Battle of Nördlingen (1634)

Not to be confused with Battle of Nördlingen (1645).

Battle of Nördlingen
Part of the Thirty Years' War
The Battle of Nördlingen by Jan van den Hoecke
Date 5–6 September 1634 (N.S.) Location Nördlingen, Bavaria, Germany 48°48′20″N 10°29′09″E Result Imperial-Spanish victory
Belligerents
Spain Holy Roman Empire Catholic League	Sweden Heilbronn League
Commanders and leaders
Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand Count Leganés Ferdinand of Hungary Matthias Gallas Ottavio Piccolomini	Gustav Horn (POW) Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar Johann von Scharffenstein (POW)
Strength
33,000 50 guns	25,700 68 guns
Casualties and losses
c. 3,500 killed or wounded	12,000–14,000 68 guns captured

The Battle of Nördlingen, fought over two days from 5 to 6 September 1634, was a major battle of the Thirty Years' War. A Imperial-Spanish force led by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand and Ferdinand of Hungary inflicted a crushing defeat on the Swedish-German army led by Gustav Horn and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar.

By 1634, the Swedes and their German allies occupied much of southern Germany. This allowed them to block the Spanish Road, an overland supply route running from Italy to Flanders, used by the Spanish to support their war against the Dutch Republic. Seeking to re-open this, a Spanish army under the Cardinal-Infante linked up with an Imperial force near Nördlingen, which was held by a Swedish garrison.

Horn and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar marched to its relief, but significantly underestimated the numbers they faced. After limited fighting on 5 September, on the 6th they launched a series of assaults south of Nördlingen, all of which were repulsed. Superior numbers meant the Spanish-Imperial commanders could continually reinforce their positions, and Horn eventually began to retreat. As they did so, they were outflanked by Imperial cavalry and the Protestant army collapsed.

Defeat had far-reaching territorial and strategic consequences. The Swedes withdrew from Bavaria, and in the May 1635 Peace of Prague, their German allies made peace with Emperor Ferdinand II. France now intervened on behalf of Sweden and the Dutch Republic, and responded by declaring war on Spain, and entering the Thirty Years' War as an active belligerent.

Background

Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War began in June 1630 when nearly 18,000 troops under Gustavus Adolphus landed in the Duchy of Pomerania. Provided with subsidies as part of a French policy of opposition to the Habsburgs, and supported by Saxony and Brandenburg-Prussia, Gustavus won a series of victories over Imperial forces, including Breitenfeld in September 1631, then Rain in April 1632.

Despite the death of Gustavus at Lützen in November, Sweden and its German Protestant allies formed the Heilbronn League in April 1633, once again financed by France. In July, the coalition defeated an Imperial army at Oldendorf in Lower Saxony; a few months later, Emperor Ferdinand II dismissed his leading general Albrecht von Wallenstein, who was assassinated by Imperial agents in February 1634.

Regensburg

Nördlingen

Bopfingen

River Danube

Donauwörth

Nuremberg

Augsburg

Landshut

Heilbronn

Ulm

Kronach

Überlingen

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1634 campaign; key locations. "Blue lines" indicate rivers, vital for moving men and supplies and thus the focus of most campaigns; note Danube, axis of advance for the Imperialists

The removal of Wallenstein made Emperor Ferdinand more reliant on the Spanish, Since their primary objective was re-opening the Spanish Road to support their campaign against the Dutch Republic, the focus now shifted to the Rhineland and Bavaria. Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, newly appointed Governor of the Spanish Netherlands, recruited an army of 11,700 in Italy, which in May crossed the Alps through the Stelvio Pass. At Rheinfelden, he linked up with forces previously commanded by the Duke of Feria, who died in January 1634. This brought his numbers up to 18,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry.

The Swedish army and their German allies largely operated as separate units, each with their own objectives. While Johan Banér and Hans von Arnim invaded Bohemia, Gustav Horn tried to block the Spanish by investing Überlingen, and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar sought to consolidate his position in Franconia by taking Kronach. Neither attempt was successful and left Regensburg isolated, which was besieged on 23 May by an Imperial army of 25,000 under Ferdinand of Hungary. Horn and Bernhard met at Augsburg on 12 July and marched towards the Bohemian border, hoping the threat of them combining with Arnim would force Ferdinand to abandon the siege.

Although they defeated an Imperial blocking force under Johann von Aldringen at Landshut on 22 July, the siege continued and Regensburg surrendered on 26 July. With 15,000 men, Ferdinand marched down the Danube (see Map) and reached Donauwörth on 26 August, where he turned aside to besiege the Swedish-held town of Nördlingen, which had to be taken before continuing his advance. Horn and Bernhard marched to Bopfingen but delayed their attack; with both sides short of supplies and suffering from plague, they were confident the outnumbered Imperials would have to withdraw.

However, on 2 September the Imperial and Spanish armies linked up, and Nördlingen nearly fell to an assault two days later. The Protestant commanders agreed the political impact of losing the town outweighed the military risk of accepting battle. Although they had just been joined by 3,400 men under Scharffenstein, Horn wanted to wait for additional troops, which were a week's march away. Bernhard argued they could not wait and urged an immediate attack, while he estimated the Spanish reinforcements as less than 7,000. The true figure was over 18,000, which meant the Habsburg army totalled over 33,000, compared to the Protestant figure of around 26,000. This included 8,000 poorly trained Württemberg militia, many of whom had previously served in the Imperial army.

Battle

• The Battle in Three Maps
• 
  Phase 1; (Blue) Swedish assault takes the Albuch before being repulsed by (red) Spanish infantry and Bavarian cavalry led by Ottavio Piccolomini
• 
  Phase 2; Assaults by Swedish-German infantry are repulsed; von Taupadel launches a cavalry attack against the Imperial left but is forced back
• 
  Phase 3; Horn retreats, exposing Bernhard's right, while Croatian cavalry outflank him on the left; a general Spanish-Imperial advance routs the Protestant army

Early on 5 September, the Protestant army broke camp and first feinted west as if retreating to Ulm, then moved across country to seize a line of hills two kilometres south of Nördlingen. From west to east, these included the Himmelrech, Ländle, Lachberg, Heselberg, and Albuch, the latter arguably being the most important. Their goal was to seize the Albuch, which would allow them to gain a positional advantage over the Spanish left. In response, the Cardinal-Infante ordered several several units to occupy the line of hills, with Spanish troops being placed in the forested hill of Heselberg.

Around 16:00, troops led by Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar made contact with Spanish and Imperial pickets on the Himmelreich, which they quickly captured. They also occupied the Ländle and Lachberg, before the advance was stopped on the Heselberg by 200 musketeers of the Tercio of Fuenclara. Gustav Horn had to order the Swedish infantry to fully commit to the Heselberg with cannons being utilized to bombard the Spanish. The combat over the Heselberg ended up lasting until midnight.

The failure of the Swedes to capture the Heselberg was exactly what the Cardinal-Infante needed as he knew that pinning Gustav Horn's men on the hill would buy him time to secure the Albuch. In knowing so, the Cardinal-Infante had already instructed Cerbellón and the Tercio of Toraldo to construct light fortifications and earthworks on the Albuch. The Spanish would eventually fall back from the Heselberg next morning (2:00 am, 6 September) and reach their positions at the Albuch.

The Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand; portrait by Anthony van Dyck, 1634

This was occupied by 6,600 Spanish under Count Leganés and Cerbellón, and 1,500 Bavarian infantry under Ottavio Piccolomini, who also spent the night digging trenches and positions for a battery of 14 guns, along with 2,800 Burgundian and Italian cavalry was stationed nearby on the flank. This means that the Spanish-Imperial side would have had some 10,000–10,900 men at the Albuch with the rest of their army holding a line running north to Nördlingen. On the opposing side, Horn would deploy 8,800 infantry divided in five brigades along with up to 4,000 cavalry and 800 dragoons; their objective would be to seize the Albuch hill. The rest of the Protestant army under Bernhard would mirror their Catholic counterpart in a line stretching north towards Nördlingen (see Phase 1 map above).

In the rearguard, 2,000–2,500 Württemberg militia were left to protect the baggage train. Including 4,000 cavalry led by Scharffenstein, Horn had a force of 13,600 men with which to take the Albuch, opposed by 10,000 Imperial troops whose loss would force the Spanish-Imperial forces to retreat and abandon the siege of Nördlingen. At the same time, Bernhard's troops would be tasked with distracting the Imperial right, although it soon became clear he was badly outnumbered and thus restricted to limited skirmishing. At 5:00 am on 6 September, the Swedish artillery opened fire on the Albuch, followed by a general assault led by the Scottish and Vitzhum brigades along with 3 cavalry squadrons. Scharffenstein's men were quickly repelled by the Spanish cavalry, but the relatively inexperienced infantry gave ground as the Scottish and Vitzhum brigades beat them back.

Gustav Horn; portrait by David Beck

With the breakthrough in the centre of the Albuch, Horn believed that he had a great victory at hand, not knowing more failures were to come. Salm's and Wurmser's infantry was in absolute disorder; routing from the Albuch. It was only the Tercio of Idiáquez, composed of veteran Spanish troops (españoles viejos), that would save the day with their actions. The veteran Spaniards would drop their pikes in face of their routing German allies, daring to kill any who try to leave the battlefield. With this bold action, the German allies rallied back into the fight. The Tercio of Idiáquez, deployed in the Spanish escuadron formation employed by the Cardinal-Infante, with a manga of arquebusiers preceding along with some cavalry squadrons, counterattacked the Swedes at the breach with devastating effect by taking advantage of the explosion of a powder wagon; and routing the Scottish and Vitzhum brigades in less than an hour.

By 6:00 am, the Imperial troops had regained full control of the Albuch. Whilst reorganizing the Scottish and Vitzhum brigades, Horn sent his own personal Horn brigade and the Rantzau brigade, along with some cavalry, to once again attack the center of the Albuch in order to maintain pressure. Unlike the last assault, the Protestants were met by the veteran Spanish units instead of the German levies and could not get as close to the enemy positions. On the other side of the battlefield, Bernhard and the Catholic opposition made no movements but continued with their artillery duel. Meanwhile, at the Albuch, the Swedish brigades were suffering heavy losses from the Spanish musket fire.

Horn rallied his men for a fourth attack; this time with the Scottish, Vitzhum, and Württemberg brigades along with the cavalry. Much like the previous assault, this one failed in the face of heavy musket fire and the Protestant cavalry failed to best the Catholic cavalry in their engagement. While reorganizing his force at 7:30 am, Horn sent a messenger to Bernhard asking for reinforcements. Bernhard then sent the Thurn brigade over to the Albuch. During the next hour, Horn continued to launch several assaults on the Spanish position, mainly with the Scottish and Horn brigades; yet despite their near 'suicidal' attacks, each assault was repulsed. The superior number of troops elsewhere in the battlefield allowed Leganés and Gallas to feed in a constant stream of fresh troops to support their comrades on the Albuch. By 8:00 am, the Thurn brigade was also engaged against the Tercio of Toraldo, and despite receiving reinforcements, their attack also failed (see Phase 2 map above).

On the left flank of the Protestants, the dragoons of Taudapel were able to block a party of Croats trying to outflank them near Kleinerdlingen. Further to the right of the dragoons, Bernhard moved his first line of cavalry, making way through the Catholic skirmishers to reach the Catholics' main line. They were met with intense musket fire from the Bavarian infantry near Herkheim. While in disorder from the enemy volleys, they were counterattacked by the Catholic cavalry supported by musketeers from the Tercio of Fuenclara and had to retreat to their previous positions while Bernhard sent 5 cavalry squadrons to restore the situation. By 9:30 am, Horn and his men were exhausted, and even in the case where the Catholic side suffered casualties, the Protestants had taken the worst of it. After a last attack before 10:00 am, Horn's men were much dispersed by now and the Albuch was deemed out of reach and so in a short meeting between the Protestant commanders, they decided to stop the offensive and hold the positions along the line of hills to wait for the night and withdraw towards Ulm.

Der Sieg bei Nördlingen (The Victory of Nördlingen) by Cornelis Schut

Once the Catholics noted that their adversaries were pulling back, a general advance was ordered. The Protestant cavalry on the left was engaged in melee combat by the Catholic cavalry and was defeated; leading into a rout of the cavalry and dragoons towards the Ländle hill with Gratz being captured during his attempt to rally his troops. This exposed Bernhard's infantry on the other hills, while Croat light cavalry simultaneously outflanked him on the left. The Imperial, Bavarian, and Spanish cavalry then attacked the Protestants on the Heselberg supported by Bavarian infantry and musketers of the Tercio of Fuenclara; driving into the woods and destroying the Protestant infantry in the process. Horn soon realized that there was combat at the Heselberg hill. With the Spanish infantry and cavalry from the Albuch advancing simultaneously, squadrons of Imperial cuirassiers then appeared charging out of the woods, cutting Horn's retreat. A massacre ensued, with the Catholic side and especially the Spanish, showing relentless brutality.

Under this pressure, the Protestant army disintegrated despite attempts to rally them, and suffered heavy losses during the pursuit (see Phase 3 map above). Two thousand of the militia guarding the baggage were killed and another 4,000 taken prisoner, most of whom then enrolled in the Imperial army. Scharffenstein, previously a senior commander in the Bavarian army, was captured and later executed for treason; Horn was also taken and held in custody until 1642. Including prisoners, the Protestants suffered a total of 12,000 to 14,000 casualties, compared to 3,500 for their opponents; Bernhard and von Taupadel reached Heilbronn with the remaining 12,000 men (according to Wilson's figures) a few days later. Primary accounts suggest that another 9,000 of the Protestant troops who survived the battle were pursued and mostly killed.

Aftermath

The Victory of the Two Ferdinands, Peter Paul Rubens (1635)

Nördlingen effectively destroyed Swedish power in southern Germany, and has been described by some commentators as "arguably the most important battle of the war". Van der Essen states that the battle was "above all a Spanish victory," owing credit to the Spaniards and their general for their feats. Despite being his first major field battle, the Cardinal-Infante, along with his German allies, had pulled off a victory to be remembered for centuries. In response to his first 'masterpiece,' the Cardinal-Infante spared not the praising of his own troops, acknowledging his subordinates and their men for their valor in battle. He eventually continued on his path with his army the towards the Spanish Netherlands and arrived a hero governor of the Lowlands, with the people displaying their gratitude to his successes. The Cardinal-Infante would continue to conduct multitudes of campaigns against the Dutch and French in the upcoming years, experiencing much success despite fighting a two-front war.

The Imperial army retook most of Württemberg and moved into the Rhineland, while Swedish Chancellor Axel Oxenstierna faced pressure from his domestic opponents to end the war. Oxenstierna himself also stated that "the misfortune was so terrible that it couldn't have been worse." In December, two of their main allies, Saxony and Hesse-Darmstadt, negotiated a peace agreement with Emperor Ferdinand, later formalised in the May 1635 Treaty of Prague. Its terms included the dissolution of the Heilbronn and Catholic Leagues and the treaty is generally seen as the point when the Thirty Years' War ceased to be primarily a German religious conflict.

However, the collapse of the anti-Habsburg alliance in Germany now prompted direct French intervention. In February 1635, Cardinal Richelieu signed a treaty agreeing a joint Franco-Dutch offensive in the Spanish Netherlands, while a French army under Henri, Duke of Rohan, cut the Spanish Road by invading the Valtellina in March. This was followed in April by a new alliance with Sweden, as well as financing an army of 12,000 under Bernard of Saxe-Weimar in the Rhineland. In May, France formally declared war on Spain, starting the 1635 to 1659 Franco-Spanish War.

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