Breitenfeld September 17 1631 Strategic Context In 1618

Breitenfeld September 17, 1631 Strategic Context In 1618, war breaks out when Ferdinand II, King of Bohemia, attempts to enforce strict Catholicism on Bohemia, a state of the Holy Roman Empire. What begins as a localized conflict between Protestants and Catholics within Bohemia, steadily widens into full-scale warfare across Europe as Ferdinand ascends to Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. By 1629, the Protestant forces of France, Holland, the Palatinate, and Hesse-Kessel confront the Catholic. Imperialist forces of the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Bavaria and Savoy. In 1630, Gustavus Adolphus, King of Sweden, enters the war on the side of the Protestants and lands in northern Germany. The Imperialist commander in the region, Johann Tscerclaes, Count of Tilly, invades Saxony as a precautionary measure to ensure it does not ally with the Swedes. However, Johann Georg, Elector of Saxony, fears the Swedes more and quickly combines forces with them. The combined Swedish-Saxon army confronts the Imperialist army near Breitenfeld. Stakes + A Swedish-Saxon victory would increase the legitimacy of the Protestant alliance, attracting more princes to its cause. + An Imperialist victory would crush the Swedish expedition and force Saxony to join the Catholic-Imperialist alliance. By Jonathan Webb, 2012 ©

Breitenfeld, 1631 Strength §Swedes & Saxons §Imperialists §Gustavus Adolphus §Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly § 27, 800 infantry § 13, 200 cavalry § 75 guns § 21, 400 infantry § 10, 000 cavalry § 27 guns §Well By Jonathan Webb, 2012 ©

On Tilly the deploys Swedish hisreigns cavalry right, effective wings coordination with a between single. Swedish linecavalry of infantry and musketeers between them. help. The repel infantry Pappenheim’s are informations the attack standard seven tercio separate formation, times. which Meanwhile, entails. Swedish a. Tilly largenotices of the pikemen Saxons and are Fürstenberg inonhis pursuit toartillery hit as Tilly’s unwieldy infantry finally engage the waiting left. Horn meets The A mix battle ofarmy Swedish-Saxon opens with athe two-hour cavalry defeat duel Fürstenberg’s which the Imperialists exhausted cavalry, definitively while lose. Swedish The Swedish firepower guns blasts under away the command at the wonderful ofblock Torstensson targets are of Tired of the murderous Pappenheim leads the Imperialist left wing forward in an attempt to. The outflank Swedish right wing; Tilly’s abarrage, stand inthe front ofcharge, arear forest Tortensson forward guns to add to the musketeers faltering in the at each facemakes corner of Fürstenberg’s to repel skirmishers; hasty but aggressive this formation operates and as soas aadvances slow-moving obliquely phalanx, to drags the virtually right invulnerable with his infantry tomore cavalry. line to Swedish hit the unenthusiastic Swedish left. Saxons flank. Sure deploy enough, to the left the Imperialist infantry with local cavalry attacks to pin them down, making them easy targets for Swedish musketeers and guns. On the Swedish more masses numerous of Imperialist and, individually, infantry. The fire Imperialist three rounds infantry for every waver Imperialist and begin one to withdraw due to technological slowly, unaware prowess: that the Gustavus’ Swedish cavalry guns are is turning lighter but their highly own Baner uses his local to outflank Pappenheim in turn. Fürstenberg witnesses Pappenheim’s attack and interprets this asatthe of Saxon the Swedes, nobility infantry at thereserve a center, general. Imperialist cavalry Saxon on rout the and wings. exposing Gustavus the Swedish deploys left cavalry flank. on. However, his wings the as well, Imperialist with musketeers tercios are interspersed slow tofirepower, maneuve, for firepower, giving Gustavus andamostly time infantry to respond. the barrage offlee, thecausing captured guns. Imperialist resistance collapses against this and rout ensues. right, Pappenheim’s cavalry finally collapse against the combined arms tactics of the Swedish cavalry and musketeers, and are. Horn chased from the effective guns against and quick-firing. them. The Swedes Not surprisingly, fire the Imperialists guns into suffer the disproportionate retreating masses losses of infantry, during further this phase, disordering raising them Swedish and morale. inflicting casualties. center Gustavus in two orders lines; Horn each to sector pull back holds his back units significant to meet the reserves anticipated to meet Imperialist changing attack needs and on reinforces the battlefield. him with The two infantry are brigades in the innovative from the second T formation, line. which is entails also joined smaller by signal to engage; he thus leads the Imperialist right wing forward against the Saxon line. Swedish cavalry pursues, capturing many field. Gustavus leadswith thewho cavalry toprovide exploit theprisoners. gap between the Imperialist left and center, and succeeds in seizing the Imperialist guns. blocks two Saxon of pikemen cavalry mixed regiments lines opt of musketeers to reserve stay and fight. to mutual support; the T formation utilizes twice as many musketeers as the tercio. Swedes & Saxons (Gustavus Adolphus) 27, 800 infantry 13, 200 cavalry 75 guns Swedes & Saxons (Gustavus) Fürstenberg Horn Baner Horn Johann Georg Teuffel Torstensson Gustavus Imperialists (Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly) 21, 400 infantry 10, 000 cavalry 27 guns Pappenheim Schönburg Tilly Fürstenberg Imperialists (Tilly)

Breitenfeld, 1631 Casualties & Aftermath Swedes & Saxons: Imperialists: 3, 000 13, 000 or or 7% 41% Gustavus pushed further south into Germany before going into winter quarters. The following year, he again faced Catholic forces in a major battle, this time under the command of Albrecht von Wallenstein at Lützen. Gustavus won the battle but was killed doing so. The Protestant victories drew more support, especially from France, which asserted itself soon after by committing more resources to defeating the Holy Roman Empire. The war ended in 1648 with the Peace of Westphalia, which significantly reduced the Holy Roman Empire’s influence in Europe. By Jonathan Webb, 2012 ©

The Art of Battle: Animated Battle Maps http: //www. theartofbattle. com By Jonathan Webb, 2012 ©