Tilly had taken his beaten army into western Germany where he joined forces with Charles of Lorraine and built his army back to strength. By mid–October he was outside Ochsenfurt with 40,000 men only a day’s march from Gustav. Fortunately for the king and his badly outnumbered army Tilly had been ordered by the emperor to move on south and not engage the Swedes. Tilly headed south and Gustav proceeded on down the Main River entering Frankfurt on November 17. He marched cross-country to Oppenheim where he ran into a Spanish garrison. Taking the town, he crossed the Rhine, then moved upriver to take Worms on December 7, which had been abandoned by a Lorraine garrison. He turned about and marched downriver, forcing the elector to flee Mainz, arriving there five days later. The Spanish detachments in the area except for Don Philip gathered at Frankenthal, above Worms, which the Swedes blockaded. The landgrave of Hesse, now free of Tilly’s threat, moved down the Rhine seizing Ehrenfells. Gustav placed his artillery outside Mainz, but Philip, gauging the hopelessness of the situation, capitulated. Gustav had defeated Spanish forces and taken Spanish posts. He had tweaked the nose of one more European power. Gustav celebrated Christmas in Mainz with all north-central and a good share of western Germany in his hands.
During the winter of 1631–32 the Swedish king established his court in Mainz. Oxenstierna and the queen joined him there. Envoys from the German states and ambassadors from the courts of Europe arrived. At this moment in history Gustav Adolf was the most powerful man in Europe. Though Sweden would remain one of the greatest military powers on the continent for another thirty years, never again would a Swedish monarch be in this exalted position. Here he treated with an embassy from George Rákóczy, the new ruler of Transylvania. He exchanged missions with the khan of the Crimean Tartars, exploring the idea of opening a second front against the Hapsburgs. The plan never bore fruit, but it did establish a line of communication that would last for almost a century and be useful to Karl X and Karl XII. Likewise, Gustav made little progress in convincing the Swiss cantons to join him. With Russia, however, he had better success. Sweden’s Truce of Altmark with Russia was good until 1635, but Russia’s peace with Poland was due to expire in 1632 and the tsar was preparing for a renewed conflict with the hope of recovering Smoleüsk. Russian agents were given permission to recruit mercenaries in Swedish occupied Germany. In March 1631 a permanent Swedish embassy was established in Moscow.
In April 1632 Sigismund III died, opening the election process for his successor. Gustav put his name forward, but only half seriously. Wladyslav, Sigismund’s son, won the crown easily which raised the question of how he would handle relations with Sweden along the Vistula and the Düna.
Christian IV of Denmark was also arousing concern. Confined to his own territory and in no position to be a military threat, he was busy plotting with the German states on his border. In June 1632 Gustav concluded an alliance with Frederick III of Holstein-Gottorp, Christian’s dynastic rival, which formalized an alliance that would stand for the next three generations.
On the Rhine, Gustav had placed himself in direct contact with both Spain and France. He had attacked and taken Spanish garrisons. Philip IV considered the wisdom of a retaliatory strike or even an open war with Sweden. Spain decided, however, she could not afford another enemy and both sides moved to down play the confrontation.
Richelieu, on the other hand, was in a real quandary. He was still pursuing his dream of dividing Maximilian from the emperor and making Bavaria his protectorate, but there had been no progress in this direction. What’s more his Swedish ally had not behaved in the fashion he had choreographed. True, Gustav had decisively defeated the emperor’s forces, but now he was in the Rhineland, an area the French wanted to dominate. Lorraine was key to French ambitions. The elector of Trier was a French client. Richelieu had planned on contending with Spain for control of the area, not Sweden. Though the French-Swedish alliance would survive this strain, any hopes for a close friendship had been set back.
To Charles I, Gustav was the Dragoon King, the monarch who led his troops in person, champion of the Protestant cause in Germany and as such, responsible to restore Friedrich V to his rightful place as elector of the Palatinate. The Winter King hastened to Gustav’s Winter Court to plead his case and would trail after his armies for the next several months, leaving his wife and the Swedish king’s namesake in The Hague. Gustav treated Friedrich with all the courtesies due a royal personage, but was not about to turn over key territories to a weak and undependable ruler. This would have to come later when the war was won.
With Oxenstierna’s arrival, the king and his chancellor began organizing a central government for Swedish Germany. There was a chancery, a standing council, exchequer and judicial authority. A system of taxation, tolls and customs was implemented. A “Church Ordinance for Lutheran Germany” was issued declaring the protection of Lutherans and Catholics in Calvinist areas. Swedish generals and German princes were installed as administrators of conquered territories with ultimate sovereignty reserved to the Swedish crown. By the spring of 1632 a Swedish empire in Germany had been created.
As winter turned to spring Gustav prepared for the summer campaign. He seems to have had in mind a sweep of southern Germany, up the Rhine, over to the Danube, through Bavaria all the way to Vienna, the Imperial capital. The intention was to conquer southern Germany in the same way he had taken the north. In the process he would bring the emperor’s army to battle and finally destroy Hapsburg power, a lofty ambition, something France and the Turks had so far been unable to accomplish. To carry out this ambitious campaign he would need additional forces and during the winter the king was busy recruiting.
His Army of the Rhine, under his immediate command, was being increased from 19,000 to 46,000. The Franconian Army under Marshal Horn would be raised from 8,500 to 30,000. The Army of Lower Saxony under Actatius Todt was to be increased from 7,800 men to 21,000. Banér’s Magdenberg Army would go from 12,000 troops to 39,000. The Mecklenburg Corps was to be raised from 3,900 to 11,000. The Weimar Corps under Duke William, almost entirely horse, had 4,000 and was to become 8,500. Forces under the landgrave of Hesse were to be raised from 8,000 to 18,400. Garrison troops spread over a hundred German towns and cities numbered about 12,500 and would increase to 18,000. In addition, 7,200 cavalry and 1,500 more infantry were arriving from Sweden and Finland. Total forces to be ready for the summer campaign were to be 153,000 foot and 43,500 horse, more troops than Germany had ever seen under one commander.
Gustav’s ally John George and his general Arnim with 20,000 Saxons were wintering in Prague. The Swedish king watched his ally nervously. True, Arnim was taking measures to train his troops, but the Saxon elector’s independence meant he could not be counted on to cooperate with the king’s strategy and might even require rescuing. While pushing deep into Silesia, he had not secured the country from the Oder to the Elbe. A thrust by Imperial forces could cut him off, requiring Gustav to act. And the emperor was not sitting idle these winter months.
Tilly had taken up position at Nördlingen with Imperial and League forces to block just such a move as Gustav was contemplating. Ferdinand had recalled Wallenstein from his retirement of mystical and astrological studies in Znaim where he had moved from Prague when the Saxons arrived. Wallenstein agreed to raise and train another army in Bohemia. The king of Spain sent 300,000 ducats for the project and Hungary offered 300,000 riksdalers to add to the Emperor’s coffers.
Wallenstein, once he had his army organized and trained, would be in a position to threaten the Saxon army. Also, Gustav was wary of possible communication between Wallwnstein and Arnim, his former lieutenant. The whole situation in eastern Germany was very unsettling.
Finally, there was trouble in northwestern Germany. At the end of 1631, Pappenheim had been sent to Hameln to organize resistance in the area under Swedish control. He raised only about 8,000 men, but was able to stay active and keep occupied some 30,000 troops in four Swedish armies trying to catch him. The danger wa
s a breakout to the southeast into the Thuringian area or into Saxony, cutting Gustav’s lifeline to Mecklenberg and Pomerania.
By March 1632 these threats had become too serious to ignore and Gustav could wait no longer. Before his various armies had reached their full projected strength the king left Mainz under Oxenstierna’s command and started for the Danube. The immediate cause for action was a confrontation between Tilly and Horn that was precipitated by the bishop of Bamberg. The good bishop had double-crossed the Swedes, with whom he had a treaty of neutrality, by asking Tilly for assistance and protection. Gustav sent Horn and his army of Franconia to reduce the double-dealer. Horn marched up the Neckar River to Heilbron, then on to Mergentheim on the Tauber, clearing Imperial garrisons as he went. By February 1 he was at Bamberg. The city was not well fortified and the bishop evacuated with the League troops stationed there. Still Horn had to put down a minor insurrection before the city could be called entirely quelled.
Tilly was ordered to assist the good bishop and set out immediately for the north. He marched to Amberg, where he met the bishop, then went on to Nuremberg via Neumarkt. Leaving a garrison there he started for Bamberg with 20,000 men.
Horn was dealing with several problems. He had just lost his young wife, the daughter of Oxenstierna, and two children to disease; and the troops under his command had not been thoroughly trained. Also, Bamberg was not a very defensible town even though Horn had made some real improvements during his time there. As Tilly approached one of his dragoon units collided with a regiment of Horn’s cavalry and drove it back into a newly recruited infantry battalion. The inexperienced battalion of foot broke, spreading panic in the trenches guarding the city. Tilly took advantage of the opening and fed more troops into the assault. Horn counterattacked with a regiment of horse and a battalion of foot, stalling the assault long enough to blow the bridges and saving his artillery and baggage train.
Horn abandoned Bamberg, crossed the Main, and headed down the right bank to Hassfurt, then to Schweinfurt. Leaving a garrison at Schweinfurt, he fell back to Geldesheim. Tilly, pursuing Horn, stopped at Schweinfurt to besiege the three corps left there.
In early March Gustav launched his campaign, moving up the Main with 25,000 men, well fed and well trained. At Kitzingen he picked up Horn on March 14. He also ordered Banér from the Elbe and Duke William of Weimar to join him. Their combined force would give him over 45,000 men.
Tilly abandoned the Schweinfurt siege in the face of a larger army and moved further east. He passed Bamberg and was ordered by Maximilian to retreat into the Upper Palatinate in the hope Gustav would follow, sparing Bavaria. But the Swedish king would not cooperate and when he found out there was no army between him and Bavaria he headed straight for the Danube.
After a short visit to Nuremberg, a city that had twice defied Tilly when Imperial forces had appeared before it, he marched for Donauwörth. At Donauwörth and ten miles away at Hochstadt the Swedes secured points of crossing, taking both towns after sharp engagements.
Tilly, finding Gustav had not trailed him, was forced to try to intercept him. He crossed the Danube and deployed at the junction of the great river with the Lech River. Tilly’s right flank rested on the Danube and his left on the town of Rain. He built earthworks off the river, which passed through a marshy area just before entering the Danube. To attack him, the Swedes would have to cross a marsh, a swift running river, more marsh and finally a slope right into entrenched troops and heavy guns. The Imperialists believed any attack along this line would be suicide. But Gustav, reconnoitering himself, found a bend in the river which would allow him to set up converging fire of musket and cannon, making an attack possible.
To screen his intentions the king had bonfires built along the river, then fed them with green and wet brush. Dense smoke filled the valley. Under this cover the Swedes moved seventy-two cannon to the bend of the river. They opened fire on April 4. On the 5th 300 Finnish volunteers crossed the river to establish a bridgehead. A trestle type bridge that had been built in the nearby town was brought up to span the river. Gustav led reinforcements across to back up the Finns as he sent a cavalry detachment upriver to see if they could find a crossing. By afternoon Gustav had enough infantry and light artillery across to attack, but Tilly beat him to it.
In spite of the heavy smoke the old general had discovered the point of crossing and sent his own infantry to attack the position. Wrangel’s musketeers, posted along the opposite side of the river, delivered heavy fire, driving the Imperialists back with heavy losses.
On the 6th more Swedish infantry and artillery crossed and began fighting their way through the marshy area. Meanwhile, the cavalry detachment had found a ford and led the whole Swedish horse across to threaten Tilly’s left. Though still secure in his entrenchment, the old general was now threatened from both his front and left. It was time to smash the exposed troops on his front and drive them back into the marshes. He personally led the next mass infantry charge, but he was hit by a three-pound ball that shattered his thigh. Tilly was carried from the field.
His second-in-command was struck in the temple by a bullet and was also carried from the field. Command now devolved to Maximilian, not experienced as a front line officer. The counterattack was broken off. The next morning Maximilian and his Bavarian troops, who had seen little action, were on the road to Neuburg. Imperial and League soldiers, who had done the fighting, left their works and, bearing their wounded general, moved to Ingolstadt where Tilly died two weeks later. Imperial losses at the battle were estimated at 2,000 to 4,000 with Swedish casualties at half that.
The way to Bavaria now lay open to Gustav. His army took Rain and then Augsburg, considered the cradle of Protestantism. Here he was received in state and the city officials took an oath of allegiance to the Swedish king.
Passing through Neuburg, Maximilian encamped at Ingolstadt. Gustav, after a few days rest at Augsburg, marched to Ingolstadt where his first assault was repulsed with some losses. On May 2 Maximilian withdrew from the city to Ratisbon, forty miles downriver, leaving a considerable garrison of Imperial, League and Austrian troops. Ratisbon was a free Protestant city which resisted Maximilian’s entrance. The Bavarians reduced it then committed awful atrocities upon the population. Ingolstadt was one of the few cities in this part of Germany with modern fortifications. Most German forts and castles had defense systems left over from the Middle Ages, but Ingolstadt had the thick walls running at sharp angles to each other, arranged so that gunfire from one could rake the attackers of another. These new fortresses were common in Flanders and the Netherlands where constant warfare had necessitated these improvements. In most of Germany they were rare, Inglstadt being an exception.
While Gustav was having his way in Bavaria, Wallenstein began to move on the Saxons. His new army of Bohemian, Spanish, German, Turk and Croatian mercenaries was well equipped thanks to his own and Spanish money. He collected his forces at Znaim, where he could guard Vienna, and started for Prague.
At this critical time, John George managed to be away hunting. Arnim moved his army to Leitmertz, at the junction of the Elbe and Eger rivers, leaving a substantial garrison at Prague which Wallenstein now attacked. The Saxons fought bravely and repulsed two assaults following a terrible cannonade. At night, however, traitors within the city admitted a contingent of Imperial troops who surprised the Saxon garrison and all was lost. Arnim retreated back into Saxony. Wallenstein captured Eger and the remaining towns in Bohemia.
While keeping an eye on Wallenstein’s movements and investing Ingolstadt, Gustav allowed himself a side trip to Munich, capital of Bavaria. He arrived May 10, Ascension Day, entered the city, which did not resist, and proceeded to the Electorate Palace where Swedish prayers were read. He then attended a Catholic service after which he had a discussion with Jesuits and Capuchins. Strict discipline was maintained by his army and there was no looting or burning. Leaving a garrison at the capital the king left Munich and marched to Donauwörth where he
could track the movements of Maximilian and Wallenstein.
His two adversaries had united at Eger, giving them an army of 48,000 men in a position to threaten Nuremberg. On June 4 Gustav marched to the city’s defense with only 18,500 troops and 70 guns, leaving a large contingent in Bavaria under Banér. At Nuremberg the king constructed a large earthen defense system around the city, outside its walls. Wallenstein, with all Imperial, League and Bavarian troops under his command built an entrenched encampment at Zirudorf where he could watch the Swedish king’s movements, raid his supply lines and pounce on any forces caught out in the open. Meanwhile Gustav, though badly outnumbered, was doing the same.
Gustav needed reinforcements and he set Oxenstierna to work arranging the logistics. Horn with his 5,500 man army of the Rhine met the call. William V in Lower Saxony also responded. Two other generals were engaged in hot pursuit of Pappenheim and failed to come. William of Weirmar, who had already started an invasion of Saxony, was diverted by the call and turned to aid Gustav with his 5,000 troops. John George sent two regiments of Saxons. By August 17, 1632, the various contingents had joined the king. But now both sides began to have health problems in their huge camps where sanitation was anything but adequate by modern standards. Wallenstein had pillaged and burned his way to the Main, which meant he had no stores to draw from in the surrounding countryside. While Nuremberg had originally been well stocked, an army of this size could depreciate even a huge store in short order. Time was running out and Gustav looked for an opening.
The weakest point in Wallenstein’s line seemed to be an old castle ruin on a hill above the river called Alte Veste on the Imperial left. The bluff was just outside Wallenstein’s perimeter, but had an Imperial detachment guarding it. If the king could gain the hilltop he would have a commanding position from which to attack the duke’s lines. On the night of August 21 Gustav brought his army to the town of Fürth, which he captured. He crossed the river and built a fortified camp close to the old castle ruins. On the night of the 22nd a rumor passed through the camp that Wallenstein was withdrawing. Acting on this bad information Gustav attacked Alte Veste the morning of the 24th. Wallenstein rushed six of his best regiments to Alte Veste, then followed with the rest of his army. A hundred Imperial cannon poured shot and shell into the attacking Swedes. Gustav’s guns from the river answered, but could not be brought forward because of the steep, slippery slope. For twelve hours the battle raged, but the king could not gain the hillcrest. By evening it was raining and the king halted the attack.
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