The Battle of Breitenfeld, 17 September 1631, took place during the Thirty Years' War outside Breitenfeld, Leipzig, in modern Saxony. In one of the most significant battles of the war, a combined Swedish-Saxon force defeated an army made up of Imperial and Catholic League troops.
Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War began in June 1630 when nearly 18,000 soldiers under Gustavus Adolphus landed in Pomerania. He made an alliance with John George I, Elector of Saxony, prompting an invasion of Saxony in early 1631 by Imperial troops led by Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly. The combined Swedish-Saxon force marched on Leipzig where Tilly was based.
At the start of the battle, the Saxon troops were routed by Tilly's cavalry, which then combined with his infantry in an attempt to envelop the Swedish army. The Swedes regrouped and launched a series of counterattacks, forcing Tilly to retreat with substantial losses. Victory allowed the Swedes to launch a campaign into southern Germany.
Background
Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War began in June 1630 when Gustavus Adolphus landed in Pomerania with nearly 18,000 troops. He marched south along the Oder towards Szczecin and coerced Bogislaw XIV into an alliance which secured Swedish interests in Pomerania against his rival Sigismund. As a result, Sigismund turned his attention to Russia, initiating the 1632 to 1634 Smolensk War.
However, Swedish hopes of widespread German support largely failed, and by the end of 1630, their only new ally was Christian William whose capital Magdeburg was besieged by Tilly. Although the devastation inflicted by Imperial troops stationed in Saxony and Brandenburg made them sympathetic to Gustavus, both states had their own competing ambitions in Pomerania. Their caution was reinforced by previous experience, which showed inviting external powers into the Holy Roman Empire was easier than getting them to leave.
Gustavus put pressure on Brandenburg by sacking Küstrin and Frankfurt an der Oder, while the Sack of Magdeburg in May 1631 provided a powerful warning of the consequences of Imperial victory. Once again, Richelieu used French financial power to bridge differences between the Swedes and the German princes; the 1631 Treaty of Bärwalde provided funds for the Swedes and their Protestant allies, including Saxony and Brandenburg. These subsidies allowed Gustavus to increase the number of troops under his control to around 36,000.
Battle
The battle began at twelve o'clock with an exchange of artillery fire. Tilly's artillery concentrated their fire against the Saxon troops and the Swedish centre and left wing. The Saxons and Swedes returned fire with their own guns. It took some time before Torstenson's heavy artillery were brought into position to launch its own bombardment. The Swedes demonstrated firepower in a rate of fire of three to five volleys to one Imperial volley. Torstenson later changed direction to aim his guns more accurately against the enemy. Tilly's tercios were easy targets for Torstenson's guns, while the Swedish troops were much sparsely spread and stood "as firm as a wall". During the approximately two-hour long cannonade, about 1,000 Swedish soldiers were killed, about the same number of Saxon soldiers and about 2,000 Imperial-League soldiers. Colonel von Baumgarten was among the first to die from a Saxon cannonball.
Both forces on the battlefield remained stationary throughout the cannonade and refused to advance against their adversary. Tilly did not want to abandon the Galgenberg, whose advantageous position Gustavus Adolphus feared to attack. Furthermore, the gunpowder smoke from the cannons and the advance of the troops accumulated large clouds of dust and smoke, which with strong south-westerly winds blew straight into the faces of the Swedish soldiers. To circumvent this and attempt to get the wind on their side, the King ordered his right wing to pivot to the left. This movement was observed by both Tilly and Pappenheim. The latter's cavalry was struck hard by the heavy Swedish artillery fire. The impetuous Pappenheim wanted to immediately unleash his cavalry upon the Swedes, while the latter was busy regrouping their ranks.
Pappenheim's assault
Without receiving any orders from Tilly, Pappenheim went on his own initiative with his cuirassiers and attacked the Swedish right wing at two o'clock. He executed a flanking maneuver to avoid the fire of the Swedish guns. His harquebusiers and the Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp regiment advanced behind his cuirassiers. Pappenheim's aim was to employ caracole tactics to penetrate Gustavus Adolphus' front. Banér and the King had by this time fully deployed their troops into lines, and were fully prepared to defend themselves against Pappenheim's assault. As soon as Pappenheim's cuirassiers approached Gustavus Adolphus' front and discharged their pistols at them, the Swedish commanded musketeer platoons fired a concentrated volley at point-blank range. Short after, the Swedish cuirassiers fired their pistols at the approaching Imperial cuirassiers.
The surprisingly accurate Swedish fire disrupted the charge of the Imperial cuirassiers and forced them to withdraw. Pappenheim regrouped his cuirassiers for a renewed attack, with fire support from musketeers of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp regiment and Piccolomini's and Merode's harquebusiers. While the Swedish musketeers reloaded their muskets, the Swedish cavalry mounted swift counter-charges against Pappenheim's scattered cuirassiers. The horsemen then fell back to their previous positions to avoid the fire from Pappenheim's harquebusiers and musketeers, allowing the Swedish musketeers to fire a new volley at Pappenheim's cavalry. This process was repeated each time Pappenheim made a new attempt to penetrate Gustavus Adolphus' lines.
"By half three, our cannon a little ceasing, the horsemen on both wings charged furiously one another, our horsemen with a resolution, abiding unloosing a pistol, till the enemy had discharged first, and then at a near distance our musketeers meeting them with a salvo; then our horsemen discharged their pistols, and then charged through them with swords; and at their return the musketeers were ready again to give the second salvo of musket amongst them; the enemy thus valiantly resisted by our horsemen, and cruelly plagued by our platoons of musketeers; you may imagine, how soon he would be discouraged after charging twice in this manner, and repulsed."
— Robert Monro,
Within an hour Pappenheim made three frontal caracole attacks, all of which were repulsed by the cooperation between the Swedish musketeers and horsemen. Despite this setback, his offensive power was still strong and he was able to quickly recoil and regroup his dispersed cuirassiers. As the firepower from the King's front proved extremely taxing, he decided to extend his cavalry line leftward and go around the King's front to envelop his right flank. By performing this evasive maneuver, he directed his attacks against the King's right flank, as well as Banér's troops in the second line. Gustavus Adolphus promptly responded to this threat by ordering his reserves and Banér's units from the second line to reinforce his exposed flank, allowing him to gradually extend his own line rightward. First to deploy on the King's right flank was the Rhinegrave's cuirassiers, later followed by Aderkas' Livonians, Dönhoff's Curonians and Kochtitzky's Slavic and Pomeranian cavalry. Pappenheim made three flanking attacks against the Swedes. The regimental commanders Aderkas and Damitz fell during this action. Both Gustavus Adolphus and Banér encouraged their horsemen and musketeers to remain steadfast. With all his attacks repulsed, Pappenheim fell back with heavy casualties and left his remaining cuirassiers demoralized and exhausted. Meanwhile, the Yellow Brigade launched their own attack and were able to create a gap between Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp's regiment and Piccolomini's harquebusiers on Pappenheim's right flank.
Following Pappenheim's seventh repulse at about four o'clock in the evening, Gustavus Adolphus ordered Banér to rally the cavalry of Sperreuth, Stenbock, Soop, Tott, Stålhandske and Wunsch. Banér led them in a broad counter-charge against both Pappenheim's cuirassiers and Piccolomini's and Merode's harquebusiers. His shock attack immediately threw Pappenheim's exhausted cuirassiers back in disarray, with some units under Pappenheim falling back to the Imperial artillery positions at Galgenberg, while others accompanied Piccolomini in his retreat from the battlefield. The Livonian and Curonian cuirassiers pursued Piccolomini's cuirassiers through Breitenfeld and Halle.
With Pappenheim's cavalry taken out of action, only Colonel von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp's infantry regiment remained on this front. The regiment formed into a tercio to stand their ground against attacks from Stålhandske's and Wunsch's Hakkapeliitta. The Finnish horsemen met stubborn resistance, forcing Banér to bring in Ortenburg's cuirassiers and the Yellow Brigade's commanded musketeers at five o'clock, who pulverised the tercio with musketry fire and canister charges from their regimental artillery. Their combined firepower were able to finally bring down the tercio. Out of 1,500 men, only 300 men of the Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp regiment survived after the battle. Colonel von Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorp was mortally wounded during this action and was escorted as a Swedish prisoner of war to Eilenburg for treatment. He succumbed to his wounds two days later.
Tilly's main assault and Saxon retreat
Tilly's infantry remained stationary on the Galgenberg while Pappenheim's made his assault against the Swedish right wing. Half an hour after Pappenheim's first charge, Fürstenberg's and Isolani's cavalry, on the Imperial-League right wing, made a direct assault of their own against the Saxon centre and left wing. They were spearheaded by Cronberg's and Schönburg's cuirassier regiments. Schönburg attacked the Saxon Horse Guards, which were quickly routed after a brief struggle. Saxe-Altenburg's and General Bindauf's regiments resolutely defended themselves against Baumgarten's cavalry attack, with the latter soon being reinforced by Cronberg's cavalry. General Bindauf and Colonel Starschedel were both shot to death, resulting in their regiments disintegrating and routing from the battlefield. Colonel Steinau was captured by the Imperial-League troops during the commotion, along with most of his regiment.
At three o'clock in the afternoon, Tilly recognized an opportunity for a main assault with his Imperial-League infantry against both the Saxon army and the left flank of the Swedish centre. Tercios spearheaded by Philipp von Pappenheim's and Göss's regiments, supported by Wangler's regiment and Erwitte's reserve cavalry, marched down the Galgenberg and made an oblique advance to the right, concentrating on the Saxon troops. Meanwhile, Gallas' tercios advanced to put pressure on the Swedish centre, while Tilly's tercios acted as a "hinge" between Gallas' and Göss's tercios. The marching tercios were immediately exposed to Torstenson's artillery fire, which tore huge holes among the tightly packed formations.
Owing to the pressure of Fürstenberg's cavalry, coupled with the advance of Tilly's infantry, the rest of the Saxon army started to panic. The greater part of the army routed from the battlefield at four o'clock. Even the Elector John George, who made desperate attempts to incite his troops to fight back, was dragged along in their flight towards Eilenburg. Some Saxon soldiers took the opportunity to plunder their own tross, as well as the nearby Swedish one, who during the rush was also dragged along in the flight. The Saxon artillery was captured by the Imperial cavalry, who used the pieces to bombard both the fleeing Saxon troops and the Swedish left wing. Parts of Fürstenberg's and Isolani's cavalry, whose men cried out "Victoria" in triumph, chased after the Saxons and plundered their abandoned tross. Almost the entire Saxon army fled the battlefield over the course of merely an hour. Only Colonel Taube's Life Regiment and Arnim's Life Guards remained, who later regrouped behind the Swedish left wing. In a short time, the united Protestant army lost a third of its strength, with the remnants now being numerically inferior to Tilly's army.