The History of the Thirty Years' War
by
Friedrich Schiller, Translated by Rev. A. J. W. Morrison, M.A.
Part 7 out of 7
which the victorious Bernard had effected upon the Rhine,
gave quite a new turn to affairs.
The misunderstandings between France and Sweden were now at last adjusted,
and the old treaty between these powers confirmed at Hamburg, with fresh
advantages for Sweden. In Hesse, the politic Landgravine Amelia had,
with the approbation of the Estates, assumed the government
after the death of her husband, and resolutely maintained her rights
against the Emperor and the House of Darmstadt. Already zealously attached
to the Swedish Protestant party, on religious grounds, she only awaited
a favourable opportunity openly to declare herself. By artful delays,
and by prolonging the negociations with the Emperor, she had succeeded
in keeping him inactive, till she had concluded a secret compact with France,
and the victories of Duke Bernard had given a favourable turn
to the affairs of the Protestants. She now at once threw off the mask,
and renewed her former alliance with the Swedish crown.
The Electoral Prince of the Palatinate was also stimulated,
by the success of Bernard, to try his fortune against the common enemy.
Raising troops in Holland with English money, he formed a magazine at Meppen,
and joined the Swedes in Westphalia. His magazine was, however, quickly lost;
his army defeated near Flotha, by Count Hatzfeld; but his attempt
served to occupy for some time the attention of the enemy,
and thereby facilitated the operations of the Swedes in other quarters.
Other friends began to appear, as fortune declared in their favour,
and the circumstance, that the States of Lower Saxony embraced a neutrality,
was of itself no inconsiderable advantage.
Under these advantages, and reinforced by 14,000 fresh troops
from Sweden and Livonia. Banner opened, with the most favourable prospects,
the campaign of 1638. The Imperialists who were in possession
of Upper Pomerania and Mecklenburg, either abandoned their positions,
or deserted in crowds to the Swedes, to avoid the horrors of famine,
the most formidable enemy in this exhausted country. The whole country
betwixt the Elbe and the Oder was so desolated by the past marchings
and quarterings of the troops, that, in order to support his army
on its march into Saxony and Bohemia, Banner was obliged to take
a circuitous route from Lower Pomerania into Lower Saxony, and then into
the Electorate of Saxony through the territory of Halberstadt. The impatience
of the Lower Saxon States to get rid of such troublesome guests,
procured him so plentiful a supply of provisions, that he was provided
with bread in Magdeburg itself, where famine had even overcome
the natural antipathy of men to human flesh. His approach
spread consternation among the Saxons; but his views were directed
not against this exhausted country, but against the hereditary dominions
of the Emperor. The victories of Bernard encouraged him,
while the prosperity of the Austrian provinces excited his hopes of booty.
After defeating the Imperial General Salis, at Elsterberg,
totally routing the Saxon army at Chemnitz, and taking Pirna,
he penetrated with irresistible impetuosity into Bohemia, crossed the Elbe,
threatened Prague, took Brandeis and Leutmeritz, defeated General Hofkirchen
with ten regiments, and spread terror and devastation
through that defenceless kingdom. Booty was his sole object,
and whatever he could not carry off he destroyed. In order to remove
more of the corn, the ears were cut from the stalks, and the latter burnt.
Above a thousand castles, hamlets, and villages were laid in ashes;
sometimes more than a hundred were seen burning in one night.
From Bohemia he crossed into Silesia, and it was his intention
to carry his ravages even into Moravia and Austria. But to prevent this,
Count Hatzfeld was summoned from Westphalia, and Piccolomini
from the Netherlands, to hasten with all speed to this quarter.
The Archduke Leopold, brother to the Emperor, assumed the command,
in order to repair the errors of his predecessor Gallas, and to raise the army
from the low ebb to which it had fallen.
The result justified the change, and the campaign of 1640 appeared to take
a most unfortunate turn for the Swedes. They were successively driven out
of all their posts in Bohemia, and anxious only to secure their plunder,
they precipitately crossed the heights of Meissen. But being followed
into Saxony by the pursuing enemy, and defeated at Plauen, they were obliged
to take refuge in Thuringia. Made masters of the field in a single summer,
they were as rapidly dispossessed; but only to acquire it a second time,
and to hurry from one extreme to another. The army of Banner,
weakened and on the brink of destruction in its camp at Erfurt,
suddenly recovered itself. The Duke of Lunenburg abandoned
the treaty of Prague, and joined Banner with the very troops which,
the year before, had fought against him. Hesse Cassel sent reinforcements,
and the Duke of Longueville came to his support with the army
of the late Duke Bernard. Once more numerically superior to the Imperialists,
Banner offered them battle near Saalfeld; but their leader, Piccolomini,
prudently declined an engagement, having chosen too strong a position
to be forced. When the Bavarians at length separated from the Imperialists,
and marched towards Franconia, Banner attempted an attack upon this
divided corps, but the attempt was frustrated by the skill of the Bavarian
General Von Mercy, and the near approach of the main body of the Imperialists.
Both armies now moved into the exhausted territory of Hesse,
where they formed intrenched camps near each other, till at last
famine and the severity of the winter compelled them both to retire.
Piccolomini chose the fertile banks of the Weser for his winter quarters;
but being outflanked by Banner, he was obliged to give way to the Swedes,
and to impose on the Franconian sees the burden of maintaining his army.
At this period, a diet was held in Ratisbon, where the complaints
of the States were to be heard, measures taken for securing the repose
of the Empire, and the question of peace or war finally settled.
The presence of the Emperor, the majority of the Roman Catholic voices
in the Electoral College, the great number of bishops,
and the withdrawal of several of the Protestant votes,
gave the Emperor a complete command of the deliberations of the assembly,
and rendered this diet any thing but a fair representative of the opinions
of the German Empire. The Protestants, with reason, considered it
as a mere combination of Austria and its creatures against their party;
and it seemed to them a laudable effort to interrupt its deliberations,
and to dissolve the diet itself.
Banner undertook this bold enterprise. His military reputation had suffered
by his last retreat from Bohemia, and it stood in need of some great exploit
to restore its former lustre. Without communicating his designs to any one,
in the depth of the winter of 1641, as soon as the roads and rivers
were frozen, he broke up from his quarters in Lunenburg. Accompanied by
Marshal Guebriant, who commanded the armies of France and Weimar,
he took the route towards the Danube, through Thuringia and Vogtland,
and appeared before Ratisbon, ere the Diet could be apprised of his approach.
The consternation of the assembly was indescribable; and, in the first alarm,
the deputies prepared for flight. The Emperor alone declared
that he would not leave the town, and encouraged the rest by his example.
Unfortunately for the Swedes, a thaw came on, which broke up the ice
upon the Danube, so that it was no longer passable on foot,
while no boats could cross it, on account of the quantities of ice
which were swept down by the current. In order to perform something,
and to humble the pride of the Emperor, Banner discourteously fired
500 cannon shots into the town, which, however, did little mischief.
Baffled in his designs, he resolved to penetrate farther into Bavaria,
and the defenceless province of Moravia, where a rich booty
and comfortable quarters awaited his troops. Guebriant, however,
began to fear that the purpose of the Swedes was to draw the army of Bernard
away from the Rhine, and to cut off its communication with France,
till it should be either entirely won over, or incapacitated
from acting independently. He therefore separated from Banner
to return to the Maine; and the latter was exposed to the whole force
of the Imperialists, which had been secretly drawn together
between Ratisbon and Ingoldstadt, and was on its march against him.
It was now time to think of a rapid retreat, which, having to be effected
in the face of an army superior in cavalry, and betwixt woods and rivers,
through a country entirely hostile, appeared almost impracticable.
He hastily retired towards the Forest, intending to penetrate through Bohemia
into Saxony; but he was obliged to sacrifice three regiments at Neuburg.
These with a truly Spartan courage, defended themselves for four days
behind an old wall, and gained time for Banner to escape.
He retreated by Egra to Annaberg; Piccolomini took a shorter route in pursuit,
by Schlakenwald; and Banner succeeded, only by a single half hour,
in clearing the Pass of Prisnitz, and saving his whole army
from the Imperialists. At Zwickau he was again joined by Guebriant;
and both generals directed their march towards Halberstadt,
after in vain attempting to defend the Saal, and to prevent the passage
of the Imperialists.
Banner, at length, terminated his career at Halberstadt, in May 1641,
a victim to vexation and disappointment. He sustained with great renown,
though with varying success, the reputation of the Swedish arms in Germany,
and by a train of victories showed himself worthy of his great master
in the art of war. He was fertile in expedients, which he planned
with secrecy, and executed with boldness; cautious in the midst of dangers,
greater in adversity than in prosperity, and never more formidable
than when upon the brink of destruction. But the virtues of the hero
were united with all the railings and vices which a military life creates,
or at least fosters. As imperious in private life as he was
at the head of his army, rude as his profession, and proud as a conqueror;
he oppressed the German princes no less by his haughtiness,
than their country by his contributions. He consoled himself
for the toils of war in voluptuousness and the pleasures of the table,
in which he indulged to excess, and was thus brought to an early grave.
But though as much addicted to pleasure as Alexander or Mahomet the Second,
he hurried from the arms of luxury into the hardest fatigues,
and placed himself in all his vigour at the head of his army,
at the very moment his soldiers were murmuring at his luxurious excesses.
Nearly 80,000 men fell in the numerous battles which he fought,
and about 600 hostile standards and colours, which he sent to Stockholm,
were the trophies of his victories. The want of this great general
was soon severely felt by the Swedes, who feared, with justice, that the loss
would not readily be replaced. The spirit of rebellion and insubordination,
which had been overawed by the imperious demeanour of this dreaded commander,
awoke upon his death. The officers, with an alarming unanimity,
demanded payment of their arrears; and none of the four generals
who shared the command, possessed influence enough to satisfy these demands,
or to silence the malcontents. All discipline was at an end,
increasing want, and the imperial citations were daily diminishing
the number of the army; the troops of France and Weimar showed little zeal;
those of Lunenburg forsook the Swedish colours; the Princes also
of the House of Brunswick, after the death of Duke George,
had formed a separate treaty with the Emperor; and at last
even those of Hesse quitted them, to seek better quarters in Westphalia.
The enemy profited by these calamitous divisions; and although
defeated with loss in two pitched battles, succeeded in making
considerable progress in Lower Saxony.
At length appeared the new Swedish generalissimo, with fresh troops and money.
This was Bernard Torstensohn, a pupil of Gustavus Adolphus,
and his most successful imitator, who had been his page during the Polish war.
Though a martyr to the gout, and confined to a litter,
he surpassed all his opponents in activity; and his enterprises had wings,
while his body was held by the most frightful of fetters.
Under him, the scene of war was changed, and new maxims adopted,
which necessity dictated, and the issue justified. All the countries
in which the contest had hitherto raged were exhausted;
while the House of Austria, safe in its more distant territories,
felt not the miseries of the war under which the rest of Germany groaned.
Torstensohn first furnished them with this bitter experience,
glutted his Swedes on the fertile produce of Austria,
and carried the torch of war to the very footsteps of the imperial throne.
In Silesia, the enemy had gained considerable advantages
over the Swedish general Stalhantsch, and driven him as far as Neumark.
Torstensohn, who had joined the main body of the Swedes in Lunenburg,
summoned him to unite with his force, and in the year 1642 hastily marched
into Silesia through Brandenburg, which, under its great Elector,
had begun to maintain an armed neutrality. Glogau was carried, sword in hand,
without a breach, or formal approaches; the Duke Francis Albert of Lauenburg
defeated and killed at Schweidnitz; and Schweidnitz itself
with almost all the towns on that side of the Oder, taken.
He now penetrated with irresistible violence into the interior of Moravia,
where no enemy of Austria had hitherto appeared, took Olmutz,
and threw Vienna itself into consternation.
But, in the mean time, Piccolomini and the Archduke Leopold had collected
a superior force, which speedily drove the Swedish conquerors from Moravia,
and after a fruitless attempt upon Brieg, from Silesia.
Reinforced by Wrangel, the Swedes again attempted to make head
against the enemy, and relieved Grossglogau; but could neither bring
the Imperialists to an engagement, nor carry into effect
their own views upon Bohemia. Overrunning Lusatia, they took Zittau,
in presence of the enemy, and after a short stay in that country,
directed their march towards the Elbe, which they passed at Torgau.
Torstensohn now threatened Leipzig with a siege, and hoped to raise
a large supply of provisions and contributions from that prosperous town,
which for ten years had been unvisited with the scourge of war.
The Imperialists, under Leopold and Piccolomini, immediately hastened
by Dresden to its relief, and Torstensohn, to avoid being inclosed between
this army and the town, boldly advanced to meet them in order of battle.
By a strange coincidence, the two armies met upon the very spot which,
eleven years before, Gustavus Adolphus had rendered remarkable
by a decisive victory; and the heroism of their predecessors,
now kindled in the Swedes a noble emulation on this consecrated ground.
The Swedish generals, Stahlhantsch and Wellenberg, led their divisions
with such impetuosity upon the left wing of the Imperialists,
before it was completely formed, that the whole cavalry that covered it
were dispersed and rendered unserviceable. But the left of the Swedes
was threatened with a similar fate, when the victorious right
advanced to its assistance, took the enemy in flank and rear,
and divided the Austrian line. The infantry on both sides
stood firm as a wall, and when their ammunition was exhausted,
maintained the combat with the butt-ends of their muskets,
till at last the Imperialists, completely surrounded,
after a contest of three hours, were compelled to abandon the field.
The generals on both sides had more than once to rally their flying troops;
and the Archduke Leopold, with his regiment, was the first in the attack
and last in flight. But this bloody victory cost the Swedes
more than 3000 men, and two of their best generals, Schlangen and Lilienhoeck.
More than 5000 of the Imperialists were left upon the field,
and nearly as many taken prisoners. Their whole artillery,
consisting of 46 field-pieces, the silver plate and portfolio of the archduke,
with the whole baggage of the army, fell into the hands of the victors.
Torstensohn, too greatly disabled by his victory to pursue the enemy,
moved upon Leipzig. The defeated army retired into Bohemia,
where its shattered regiments reassembled. The Archduke Leopold
could not recover from the vexation caused by this defeat;
and the regiment of cavalry which, by its premature flight,
had occasioned the disaster, experienced the effects of his indignation.
At Raconitz in Bohemia, in presence of the whole army, he publicly
declared it infamous, deprived it of its horses, arms, and ensigns,
ordered its standards to be torn, condemned to death several of the officers,
and decimated the privates.
The surrender of Leipzig, three weeks after the battle, was its
brilliant result. The city was obliged to clothe the Swedish troops anew,
and to purchase an exemption from plunder, by a contribution
of 300,000 rix-dollars, to which all the foreign merchants,
who had warehouses in the city, were to furnish their quota.
In the middle of winter, Torstensohn advanced against Freyberg,
and for several weeks defied the inclemency of the season,
hoping by his perseverance to weary out the obstinacy of the besieged.
But he found that he was merely sacrificing the lives of his soldiers;
and at last, the approach of the imperial general, Piccolomini,
compelled him, with his weakened army, to retire. He considered it, however,
as equivalent to a victory, to have disturbed the repose of the enemy
in their winter quarters, who, by the severity of the weather,
sustained a loss of 3000 horses. He now made a movement towards the Oder,
as if with the view of reinforcing himself with the garrisons
of Pomerania and Silesia; but, with the rapidity of lightning,
he again appeared upon the Bohemian frontier, penetrated through that kingdom,
and relieved Olmutz in Moravia, which was hard pressed by the Imperialists.
His camp at Dobitschau, two miles from Olmutz, commanded the whole of Moravia,
on which he levied heavy contributions, and carried his ravages
almost to the gates of Vienna. In vain did the Emperor attempt
to arm the Hungarian nobility in defence of this province;
they appealed to their privileges, and refused to serve beyond the limits
of their own country. Thus, the time that should have been spent
in active resistance, was lost in fruitless negociation,
and the entire province was abandoned to the ravages of the Swedes.
While Torstensohn, by his marches and his victories,
astonished friend and foe, the armies of the allies had not been inactive
in other parts of the empire. The troops of Hesse, under Count Eberstein,
and those of Weimar, under Mareschal de Guebriant, had fallen into
the Electorate of Cologne, in order to take up their winter quarters there.
To get rid of these troublesome guests, the Elector called to his assistance
the imperial general Hatzfeldt, and assembled his own troops
under General Lamboy. The latter was attacked by the allies in January, 1642,
and in a decisive action near Kempen, defeated, with the loss
of about 2000 men killed, and about twice as many prisoners.
This important victory opened to them the whole Electorate
and neighbouring territories, so that the allies were not only enabled
to maintain their winter quarters there, but drew from the country
large supplies of men and horses.
Guebriant left the Hessians to defend their conquests on the Lower Rhine
against Hatzfeldt, and advanced towards Thuringia, as if to second
the operations of Torstensohn in Saxony. But instead of joining the Swedes,
he soon hurried back to the Rhine and the Maine, from which he seemed to think
he had removed farther than was expedient. But being anticipated
in the Margraviate of Baden, by the Bavarians under Mercy and John de Werth,
he was obliged to wander about for several weeks, exposed, without shelter,
to the inclemency of the winter, and generally encamping upon the snow,
till he found a miserable refuge in Breisgau. He at last took the field;
and, in the next summer, by keeping the Bavarian army employed in Suabia,
prevented it from relieving Thionville, which was besieged by Conde.
But the superiority of the enemy soon drove him back to Alsace,
where he awaited a reinforcement.
The death of Cardinal Richelieu took place in November, 1642,
and the subsequent change in the throne and in the ministry,
occasioned by the death of Louis XIII., had for some time
withdrawn the attention of France from the German war,
and was the cause of the inaction of its troops in the field.
But Mazarin, the inheritor, not only of Richelieu's power,
but also of his principles and his projects, followed out with renewed zeal
the plans of his predecessor, though the French subject was destined
to pay dearly enough for the political greatness of his country.
The main strength of its armies, which Richelieu had employed
against the Spaniards, was by Mazarin directed against the Emperor;
and the anxiety with which he carried on the war in Germany,
proved the sincerity of his opinion, that the German army
was the right arm of his king, and a wall of safety around France.
Immediately upon the surrender of Thionville, he sent
a considerable reinforcement to Field-Marshal Guebriant in Alsace;
and to encourage the troops to bear the fatigues of the German war,
the celebrated victor of Rocroi, the Duke of Enghien,
afterwards Prince of Conde, was placed at their head.
Guebriant now felt himself strong enough to appear again in Germany
with repute. He hastened across the Rhine with the view
of procuring better winter quarters in Suabia, and actually made himself
master of Rothweil, where a Bavarian magazine fell into his hands.
But the place was too dearly purchased for its worth, and was again lost
even more speedily than it had been taken. Guebriant received a wound
in the arm, which the surgeon's unskilfulness rendered mortal,
and the extent of his loss was felt on the very day of his death.
The French army, sensibly weakened by an expedition undertaken
at so severe a season of the year, had, after the taking of Rothweil,
withdrawn into the neighbourhood of Duttlingen, where it lay
in complete security, without expectation of a hostile attack.
In the mean time, the enemy collected a considerable force, with a view
to prevent the French from establishing themselves beyond the Rhine
and so near to Bavaria, and to protect that quarter from their ravages.
The Imperialists, under Hatzfeldt, had formed a junction
with the Bavarians under Mercy; and the Duke of Lorraine,
who, during the whole course of the war, was generally found
everywhere except in his own duchy, joined their united forces.
It was resolved to force the quarters of the French in Duttlingen,
and the neighbouring villages, by surprise; a favourite mode of proceeding
in this war, and which, being commonly accompanied by confusion,
occasioned more bloodshed than a regular battle. On the present occasion,
there was the more to justify it, as the French soldiers,
unaccustomed to such enterprises, conceived themselves protected
by the severity of the winter against any surprise. John de Werth,
a master in this species of warfare, which he had often put in practice
against Gustavus Horn, conducted the enterprise, and succeeded,
contrary to all expectation.
The attack was made on a side where it was least looked for,
on account of the woods and narrow passes, and a heavy snow storm
which fell upon the same day, (the 24th November, 1643,)
concealed the approach of the vanguard till it halted before Duttlingen.
The whole of the artillery without the place, as well as
the neighbouring Castle of Honberg, were taken without resistance,
Duttlingen itself was gradually surrounded by the enemy,
and all connexion with the other quarters in the adjacent villages
silently and suddenly cut off. The French were vanquished
without firing a cannon. The cavalry owed their escape
to the swiftness of their horses, and the few minutes in advance,
which they had gained upon their pursuers. The infantry were cut to pieces,
or voluntarily laid down their arms. About 2,000 men were killed,
and 7,000, with 25 staff-officers and 90 captains, taken prisoners.
This was, perhaps, the only battle, in the whole course of the war,
which produced nearly the same effect upon the party which gained,
and that which lost; -- both these parties were Germans;
the French disgraced themselves. The memory of this unfortunate day,
which was renewed 100 years after at Rosbach, was indeed erased
by the subsequent heroism of a Turenne and Conde; but the Germans
may be pardoned, if they indemnified themselves for the miseries
which the policy of France had heaped upon them, by these severe reflections
upon her intrepidity.
Meantime, this defeat of the French was calculated to prove highly disastrous
to Sweden, as the whole power of the Emperor might now act against them,
while the number of their enemies was increased by a formidable accession.
Torstensohn had, in September, 1643, suddenly left Moravia,
and moved into Silesia. The cause of this step was a secret,
and the frequent changes which took place in the direction of his march,
contributed to increase this perplexity. From Silesia,
after numberless circuits, he advanced towards the Elbe,
while the Imperialists followed him into Lusatia. Throwing a bridge
across the Elbe at Torgau, he gave out that he intended to penetrate
through Meissen into the Upper Palatinate in Bavaria;
at Barby he also made a movement, as if to pass that river,
but continued to move down the Elbe as far as Havelburg,
where he astonished his troops by informing them that he was leading them
against the Danes in Holstein.
The partiality which Christian IV. had displayed against the Swedes
in his office of mediator, the jealousy which led him to do all in his power
to hinder the progress of their arms, the restraints which he laid
upon their navigation of the Sound, and the burdens which he imposed
upon their commerce, had long roused the indignation of Sweden; and, at last,
when these grievances increased daily, had determined the Regency
to measures of retaliation. Dangerous as it seemed, to involve the nation
in a new war, when, even amidst its conquests, it was almost exhausted
by the old, the desire of revenge, and the deep-rooted hatred which subsisted
between Danes and Swedes, prevailed over all other considerations;
and even the embarrassment in which hostilities with Germany had plunged it,
only served as an additional motive to try its fortune against Denmark.
Matters were, in fact, arrived at last to that extremity,
that the war was prosecuted merely for the purpose of furnishing
food and employment to the troops; that good winter quarters
formed the chief subject of contention; and that success, in this point,
was more valued than a decisive victory. But now the provinces of Germany
were almost all exhausted and laid waste. They were wholly destitute
of provisions, horses, and men, which in Holstein were to be found
in profusion. If by this movement, Torstensohn should succeed merely
in recruiting his army, providing subsistence for his horses and soldiers,
and remounting his cavalry, all the danger and difficulty
would be well repaid. Besides, it was highly important,
on the eve of negotiations for peace, to diminish the injurious influence
which Denmark might exercise upon these deliberations,
to delay the treaty itself, which threatened to be prejudicial
to the Swedish interests, by sowing confusion among the parties interested,
and with a view to the amount of indemnification, to increase the number
of her conquests, in order to be the more sure of securing those
which alone she was anxious to retain. Moreover, the present state of Denmark
justified even greater hopes, if only the attempt were executed
with rapidity and silence. The secret was in fact so well kept in Stockholm,
that the Danish minister had not the slightest suspicion of it;
and neither France nor Holland were let into the scheme. Actual hostilities
commenced with the declaration of war; and Torstensohn was in Holstein,
before even an attack was expected. The Swedish troops,
meeting with no resistance, quickly overran this duchy, and made themselves
masters of all its strong places, except Rensburg and Gluckstadt.
Another army penetrated into Schonen, which made as little opposition;
and nothing but the severity of the season prevented the enemy
from passing the Lesser Baltic, and carrying the war into Funen and Zealand.
The Danish fleet was unsuccessful at Femern; and Christian himself,
who was on board, lost his right eye by a splinter. Cut off from
all communication with the distant force of the Emperor, his ally,
this king was on the point of seeing his whole kingdom overrun by the Swedes;
and all things threatened the speedy fulfilment of the old prophecy
of the famous Tycho Brahe, that in the year 1644, Christian IV. should wander
in the greatest misery from his dominions.
But the Emperor could not look on with indifference, while Denmark was
sacrificed to Sweden, and the latter strengthened by so great an acquisition.
Notwithstanding great difficulties lay in the way of so long a march
through desolated provinces, he did not hesitate to despatch an army
into Holstein under Count Gallas, who, after Piccolomini's retirement,
had resumed the supreme command of the troops. Gallas accordingly appeared
in the duchy, took Keil, and hoped, by forming a junction with the Danes,
to be able to shut up the Swedish army in Jutland. Meantime, the Hessians,
and the Swedish General Koenigsmark, were kept in check by Hatzfeldt,
and the Archbishop of Bremen, the son of Christian IV.; and afterwards
the Swedes drawn into Saxony by an attack upon Meissen. But Torstensohn,
with his augmented army, penetrated through the unoccupied pass
betwixt Schleswig and Stapelholm, met Gallas, and drove him along
the whole course of the Elbe, as far as Bernburg, where the Imperialists
took up an entrenched position. Torstensohn passed the Saal,
and by posting himself in the rear of the enemy, cut off their communication
with Saxony and Bohemia. Scarcity and famine began now to destroy them
in great numbers, and forced them to retreat to Magdeburg, where, however,
they were not much better off. The cavalry, which endeavoured to escape
into Silesia, was overtaken and routed by Torstensohn, near Juterbock;
the rest of the army, after a vain attempt to fight its way
through the Swedish lines, was almost wholly destroyed near Magdeburg.
From this expedition, Gallas brought back only a few thousand men
of all his formidable force, and the reputation of being a consummate master
in the art of ruining an army. The King of Denmark, after this unsuccessful
effort to relieve him, sued for peace, which he obtained at Bremsebor
in the year 1645, under very unfavourable conditions.
Torstensohn rapidly followed up his victory; and while Axel Lilienstern,
one of the generals who commanded under him, overawed Saxony,
and Koenigsmark subdued the whole of Bremen, he himself
penetrated into Bohemia with 16,000 men and 80 pieces of artillery,
and endeavoured a second time to remove the seat of war
into the hereditary dominions of Austria. Ferdinand, upon this intelligence,
hastened in person to Prague, in order to animate the courage of the people
by his presence; and as a skilful general was much required,
and so little unanimity prevailed among the numerous leaders,
he hoped in the immediate neighbourhood of the war to be able
to give more energy and activity. In obedience to his orders,
Hatzfeldt assembled the whole Austrian and Bavarian force, and contrary to
his own inclination and advice, formed the Emperor's last army,
and the last bulwark of his states, in order of battle, to meet the enemy,
who were approaching, at Jankowitz, on the 24th of February, 1645.
Ferdinand depended upon his cavalry, which outnumbered that of the enemy
by 3000, and upon the promise of the Virgin Mary, who had appeared to him
in a dream, and given him the strongest assurances of a complete victory.
The superiority of the Imperialists did not intimidate Torstensohn,
who was not accustomed to number his antagonists. On the very first onset,
the left wing, which Goetz, the general of the League, had entangled
in a disadvantageous position among marshes and thickets, was totally routed;
the general, with the greater part of his men, killed, and almost
the whole ammunition of the army taken. This unfortunate commencement
decided the fate of the day. The Swedes, constantly advancing,
successively carried all the most commanding heights.
After a bloody engagement of eight hours, a desperate attack
on the part of the Imperial cavalry, and a vigorous resistance
by the Swedish infantry, the latter remained in possession of the field.
2,000 Austrians were killed upon the spot, and Hatzfeldt himself,
with 3,000 men, taken prisoners. Thus, on the same day,
did the Emperor lose his best general and his last army.
This decisive victory at Jancowitz, at once exposed all the Austrian territory
to the enemy. Ferdinand hastily fled to Vienna, to provide for its defence,
and to save his family and his treasures. In a very short time,
the victorious Swedes poured, like an inundation, upon Moravia and Austria.
After they had subdued nearly the whole of Moravia, invested Brunn,
and taken all the strongholds as far as the Danube,
and carried the intrenchments at the Wolf's Bridge, near Vienna,
they at last appeared in sight of that capital, while the care
which they had taken to fortify their conquests, showed that their visit
was not likely to be a short one. After a long and destructive circuit
through every province of Germany, the stream of war had at last
rolled backwards to its source, and the roar of the Swedish artillery
now reminded the terrified inhabitants of those balls which,
twenty-seven years before, the Bohemian rebels had fired into Vienna.
The same theatre of war brought again similar actors on the scene.
Torstensohn invited Ragotsky, the successor of Bethlen Gabor,
to his assistance, as the Bohemian rebels had solicited
that of his predecessor; Upper Hungary was already inundated by his troops,
and his union with the Swedes was daily apprehended. The Elector of Saxony,
driven to despair by the Swedes taking up their quarters
within his territories, and abandoned by the Emperor, who,
after the defeat at Jankowitz, was unable to defend himself,
at length adopted the last and only expedient which remained,
and concluded a truce with Sweden, which was renewed from year to year,
till the general peace. The Emperor thus lost a friend,
while a new enemy was appearing at his very gates, his armies dispersed,
and his allies in other quarters of Germany defeated. The French army had
effaced the disgrace of their defeat at Deutlingen by a brilliant campaign,
and had kept the whole force of Bavaria employed upon the Rhine and in Suabia.
Reinforced with fresh troops from France, which the great Turenne,
already distinguished by his victories in Italy, brought to the assistance
of the Duke of Enghien, they appeared on the 3rd of August, 1644,
before Friburg, which Mercy had lately taken, and now covered,
with his whole army strongly intrenched. But against the steady firmness
of the Bavarians, all the impetuous valour of the French was exerted in vain,
and after a fruitless sacrifice of 6,000 men, the Duke of Enghien
was compelled to retreat. Mazarin shed tears over this great loss,
which Conde, who had no feeling for anything but glory, disregarded.
"A single night in Paris," said he, "gives birth to more men
than this action has destroyed." The Bavarians, however,
were so disabled by this murderous battle, that, far from being
in a condition to relieve Austria from the menaced dangers,
they were too weak even to defend the banks of the Rhine.
Spires, Worms, and Manheim capitulated; the strong fortress of Philipsburg
was forced to surrender by famine; and, by a timely submission,
Mentz hastened to disarm the conquerors.
Austria and Moravia, however, were now freed from Torstensohn,
by a similar means of deliverance, as in the beginning of the war
had saved them from the Bohemians. Ragotzky, at the head of 25,000 men,
had advanced into the neighbourhood of the Swedish quarters upon the Danube.
But these wild undisciplined hordes, instead of seconding the operations
of Torstensohn by any vigorous enterprise, only ravaged the country,
and increased the distress which, even before their arrival,
had begun to be felt in the Swedish camp. To extort tribute from the Emperor,
and money and plunder from his subjects, was the sole object
that had allured Ragotzky, or his predecessor, Bethlen Gabor, into the field;
and both departed as soon as they had gained their end. To get rid of him,
Ferdinand granted the barbarian whatever he asked, and, by a small sacrifice,
freed his states of this formidable enemy.
In the mean time, the main body of the Swedes had been greatly weakened
by a tedious encampment before Brunn. Torstensohn, who commanded in person,
for four entire months employed in vain all his knowledge of military tactics;
the obstinacy of the resistance was equal to that of the assault;
while despair roused the courage of Souches, the commandant,
a Swedish deserter, who had no hope of pardon. The ravages
caused by pestilence, arising from famine, want of cleanliness,
and the use of unripe fruit, during their tedious and unhealthy encampment,
with the sudden retreat of the Prince of Transylvania, at last compelled
the Swedish leader to raise the siege. As all the passes upon the Danube
were occupied, and his army greatly weakened by famine and sickness,
he at last relinquished his intended plan of operations against
Austria and Moravia, and contented himself with securing a key
to these provinces, by leaving behind him Swedish garrisons
in the conquered fortresses. He then directed his march into Bohemia,
whither he was followed by the Imperialists, under the Archduke Leopold.
Such of the lost places as had not been retaken by the latter, were recovered,
after his departure, by the Austrian General Bucheim; so that,
in the course of the following year, the Austrian frontier was again cleared
of the enemy, and Vienna escaped with mere alarm. In Bohemia and Silesia too,
the Swedes maintained themselves only with a very variable fortune;
they traversed both countries, without being able to hold their ground
in either. But if the designs of Torstensohn were not crowned
with all the success which they were promised at the commencement,
they were, nevertheless, productive of the most important consequences
to the Swedish party. Denmark had been compelled to a peace,
Saxony to a truce. The Emperor, in the deliberations for a peace,
offered greater concessions; France became more manageable;
and Sweden itself bolder and more confident in its bearing
towards these two crowns. Having thus nobly performed his duty,
the author of these advantages retired, adorned with laurels,
into the tranquillity of private life, and endeavoured to restore
his shattered health.
By the retreat of Torstensohn, the Emperor was relieved
from all fears of an irruption on the side of Bohemia. But a new danger
soon threatened the Austrian frontier from Suabia and Bavaria.
Turenne, who had separated from Conde, and taken the direction of Suabia,
had, in the year 1645, been totally defeated by Mercy, near Mergentheim;
and the victorious Bavarians, under their brave leader, poured into Hesse.
But the Duke of Enghien hastened with considerable succours from Alsace,
Koenigsmark from Moravia, and the Hessians from the Rhine,
to recruit the defeated army, and the Bavarians were in turn compelled
to retire to the extreme limits of Suabia. Here they posted themselves
at the village of Allersheim, near Nordlingen, in order to cover
the Bavarian frontier. But no obstacle could check the impetuosity
of the Duke of Enghien. In person, he led on his troops
against the enemy's entrenchments, and a battle took place,
which the heroic resistance of the Bavarians rendered
most obstinate and bloody; till at last the death of the great Mercy,
the skill of Turenne, and the iron firmness of the Hessians,
decided the day in favour of the allies. But even this second
barbarous sacrifice of life had little effect either on the course of the war,
or on the negociations for peace. The French army, exhausted by
this bloody engagement, was still farther weakened by the departure
of the Hessians, and the Bavarians being reinforced by the Archduke Leopold,
Turenne was again obliged hastily to recross the Rhine.
The retreat of the French, enabled the enemy to turn his whole force
upon the Swedes in Bohemia. Gustavus Wrangel, no unworthy successor
of Banner and Torstensohn, had, in 1646, been appointed Commander-in-chief
of the Swedish army, which, besides Koenigsmark's flying corps
and the numerous garrisons disposed throughout the empire,
amounted to about 8,000 horse, and 15,000 foot. The Archduke,
after reinforcing his army, which already amounted to 24,000 men,
with twelve Bavarian regiments of cavalry, and eighteen regiments of infantry,
moved against Wrangel, in the hope of being able to overwhelm him
by his superior force before Koenigsmark could join him,
or the French effect a diversion in his favour. Wrangel, however,
did not await him, but hastened through Upper Saxony to the Weser,
where he took Hoester and Paderborn. From thence he marched into Hesse,
in order to join Turenne, and at his camp at Wetzlar,
was joined by the flying corps of Koenigsmark. But Turenne,
fettered by the instructions of Mazarin, who had seen with jealousy
the warlike prowess and increasing power of the Swedes, excused himself
on the plea of a pressing necessity to defend the frontier of France
on the side of the Netherlands, in consequence of the Flemings having failed
to make the promised diversion. But as Wrangel continued to press
his just demand, and a longer opposition might have excited distrust
on the part of the Swedes, or induce them to conclude a private treaty
with Austria, Turenne at last obtained the wished for permission
to join the Swedish army.
The junction took place at Giessen, and they now felt themselves strong enough
to meet the enemy. The latter had followed the Swedes into Hesse,
in order to intercept their commissariat, and to prevent their union
with Turenne. In both designs they had been unsuccessful;
and the Imperialists now saw themselves cut off from the Maine,
and exposed to great scarcity and want from the loss of their magazines.
Wrangel took advantage of their weakness, to execute a plan
by which he hoped to give a new turn to the war. He, too, had adopted
the maxim of his predecessor, to carry the war into the Austrian States.
But discouraged by the ill success of Torstensohn's enterprise,
he hoped to gain his end with more certainty by another way.
He determined to follow the course of the Danube, and to break
into the Austrian territories through the midst of Bavaria.
A similar design had been formerly conceived by Gustavus Adolphus,
which he had been prevented carrying into effect by the approach
of Wallenstein's army, and the danger of Saxony. Duke Bernard
moving in his footsteps, and more fortunate than Gustavus,
had spread his victorious banners between the Iser and the Inn;
but the near approach of the enemy, vastly superior in force,
obliged him to halt in his victorious career, and lead back his troops.
Wrangel now hoped to accomplish the object in which his predecessors
had failed, the more so, as the Imperial and Bavarian army
was far in his rear upon the Lahn, and could only reach Bavaria
by a long march through Franconia and the Upper Palatinate.
He moved hastily upon the Danube, defeated a Bavarian corps near Donauwerth,
and passed that river, as well as the Lech, unopposed.
But by wasting his time in the unsuccessful siege of Augsburg,
he gave opportunity to the Imperialists, not only to relieve that city,
but also to repulse him as far as Lauingen. No sooner, however,
had they turned towards Suabia, with a view to remove the war from Bavaria,
than, seizing the opportunity, he repassed the Lech,
and guarded the passage of it against the Imperialists themselves.
Bavaria now lay open and defenceless before him; the French and Swedes
quickly overran it; and the soldiery indemnified themselves for all dangers
by frightful outrages, robberies, and extortions. The arrival
of the Imperial troops, who at last succeeded in passing the Lech
at Thierhaupten, only increased the misery of this country,
which friend and foe indiscriminately plundered.
And now, for the first time during the whole course of this war,
the courage of Maximilian, which for eight-and-twenty years
had stood unshaken amidst fearful dangers, began to waver. Ferdinand II.,
his school-companion at Ingoldstadt, and the friend of his youth, was no more;
and with the death of his friend and benefactor, the strong tie was dissolved
which had linked the Elector to the House of Austria. To the father,
habit, inclination, and gratitude had attached him; the son was a stranger
to his heart, and political interests alone could preserve his fidelity
to the latter prince.
Accordingly, the motives which the artifices of France now put in operation,
in order to detach him from the Austrian alliance, and to induce him
to lay down his arms, were drawn entirely from political considerations.
It was not without a selfish object that Mazarin had so far overcome
his jealousy of the growing power of the Swedes, as to allow the French
to accompany them into Bavaria. His intention was to expose Bavaria
to all the horrors of war, in the hope that the persevering fortitude
of Maximilian might be subdued by necessity and despair,
and the Emperor deprived of his first and last ally. Brandenburg had,
under its great sovereign, embraced the neutrality; Saxony had been forced
to accede to it; the war with France prevented the Spaniards from taking
any part in that of Germany; the peace with Sweden had removed Denmark
from the theatre of war; and Poland had been disarmed by a long truce.
If they could succeed in detaching the Elector of Bavaria also
from the Austrian alliance, the Emperor would be without a friend in Germany
and left to the mercy of the allied powers.
Ferdinand III. saw his danger, and left no means untried to avert it.
But the Elector of Bavaria was unfortunately led to believe
that the Spaniards alone were disinclined to peace, and that nothing,
but Spanish influence, had induced the Emperor so long to resist a cessation
of hostilities. Maximilian detested the Spaniards, and could never forgive
their having opposed his application for the Palatine Electorate.
Could it then be supposed that, in order to gratify this hated power,
he would see his people sacrificed, his country laid waste,
and himself ruined, when, by a cessation of hostilities,
he could at once emancipate himself from all these distresses,
procure for his people the repose of which they stood so much in need,
and perhaps accelerate the arrival of a general peace?
All doubts disappeared; and, convinced of the necessity of this step,
he thought he should sufficiently discharge his obligations to the Emperor,
if he invited him also to share in the benefit of the truce.
The deputies of the three crowns, and of Bavaria, met at Ulm,
to adjust the conditions. But it was soon evident, from the instructions
of the Austrian ambassadors that it was not the intention of the Emperor
to second the conclusion of a truce, but if possible to prevent it.
It was obviously necessary to make the terms acceptable to the Swedes,
who had the advantage, and had more to hope than to fear
from the continuance of the war. They were the conquerors;
and yet the Emperor presumed to dictate to them. In the first transports
of their indignation, the Swedish ambassadors were on the point of leaving
the congress, and the French were obliged to have recourse to threats
in order to detain them.
The good intentions of the Elector of Bavaria, to include the Emperor
in the benefit of the truce, having been thus rendered unavailing,
he felt himself justified in providing for his own safety.
However hard were the conditions on which the truce was to be purchased,
he did not hesitate to accept it on any terms. He agreed to
the Swedes extending their quarters in Suabia and Franconia,
and to his own being restricted to Bavaria and the Palatinate.
The conquests which he had made in Suabia were ceded to the allies,
who, on their part, restored to him what they had taken from Bavaria.
Cologne and Hesse Cassel were also included in the truce.
After the conclusion of this treaty, upon the 14th March, 1647,
the French and Swedes left Bavaria, and in order not to interfere
with each other, took up different quarters; the former in Wuertemberg,
the latter in Upper Suabia, in the neighbourhood of the Lake of Constance.
On the extreme north of this lake, and on the most southern frontier
of Suabia, the Austrian town of Bregentz, by its steep and narrow passes,
seemed to defy attack; and in this persuasion, the whole peasantry
of the surrounding villages had with their property taken refuge
in this natural fortress. The rich booty, which the store of provisions
it contained, gave reason to expect, and the advantage of possessing a pass
into the Tyrol, Switzerland and Italy, induced the Swedish general
to venture an attack upon this supposed impregnable post and town,
in which he succeeded. Meantime, Turenne, according to agreement,
marched into Wuertemberg, where he forced the Landgrave of Darmstadt
and the Elector of Mentz to imitate the example of Bavaria,
and to embrace the neutrality.
And now, at last, France seemed to have attained the great object
of its policy, that of depriving the Emperor of the support of the League,
and of his Protestant allies, and of dictating to him, sword in hand,
the conditions of peace. Of all his once formidable power,
an army, not exceeding 12,000, was all that remained to him;
and this force he was driven to the necessity of entrusting to the command
of a Calvinist, the Hessian deserter Melander, as the casualties of war
had stripped him of his best generals. But as this war
had been remarkable for the sudden changes of fortune it displayed;
and as every calculation of state policy had been frequently baffled by
some unforeseen event, in this case also the issue disappointed expectation;
and after a brief crisis, the fallen power of Austria rose again
to a formidable strength. The jealousy which France entertained of Sweden,
prevented it from permitting the total ruin of the Emperor,
or allowing the Swedes to obtain such a preponderance in Germany,
as might have been destructive to France herself. Accordingly,
the French minister declined to take advantage of the distresses of Austria;
and the army of Turenne, separating from that of Wrangel,
retired to the frontiers of the Netherlands. Wrangel, indeed,
after moving from Suabia into Franconia, taking Schweinfurt,
and incorporating the imperial garrison of that place with his own army,
attempted to make his way into Bohemia, and laid siege to Egra,
the key of that kingdom. To relieve this fortress, the Emperor put
his last army in motion, and placed himself at its head. But obliged
to take a long circuit, in order to spare the lands of Von Schlick,
the president of the council of war, he protracted his march;
and on his arrival, Egra was already taken. Both armies were now
in sight of each other; and a decisive battle was momentarily expected,
as both were suffering from want, and the two camps were only separated
from each other by the space of the entrenchments. But the Imperialists,
although superior in numbers, contented themselves with keeping close to
the enemy, and harassing them by skirmishes, by fatiguing marches and famine,
until the negociations which had been opened with Bavaria
were brought to a bearing.
The neutrality of Bavaria, was a wound under which the Imperial court
writhed impatiently; and after in vain attempting to prevent it,
Austria now determined, if possible, to turn it to advantage.
Several officers of the Bavarian army had been offended by this step
of their master, which at once reduced them to inaction,
and imposed a burdensome restraint on their restless disposition.
Even the brave John de Werth was at the head of the malcontents,
and encouraged by the Emperor, he formed a plot to seduce the whole army
from their allegiance to the Elector, and lead it over to the Emperor.
Ferdinand did not blush to patronize this act of treachery
against his father's most trusty ally. He formally issued a proclamation
to the Bavarian troops, in which he recalled them to himself,
reminded them that they were the troops of the empire,
which the Elector had merely commanded in name of the Emperor.
Fortunately for Maximilian, he detected the conspiracy in time enough
to anticipate and prevent it by the most rapid and effective measures.
This disgraceful conduct of the Emperor might have justified a reprisal,
but Maximilian was too old a statesman to listen to the voice of passion,
where policy alone ought to be heard. He had not derived from the truce
the advantages he expected. Far from tending to accelerate a general peace,
it had a pernicious influence upon the negociations at Munster and Osnaburg,
and had made the allies bolder in their demands. The French and Swedes
had indeed removed from Bavaria; but, by the loss of his quarters
in the Suabian circle, he found himself compelled either
to exhaust his own territories by the subsistence of his troops,
or at once to disband them, and to throw aside the shield and spear,
at the very moment when the sword alone seemed to be the arbiter of right.
Before embracing either of these certain evils, he determined to try
a third step, the unfavourable issue of which was at least not so certain,
viz., to renounce the truce and resume the war.
This resolution, and the assistance which he immediately despatched
to the Emperor in Bohemia, threatened materially to injure the Swedes,
and Wrangel was compelled in haste to evacuate that kingdom.
He retired through Thuringia into Westphalia and Lunenburg,
in the hope of forming a junction with the French army under Turenne,
while the Imperial and Bavarian army followed him to the Weser,
under Melander and Gronsfeld. His ruin was inevitable,
if the enemy should overtake him before his junction with Turenne;
but the same consideration which had just saved the Emperor, now proved
the salvation of the Swedes. Even amidst all the fury of the conquest,
cold calculations of prudence guided the course of the war, and the vigilance
of the different courts increased, as the prospect of peace approached.
The Elector of Bavaria could not allow the Emperor to obtain
so decisive a preponderance as, by the sudden alteration of affairs,
might delay the chances of a general peace. Every change of fortune
was important now, when a pacification was so ardently desired by all,
and when the disturbance of the balance of power among the contracting parties
might at once annihilate the work of years, destroy the fruit of long
and tedious negociations, and indefinitely protract the repose of Europe.
If France sought to restrain the Swedish crown within due bounds,
and measured out her assistance according to her successes and defeats,
the Elector of Bavaria silently undertook the same task
with the Emperor his ally, and determined, by prudently dealing out his aid,
to hold the fate of Austria in his own hands. And now that the power
of the Emperor threatened once more to attain a dangerous superiority,
Maximilian at once ceased to pursue the Swedes. He was also afraid
of reprisals from France, who had threatened to direct Turenne's whole force
against him if he allowed his troops to cross the Weser.
Melander, prevented by the Bavarians from further pursuing Wrangel,
crossed by Jena and Erfurt into Hesse, and now appeared
as a dangerous enemy in the country which he had formerly defended.
If it was the desire of revenge upon his former sovereign,
which led him to choose Hesse for the scene of his ravage,
he certainly had his full gratification. Under this scourge,
the miseries of that unfortunate state reached their height.
But he had soon reason to regret that, in the choice of his quarters,
he had listened to the dictates of revenge rather than of prudence.
In this exhausted country, his army was oppressed by want, while Wrangel
was recruiting his strength, and remounting his cavalry in Lunenburg.
Too weak to maintain his wretched quarters against the Swedish general,
when he opened the campaign in the winter of 1648, and marched against Hesse,
he was obliged to retire with disgrace, and take refuge
on the banks of the Danube.
France had once more disappointed the expectations of Sweden;
and the army of Turenne, disregarding the remonstrances of Wrangel,
had remained upon the Rhine. The Swedish leader revenged himself,
by drawing into his service the cavalry of Weimar, which had abandoned
the standard of France, though, by this step, he farther increased
the jealousy of that power. Turenne received permission to join the Swedes;
and the last campaign of this eventful war was now opened
by the united armies. Driving Melander before them along the Danube,
they threw supplies into Egra, which was besieged by the Imperialists,
and defeated the Imperial and Bavarian armies on the Danube, which ventured
to oppose them at Susmarshausen, where Melander was mortally wounded.
After this overthrow, the Bavarian general, Gronsfeld, placed himself
on the farther side of the Lech, in order to guard Bavaria from the enemy.
But Gronsfeld was not more fortunate than Tilly, who, in this same position,
had sacrificed his life for Bavaria. Wrangel and Turenne chose
the same spot for passing the river, which was so gloriously marked by
the victory of Gustavus Adolphus, and accomplished it by the same means, too,
which had favoured their predecessor. Bavaria was now a second time overrun,
and the breach of the truce punished by the severest treatment
of its inhabitants. Maximilian sought shelter in Salzburgh,
while the Swedes crossed the Iser, and forced their way as far as the Inn.
A violent and continued rain, which in a few days swelled
this inconsiderable stream into a broad river, saved Austria once more
from the threatened danger. The enemy ten times attempted to form
a bridge of boats over the Inn, and as often it was destroyed by the current.
Never, during the whole course of the war, had the Imperialists
been in so great consternation as at present, when the enemy
were in the centre of Bavaria, and when they had no longer a general left
who could be matched against a Turenne, a Wrangel, and a Koenigsmark.
At last the brave Piccolomini arrived from the Netherlands,
to assume the command of the feeble wreck of the Imperialists.
By their own ravages in Bohemia, the allies had rendered their subsistence
in that country impracticable, and were at last driven by scarcity
to retreat into the Upper Palatinate, where the news of the peace
put a period to their activity.
Koenigsmark, with his flying corps, advanced towards Bohemia,
where Ernest Odowalsky, a disbanded captain, who, after being disabled
in the imperial service, had been dismissed without a pension,
laid before him a plan for surprising the lesser side of the city of Prague.
Koenigsmark successfully accomplished the bold enterprise,
and acquired the reputation of closing the thirty years' war
by the last brilliant achievement. This decisive stroke, which vanquished
the Emperor's irresolution, cost the Swedes only the loss of a single man.
But the old town, the larger half of Prague, which is divided into two parts
by the Moldau, by its vigorous resistance wearied out the efforts
of the Palatine, Charles Gustavus, the successor of Christina on the throne,
who had arrived from Sweden with fresh troops, and had assembled
the whole Swedish force in Bohemia and Silesia before its walls.
The approach of winter at last drove the besiegers into their quarters,
and in the mean time, the intelligence arrived that a peace had been signed
at Munster, on the 24th October.
The colossal labour of concluding this solemn, and ever memorable
and sacred treaty, which is known by the name of the peace of Westphalia;
the endless obstacles which were to be surmounted; the contending interests
which it was necessary to reconcile; the concatenation of circumstances
which must have co-operated to bring to a favourable termination this tedious,
but precious and permanent work of policy; the difficulties which beset
the very opening of the negociations, and maintaining them,
when opened, during the ever-fluctuating vicissitudes of the war;
finally, arranging the conditions of peace, and still more,
the carrying them into effect; what were the conditions of this peace;
what each contending power gained or lost, by the toils and sufferings
of a thirty years' war; what modification it wrought upon the general system
of European policy; -- these are matters which must be relinquished
to another pen. The history of the peace of Westphalia constitutes a whole,
as important as the history of the war itself. A mere abridgment of it,
would reduce to a mere skeleton one of the most interesting and characteristic
monuments of human policy and passions, and deprive it of every feature
calculated to fix the attention of the public, for which I write,
and of which I now respectfully take my leave.
[End of The History of the Thirty Years' War.]
Notes: Separate sources indicate that at the beginning of this war
there were about 15 million people in Germany, and at the end of the war
there were about 4 million. If this is not surprising enough,
war broke out again only 10 years after the conclusion of this war.
Please note that the original translation changed many foreign names,
both of places and persons, into English forms. These have NOT been revised.
Thus Ko"ln is still Cologne, Friedrich is still Frederick, etc.
Some foreign names were NOT translated, and due to the limits of ASCII,
vowels with umlauts have, according to custom, had an E added after them,
i.e. Koeln. Also, in some cases variant spellings of names were used,
and though an attempt was made, not all have been revised.
The following index is included as an aid to searching --
although electronic texts can be easily searched for any word,
it may prove helpful to know what some of the most important subjects are.
Therefore, the index is included, minus the page numbers.
Index.
Aix-la-Chapelle, placed under the Ban.
Arnheim, Field-Marshal: communicates with Wallenstein;
marches into Saxon territory; offers alliance to Wallenstein.
Augsburg, Diet of.
Augsburg, Peace of.
Aulic Council.
Austria, House of: religious and political position; power under Charles V.
Avaux, D', Count. [See letter D.]
Baden, Margrave of, joins Frederick V.
Bamberg, Bishop of.
Banner, Swedish general: at Leipzig; enters Magdeburg; joins Oxenstiern;
relieves Domitz; attacks Imperialists at Wittstock; returns into Pomerania;
opens the campaign in 1638; retreats through Egra, and dies.
Bavaria, Duke of: makes cause with the Emperor; attends the Diet at Ratisbon.
Bavaria, Elector of: he demands Wallenstein's dismissal. [See Maximilian.]
Bavaria, invasion of, by the Swedes.
Bethlen Gabor, Prince: menaces Hungary; invades Hungary; marches to Vienna;
crowned King of Hungary; makes peace with the Emperor;
breaks truce with the Emperor.
Bohemia: condition of, and history; invasion of; peace proclaimed.
Bohemian Brethren, edict against.
Bohemian Compact.
Bohemian Diet: 1609; 1619.
Bohemian Insurrection.
Bohemian Letter of Majesty.
Bohemian Reformers at the Diet, 1609.
Brahe, Count, Swedish general.
Brandenburg: atrocities in; George William Elector of.
Bremen, Bishop of: assembles troops for Gustavus.
Breze, Marquis of.
Brunn, siege of.
Brunswick, Ulric, Duke of: forbids Swedes to recruit;
threatened by Oxenstiern.
Bucquoi: defeats Mansfeld; death of.
Buttler, Colonel.
Calvinists in the Palatinate and Empire.
Catholic League: formation of; impart their secrets to the Emperor.
Charles V., Emperor.
Charles Louis, Count Palatine.
Charnasse, agent of Richelieu.
Christian IV. of Denmark: appointed generalissimo.
Christian, Duke of Brunswick: serves in Holland; defeated by Tilly; death of.
Christian William, Administrator of Brandenburg:
enters Magdeburg in disguise.
Conde, Prince de.
Conti Torquati, Imperialist.
Darmstadt: William, Landgrave of; George, Landgrave of.
D'Avaux negotiates treaty between Sweden and Poland.
"Defenders of Liberty", the.
Denmark, King of, sues for peace 1645.
Dettingen, Battle of.
Devereux, Captain.
Donauwerth: banned by the Aulic Council; Swedish officers at.
"Edict of Restitution" signed 1629.
Egra, Castle of, great banquet held at.
Enghien, Duke of, heroic conduct of.
England, political position of.
Evangelical Union: declaration in favour of, by Matthias;
moves in support of Bohemian Protestants.
Falkenberg, Dietrich, sent to Magdeburg.
Ferdinand I., Emperor: character of; position after Augsburg.
Ferdinand II.: his Popish announcement; as Archduke of Gratz;
as Archduke of Styria, becomes Emperor; Protestantism in Styria;
besieged in Vienna; chosen Emperor 1619; rewards Maximilian with Bohemia;
confiscates estates of Frederick; invests Maximilian with Palatinate;
attends Diet of Ratisbon; at Mantua; character of, by his confessor;
negotiations with Sweden; selects Wallenstein as general; gives orders
to spare Saxony; state of his dominions after the fall of Prague;
receives news of Lutzen; deprives Wallenstein of command;
issues orders for his seizure; orders masses for Wallenstein; death.
Ferdinand III.: King of Hungary and Bohemia; appointed generalissimo;
elected King of the Romans; becomes Emperor; defeat at Jancowitz;
conspires against Bavaria.
Feria, Duke of, Spanish general.
Feuquieres, French Ambassador at Dresden.
France: political position after Henry IV.; ambassadors at Ratisbon;
interests and claims of; triumph of her policy; declaration of war
against the Emperor; retreat of the army under Turenne from Bavaria.
Frankfort-on-the-Oder: sacked by the Swedes; Diet of.
Frederick V., Elector Palatine and King of Bohemia:
alienates his Bohemian subjects; defeated at Prague; joins Mansfeld;
deprived of the Palatinate; at Munich with Gustavus;
meets Gustavus after Leipzig; death.
Friburg, Battle of.
Friedland, Duke of. [See Wallenstein.]
Gabor, Bethlen. [See letter B.]
Gallas, Imperialist general: made generalissimo; Commander-in-chief;
in command under King of Hungary; overruns Ribses; defeated by Torstensohn.
Gebhard, Elector of Cologne.
German people, principles and religious zeal of.
Germany: its condition after Augsburg; at the accession of Rodolph;
after Wallenstein's death.
"God's friend, priests' foe", motto of Duke of Brunswick.
"God with us", war-cry of the Swedes.
Gordon, Colonel.
Gratz, Archduke of. [See Ferdinand II.]
Guebriant, Field-Marshal.
Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden: ascends the throne; early life, incident of;
position of; resources; concludes a treaty with France; with Magdeburg;
complaints against; appears before Berlin; treaty with Hesse Cassel;
with Saxony; meeting at Forgue; Battle of Leipzig; marches to the Rhine;
seats the Palatine in Munich; retrospect of his career from Halle to Lutzen
(all of Book III.); storms Marienburg; takes possession of Frankfort;
besieges Mentz; carries Oppenheim by storm; exposed to the malice
of the Jesuits; enters Nuremberg; besieges Ingoldstadt, narrow escape;
enters Munich; receives congratulations from Wallenstein;
hastens to the Upper Palatinate; seizes Nuremberg;
attacks Wallenstein's camp; marches to Neustadt; enters Naumberg;
death of, at the Battle of Lutzen; his body discovered;
review of his policy.
Gustavus Vasa.
Henderson, Colonel, Scotch officer, commands reserve at Leipzig.
Henry IV. of France, "Henry of Arragon", projects and views of.
Hepburn, Colonel, Scotch officer, anecdote of.
Hesse, Landgrave of: reply to Tilly's demands; concludes a treaty
with Gustavus; does important service for Gustavus.
Holland, political position of.
Holk, General, death of.
Horn, Gustavus: drives Imperialists from Alsace; conduct at Leipzig;
left to subdue Franconia; successes in Franconia; services at Lutzen;
marches to the Swedish frontier.
Hungary, its relations to Austria.
Hussites, account of the.
Illo, Count: confederate of Wallenstein; acts as Wallenstein's agent;
death of.
Imperialists: delegates of, at Prague; army reduced to distress;
overrun Bavaria.
Interim, the, system of theology.
James I., King of England, assists the Elector.
Jancowitz, Battle of.
Jesuits, the: banishment of; they work against Gustavus;
their oppression of the Protestants; in Vienna, mention of;
reference to, in Wallenstein's career.
"Jesus Maria", war-cry of the Imperialists.
Joseph, Father, agent of Richelieu.
Juliers, Duchy of: disputes succession to; "singular turn in the disruption".
Kinsky, Count.
Kinsky, Countess.
Klostergrab.
Koenigsmark, Swedish general.
Ladislaus, son of Segismund of Poland.
Lauenburg, Duke of.
Lavelette, Cardinal.
Leipzig: general convention of, 1631; Battle of.
Leslie, an officer of Wallenstein.
Letter of Majesty: issue of; explanation of; torn by Ferdinand.
Lorraine, Charles, Duke of, defeated by Gustavus.
Lubeck, Peace of.
Lutherans, the: their position stated; their oppression of the Calvinists.
Lutter, battle at.
Lutzen: mention of; Battle of; death of Gustavus.
Magdeburg: besieged by Tilly; assaulted; taken by the Swedes.
Mansfeld, Count Ernst: defeated at Budweiss; ravages the Palatinates;
enters the Dutch service; defeated at Dessau.
Mansfeld, Wolf, Count von, leaves Magdeburg to the Swedes.
Matthias, Emperor and Archduke: chosen as Austrian leader;
heads a revolt against the Emperor; acknowledged King of Bohemia;
ascends the throne; death of.
Maximilian II., Emperor and King of Hungary, government and position of.
Maximilian, Duke of Bavaria: Head of Catholic League; marches into Bohemia;
character and position of; makes secret treaty with France; perfidy of;
anxious for peace; tactics for supremacy; takes shelter in Salzburg.
Mazarin, Cardinal: and the Battle of Friburg; his diplomatic tactics
in the war.
Melander, a Calvinist: commands the Imperial forces;
mortally wounded at Egra.
Mentz, besieged and taken.
Moravian Brethren, doctrines of.
Munich surrenders to Gustavus.
Mutiny amongst Swedish officers near Donauwerth.
Neumann, Captain.
Nevers, Duke of.
Nordlingen, Battle of.
Nuremberg: battleground; exertions of the magistrates.
Odowalsky, disbanded officer.
Oppenheim carried by storm.
Oxenstiern, Chancellor of Sweden: receives Mentz Library;
position; assembles Estates at Heilbronn; suspects Wallenstein;
alliance with Wallenstein; solicits French assistance; applies to France.
Palatinate, the, religious history of.
Palatine, Elector, position and character of.
Pappenheim, Imperialist general: assaults Magdeburg; recalls Tilly;
attacks Swedish vanguard; at Leipzig; marches to Cologne; at Lutzen;
death of.
Peace negotiations and conclusion, 1647.
Peace negotiations of Prague: terms of; results of to France and Sweden.
Philip II., of Spain, character and political views of.
Piccolomini: Wallenstein's reference to; becomes confidant of Wallenstein;
gives warning of Wallenstein to the Court; in command at Saalfield;
in pursuit of Banner; defeated by Torstensohn; commands Imperialists.
Prague: meeting of the "Defenders"; insurrection at; Battle of,
and savage treatment of the vanquished; entered by the Saxon Army;
the taking of. [See also Bohemian Diet.]
Protestant Union: design and aim of; divisions and changes; points of union;
formation of Evangelical Union; demands on accession of Matthias;
alliance with Hungary; preachers banished; dissolved; suppression of;
oppressions in Germany; reprisals in Prague.
Ragotsky, Prince: successor to Bethlen Gabor; in Austria and Moravia,
ravages the country.
Ratisbon: Diet held at, 1630; results of Diet, taken by Duke Bernard;
besieged by King of Hungary; Diet held at, 1641.
Rednitz, desperate fight at.
Reformation: history of the (most of Book I.); influence throughout Europe;
progress in Hungary; outbreaks at Strasburg.
Reservatum Ecclesiasticum, explanation of.
Richelieu, Minister of France: negotiates with Sweden;
effects a truce; treaty with Sweden; labours in favour of Gustavus;
assists German Protestants; terms with Duke Bernard; fall of Breysach;
death of.
Rodolph, Archduke and Emperor: ascends Imperial throne as Rodolph II.;
his political position; abdicates in favour of his brother; death of.
Rostock, taken by Imperialists.
Saxe-Lauenberg, Francis Albert, Duke of.
Saxe-Weimar, Bernard, Duke of: succeeds Gustavus at Lutzen;
remains on the field; captures Leipzig; takes Ratisbon; removal of;
escapes capture; visits France; defeats the Imperialists;
lays siege to Breysach; death of.
Saxony, Elector of, John George: refuses Tilly's demands;
alliance with Gustavus; at Leipzig; meditates a separation from Sweden;
leaves the Swedes; treats with the Emperor; recalls his officers
from Banner's army; treaty with Sweden.
Schafgotsch, Imperialist general.
Seni, Wallenstein's astrologer.
"Snow King", nickname for Gustavus.
Spain: influence in Germany; policy of, under Charles V.
Spanish prisoners.
Stralsund, siege of.
Strasbourg, religious divisions.
Styria, Archduke of. [See Ferdinand II.]
Suys, Imperialist general.
Sweden: political and religious condition of; historical summary
of Polish connection; origin of her intervention in the Thirty Years' War;
truce with Poland; alliance with France 1631; condition after death
of Gustavus.
Swedes: offer battle to Wallenstein; overrun Bavaria;
successes throughout Germany; capture Bregentz; advance to Nordlingen.
Terzky, Count.
Terzky, Countess.
Thurn, Count, "Defender": seizes Krummau; invades Moravia;
encamps before Vienna; takes flight to Holland; returns to Prague;
conveys Wallenstein's message to Gustavus.
Thurn, Count, Swedish general: at Steinau; surrender to Wallenstein;
demanded by the Jesuits.
Tilly, Count: commands the "army of execution"; defeats the Danish army
at Lutter; appointed generalissimo; character and appearance;
returns to Magdeburg; takes Magdeburg; encamped on the Elbe;
demands assistance from Saxony; ravages Saxony; at Leipzig;
flies to Lower Saxony; defeats Charles, Duke of Lorraine;
punishes the Bishop of Bamberg; awaits Gustavus at Rain; death.
Torgua: Diet of; council at.
Torstensohn, Bernard, Swedish general: enters Silesia; defeats Piccolomini;
overruns Holstein; enters Bohemia; routs the Austrians at Jancowitz;
retires from command.
Turenne, French general: at Friburg; recrosses the Rhine;
joins the Swedes at Giessen; retires to the Netherlands.
Turks: the hostile inroads of; reference to.
Trent, Council of.
Union, the Protestant, first success and failures.
Urban VIII., Pope.
Wallenstein, Count: invades Holstein; created Duke of Friedland;
besieges Stralsund; makes a treaty with the Danes; his exactions;
appears at Ratisbon Diet; his dismissal; mode of life;
reply to the King of Denmark; pressed by the Emperor to take command;
quits Prague; his position and personal feelings; makes use of Arnheim;
advises the Saxons; assumes command; avenges himself on Maximilian;
meets the Elector at Egra, Wallenstein's triumph; review at Neumark;
besieges Nuremberg; marches to Zirndorf; takes winter quarters in Saxony;
joins Pappenheim; belief in astrology; at Lutzen; advises an amnesty;
duplicity with Elector of Bavaria; offers terms to the Swedes;
suspicions aroused; secret negotiations with France;
defeats Swedes on the Oder; releases Count Thurn; storms Goerlitz;
marches to the Upper Palatinate; deprived of command;
calls a meeting of generals at Pilsen; his duplicity;
calls for absent generals; secret orders for his apprehension issued;
publicly denounced; retires to Egra; assassination.
Weimar. [See Saxe-Weimar.]
Werth, John de, Imperialist general: heads Bavarian malcontents.
Westphalia, Treaty of (Treaty of Peace).
Wimpfen.
Wrangel, Gustavus, Swedish general: marches to the Danube; ravages Bavaria;
marches to Bohemia; driven from Bohemia.
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