Wittstock, Battle of (1636)

At Wittstock, a little village on the Dosse River some 58 miles north west of Berlin, on 4 October 1636, the Swedish commander Johan Baner was able to keep his communications with the Baltic and home open. He enticed the superior Imperial, Saxon and Bavarian army of 20,000 under John George of Saxony out of its entrenchments, whilst Scots mercenaries in Swedish service conducted a wide encircling movement, hitting the Imperialists in the flank and rear and routing them causing 5,000 casualties, and capturing all the enemy artillery. The Swedes lost about 3,000 of 15,000 engaged.