Breitenfeld (1642) order of battle

The Second Battle of Breitenfeld was a major engagement of the Thirty Years' War between the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire under Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria and Ottavio Piccolomini, supported by Saxon troops, and the Swedish Army under Lennart Torstensson. It was the last battle of the war featuring more than 20.000 soldiers on each side and one of the rare occasions where both combatants were attacking.[1]

The Swedish Army had been besieging the nearby Saxon fortress Leipzig but relieved it in face of the Imperial advance. The imperials interpreted the Swedish movements as an unorganized retreat because the Swedes had trickled out their troops to obtain a more favourable terrain. The imperial war council under the Archduke overruled Piccolomini's objections against battling an almost even-matched opponent in open field and ordered an attack. The Swedes awaited them in battle formation at Breitenfeld, the place of Gustavus Adolphus' famous victory in 1631.[2]

Both armies used a linear formation with two wings of cavalry around the infantry in the center. The infantry was divided in two subgroups by both armies because of the woods that intersected the imperial lines.[3] An early rout of the Madlo Arquebusier and most of the Saxon regiments at the imperial left wing allowed the Swedes to gain the upper hand on this side of the battle. The imperial right wing achieved similar success against the Swedish left until Torstensson sent large parts of his victorious right around the woods and behind the imperial center to attack the imperial right from the rear. They ultimately drove the imperials from the field, only the Leibregiments supported by Alt- and Neu-Piccolomini, Mislik, Borneval and Luttke resisted long enough to cover the retreat of the right group of the imperial center. The left group however was encircled and forced to surrender by the victorious Swedes.[4]

Imperial-Saxon army
Ottavio Piccolomini

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, Field-Marshal Ottavio Piccolomini[5]
Unless otherwise noted, all units are German.[6]

Left

Generalfeldwachtmeister Hans Christoph von Puchheim, 31 squadrons[7]

First Echelon (Colonel Nicola Montard de Noyrel)[7]

  • Pompeij Cuirassier[7][8] – Colonel Thomas Pompeji[9]
  • Madlo Arquebusier[7][8] – Colonel Hans Georg Madlo[10]
  • Luigi Gonzaga Cuirassier[7][8] – Major Khauts [11]
  • Vorhauer Cuirassier[7][8] – Colonel Hans Vorhauer[12]
  • Wintz Cuirassier[7][8] – Colonel Christoph von Wintz[13]
  • Jung Cuirassier[7][8] – Colonel Gottfried von Jung [14]
  • Jung-Heister Cuirassier[7][8] – Colonel Arnold von Heister[15]
  • Alt-Heister Cuirassier[7][8] – Lieutenant Colonel Andreas Stahl[16]
  • Nicola Cuirassier, two of three squadrons[7][8] – Lieutenant Colonel Dominik Cadé[17]

Second Echelon (Colonel Schleinitz)[7]

  • Burksdorf Cuirassier[7][8] – Colonel Conrad Burksdorf[18]
  • Krafft zu Lammerstorf Cuirassier[19] – Colonel Heinrich Krafft zu Lammerstorf[20]
  • Callenberg Saxon Cuirassier[21] – Colonel Kurt Reinecke von Callenberg [22][23]
  • Warlowsky Arquebusier[19][8] – Colonel Peter Warlowsky[10]
  • Knoche Saxon Cuirassier[21] – Colonel von Knoche[22]
  • Gall à Bourck Dragoons[19][8] – Lieutenant Colonel Olivier Stephanson[24]
  • Gallas Dragoons[19] – Lieutenant Colonel Johann Ablmont[25]
  • Hanau Saxon Cuirassier[21] – Generalfeldwachtmeister Augustin von Hanau[22][26]
  • Schleinitz Saxon Cuirassier[21][8] – Colonel von Schleinitz[22]

Flankers

  • 8 squadrons of Croats and Cossacks[19]

Center

Feldzeugmeister Ernst Roland von Suys, 11 brigades, 8 squadrons, 46 guns[7]

Left Group (Feldzeugmeister Johann Barwitz von Fernemont and Generalfeldwachtmeister Anton von Weveld)[7][27][28]

  • Caretto di Grana Infantry[7] – Lieutenant Colonel Paolo Pestaluzzi[29]
  • Enkevort Infantry[7] – Lieutenant Colonel Michael Thomb[30]
  • Weveld Infantry[7] – Lieutenant Colonel Simon Schrenk genannt Notzing[28]
  • Sax-Lauenburg Infantry[7] – Lieutenant Colonel Rohrscheid[31]
  • Moncada Infantry – Colonel Matteo Marchese di Moncada y Cardona[7][32]

Right Group (Generalfeldwachtmeister Camillo Gonzaga)[7]

  • Suys Infantry (Walloon)[7] – Lieutenant Colonel Eusebius von Crivelli[33]
  • Annibale Gonzaga Infantry[7] – Lieutenant Colonel Valentin Hauser[34]
  • Ranfft Infantry[7] – Colonel Johann Christoph Ranfft von Wiesenthal[35]
  • Archduke Leib Infantry[7] – Lieutenant Colonel Gustav[36]
  • Fernemont Infantry[7] – Lieutenant Colonel Nouskovsky[27]
  • Wachenheim Infantry[7] – Colonel Otto Ludwig von Wachenheim[37]

Reserve (Feldzeugmeister Suys)[7]

  • Nicola Cuirassier, one of three squadrons[7]
  • Novery Cuirassier[7] – Colonel Novery[38]
  • Grodetzky Arquebusier [7][39] – Colonel Georg Dietrich Grodetzky von Grodetz[39]
  • Gissenburg Cuirassier[7] – Colonel Tobias von Gissenburg[40]
  • Desfours Cuirassier (Spanish-German)[7] – Colonel Johann von Desfours[41]
  • Paconchay Dragoons[7] – Colonel Martin de Paconchay[42]
Annibale Gonzaga

Feldzeugmeister Annibale Gonzaga, 32 squadrons[5]

First Echelon (Lieutenant Field Marshall Albert Gaston Spinola von Bruay)[5]

  • Mislik Cuirassier[5][8] – Colonel Johann Sigmund von Mislik[43]
  • Alt-Piccolomini Cuirassier[5][8] – Lieutenant Colonel Crespy [44]
  • Bruay Cuirassier[5] – Lieutenant Colonel Claus von Paumgarten[45]
  • Montecuccoli Cuirassier[5][8] – Lieutenant Colonel Claudius Franz von Lanan[46]
  • Sperreuter Cuirassier[5][8] – Lieutenant Colonel Johann Walter[47]
  • Neu-Piccolomini Cuirassier[5][8] – Colonel Paul Béchamp[48]
  • La Corona Dragoons – Colonel Johann de la Corona[8][49]

Second Echelon (Generalfeldwachtmeister Jacob Borneval d’Arlin)[5]

  • Archduke Leib[5] – Colonel Pallavicini-Sforza[50]
  • Piccolomini Leib[5] – Lieutenant Colonel Ghiselieri[51]
  • Spiegel Cuirassier[5][8] – Colonel Friedrich Conrad Spiegel[52]
  • Lüttke Cuirassier[5] – Colonel Moriz von der Lüttke[53]
  • Wolframsdorf Cuirassier[5][8] – Colonel Rudolph Georg von Wolframsdorf[54]
  • Kapaun Cuirassier[5][8] – Colonel Albrecht Weikhard Kapaun von Swoykow[55]
  • Alt-Nassau Cuirassier[7][8] – Lieutenant Colonel Martin Urias[56]
  • Borneval Cuirassier[7][8] – Lieutenant Colonel Dohna[57]
  • Munster Arquebusier[7][8][39] – Colonel Christian von Münster[39]

Flankers

  • 8 squadrons of Croats and Cossacks [7]

Swedish army

Field Marshal Lennart Torstensson[19]

Right
Arvid Wittenberg

Major general Arvid Wittenberg, major general Torsten Stålhandske, 24 squadrons, 13 detachments, 13 guns[19]

First Echelon (Major general Wittenberg)[19]

  • Torstensson Leib Cuirassier[19]
  • Hesse Cuirassier[19]
  • Duval Cuirassier[19] – Colonel Tobias Macdougall[58]
  • Hoking Cuirassier[19]
  • Kinsky Cuirassier[19]
  • Detachments: each regiment 40 musketeers and one light gun[19]

Second Echelon (Major general Stålhandske)[19]

  • Derfflinger Cuirassier[19]
  • Wittkopf Cuirassier[19] – Colonel Johann von Wittkopf[59]
  • H. Wrangel[19]
  • Polish Cuirassier[19]

Center
Johan Lilliehöök

Riksfälttygmästare Johan Lilliehöök, 11 brigades, 3 squadrons, 18 heavy and 23 light guns[19]

Left Group (Major general Carl Gustaf Wrangel)[19]
First Echelon

  • C. G. Wrangel Infantry (Swedish-German)[19]
  • Mortaigne Infantry[19]

Second Echelon

  • Axel Lillie Infantry (Swedish-German) – Major general Axel Lillie[19]
  • Schlieben Infantry[19] – Colonel Hans Heinrich von Schlieben[60]

Right Group (Major general Kaspar Kornelius Mortaigne de Potelles)[19]
First Echelon

  • Lilliehöök Infantry[19]
  • Banér Infantry[19] – Colonel Gustav Banér[61]

Second Echelon

  • Pfuhl Infantry[19]
  • Jeschwitski Infantry[19]

Third Echelon Reserve

Left
Hans Christoff von Königsmarck

Major general Erik Slang, major general Hans Christoff von Königsmarck, 24 squadrons, 16 detachments, 16 guns[62]

First Echelon (Major general Slang)[62]

  • Stålhandske Cuirassier (Finn-German)[62]
  • Wittenberg Cuirassier (Finn-German)[62]
  • Cratzenstein Cuirassier[62]
  • Douglas Cuirassier[62] – Colonel Robert Douglas[63]
  • Billinghausen Cuirassier[62]
  • Schulmann Cuirassier[62]
  • Pfuhl Cuirassier[62]
  • Seckendorf Cuirassier[62]
  • Mitzlaff Cuirassier[62]
  • Detachments: each regiment 40 musketeers and one light gun[62]

Second Echelon (Major general Königsmarck)[62]

  • Tideman Cuirassier[62]
  • Lilliehöök Cuirassier[62]

References
  1. Guthrie 2003, p. 121.
  2. Guthrie 2003, pp. 109–110.
  3. Guthrie 2003, pp. 116–117.
  4. Guthrie 2003, pp. 117–119.
  5. Guthrie 2003, p. 113.
  6. Guthrie 2003, pp. 113–115.
  7. Guthrie 2003, p. 114.
  8. Thürheim 1862, p. 19.
  9. Wrede 1901b, p. 506.
  10. Wrede 1901b, p. 407.
  11. Wrede 1901b, p. 524.
  12. Wrede 1901b, p. 471.
  13. Wrede 1901b, p. 435.
  14. Wrede 1901b, p. 429.
  15. Wrede 1901b, p. 441.
  16. Wrede 1901b, p. 440.
  17. Wrede 1901b, p. 427.
  18. Wrede 1901b, p. 462.
  19. Guthrie 2003, p. 115.
  20. Wrede 1901b, pp. 499–500.
  21. Guthrie 2003, pp. 72, 115.
  22. Schuster 1885, p. 64.
  23. Warlich 2012a.
  24. Wrede 1901b, p. 619.
  25. Wrede 1901b, p. 635.
  26. Warlich 2021.
  27. Wrede 1898, p. 30.
  28. Wrede 1898, p. 51.
  29. Wrede 1898, p. 72.
  30. Wrede 1898, p. 8.
  31. Wrede 1898, p. 81.
  32. Wrede 1898, p. 83.
  33. Wrede 1898, p. 103.
  34. Wrede 1898, p. 108.
  35. Wrede 1898, pp. 121–123.
  36. Wrede 1898, pp. 138–139.
  37. Wrede 1898, p. 104.
  38. Wrede 1901b, p. 468.
  39. Wrede 1901b, p. 406.
  40. Wrede 1901b, pp. 490–491.
  41. Wrede 1901b, pp. 413–414.
  42. Wrede 1901b, pp. 636.
  43. Wrede 1901b, p. 492.
  44. Wrede 1901b, p. 557.
  45. Wrede 1901b, pp. 486–487.
  46. Wrede 1901b, pp. 497–498.
  47. Wrede 1901b, p. 580.
  48. Wrede 1901b, p. 565.
  49. Wrede 1901a, pp. 191–193.
  50. Wrede 1901b, p. 510.
  51. Wrede 1901b, p. 483.
  52. Wrede 1901b, p. 463.
  53. Wrede 1901b, p. 511.
  54. Wrede 1901b, p. 509.
  55. Wrede 1901b, p. 505.
  56. Wrede 1901b, p. 501.
  57. Wrede 1901b, p. 508.
  58. Murdoch & Grosjean 2015, p. 152.
  59. Warlich 2016.
  60. Warlich 2012b.
  61. Warlich 2015.
  62. Guthrie 2003, p. 116.
  63. Murdoch & Grosjean 2015, p. 153.

Sources
  • Guthrie, William P. (2003). The Later Thirty Years War: From the Battle of Wittstock to the Treaty of Westphalia. Greenwood Press. ISBN 9780313324086.
  • Murdoch, Steve; Grosjean, Alexia (2015). Alexander Leslie and the Scottish Generals of the Thirty Years' War, 1618–1648. Taylor & Francis.
  • Schuster, O. (1885). Geschichte der sächsischen Armee: von deren Errichtung bis auf die neueste Zeit (in German). Leipzig: Duncker & Humblot.
  • Thürheim, Andreas Joseph von (1862). Die Reiter-Regimenter der k.k. öesterreichischen Armee, Band 1: Die Cürassiere und Dragoner (in German). Wien: Geitler.
  • Warlich, Bernd (2012). "Callenberg, Kurt Reinecke I. Reichsgraf von". Der Dreißigjährige Krieg in Selbstzeugnissen, Chroniken und Berichten (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  • Warlich, Bernd (2012). "Schlieben, Hans Heinrich von". Der Dreißigjährige Krieg in Selbstzeugnissen, Chroniken und Berichten (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  • Warlich, Bernd (2015). "Banér, Gustav". Der Dreißigjährige Krieg in Selbstzeugnissen, Chroniken und Berichten (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-07.
  • Warlich, Bernd (2016). "Wittkopf, Johann". Der Dreißigjährige Krieg in Selbstzeugnissen, Chroniken und Berichten (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-05.
  • Warlich, Bernd (2021). "Hanau, Augustin". Der Dreißigjährige Krieg in Selbstzeugnissen, Chroniken und Berichten (in German). Retrieved 2022-04-19.
  • Wrede, Alphons von (1898). Geschichte der K. und K. Wehrmacht II. Band. Aufgelöste Fuss-Truppen (in German). Wien: Seidel.
  • Wrede, Alphons von (1901). Geschichte der K. und K. Wehrmacht III. Band 1. Hälfte. Die Cavallerie (in German). Wien: Seidel.
  • Wrede, Alphons von (1901). Geschichte der K. und K. Wehrmacht III. Band 2. Hälfte. Aufgelöste Truppenkörper zu Pferd (in German). Wien: Seidel.
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