Battle of Wittstock

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Battle of Wittstock
Contemporary copper engraving of the Battle of Wittstock
Contemporary copper engraving of the Battle of Wittstock
date October 4, 1636
place Wittstock , Mark Brandenburg
output Swedish victory
Parties to the conflict

imperial saxon troops

Swedish troops

Commander

High command:
Field Marshal Melchior Count von Hatzfeldt,
Elector Johann Georg I of Saxony

High Command:
Field Marshal Johan Banér
Field Marshal Alexander Leslie

Troop strength
22,000 men 16,000 men

The Battle of Wittstock took place during the Thirty Years' War on Scharfenberg near the town of Wittstock ( Ostprignitz-Ruppin district , Brandenburg ).

On October 4, 1636 (according to the Julian calendar, September 24, 1636), 16,000 Swedes under the Swedish Field Marshal Johan Banér and the Scottish Field Marshal Alexander Leslie defeated the combined 22,000-strong Imperial and Electoral Saxon army under Count Melchior von Hatzfeldt and Elector Johann Georg I. of Saxony .

The decisive factor in the battle was the delayed but still successful deployment of Swedish-Scottish units, which attacked the right flank of the allied Saxons and imperial forces and were able to take advantage of their clumsy battle line-up. As darkness fell, the allies began to retreat after extensive consultation, but this soon turned into a disorderly escape and resulted in the loss of artillery and baggage train .

In April 2007, a mass grave with the remains of around 125 soldiers was discovered at the site of the battlefield. 88 skeletons were recovered and scientifically examined. the results provided insights into the life and death of the fallen soldiers and into their living conditions and state of health.

prehistory

The Battle of Wittstock is part of the fourth and final phase (1635–1648) of the Thirty Years' War; it represents one of the larger battles in this phase of the war, which was characterized less by arms than by negotiations and general exhaustion. In 1635, in the 17th year of the war, the emperor had reached a peace with the vast majority of the evangelical imperial estates in Prague . In the same year France officially entered the war against Spain and expressed a vital interest in Sweden continuing to be involved in the German theater of war. The Swedes had lost considerable prestige in the battle of Nördlingen two years ago . Apart from a few troops in Mittelberg , they only had significant forces in the Baltic Sea region (Prussia and Pomerania). The Swedish-Polish armistice concluded in autumn 1635 brought some relief . The north-eastern flank in the Baltic Sea region was thus secured. So they were able to report back impressively on the stage of the European war theater with the Battle of Wittstock. In the summer of 1636 the united imperial and Saxons took Magdeburg after a long siege , while the Swedish army under Field Marshal Johan Banér stood north of it at Werben and felt too weak to terrorize the city.

As the armies approached each other, plans were made on both sides to strengthen each other by drawing in troops from the Weser or from Pomerania , without there being an absolute will to seek a decision in a battle. Field Marshal Banér thought of an incursion into Saxony , the allied imperial and Saxon forces wanted to hold him back and take the places still in the hands of the Swedes one by one. At Wittstock in the Prignitz there was a battle, for which Field Marshal Banér divided his army and planned a risky encirclement of the enemy in order to be able to attack him from two sides.

Course of the battle

First phase of the battle: The Imperial Saxon troops (red) wait and see in a superior position, but are attacked on the flanks by the Swedish troops (blue), so that they have to regroup

The supreme command of the Imperial was jointly with the Elector Johann Georg von Sachsen and the Imperial Field Marshal Melchior von Hatzfeldt.

Field Marshal Banér's troops are said to have been a little over 16,000, at most a little over 17,000 men, while the Imperial troops were 22,000 to 23,000 men and were in a favorable position. Field Marshal Banér, realizing that the imperial front was insurmountable, divided his army and bypassed both wings at the same time.

Banér initially came with his right wing under Lennart Torstensson the imperial left wing, which was occupied by the Saxons, unexpectedly in the flank. The Saxons held out, formed a new front, and soon the imperial soldiers from the other wing, under their commanding Field Marshal Hatzfeldt, came to their aid. In the center, the numerically inferior units of Banér and Leslie found themselves in ever greater distress because the bypassing columns of the Swedes under King and Stahlhanske , which were urgently expected on the left wing, were delayed and the reserves under Vitzthum did not arrive for a long time. In this critical phase for the Swedes, the battle raged back and forth for three hours. The center and right wing of the Swedes could only hold their own with difficulty, as they faced the superior strength of the entire enemy army.

Second phase of the battle: the right wing of the Swedes (blue) now appears in the rear of the disordered Imperial Saxon army (red). This then retreats in the direction of Wittstock.

When, as darkness fell, the long-awaited other wing of the Swedes appeared in the rear of the allied imperial and Saxon forces, they no longer dared to continue the fight with their troops, which had meanwhile been out of order. In the dark they retreated, which ended in total dissolution. Parts of the victorious Swedes pursued the fleeing and captured a large part of the 150 artillery pieces , the train with weapons stores and the Saxon war chest . About 6,000 people died in the battle, and especially after the battle.

Effects

The battle plan devised by Field Marshal Banér was daring and successful, but almost failed. The victory achieved could not be compared in its importance with the consequences of other major battles ( Battle of Breitenfeld (1631) , Battle of Lützen , Battle of Nördlingen ), but it was suitable for the Swedes' self-confidence and reputation, shaken after many defeats to restore in the Protestant population. The Swedish Chancellor and military commander-in-chief Oxenstierna was able to consolidate his position at the Swedish court . In place of the Queen Mother, he was the guardian of the daughter of the fallen King Gustav Adolf , Princess Christina , who was then underage. It was of military importance that shortly after the Peace of Prague was concluded, the military power of the Saxons was greatly weakened by the victory of the Swedes . The states of the helpless Elector of Brandenburg were quickly reoccupied by the Swedes and could be used as a base for attacks against Saxony, Silesia and Thuringia.

Commemorative year "375 years battle of Wittstock"

On September 24th / 4th October 2011 marked the 375th anniversary of the battle. The Brandenburg State Archaeological Museum and the Museum of the Thirty Years War in Wittstock, together with the House of Brandenburg-Prussian History , commemorated this event in a commemorative year. Many events accompanied the year and dealt with the events thematically. The highlight was the large special exhibition "1636 - their last battle" in the Brandenburg State Archaeological Museum in the Paulikloster in Brandenburg an der Havel , which from April 2012 ended the year of commemoration.

literature

Web links

Wikisource: Detailed report of the meeting at Wittstock 1636  - sources and full texts

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Website exhibition project "1636 - their last battle" , status: March 31, 2011
  2. ↑ David Crossland: Mass Grave Sheds Light on Europe's Bloody History , Spiegel Online, July 31, 2007 (English)
  3. ^ Christian Pantle: The Thirty Years' War. When Germany was on fire . Propylaen Ullstein Buchverlage GmbH, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-549-07443-5 , p. 205 .
  4. ↑ CV Wedgwood: The 30 Years War . Paul List Verlag Munich 1967. (pp. 363, 364) ISBN 3-517-09017-4
  5. ↑ Commemorative year on the website of the exhibition project “1636 - their last battle” , where the event program can also be downloaded, as of March 31, 2011