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.
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. <variant in original: Bethlem Gabor>
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. <Conde/>
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. <variant in original: Mazarine>
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.