GUSTAF II ADOLF
THE THIRTY YEAR WAR
THE BATTLE OF LUETZEN
1632
Wallensteins move to the swedish baseareas and his threat to Saxony
forced Gustaf to abort his invasion of Austruia and go on a forced marsch to the north to
intercept the machiavellan lord Wallenstein. With the lines of communications and supply
threatened the imperial army must be ejected. The prince Johan-Georg of Saxony had always
been rather reluctant about the alliance with the swedish and to keep him in the alliance
his country must be saved from the imperial armys looting. The quick marsch to the
north was historic in that the swedes travelled 40 km a day compared to the
customary 4 km a day. The army was, as usual, acompanied by merchants, thieves, whores and
the officers families and other assorted rabble effectively doubbling the size of it. With
thousands of wagons drawn by horses and oxen an army was a huge lumbering creature that
moved slowly absorbing all edible within a certain radius turning its trail into a
logistical desert. The speed had its price however. Stragglers were common and the loss of
horses severe. Gustaf decided to attack the imperials for two reasons.
Gustaf II Adolf
The political situation was to Gustafs advantage. His forces totalled
150 000 men and he controls greater parts of Germany. The imperials had 100 000. Gustaf
must retain the initiative and keep the rich Saxony in the alliance. The other reason was
strategic. He controlled more territory but the communications were poor and if the
opportunity to strike presented itself one must seize it. And it did present itself.
Wallenstein had waited for an attack for two weeks and had decided that Gustaf had gone
into winterquarters and now did the same. It was the first really decisive mistake that
Wallenstein committed and also his last. Gustaf heard of Wallensteins forces going into
winterquarters and immidietly decided to attack. 4 o clock in the morning on the 5th of
nvember the army moved towards Lutzen in battleformation.
Wallenstein
While the swedish army was advancing on Luetzen hoping to surprise the enemy on the
early morning of November 5th, Wallenstein gave the order to his army to go into
winterquarters. Pappenheims corps of more than 5000 had already left for Halle. The others
prepared to leave as well. At 10 o clock the swedes reached the town of Weissenfels where
a cavalryforce under Rudolf von Colloredo remained. The imperial commander immidietly
realized the lethal threat and fired three rounds with cannon to alert the rest of the
army. A courir was sent speeding as well. Then he deployed his perhaps 100 men at the
crossing point of the river Rippach, being seven meters wide and 2 meters deep it was a
good choise. He managed to delay the swedes for several hours. When Colloredos men had
been thrown out of the way the last kilometers were in deep mud which further delayed the
swedes. Dusk came at about 4 o clock and as the swedes saw the light of the town Luetzen
ahead they halted and encamped the best they could in battle order on the muddy fields.
The plan to surprise the enemy had failed. Gustaf still had the larger army and the
decision to attack in the morning was taken.
Wallenstein had been reached by the news of the swedes in the afternoon and had at
first refused to believe the news. He then immidietly fired three rounds as a signal to
concentrate the forces at once. A messenger was sent to alert Pappenheim in Halle 30 km
away. For some reason the courir didnt find Pappenheim before midnight when Wallensteins
men were marshing out on the fields. The king slept in his carriedge wuth his closest men,
duke Bernard of Weimar and the dutchman Dodo von Knijphausen. Johan Banér was still
recovering from his wounds from the debacle at Alte Feste and Lennart Torstensson was just
being released from his wet dungeon in Ingolstadt while Horn was operating with his army
on the Rhine. The 20 000 men of the army spent the night in the cold, slowly freezing mud,
listening to the drums of the enemy as he deployed his 17 000 men.
Six swedish colors. The top left belonged to the kings guard
regiment, the top middle to the royal blue life regiment, the top right to Johan Banérs
life regiment on horse. The lower left to Monros regiment, the lower middle to the
Augsburg garrison and the lower right to the duke Wilhelm of Sachsen-Weimars life regiment
on horse.
Early in the morning the swedish generals were eager to attack but the autumnfog was
evidently a devout catholic. It swept the battlefield in a dense white clothing that
obscured both friend and foe. The swedes had to wait. The king dressed as he usually did
in battle. Three shirts and a yellow leather jacket of mooseskin. After the wounds in the
polish war he never wore a harness. Instead of a helmet he wore a widebrimmed hat. A
religious service was ordered to strengthen the mens moral. The king also adressed the
army. To the swedes and finns he said: - Dear friends and countrymen! Stand solid by
eachother and fence with vigour for your god, your county and your king. I will reward you
all and you will find reason to thank me. The germans heard another speach: - My good
brothers and friends! Go on with strength! You will not only fight under me but with and
beside me as well. I will lead you and dare my blood and life! The king changed horse
since the first one was already fatigued since the king was rather fat. The new one was a
brown stallion named Streiff. Around 11 o clock a slight breeze dispersed some of the fog
and it became evident how close the enemy was. The orders were quickly given, the
infantrys drums sounded like rolling thunder and the cavalrys trumpets like audiable
silver. The army started to move towards the now prepared enemy. The king rode with the
right cavalry wing with Torsten Stålhandske and his finns while duke Bernard rode with
the left cavalrywing. The center, the swedish, blue, green and yellow brigades with
the heavy artillery was commanded by Nils Brahe. Each wing had 20 more guns and every
regiment their own regimental light guns. The national swedish-finnish units were in the
center. They were a minority in the army that was dominated by foreign mercenaries.
Imperial musketeer.
To the left of the Swedish and at the imperial right flank the town of Luetzen had
been put to the torch and was burning. It was Wallensteins way of protecting his exposed
flank since Pappenheim and his men were still missing. His army was nothing like the one
that Tilly had led at Breitenfeldt the year before. It was organized in a manner similar
to the swedish and similarly equipped. Three cleverly deployed batterys, one on a hill
with some windmillsclose to the burning town immidietly sent their heavy projectiles
bouncing into the advancing rectangles. As the swedes advanced and reached the road they
found that the enemy had entrenched behind it with dense musketeerformations and that the
ditch on the close side was deep followed by a steep roadbank. The finns had a hard time
to get their horses up the bank in the slippery mud. Horses and riders falling over
eachother in the mud. The advance was stopped by the musketry and the ditch/roadbank.
Väderkvarnshöjden = Hill with windmills
Only on the right part of the center was a swift success achieved. The reliable
swedish-finnish units of the threw the enemy out of their entrenchements. The swedish
brigade consisted of the men from Västergötland, Östergötland, Dalarna, Uppland and
Finland and the swedish and german guard units of the yellow brigade went over the road.
Behind the road was one of the imperial batterys deployed. But the sight of the yellow
brigades men in yellow uniforms trimmed in black and with the black banners embroided with
the royal coat of arms sent the guns crews into a rout. The guns were seized and the blue
brigade could follow the yellow and swedish. The musketeers attached to the finnish
cavalry managed to clear the ditch from enemy musketeers at that point as well with the
aid of their regimental guns after a fierce fight. The green brigade had bogged down at
the centers left close to the left cavalry wing that was under heavy fire from the
windmills. A horrible melee was taking place in visual conditions that were appalling even
for its time. The remaining fog mixed with the drifting banks of powdersmoke and the smoke
from the burning town made it even worse than the usual "fog of battle". The
swedish war diary tells that one could hardly see eachother at four paces distance. At
noon the battle was going well. The swedish right and center was pressing the enemy back.
Then two things happened. The fog got denser again and Pappenhaim arrived with his
cavalry.
One pikeman and two musketeers of the yellow brigade.
The black banner of the lifeguard of the yellow brigade.
The reinforcements were thrown into the fight at the imperial left were the
inferiority was turned into superiority. The ever so yearning for a fight Pappenheim threw
his heavily armored kuerrassiers into a wild charge that hit generalmajor Bulachs right
cavalrywing. The imperials also threw the croat cavalry in a wild attack that sent Vilhelm
of Weimars unit into a rout but colonellieutenant Konrad von Rehlingen managed to check
them with his swedish cavalry. The wild cavalrybattle in the impossible visual conditions
must have been an unimaginable horror with awful losses to both sides. The fieldmarshall
Gottfrid Henrik von Pappenheim was close to winning the battle for the imperials at their
left flank. Not that he was very imaginative or even thinking, but his wild
offensive spirit and ruthlessness made him one of the best imperial commanders. He drew
with him waves of pikemen and musketeers with his kuerrassiers and hit the blue, yellow
and swedish brigades as well as Stålhandskes cavalry in a fierce attack. Time after time
the imperials hit the swedes. Pappenheim himself was shot from his horse almost immidetly
and was carried from the field hit by two musketballs as well as grapeshot from a
regimental gun. He died a few hours later on the way to Leipzig. In the swedish brigade
seven out of ten pikemen fell and four out of ten musketeers. The men of the yellow
brigade fell in rows as they stood suffering worse than the swedish brigade, going into
history as the heroes of the yellow brigade in boyhood litterature. The italian commander
Piccolominis cavalry unit was almost annihilated by the swedish fire and he had five
horses shot under him and he was wounded five times without leaving the frey.
Imperial kuerrassier on the charge!
On the left flank an imperial kuerassier attack drove the swedish cavalry from
Småland and Östergötland from the road but then the imperials got stuck in the ditch
themselves since the men were to heavy in their armor for the poor animals. On the right
flank the carnage continued. The blue brigade suffered as badly as the yellow fighting the
veteran regiment of the leauger Comargo. The men of the blue brigade were as experienced
as their enemy and gave as good as they got, dying on the spot where they stood. But the
swedes were finally pressed back and the imperials recaptured their battery. The king
decided to act to save the situation. He assumed command of Smålands cavalry regiment
whose commander Fredrik Stenbock had been shot in the foot and led it to the right flank.
They attacked the enemy cavalry attacking the infantrybrigades. The pressure was relieved
somewhat.
Imperial Kuerrassier
The king was in the middle of the intense fightning. The swedes under the kings
command had hit Görtz kuerrassiers and in the wild and wooly fight friend and foe were
quickly mixed. It all happened very rapidly. A pistolball from behind struck the kings
left elbow breaking it. The king had to drop his sword to control Streiff. Maybe it was
due to the combination of the kings bad eyesight, he was very nearsighted, and the
extremely bad visual conditions or just that Steiff was difficult to control but he and
his small number of companions became separated from the rest of the regiment as he tried
to get out of the battle. They rode straight into a group of imperial kuerrassiers. A
confused fight ensued. They were from Piccolominis regiment and one of them, Moritz von
Falkenberg, recognozed the king. He cried: That the right bird! Thats the one we are
looking for! He fired his pistol into the kings back from only a meters range. The ball
entered under the right shoulderblade and went into the lung. A second later von
Falkenberg fell of his horse impaled on the sword of one of kings life guards. Another man
in the kings company, Franz Albrekt von Sachsen-Lauenburg tried to hold the staggering
king into his saddle. Another pistolshot. It hit Streiff in the neck. The horse reared.
The kings page Anders was killed. Another pistolshot. The muzzle was pressed to Lauenburgs
head but he managed to strike it away but had to let go of the king. The muzzleflash
burned his face and he fled. The king slid to the gound but got caught in the stirrup with
one foot and was dragged behind for a short distance but finally he lay still on his back.
Still alive. Three imperial riders appeared. They got off and one thrusted his sword into
the helpless kings chest while the other pierced his left arm. Then they rode away. After
a while Ottavio Piccolomini appeared since he had heard that the king was
dead. But the king was still alive. Some in his company looted the still breathing
king and one gave his leatherjacket to Piccolomini, another took his ring and a third his
necklace and watch. They administered yet some cuts and thusts o the man with the large
belly. Another pistolshot. A fifth. A pistol was pressed against the kings temple and
fired. Gustaf II Adolf, king of Sweden, was dead. One casualty of the days 7000. He had
lived as a conqueror and had died as one. It was not a surprising end for a man who always
lived so dangerously.
Gustaf II Adolf is held in his saddle by von Sachen-Lauenburg after
having been shot in his back by Moritz von Falkenberg.
The battle went on however. The swedish reform their order of battle behind the road
and units from the second lie are brought up to reinforce the first that is badly mauled.
Stålhandske checked Pappenheims cavalry and von Bulach finally threw the croats back.
Henderssons reserves filled up the blue, swedish and yellow brigades. Kyle, commander of
the swedish brigade, was wounded as was colonel Winkel of the blue brigade. Nils Brahe had
been fatally wounded in the thigh and was down. No one knows who led the first line. From
behind the brigades of Bose and Knijphausen as well as Öhm cavalry advanced. Duke Bernard
assumes command and he orders a renewed attack. When the news of the kings death spreads
among the soldiers the swedes and finns are thrown into a berserker rage that spreads to
the foreign mercenaries and with new rageinspired strength they cross the road. Both the
northern and the center batteries are captured by the swedes while the windmill battery
holds. The fog again becomes more dense. The croats are routed and plunder the imperial
train on their way back. Pappenheims cavalry are routed as well as is the kuerrassier
regiment Haagen. Duke Bernard starts to outflank the imperial centralposition at the
windmills with the green brigade that charges and breaks the enemy resistance on the
imperial right flank. At three o clock the battle now centers on the windmills. In a
pause in the battle duke Bernard meets with Knijphausen. Knijphausens forces are
disorganized and have little grasp of the situation and Knijphausen himself had lost heart
after an imperial counter attack has recaptured the windmills. The duke decides to
continue anyway despite Knijphausens objections. While the imperials have recaptured their
thirteen guns by the windmills the siuation is not disadvatagous to the swedes. So the
attack was renewed after a fierce cannonade and the guns in their emplacements filled with
dead are captured again.
Swedish musketeers.
At five o clock dusk was setting and the duke Bernard of Weimar, a young but cool
and experienced mercenary who disguised himself as a lutheran and patriot but really
fought for himself, evaluated the situation. The troops were exhausted and chocked after
the horrible battle on the wet and muddy fields. The duke was chocked as well. Only one
out of six swedish and finnish men in the green, blue and yellow brigades had
survived. The losses totalled 5000 dead and wounded making it one of the bloodiest battles
in swedish history. He started to prepare for a retreat. Another day of battle was not
what he wanted. Wallenstein had been lightly wounded in the hip by a musketball and his
son Bertold was wounded. Piccolomini and eight colonellieutenents were wounded. Fifteen
colonels and the abbot of Fulda who so dearly had wanted to see and even participate in a
battle against the heretics were dead (the abbot shot through the head) as well as the
flamboyant Pappenheim (who died with the bloody letter orderering him to Luetzen in forced
marsch in his pocket, it can be seen at the warmuseum in Vienna) and Colloredo.
Wallenstein feared that the swedes were expecting reinforcements from the saxon army
(which was not the case) and since his army was starting to show signs of panic due to the
high losses and extreme fatigue since no one had slept last night he decided to withdraw
despite the fact that Pappenheims infantry at last had arrived with 2700 men (in poor
shape and fatigued as well). It was not a rout, it was a retreat in order with forty
captured colors. The news of the imperial withdrawal reached Bernard before had had given
his order of withdrawal. So the swedish army remained on the field the following night in
the slippery, cold mud among the dead and dying.
Five captured imperial colors.
History has considered Luetzen to be a swedish grand victory at a terrible prize,
the kings death. More modern historians describe it either as a draw or as a defeat due to
the conequenses the battle had. My view is that the battle must be considered a victory.
The swedes remained on the field and had captured all of the enemies guns. They remained
in contact with their lines of supply and communication. The enemy was ejected from Saxony
and Johan Georg kept in the alliance. But it was not a decisive victory. A new
Breitenfeldt had probably broken the emperor and the imperials. The hope of a quick and
decicive victory over the imperials was gone. The great leader of the protestants was gone
and both sides equally strong again. A tactical victory but a strategic setback is
probably the best description.
The war entered a new phase after Luetzen. Gone was the era of crusades and high
ideals. The rest of the war became a dirty (yes, even more dirty than it had been. Very
much more dirty) prolonged war of attrition. The war would carry on for 16 years like a
self playing piano largely because no one really knew how to end it and because Richeliue
sat in Paris determined to assert french control over the Rhine and kept the piano playing
with the aid of Swedens rulers fearing the financial disaster of a peace that couldnt pay
for the disbanding of the armies since it rapidly became a war fought on credits for
Sweden.