Battle of Zusmarshausen

Part of: Swedish-French War, Thirty Years War

date	May 17, 1648
place	Zusmarshausen
output	Franco-Swedish victory
consequences	The winners cross the Lech near Rain and devastate Bavaria
Peace treaty	Peace of Westphalia

Parties to the conflict
Kingdom of France Sweden	Imperial Bavaria
Commander
Carl Gustav Wrangel , Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, vicomte de Turenne	Raimondo Montecuccoli , Jost Maximilian von Bronckhorst-Gronsfeld , Peter Melander von Holzappel †
Troop strength
18,000 horsemen 11,000 foot soldiers artillery

last major field battle of the Thirty Years War on German soil

The Battle of Zusmarshausen on May 17, 1648 was the last major field battle of the Thirty Years War (1618–1648) that was fought on German soil. The troops of Emperor Ferdinand III. and the Bavarian Elector Maximilian I were defeated by the combined French and Swedish armies and forced to retreat. As a result, Bavaria was devastated by the Swedes and French.

prehistory

The armies of France and Sweden had united for the third time in April 1648. Their army now consisted of around 30,000 men: 18,000 horsemen , 11,000 foot soldiers and artillery . The Imperial and Bavarians were numerically considerably weaker; Furthermore, rivalries between the imperial generalissimo Melander von Holzappel and Count Gronsfeld , the leader of the better equipped Bavarian army, initially prevented a coordinated overall strategy.

On the other hand, the opposing generals Wrangel and Turenne had already agreed on a joint campaign plan: They wanted to first win the southern bank of the Danube, then conquer the Electorate of Bavaria and finally, from Bavaria along the Danube, attack Vienna. The prerequisite for the success of the campaign was, however, to beat the united imperial-Bavarian army in such a way that it could no longer oppose these plans.

In April 1648 Melander and Gronsfeld had tried in vain to capture the Swedes and French by relocating them to the west. Now Melander wanted to give his army section between Ulm and Augsburg a break, but at the same time also wanted to cover Bavaria against the enemy.

On May 1, 1648, the imperial army crossed the Danube over the bridge from Donauwörth to the south, on the night of May 2, 1648 the Bavarian army followed. The troops plundered Zusmarshausen , Burgau and surrounding towns, monasteries and castles without the commanders intervening. The looting stopped only on May 6th, after the headquarters in Günzburg had been taken and a camp had been set up there.

On May 11, 1648, Wrangel and Turenne set out with their armies directly for the Danube. On May 12th they marched to Langenau and on May 13th they attacked the Günzburg bridge, but Melander was able to repel the attack by having the bridge "thrown down" and on May 14th he set out with his army Burgau did. There were several skirmishes between Burgau and Augsburg on May 17, 1648, which went down in history as the Battle of Zusmarshausen .

The site

The former battlefield extends over a distance of about 25 km to the vicinity of Augsburg . In the west, the area is bounded by the Zusam , which like the Lech runs from south to north and flows into the Danube . In the east, Wertach , Lech and the former imperial city of Augsburg form the border. The course of the road used as the axis of the battles corresponds roughly to the former federal road 10. From Zusmarshausen, from west to east, that road rose slightly and then first cut the valley of the Rothbach on the right, then its headwaters. On the way into the valley of the Schmutter river , the battle road slowly sloped away, touched Biburg and the village of Schlipsheim , which is to the left of the Biburger Mühle, and finally cut the Schmutter on its way to the gates of Augsburg.

The red valley was swampy and swampy. The swamp partly reached as far as the road east of Horgau and enclosed it in some places. The Streitheimer Forst, north of the road between Horgau and Zusmarshausen, consisted of dense forest that did not allow cavalry and wagons to get through. Behind Horgau, in an easterly direction to Schäfstoss , where the northern and southern sources of the Rothbach flow together, the swamp area turned into a forest on both sides of the road. This forest was the water boundary between the Rothbach, which flows into the Zusam in the west, and the Biberbach, which flows into the Schmutter in the east. The foothills of this forest reached as far as the steep slopes near Schlipsheim and the Biburger Mühle. The east bank of the Schmutter was clearer and clearer. Meadows and gently sloping fields alternated, right up to the downstream area opposite Hainhofen . Here the area was easily accessible to all troops . Only at the height of the Sandberg in the south did the wooded area of the rough forest increase again, which was only accessible and passable on foot.

The march

On May 16, Melander stayed in Zusmarshausen with the entire imperial Bavarian army and the entourage . Field Marshal Wrangel and Field Marshal Turenne, however, did not give their troops a break. They had marched over the Günzburg Bridge to Langenau and from there to their base in Lauingen.

From there, on May 16, they sent a strong-fighting division of nine cavalry regiments (six Swedish and three French) with a total of 8,000 horses to the southeast. When this detachment sighted the enemy , the allies immediately followed up and crossed the Danube southward on the night of 16-17 May without a train. Holzappel, who had been warned about the enemy by a farmer and his education, immediately agreed with Gronsfeld, since he considered a further march to Augsburg urgently necessary.

The train schedule of May 17, 1648

The train order that Melander worked out for the departure to Augsburg was as follows:

A cure Bavarian Haubtmann with 50 must-squeezers in addition to all Kurbayrische bruckmaisters, Schanz graves and carpenters.
Meet Ebersteinisch.
Kur Bavarian infantry.
Kur Bayr. Pieceh.
Kays. Pediatrician
Kays. Pieceh.
Cure Beyr. Stuff and courtyard workshop.
Kays. Stuff and courtyard workshop.
Kur Bayr. Baggage trainer and carriage.
Kays. Baggage trainer and carriage.
Four little emperors. Pieceh.
All right Kays. Infantry.
Montecuccoli meeting.
Kays. Croatians.
All quartermasters should be found in preference.

Delay Battles

Melander handed over the Derrièregarde (rear guard) of 800 imperial musketeers and 1,500 riders to the proven Lieutenant Field Marshal Count Montecuccoli . Field Marshal Lieutenant Pompei and Sporck assisted him, and Colonel Count Starhemberg commanded the musketeers. On May 17th at 7:00 a.m., the Croats, who had been sent by Montecuccoli for reconnaissance, reported that enemy cavalry were approaching. Around 7:30 a.m., Montecuccoli had the first meeting north of Zusmarshausen and the Rothbach with the Swedish Vorrab under Colonel Krucke.

The Italian fended off the first enemy attack from his well-entrenched positions and threw back the Swedish cavalry advance by counter-attacking a concealed cavalry meeting; numerous prisoners were taken. Shortly thereafter, Montecuccoli notified Melander that the entire enemy cavalry was advancing, whereupon the latter ordered his rearguard to evade. Montecuccoli himself initially let his infantry and artillery evade: Pompei led them to the western edge of Herpfenried and had them take an elevated position there on both sides of the march road, which fully exploited the firepower of the artillery and musketeers and at the same time allowed the enemy to bypass them prevented: To the right and rising further, the dense and inaccessible Streitheimer Forst spread out, on the left the terrain fell into the swampy Rothniederung.

Meanwhile, Montecuccoli and his cavalry faced a new defensive battle against the meanwhile considerably strengthened Swedish-French cavalry under Turenne, who on that day commanded the arrièregarde (vanguard) of the "army of the two crowns": the imperial cavalry went behind the positions of their infantry and theirs Artillery returned and thanks to their superior firepower, Montecuccoli succeeded in stopping Turenne's cavalry attack west of Herpfenried. The new withdrawal movement of the imperial foot troops and artillery to the east was also orderly. Although the losses of Montecuccoli were still small after more than four hours of fighting - the infantry, cavalry and artillery of his rearguard were almost completely intact - and although the second detachment started as planned, the situation became difficult for him. Turenne threw new cavalry formations, including his body regiment, between Montecuccoli's infantry and the artillery positions.

In this critical phase between the second and third delay position, Melander himself brought fresh troops to the front: 400 horsemen under Colonel Boccomayor, 500 musketeers under Colonel Hauser and two light field cannons; He had these and the musketeers take up a well-chosen starting position near Horgau , namely directly on the Enge between Horgau and Schäfstoss , formed by the marshy lowlands of the northern source tributary of the Rothbach and based on the narrow forest through which the road ran here. The enemy attack was supposed to accumulate here as in front of a narrow pipe. Melander had the natural advantage of the terrain enhanced by hurriedly laying out trees. Initially, the third delay battle was also very favorable for the imperial family for a long time. Montecuccoli's exhausted infantry moved into the assigned positions through gaps left open in the tree barriers. The commander-in-chief rode back a short distance after gaining a first immediate impression of the battle going on at his rearguard, in order to dispatch the order to his General Feldzeugmeister Freiherr von Fernemont and to Gronsfeld that the bulk of the imperial Bavarian army be in a suitable location To set up battle order. For his part, he wants to support Montecuccoli first. Then he rode out across the narrows, probably with some of Boccomayor's riders. The rear of Montecuccolis was meanwhile attacked from all sides and mixed with the enemy. Melander was dragged into the midst of the fray. He was shot in the upper body from close range around 12:00 p.m. The Colonel Sergeant Major Spubnac from the Capaunische Reiter succeeded with two soldiers from his regiment in getting Melander behind a tree; he was immediately brought to Augsburg. Montecuccoli, who was fighting in the middle of his night, took his horse by the reins, crossed the mud and escaped behind his own line of fire.

Meanwhile the bulwarks were closed and defended against the frontal attacks of the Turennes dragoons. Swedish cavalry regiments under General Königsmarck launched an encircling attack against Montecuccoli's right flank from below; Turenne put an enclosure in a shorter arc on the left. Montecuccoli recognized the danger and ordered the six artillery pieces and his cavalry meeting to avoid the road, the only way back through the forest. For the time being, the musketeers had to hold their positions against the Turenne, who was also pushing forward.

The withdrawal threatened to degenerate into escape for a time. The guns soon had to be unhitched again on the congested road; they and a large part of the imperial baggage carts were lost. The Montecuccolis equestrian meeting was still fairly closed but heavily cleared on the east bank of the Schmutter, whereas the Musketeers Starhembergs and Hauser had to fight each other in individual troops - one of them at least 100 men strong - and arrived at their flags hours after the cavalry.

The three delay battles - north of Zusmarshausen, hard west of Herpfenried and east of Horgau - lasted from 7:00 a.m. to about 2:00 p.m. and took place over a distance of more than 10 kilometers.

The defence

In the meantime Gronsfeld had taken over the supreme command, carried out the order of Melander and had the imperial Bavarian army take up position on the east bank of the Schmutter. This turned out to be foresighted, as the troops ruled the Schmuttertal and were able to cover the ongoing march back of the entourage to Augsburg and ensure the reception of the Montecuccolis units. Partly protected by earth walls, the pikeman formations were set up on both sides of the road to Augsburg, outside the foreseen area of action of the enemy artillery. Below the pikemen, the imperial and Bavarian artillery arrived in two main groups so that they could concentrate their fire on the terrain between Biburg and Schlipsheim. On the other side, still on the west bank of the Schmutter, several strong Bavarian squadrons secured the road. The musketeers occupied the eastern bank zone on a broad front so that they could shoot from hidden positions, from underbrush and groups of trees on the west bank and at the expected crossing points. The cavalry was posted in regiments with small gaps and at a shallow depth (ie in a few rows) from the Sandberg to the river valley between Schlipsheim and Hainhofen . The Bavarian section of the army had never fought before, but ammunition and equipment were plentiful. After 2 p.m. Montecuccoli dashed back over the bridge with his riders. The Bavarian security squadrons near Schlipsheim wiped out the pursuers almost completely.

Meanwhile, Swedish and French cavalry occupied the plateaus above the steep slopes on either side of the road. She carried the captured artillery and tried to force the passage over the Schmutter under their fire protection, but was turned away.

Finally, the Swedish-French infantry appeared, which were constantly reinforced from the march. Mixed brigades prepared to attack across from the Biburg mill, which had since been destroyed. Wrangel and Turenne pulled up their artillery at the same time and let the enemy fire from 30 of their own and six captured guns. Opposite the right wing of the Imperial Bavarian Army, the cavalry managed to cross the river despite the enemy fire. In the immediate counterattack of the imperial cavalry regiments Königseck and Liège under the command of Field Marshal Lieutenant von Eberstein, however, she was thrown back and then moved to the west bank of the Schmutter. Wrangel and Turenne made no further transition attempts. During the cannonade, the Starhemberg and Elter regiments stood out as they maintained their position despite high losses. Colonel Starhemberg, who had managed to get through on foot after the last delay battle, immediately went to his regiment and took over its command again. Later Gronsfeld had these two foot regiments and the cavalry behind them replaced, including by the two cavalry regiments Alt-Colben and Jung-Colben.

Throughout the afternoon, until it was dark, the gunfire on both sides continued to be fiercely entertained, many of the riflemen posted on the bank were in combat almost continuously; The not particularly numerous Bavarian musketeers are said to have fired over 40,000 shots.

On the night of May 17-18, Gronsfeld finally took the entire army back in relatively good order, albeit without a baggage train, to under the guns of the imperial city and fortress of Augsburg, while Wrangel and Turenne took their combined armies into battle for some time the west bank of the Schmutter, since they probably did not notice the departure of Gronsfeld at first.

He had fires lighted and entertained on the Sandberg with his troops in order to simulate a campfire. The imperial Bavarian artillery fired several times from all cylinders in spite of the darkness, and immediately afterwards the cannons were drawn and set off for Augsburg under rider and foot soldiers cover. The Sandberg infantry followed, and an hour later the cavalry too, while they tried to avoid the glow of the campfire and not attract attention. The musketeers on the bank walked back one by one to their riverside assembly points, while the dragoons left their entrenchments and fired incessantly to distract the enemy. Gronsfeld was with these twelve squadrons. Finally he let them move away from the enemy. Unfollowed and without losses, albeit with a reduced pack, he reached the protection of the Augsburg ramparts. The Swedes and French stayed in the Biburg - Schlipsheim - Hainhofen area until May 23 . From there Wrangel gave his battle and battle description, which also reached the Westphalian Peace Congress, while Montecuccoli and Fernemont reported from Augsburg to their emperor on May 18 and 19, respectively.

consequences

Despite the dogged tenacity with which the imperial and Bavarians repeatedly fended off the attacks of the numerically superior enemy, defeat and retreat were indisputable facts. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian had Gronsfeld arrested after the battle. Bavaria was devastated by Swedish and French troops to force the Bavarian elector to sign a separate armistice. Despite the defeat, Emperor Ferdinand III resisted. continue to agree to the religious regulations formulated at the peace negotiations in Münster. Only after a Swedish army that had invaded Bohemia had conquered the Lesser Town in Prague on July 26th and Archduke Leopold's troops had also been defeated in August in the Battle of Lens by Condé , did he give up his resistance. On October 24, 1648, the Acta Pacis Westfalicae were solemnly signed by the envoys of the warring parties.

literature

Pötzl, Walter: Zusmarshausen. Market, nursing office, regional court and district office . Zusmarshausen 1992
Wedgwood, Cicely V .: The Thirty Years War, Munich 1998 (EV 1965)