On 17 September 1631, the Battle of Breitenfeld was fought between Sweden-Saxony under Gustavus Adolphus and John George and the Imperialists under Count Tilly during the Thirty Years War.
Why did it happen?
The Thirty Years War began in 1618 as an attempt by the Habsburg emperor Ferdinand II to eliminate Protestantism and reimpose Catholicism in Bohemia. By 1630, it looked as though the Imperialists had gained the upper hand in the conflict and were about to reimpose Catholicism in Germany once and for all. But on 4 July 1630, Swedish king Gustavus Adolphus landed an army in northern Germany, seeking to intervene militarily in favour of the Protestant cities there. Following the sack of Magdeburg on 20 May 1631, Gustavus Adolphus sought to conclude a defensive alliance with John George, the Elector of Saxony, aimed at uniting the Protestant states against Ferdinand II. In August 1631, an Imperial army under Count Tilly invaded Saxony to force the Saxons to abandon the Swedish cause. The combined Swedish-Saxon force met Tilly north of Leipzig at Breitenfeld.
Who was involved?
The combined Swedish-Saxon army at Breitenfeld consisted of 28,000 infantry, 13,000 cavalry and 54 artillery. Both the Swedes and Saxons chose to deploy separately with infantry and artillery in the centre and cavalry on the wings. But while the Saxons deployed in a single line, the Swedish infantry was positioned in two long lines with each cavalry wing being supported by musketeers. The Imperialist army at Breitenfeld consisted of 25,000 infantry, 10,000 cavalry and 26 artillery. Count Tilly deployed his infantry in 17 squares, or tercios, with artillery in front of them and cavalry under Pappenheim and Furstenberg on the wings.
What happened?
On the morning of 17 September, the Battle of Breitenfeld began with an artillery barrage between both sides that saw the Imperialists take heavier casualties due to its deeper ranks of pikemen. After two hours, Pappenheim led a series of cavalry charges against the Swedish right wing, only to be repulsed by the 200 Swedish musketeers who fired repeated volleys at the Imperialists as they performed their caracole manoeuvre. At the same time, Tilly and Furstenberg led their respective infantry and cavalry in an oblique attack against the Saxons who fled without a fight. As Tilly attempted an envelopment of the Swedish left flank, Gustavus Adolphus ordered both his second line and left wing under Horn to form a new left flank with the infantry positioned at a right-angle to the main front-line. The king then led a daring cavalry charge towards the exposed Imperialist left flank where he captured Tilly’s artillery and turned it against him. Devastated from both the front and sides, the Imperial army panicked and fled, suffering 7,000 killed and 6,000 captured in the process. Throughout the whole battle, the Swedes suffered only 2,000 losses.
What changed as a result?
The Battle of Breitenfeld was a decisive victory for the Swedish army. Although Gustavus Adolphus would be killed in battle at Lutzen the following year, he had irrevocably revolutionised European warfare. Since the early 16th Century, Swiss phalanxes and Spanish tercios had dominated European battlefields, but with the advent of the Swedish tactical system, flexibility and firepower began to be valued more than massed formations and “push of the pike.” Breitenfeld also marked the first major Protestant victory in the Thirty Years War, saving Protestant Europe from Habsburg Catholic conformity. In the words of Geoffrey Regan, “The battle of Breitenfeld heralded the end of an era in military history and Gustavus Adolphus’ victory decided, once and for all, that ‘Germany was not to become a Catholic power under the House of Austria’” (Regan, 2002, p.108).
Bibliography
Grant, R.G. Battle: A Visual Journey Through 5,000 Years of Combat. London, Dorling Kindersley, 2005.
McNab, Chris. The World’s Worst Military Disasters. London, Amber Books, 2005.
Montgomery, Bernard. A History of Warfare. London, Collins, 1968.
Regan, Geoffrey. Battles That Changed History: Fifty Decisive Battles Spanning Over 2,500 Years of Warfare. London, Andre Deutsch, 2002.
TheHappyCrusader. “The Battle of Breitenfeld.” YouTube video, 2:32. March 6, 2013. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGRajXx1h3s
Webb, Jonathan. “Battle of Breitenfeld, 1631.” The Art of Battle. Last revised 2012. http://www.theartofbattle.com/battle-of-breitenfeld-1631/
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