover, whatever formation one adopted, and it was the compression of the Imperial battle line from the flank that caused the eventual collapse of Tilly's army, rather than any specific tactical gimmick.

In the Spring of 1642 the ruthless Swedish commander Tortensson was ravaging the Imperial lands, coming to within 25 miles of Vienna. Archduke Leopold and Piccolomini forced him back through Silesia into Saxony, where Tortensson attempted to capture Leipzig. It was near here that the Imperialists eventually caught up with him.

The second battle near Breitenfeld on 2 November was preceded by a roaring Imperial cannonade as the horse moved into position on Leopold's wings. Beset by whirring chain shot, the Swedes did not wait for the Imperial army to complete their deployment, and mounted a hasty attack on the enemy's left, striking them in disarray and putting them to flight almost at once. Meanwhile on the other flank the Imperialist cavalry had repulsed the Swedish horse, and the Imperial infantry were moving up in support. Tortensson was obliged to bring his victorious right wing squadrons to the aid of the hard pressed Swedish foot, stemming the tide of the Imperial advance, and pushing the infantry back, which left their mounted colleagues surrounded. Seeing that they were alone and unsupported some fled, whilst others threw down their arms and surrendered. More than 5,000 Imperial troops were captured, and as many again were killed. This defeat marked the nadir of imperial fortunes in the later stages of the war.

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