Battle of Nördlingen (1634)

This article is about the first Battle of Nördlingen fought in 1634 in Germany as part of the Thirty Years' War. For the second battle, see Battle of Nördlingen (1645).

Battle of Nördlingen
Part of the Thirty Years' War
The Battle of Nördlingen by Cornelis Schut. Oil on canvas.
Date 5–6 September 1634 Location Nördlingen, Electorate of Bavaria (present-day Bavaria, Germany) Result Decisive Spanish-Imperial victory
Belligerents
Sweden Heilbronn League	Spain Holy Roman Empire Bavarian League
Commanders and leaders
Gustav Horn af Björneborg  (POW) Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar	Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand Ferdinand of Hungary
Strength
16,300 infantry and 9,300 cavalry (62 guns)	21,000 infantry and 13,000 cavalry (32 guns)
Casualties and losses
8,000 dead or wounded 4,000 captured	2,400 dead or wounded

The Battle of Nördlingen (Spanish: Batalla de Nördlingen; German: Schlacht bei Nördlingen; Swedish: Slaget vid Nördlingen) was fought on 27 August (Julian calendar) or 6 September (Gregorian calendar), 1634 during the Thirty Years' War. The Roman Catholic Imperial army, bolstered by 18,000 Spanish and Italian soldiers, won a crushing victory over the combined Protestant armies of Sweden and their German-Protestant allies (Heilbronn Alliance).

After the failure of the tercio system in the first Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631, the professional Spanish troops deployed at Nördlingen proved the tercio system could still contend with the deployment improvements devised by Maurice of Orange and the late Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden.

Prelude

After the Protestant victory at the Battle of Lützen two years before, the Swedes failed to follow up due to the death of their king, Gustavus Adolphus. As a result, the Imperial forces began to regain the initiative. In 1634 Protestant German and Swedish forces invaded Bavaria threatening a major Hapsburg ally.

The future Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand of Hungary, decided to attack Protestant territories in Southern Germanyby which to draw the Swedish and German armies away. Both sides were aware that Spanish reinforcements under his cousin, the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, were en route from their dominions in Northern Italy. The Spanish army had marched through the Stelvio Pass trying to open a new "Spanish Road", and take their Commander to his Governorship in the Spanish Low Countries.

The Protestant commanders decided they could not ignore the threat of a union between the two enemy forces and combined their two largest armies near Augsburg on 12 July, the Swabian-Alsatian Army under Gustav Horn and the so-called Franconian Army under Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar. Both armies were named after their main operation area and belonged to the Heilbronn Alliance (Sweden's German-Protestant allies under the directorate of the Swedish chancellor Axel Oxenstierna). These forces mostly consisted of German recruits. Among them were ("the Blue brigade") and some Scottish allies ("the Green brigade") with a few national Swedish/Finnish regiments (mostly cavalry) and one national Swedish infantry brigade ("the Yellow brigade").

The Protestants proved unable to prevent the fall of Regensburg to Ferdinand of Hungary and desperately pursued him westwards in an effort to prevent the merger of the two Hapsburg armies. On 16 August the Cardinal-Infante crossed the Danube at Donauwörth. Despite their best efforts the Protestant armies were still behind when Ferdinand of Hungary set down to besiege the town of Nordlingen in Swabia and await the Cardinal-Infante who arrived before the city on 2 September - three days before the Protestants.

Battle

The cousins, Ferdinand, brother of the Spanish king and known as the Cardinal-Infante and Ferdinand of Hungary (son of Ferdinand II, the Austrian Holy Roman Emperor), prepared for battle, ignoring the advice of the more experienced generals, such as Matthias Gallas. Most of them felt a full engagement against two of the most experienced Protestant commanders was reckless and unlikely to have positive results. However the cousins were supported by the Count of Leganés, the Spanish deputy commander. He appreciated the Catholic army had superior numbers and possessed a core of reliable Spanish Infantry.

Bernhard and Horn also prepared for battle. Bernhard felt that no matter the odds, an attempt must be made to relieve Nordlingen. Horn seems to have been reluctant given the state of the Protestant armies which were short of supplies. Bernard underestimated the numerically superior enemy forces despite information obtained from a prisoner. The Spanish reinforcements numbered closer to 20,000 not 7,000. In addition, the Imperialists had 13,000 horse. By contrast, the combined Protestant forces numbered 16,000 infantry and 9,000 horse. The two Ferdinands drew up their armies between the Protestant forces and the town of Nordlingen, with the left wing anchored at the base of a hill. In the center, Catholic German infantry were placed in front with the Spanish behind them. A contingent of Catholic Germans defended the hilltop. [8] </ref "The Thirty Years War", Cecily V. Wedgwood, pp. 372-373.>

The Protestant commanders came up with the following plan. With half the army, Bernard was to hold the main Imperialist force in check while Horn wheeled the remainder through some woods on the right with the object of taking the hill on the Imperialist left. This would force the enemy to withdraw and relieve Nordlingen. [9]</ref "The Thirty Years War", Cecily V. Wedgwood, P. 373>

On sunrise of September 6, Horn commenced his attack which suffered every kind of bad luck. After laying out careful instructions to his subordinates, the cavalry attacked prematurely, leaving the infantry and artillery behind who were supposed to lead. Despite this blunder, the Catholic Germans holding the hilltop panicked, deserting their batteries. However, the wooded features caused two of Horn's brigades to mistake each other for enemy and they began to exchange fire. Meanwhile, the victorious cavalry dissipated itself chasing down fugitives. [10]</ref "The Thirty Years War", Cecily V. Wedgwood, P. 374>

Taking advantage.of the confusion in Horn's forces, the Cardinal-Infante sent a detachment of Spanish foot and horse which reclaimed the hill. Horn was able to rally his men, but by then, the hilltop was impregnable. Fifteen assaults were made over the next few hours, all of which were beaten back. [11]</ref "The Thirty Years War", Cecily V. Wedgwood, pp. 374-375> Among the defending Spanish forces were the "Tercios Viejos" (Old Tercios), mainly those commanded by Fuenclara, Idiáquez, and Toralto with support from Ottavio Piccolomini's Italian cavalry. The Protestant attacks were led by the brigades Vitzthum, Pfuel and one of the Scots Brigades (Colonel William Gunn), supported by the brigade of Count Thurn (Black and Yellow Regiment).[12]

The Battle of Nördlingen by Jacques Courtois.

Meanwhile in the center, Bernard had avoided battle and prevented the Imperialists from reinforcing their threatened left by skillful use of his artillery. [13]</ref "The Thirty Year's War", Cecily V. Wedgwood, p. 375> However, the Imperial commanders observed the weakened condition of Bernhard's army which had sent reinforcements to assist Horn on the right. At the opportune moment, a general advance was ordered which quickly put Bernard's forces to flight. Pursuit of Bernard's troops threatened to cut off any escape route of the Swedish units under Horn, who also promptly broke.

Gustav Horn af Björneborg was captured and his army destroyed. A small remnant of Protestants fled to Heilbronn.

Aftermath

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

The battle was one of the most crushing defeats the Protestants sustained during the war. With its army substantially reduced, Sweden would lose its predominant role in the German area.

Meanwhile, the victory led most of the Protestant princes of the Empire to seek a separate peace with the Emperor, which was achieved by the Treaty of Prague in 1635.

With Imperial forces threatening to totally dominate the Empire and with Spanish troops firmly settled on the western bank of the Rhine, the great Habsburg armies had almost completely surrounded France's frontiers.

Richelieu decided France needed to go beyond merely financing the enemies of the Habsburgs; entering the war mainly against Spain and thus opening a second front in the Catholic Low Countries.

In the long term, the battle proved to be just another twist in the complicated war. It ensured that a triumph of the Swedish led Protestants powers, would not occur. This enabled the Counter-Reformation to preserve its gains against the Reformation in central Europe. However, the victory did not lead to an overall Catholic-Habsburg victory, as the Spanish and Imperialist forces would suffer serious setbacks later in the war. The Swedish army would recover by defeating a combined Imperial and Saxon army at the battle of Wittstock only two years after Nördlingen. Then the Swedish army would inflict several more defeats on the Imperialists. Eventually, the Swedish army besieged Prague and reached the gates of Vienna. Ultimately, the defeat of the Swedish forces at Nordlingen was responsible for French goals taking precedence at the negotiations for the Treaty of Westphalia with a significant effect on the political map of the Empire.

References

The Battle of Nördlingen by Pieter Meulener