Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War

Swedish Intervention
Part of the Thirty Years' War
Gustav II Adolf leads his army to victory at the Battle of Breitenfeld
Date 1630–1648 Location Throughout the Holy Roman Empire Result Decisive Swedish victory Peace of Westphalia End of the Thirty Years' War Habsburg supremacy curtailed Rise of the Swedish Empire Decline of feudalism[1] Decentralization of the Holy Roman Empire Substantial decline in the power and influence of the Catholic Church Territorial changes Pomerania is annexed by Sweden
Belligerents
Swedish Empire Temporary combat support:  Saxony (1630-1631)[note 1]  France (1648) Limited or non-combat support:  Scotland[note 2]	Catholic League and allies:  Holy Roman Empire Habsburg Empire Augsburg Austria Bamberg Bavaria Bohemia Cologne Constance Croatia[2] Eichstätt Ellwangen Hungary[3] Kempten Mainz Passau  Saxony (1635-1648) Speyer Strasbourg Trier Worms Würzburg Denmark-Norway[note 3] Spanish Empire
Commanders and leaders
Gustav II Adolf † Axel Oxenstierna Johan Banér Lennart Torstenson Gustav Horn Carl Gustaf Wrangel Bernard of Saxe-Weimar Hans von Königsmarck Prince Karl Gustav Alexander Leslie	Albrecht von Wallenstein Johann Tserclaes † Ferdinand II Ferdinand III Franz von Mercy † Johann von Werth Gottfried Pappenheim † Maximilian I of Bavaria
Strength
70,600: Landing in Germany: 13,000 men[4][5] 10,000 infantry[4] 3,000 cavalry[4] Defending Sweden: 24,600 men Allies and mercenaries: 33,000 men	546,000: 50,000 Imperial 150,000 German 300,000 Spanish 26,000 Danish 20,000 Hungarian and Croatian[6]
Casualties and losses
31,518 killed, wounded and captured	101,094 killed, wounded and captured

The Swedish invasion of the Holy Roman Empire, or the Swedish Intervention in the Thirty Years' War, that took place between 1630 and 1635, was a major turning point of the war often considered to be an independent conflict. After several attempts by the Holy Roman Empire to prevent the spread of protestantism in Europe, King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden ordered a full-scale invasion of the Catholic states. Although he was killed in action, his armies successfully defeated their enemies and gave birth to the Swedish Empire after proving their ability in combat. The new European great power would last for a hundred years before being overwhelmed by numerous enemies in the Great Northern War.

Background

Although Gustavus Adolphus was well informed of the events transpiring in Europe for some time, his hands were tied because of the constant enmity of Poland.^[7] The Polish Royal Family, the primary branch of the Vasa had once claimed the throne of Sweden. However, when Sigismund III Vasa was elected by the Nobles of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, he was elected on the condition that he be a Roman Catholic. Which he was, as he had a mother who was Roman Catholic and had abandoned the religion of his predecessors, however, lutheranism was the primary religion of Sweden, and had by then established a firm grip on the country. It was not solely the result of religious sentiment that Sweden converted. Notably, one of the reasons that Sweden had so readily embraced it was because converting to Lutheranism allowed the crown to seize all the lands in Sweden that was possessed by the Roman Catholic Church. As a result of this seizure and the money that the crown gained, the crown was greatly empowered. In spite of this, he retained Roman Catholicism as his religion, which his mother had been. Although he guaranteed the rights of this religion to the people in his Swedish domains, this was a subject of great contention for the kingdom. Sigismund's right to the throne became a further subject of contention due to his support for the counter reformation. After Sigismund's defeat in the battle of the Battle of Stångebro, the Swedish nobility demanded that he rule Sweden from Sweden. Despite their demands, Sigismund returned to his Polish Capital, Warsaw, and was deposed from the Swedish throne in 1599.

An artistic rendition of the sort of atrocities that were taking place in Germany

Gustavus Adolphus' Father, Charles IX of Sweden - the uncle of Sigisimund - also a Vasa, was awarded the throne, in part because he was an ardent Lutheran. Soon after, Sweden became engaged in wars with the Kingdom of Denmark-Norway and the Tsardom of Russia. Also, Sigismund III never renounced his claim to the Swedish throne, and for many years the primary direction of Polands' foreign policy was directed at reacquiring it. As a results, Sweden was hard pressed on almost all of its borders.

Charles IX died in 1611, without achieving any conclusive result in Sweden's wars during the six years of his reign. At the age of just 17, Gustavus was granted a special dispensation to assume the Swedish crown - and thereby inherited his father's conflicts. The surrounding powers smelled blood, assuming that such a youth could not maintain the gains that the father had won for Sweden. However, Gustavus had first entered the army at the age of 11,^[8] and had first hand knowledge of how to govern a kingdom. His training at statecraft had begun at the same age, when later that year his father permitted him to sit in on meetings of the council of state. The neighbouring powers had not assessed the new King accurately.

The new King was able to bring about conclusive results to the conflicts he had inherited. By 1613 Gustavus had compelled the Danes out of the war after landing on Swedish territory only 6 miles from the capital.^[9] By 1617 ^[10] he had forced Russia out of the wars and compelled her to cede territory to Sweden.

Gustavus also settled a number of truces with Sigismund – who agreed to them only because of internal strife within Poland. This respite, which lasted 5 years^[11] gave Gustavus a free hand to act against the two other powers which had designs on Swedish land. In 1617, he sought to establish a permanent peace with Poland. However, all advances by Sweden for a permanent peace were rejected by Sigismund.

Swedish Military Reforms

This period of peace with Poland benefited Sweden much, and Gustavus employed it advantageously. He established a military system that was to become the envy of Europe. These reforms - among which tight discipline was one of the prevailing principles - brought the Swedish military to the highest levels of military readiness and were to become the standard that European States would strive for. According to one historian, luxury was a "..stranger in the camp.."^[12] All soldiers who were caught looting were to be court-marshalled and then shot,^[13] nepotism was "Unknown"^[14] in the Swedish army. In addition, the system of magazines was brought up to an efficiency unknown in the period.^[14] The baggage of soldiers and officers alike – for the speed of movement – was restricted significantly.^[14] Garrison duty was required out of everyone alike, there were no exceptions.^[14][15]

Other reforms were introduced as well, a chaplain was attached to every regiment.^[16] Prayers were offered up on every occasion before battle. It is related how strange it was to see in Germany, the marshal of high standing in the military establishment kneeling in their religious observations next to the private. Crimes such as thievery, insubordination and cowardice were brought before a tribunal that was overseen by a regimental commander.^[16] The last appeal was brought before the King. Provost Marshals were also introduced, and in addition to the duties they had they were empowered to execute any soldier on the spot who resisted orders. Decimation was introduced into regiments that were known to have committed crimes. The rest of the regiment was then disgraced by being ordered to perform menial tasks.^[16] Violence towards women was punished with death,^[16] Dueling was forbidden.^[17] On one occasion – when two men requested leave to duel – the King attended the duel himself and informed the combatants to fight to the death, and that he had a provost marshal on hand to execute the survivor.^[16][18]

The soldier of merit stood in as high standing as any of the Swedish nobles of the day. Sweden was becoming what had not existed since the days of the Romans, a military monarchy.

The severity of discipline was not the only change that took place in the army. Soldiers were to be rewarded for meritorious service. Soldiers who had displayed courage and distinguished themselves in the line of duty were paid generously – in addition to being given pensions.^[16] The corp of engineers were the most modern of their age, and in the campaigns in Germany the population repeatedly expressed surprise at the extensive nature of the entrenchment and the elaborate nature of the equipment. There was a special corp of miners,^[19] but the entire army was drilled in the construction of entrenched positions and in constructing pontoon bridges. The first establishment of a general staff took place.^[20]

It was with this military establishment that the Swedes were to bring about a conclusive end to the wars with Poland as well land in and have so much success in Germany.

Break in the Polish Wars

The Swedish royal family had held for some time claims to Livonia – such claims were of dubious legality but were common in Europe. They were constantly employed by Monarchs to justify their attempts to acquire more land. Later in the 17th century, Louis XIV of France would establish a series of courts known as the "Chambers of Reunion" to determine which territories that France had possessed earlier - even as far as the Middle Ages - that were "supposed" to belong to her legally. Using a pretext of just this sort, the Swedes invaded Polish held territories. Sigismund was proving incorrigible as long as he did not retain the Swedish throne. As a result of his inability to bring the Polish King to some sort of arrangement, the Swedish landed near the city of Riga with 158 ships,^[21] and proceeded to besiege the city. The city itself, was not favorable to the Poles, as they were not Catholic. In addition to this difficulty that the Poles faced, Sigismund's attention was focused on his southern borders, where the Ottoman Empire was making inroads into his Kingdom. Embarrassed as he was by this difficulty, he could not relieve the siege taking place. After 4 weeks, the siege was concluded after the garrison surrendered the city.^[11]

He started to march into Poland proper – as the Lithuanian-polish commonwealth was significantly larger than modern Poland when Sigismund proposed another truce. He did not have the resources necessary to engage in war simultaneously in the North-West and the South of his Kingdom. Gustavus could not persuade the Polish King to a permanent peace of any sort, but Sigismund concluded a truce and granted the section of Livonia that the Swedes had already captured as a guarantee of the truce. Accepting these terms, Gustavus returned to Stockholm in the later part of 1621.^[11]

Gustavus had as yet no one to succeed him in the case of his untimely death, and his brother, the current heir to the Swedish throne, passed in early 1622.^[11] Sigismund saw an opportunity in this for his claims on the Swedish throne. He had no navy to invade Sweden with, but was eyeing the Danzig, a member of the Hanseatic towns. This city was one of the great trading emporiums of the Baltic at the time, and with this city in his power he figured that he could construct a fleet. The Holy Roman Emperor of the time, Ferdinand II, who had the ear of Sigismund, encouraged him in this ambition.

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand was the Holy Roman Emperor from 1619-1637. He had 6 Separate Kingdoms over which he ruled, he was a Duke twice over in addition to numerous other fiefdoms of various sizes and importance. He commanded more resources in Germany than any other Prince during the 30 years war.

The King, perceiving the advantages that Sigismund would thus gain, in June ^[22] sailed with a fleet to Danzig and compelled the city to pledge itself to neutrality in the conflict between Poland and Sweden. With Danzig's pledge, Sigismund proposed a renewal of the armistice.^[22] Extensions of this armistice would be agreed upon over the course of the next three years.^[22]

During this Peace, which was to last until 1625,^[22] the King worked further in reforming Sweden's military establishment. Among which, a regular army of 80,000 was settled upon, in addition to an equally great force for the National Guard.

During this time, irregular support had been provided by the Protestant powers of Europe (England, the Dutch Republic)^[23]) for the Protestant cause. Both Sweden and Denmark sought to receive aid in order to bring a powerful nation into the German conflict proper, but the terms on which Gustavus proposed had some very definite clauses, and as Christian of Denmark effectively underbid him, support was provided to him. The sum of the Danes' effort was although they achieved some initial inroads into Roman Catholic territory, the Catholic League, under the able general Wallenstein (who is reported on one occasion to have told Ferdinand that Gustavus was worse than "the Turk") drove them completely back into Danish territory. All of Germany was effectively in the hands of the Holy Roman Emperor. Christian was granted favorable terms, as it was anticipated that the Swedes, under the command of Gustavus, whom all Europe by this point recognized as an able commander, were going to make a landing in Germany.

While no definitive agreement had been brought about with Poland, Gustavus did not contemplate landing in Germany. He wanted to secure his base, Sweden, absolutely before he made landing in Germany. He finally settled on bringing the issues with Poland to a conclusion. To this effect, in 1625^[24] he again set sail for Livonia. As Danzig, recreant to its trust, had allowed a Polish force to garrison it, Gustavus immediately marched his army towards that city. He besieged it in spite of the fact that and they fought off several efforts to relieve the siege.^[24] During this campaign though, The King, wounded on two different occasions, once very severely, was unable to command the army in person. As a result of this, the Swedes suffered some reverses, but nothing materially damaged Sweden's presence. As a result of the King's wounds, the successes of the beginning of this campaign were negligible.

Finally, the King was able to bring a conclusion to the conflict with Poland. In 1628,^[25] the King, passing through the Danish sound, a treaty being previously settled that allowed the Swedes the right to do this, landed again. The Emperor sent some forces to support the Poles in their efforts against Gustavus, and it was only at costly results that the Swedes were able to drive this force back and bring a conclusive settlement with Poland. Sigismund agreed to a 5 years truce.

Preparations for the German Landing

The Protestants' prospects did not look good. Although they had initially had some successes,^[26] the emperor commanded all of Germany with the exception of some of the free towns on the German coast. Gustavus could not have fully appreciated the situation that faced the Protestants, although he must have had some inkling of it. Including France at this time, there was no concert of action and it was in no small measure due to this lack of unity that the Protestant cause had hit the rocks so hard. There were no ardent powers fighting for the Protestant cause, all of them only seeking to empower themselves while simultaneously being willing to come to terms with Ferdinand. France promised subsidies to Denmark, but had provided them irregularly.^[26] In addition, the Dutch Republic, although ostensibly equally ardent for the Protestant cause as the French, were not keen on seeing the entirety of the baltic coast fall into the hands of Sweden.^[26] Lubeck and Hamburg did nothing more than pledge to exchange silver for Swedish copper.^[26]

The Duke of Pomerania, Bogislaw XIV pledged his assistance as well, as he was in a sore case. The Magravate of Baden as well as William of Hesse also pledged their support.^[26] However, even once the Swedes were in Germany they expressed a great deal of reluctance and had to be constantly cajoled into contributing their resources to the cause. The only ardent supporters of the Protestant cause, the Duke of Hesse-Cassel and Brunswick-Lunenburg held themselves in complete readiness to join hands with the Swedish. Although little favored the Protestant cause at the time, there was unrest in the entirety of Germany as a result of the horrible atrocities that the catholic armies incurred, on Catholic and Protestant states alike.^[27] Everyone alike in Germany, as well as elsewhere in Europe – France, always fearful of the Habsburgs – feared Ferdinand II and the increasing resources that he could bring to bear.

Frederick V, Elector Palatine 1610-1623 and King of Bohemia 1619-1620. In March 1619 the estates of Bohemia refused to Recognize Ferdinand II as the King of Bohemia, and offered the crown of Bohemia to Frederick. When a Protestant mob seized two of Ferdinand's plenipotenitiaries who were seeking to secure Ferdinand's election, and threw them out of a window into a pile of manure, the Thirty Years War was begun.

France was in favor of Swedish intervention, but because France was also Catholic, and Cardinal Richelieu, France's de facto prime minister, did not desire to openly declare against Catholicism, only offered monetary contributions. However, France refused Gustavus' demands for contributions. He demanded a lump sum upfront, and 600,000 rix dollars per annum subsequently. Although Sweden lacked many qualities that great powers of the era had, in addition to having the best military force of her day,^[28] was the most efficiently governed monarchy of Europe. Even here however, there were deficits. Sweden's annual revenues only amounted to 12 million rix dollars per year.^[28] In addition, there were only a million and a half people living in the country at the time.^[28] As a result of this, as his campaign progressed in Germany, he came to increasingly rely on German mercenaries. Although these German mercenaries were well known for their atrocious conduct towards the local population, under the Swedish military system they were later brought to the Swedish standard of discipline.

The King called a convocation of the most eminent men of the state, and after arguing his case before them, it was agreed that Sweden should intervene. It was his belief that after Ferdinand had settled affairs in Germany to his satisfaction, Sweden would be next on his programme.^[28] There were several pretext for landing in Germany as well. The Habsburgs had actively aided the poles in their conflict with Sweden - in spite of the fact that the two were at peace with each other.^[28] In addition to this the conference that had taken place at Lubeck - a conference that had sought to settle the issues that precipitated the war - had dismissed the Swedish embassy out of hand.^[28] This dismissal, angered the King greatly. Lastly the King, as well as the nation, did feel deep concern for the Protestants who were being ruthlessly oppressed.

Gustavus Adolphus II, King of Sweden 1611-1632 a.k.a., "The Snow King". It was on his initiative that Sweden became one of the principal powers of Europe. He is often regarded as one of the great military commanders of all time. It is commonly accepted that he restored the systematic method to warfare which is still practiced, but had not been practiced since antiquity. During all of his campaigns he carried a copy of Xenophon's Anabasis with him.

Stralsund, a member of the Hanseatic towns, was being hard pressed by the Imperials. This area, could not be left to the Catholics without leaving the serious possibility of the Holy Roman Emperor invading Sweden. As long as he was not personally on the scene to prevent such an acquisition, it was only a matter of time that these areas should be seized. The Emperor had 170,000 troops,^[29] of various qualities to be sure, in Germany. Such an army could not be prevented from seizing these places with the minimal resources that were at the command of the Protestant holdouts.

Preparations were therefore made between 1629 and 1630.^[30] Nitrus and Sulfer were gathered in large qualities in anticipation for the campaign. There was to be enough of this that each regiment could be furnished with the quantity that it would need each month.^[30] Factories that produced swords, armor and other weapons were kept at full capacity.^[31] A war tax was also implemented, which was specifically aimed at taxing the nobility to ensure that everyone was contributing their part.^[30] During this first year, 3/4's^[30] of the revenue that was accumulated by the state was to be directed towards the war effort. Even the churches were given instructions to preach in favor of the cause.^[30] All males from the ages of 16 to 60 were called upon to report for service. Those who could not report regular wages were among the first to be incorporated into the ranks.^[30] Only families that could report at least one son were required to furnish soldiers.^[30] If a family could not report sons, then they were let off from service.^[30] Men were also incorporated into the army from abroad. There were two regiments of Scots,^[30] many soldiers were incorporated into the ranks from the Danish army that had been defeated at the hands of the Habsburgs.^[30] The Hanseatic towns also furnished contingents for the upcoming conflict.

There were also considerable reserves, already encamped in certain parts of eastern Germany.^[30] There were 6 thousand men distributed between the Island of Rügen and the city of Stalsund both of which were under the command of Marshall Leslie - a general who had already proven his ability. Leslie himself had been active in recruiting from the Hanseatic tows.^[30] There were stationed in the occupied parts of Prussia and Livonia an additional 12,000 men.^[30] These were under the command of Oxenstiern - a man whom held the absolute confidence of the king and was the governments first minister^[30] - by the end of the year these forces were brought up to 21,000 men.^[30] In order to hold Sweden and its subsidiary states firmly, there were stationed in Sweden itself 16,000 men.^[31] In case there should be any contingency that should arise from Finland and the east, 6,500 men were left there.^[30] In the Baltic provinces there was a further 5,000 men. Gustavus believed that it was absolutely essential that he should hold the entirety of the Baltic coast, because he would be no good in Germany if the Catholic powers could operate on his lines of communication and threaten his throne. In total, there were 76,000 men enlisted in the Swedish service. Of whom, 13,000 were destined to make the initial landing on German soil.^[30] These forces were further reinforced by 2,500 men from Sweden,^[30] and 2,800 men from Finland once the landing had taken place. The army consisted of 43,000 Swedes and the rest were recruited from other nations. 3% of the total population of Sweden was therefore designated for the campaign- if the population was divided between males and females evenly - then 8% of the male population was serving in the ranks for the initial campaign - no doubt a heavy burden on the state.

The cost to the Swedish exchequer was in excess of 800,000 rix dollars per year.^[32] The king, not knowing of the recalcitrance of his Protestant allies, counted on receiving considerable contributions from them as well once he was on German soil. With the 13,000 men allocated for the German landing, the King had two armies to contend with (one being under Walenstein and the other being under Tilly) that he assumed to be at 100,000 men each.^[32] The king was seriously gambling on recruiting more men in Germany. His troops however, were of the highest quality, and once he had gained the confidence of the Protestants by winning battles and seizing important places, he did not doubt that he would receive more.

The Landing

Theatre of war

The King made no formal declaration of war against the Catholic powers.^[30] After the attack that had taken place on Stralsund, his ally, he felt that he had sufficient pretext to land without declaring war.^[32] He did make attempts to come to an agreement with the Emperor,^[32] but these negotiations were not taken seriously by either side.^[32]

The Capital of Pomerania, Stettin was being seriously threatened by the Emperor's forces. In order to save the town, the King deemed it essential that he should land here right away. He planned to land there in May of 1630,^[32] but as a result of the fact that there were winds that were not favorable to sailing out, the Swedes waited three weeks before departing. There were 200 transports,^[32] employed and 36 ships employed to guard the armada while it made its landing.^[32] the King proposed that he should land his armada at the Oder's delta and treat with each of the cities in the vicinity to gain firm grip on the country before making any inroads into the interior of Germany. His plan, once he had established himself, was to march up the Oder.

Gustavus Adolphus' landing in Pomerania, near Wolgast, 1630

The King gathered knowledge of the vicinity in which he was to land. He made himself intimately familiar with it. Despite being Protestant, the Duke of Pomerania Bogislaw XIV was treating with Ferdinand. Bogislaw was engaging in negotiations with both sides in order to preserve his title to the duchy and the integrity of the Duchy itself, as well as its financial viability. His chief concern was to ensure that the depredations that were being visited on much of Germany would not be committed in his Duchy. When he learned of Gustavus' intention of landing in Germany, in his Duchy, he reached out to the King and requested that the King should not make war in his Duchy. The King informed Bogislaw that he was going to land in his Duchy, and that upon his conduct depended how the Duchy was to be treated. He informed the Duke that depending on his conduct, he could count on the Swedish army being lenient towards his duchy or severe in how it was handled.

3 days of public fasting and prayer were declared in order to ensure the success of the landing.^[33] The King made the final arrangements for the government of his Kingdom. First of all he ensured that his daughter, Christina of Sweden would be his successor in the event of his untimely death (Later, perhaps motivated by filial rebellion, she would renounce the Swedish throne and convert to Catholicism).^[33]

Rivers and Duchies of the Oder-Elbe Country

The landing transpired on July 4 on the island of Usedom. He immediately captured a number of the important towns on the Island and garrisoned them. Disembarking on the Island, the King slipped and fell,^[33] but nothing was made of this by the army. The first thing the King did upon landing was kneel and offer up prayers in thanks for the success of the landing. Immediately after offering up these prayers, the King picked up a shovel and started to dig entrenchments that were going to cover the landing.^[33] It took two days for the entirety of the force to land,^[33] as the companies were landed they were immediately put to work in creating these entrenchments. There were some older entrenchments that were already there, and these were seized as well. Other ones were also constructed.

Germany with Principal Cities for Campaign

Since it had taken so long for the armada to disembark, the stores of food that had been designated for the army upon landing had been largely consumed by the army.^[33] Orders were issued that food should be gotten from Stalsund, but even these were not enough.^[33] The King, angered by this lack of victual, held Johan Skytte (previously the King's tutor), the officer who had been in charge of ensuring the supply of food to task for this and lectured him severely.^[31] He sent to Oxenstiern and ordered him to hurry up supplies from Prussia.^[33] Feeling confident that he had secured his landing, by the end of the month, the King sent to Oxenstiern a small portion of his fleet to gather supplies and bring them to his position at the delta of the oder.^[33]

After two days, the King took 1200^[33] musketeers and a force of cavalry with him. He moved this force to the region opposite Wolgast (a city that was on the continent proper opposite Usedom). Seeing that the Imperialists had constructed a fortress to protect the region he reconnoitered the fortress, observing its strengths and weaknesses. He sent back to his principal base and ordered that 4,000 additional musketeers be brought up to the position.^[33] When these came up, he moved towards the fortress but found that the Imperialists had abandoned the base and moved to Wolgast.^[33] He left 1,000 men in this base and with the rest of the force, 3,500 foot and 2,500 cavalry,^[33] he set out to clear Usedom of Imperialist forces entirely.^[33] There were a number of bases opposite Usedom on Wollin,^[33] which Imperialists retreated to as the King made his push to clear the Island.^[33] He ordered that his forces garrison these bases and continued to pursue the Imperialists to the far side of the Island.^[33] There was no resistance on the Island, as the Imperialists continued to retreat.^[33] Seeing that they would soon be pinched between the inlet that separated Wollin from the mainland, the Imperialists burnt the bridge that crossed from Wollin to the mainland and continued their retreat.^[33] The King had secured both Wollin and Usedom - as the result of which he controlled all of the mouths that the Oder had into the ocean, he went back to his headquarters.^[33]

Securing Pomerania

The Duchy of Pomerania before its incorporation into Sweden in 1637

Stettin was the capital of Pomerania, and one of the reasons that it was selected as the capital was because it was centrally located in the duchy. The duchy itself was divided roughly in two by the Oder. It had been under siege by the Imperials for some time but the Imperialists – as was common for sieges at the time – had not made significant progress in taking the city. Generals of the time deemed sieges to be difficult and ill-advised. To this effect, Stettin was still in the hands of Bogislaw – having held out against many vigorous assaults.^[34] Learning of Gustavus' landing however, the Imperialist generals retreated (Savelli South-East of Stralsund^[34] farther north on the Oder)^[34] retreated away from the Swedes. Savelli retreated to Anklam^[34] and Conti retreated to Gartz and Greigen-Hagen^[34] (holding both banks of the oder). Gustavus left Colonel Leslie in command of Wollin and General Kagg on Usedom.^[34] Both of them were left under the command of General Kniphausen. He took provisions to ensure that these islands would be secure from landings by the imperials.^[34]

The king drew in the 5,000 soldiers that he had garrisoned in Stralsund and assembled the rest of his forces and brought them up to a total of 74 companies.^[34] By July 18,^[34] he had assembled this force and the next day he set out from the Swine Inlet to Stettin.^[34] He was squarely between Savelli and Conti, and once he was able to acquire the city, he would have established himself on interior lines.

Dispositions of Imperial Armies. Stettin is situated between the two cities the catholic powers had retreated to. By taking this city, the Swedes would gain an important advantage

This is important because he would have a shorter period of time to bring his troops to any given point, and would therefore be able to reinforce any position that was threatened more quickly then the Imperialists if they should attack a sector that he had taken. In addition, he would be able to apply pressure to any point in the Imperialist line more quickly then the Imperials themselves could apply to his line. This was especially important because at the present he did not have as large of a force as the Imperialists did. By having this position he would be able to march his troops between both his lines as necessity required.

In spite of his city being harassed by the Imperialists, Bogislav was focused on maintaining his neutrality in the conflict.^[35] Colonel Damitz, who was in charge of the defense of the city, had received orders not to admit the Swedes into the city.^[35] If necessary, the duke ordered him to attack the Swedes. A drummer was sent to treat with the king;^[35] however, the king did not receive the ambassador, stating that he did not recognize messages that came from soldiers of such low grade, and that he would only speak with Damitz himself. Some talks took place between the King and the Colonel; however the Colonel had not been empowered to allow troops to enter the city.^[35] The King and the Duke quickly made arrangements to speak, and at the meeting the King informed the Duke that he would not brook neutrality from any power in Germany, and that he was fully prepared to take the city by force.^[35] He was also informed by the King that the Swedes would not tolerate delay of any sort, that he must be allowed to enter the city at once.^[35]

On 20 June, after having persuaded Bogislaw that he should be allowed to enter the city (up to this point, there had not been a single Swedish casualty), the Swedes marched into the city.^[35] A treaty was concluded between the two powers, which effectively stripped Pomerania of its sovereignty, and other matters of the city and duchy were settled to the king's satisfaction.^[35] The king then received contributions from the duke and swapped out Damitz' force and placed three of his own companies to garrison the city.^[35] Bogislaw sent an embassy to the Emperor, informing him of the situation that had just transpired, but the Emperor declared that the entirety of Pomerania was in revolt, and looting and pillaging in the country was permitted on an even more extensive scale.^[35]

Swedish and Imperial Possessions after the Swedish capture of Stettin

Shortly thereafter, the King received additional reinforcements from Prussia.^[35] So bad were the conditions that were prevailing in Germany at the time, many other men voluntarily enlisted into the Swedish ranks - it was easier for a villager to get food within an army then if he were living in the country side.^[35] With the acquisitions the Swedes had made, they were now up to 25,000^[35] soldiers. Although there was much support for the Swedes in the German country side, there was also significant enmity to the Swedish cause. During this time there multiple attempts made to assassinate the King by Catholic enthusiasts.^[35]

The King then ordered that the defenses to Stettin be improved. All of the denizens of the city as well as villagers were rounded up and the defensive works were quickly completed.^[35]

Despite the advantageous position that the Swedes had acquired, they were still vulnerable.^[36] At Wolgast, opposite Usedom, there was an imperial force concentrating preparing to attack the Swedish on Usedom.^[36] In addition, there were Imperial camps established at both Garz and Greigenhagen,^[36] they also still held Damm - opposite of Stettin^[36] - and as long as this city was in imperial hands the possession of Stettin was not an established fact.^[36] On July 22,^[36] the King ordered a squadron to capture this city. After taking it, the King ordered Damitz - the colonel of Bogislaw - to take Stargard.^[36] This city was taken, and shortly after Treptow and Griefenberg were also taken. A number of other cities were taken in order to ensure that the Imperial force that was at Colberg could not join their comrades via Greifen-Hagen and Garz. The King was careful to garrison these cities to ensure that the imperialists at Colberg should not punch through his line and join their comrades.^[36] The King's next objective was Garz, and one day while observing the area an Imperial patrol came across him and his guard and they were captured.^[36] Not knowing who he was though, they did not take due precautions, and his main guard quickly attacked and saved the King.^[36] The King was so reckless about his own personal security that this happened on two different occasions during the course of his career.

The neighborhood that was being campaigned in at the time. Including Ueckermünde

The next city on his programme was Anklam. Savelli had stationed himself there upon the Swedish landing. The city was on the opposite side of Usedom, and although there were no bridges between it and Usedom, it still posed a significant threat. it would easily serve as a place from which the imperials could cross onto Usedom. However, the Imperials retreated from this city too, so confused was the King by this that he warned the general whom he had detailed to take the place, Kagg, that he should be on the alert for a rouse of some kind.^[36] Kagg took the city and fortified it without incident.^[37]

Ueckermünde and Barth (to the west of Stralsund) were also taken without incident.^[37] Wolgast was besieged, and although the garrison gave up the city to the Swedes they held out in the citadel of the city.^[37] This garrison hung onto the citadel until the 16th of August.^[37] Treptow^[36] was also taken.

The King did not only desire to tighten his grip in the area he had landed in, but he also wanted to join hands with Oxensteirn. Oxensteirn had, as mentioned, a large force on hand in Prussia which the king wanted to bring into the conflict in Germany. The king order Oxensteirn to order an "able officer" to Stolpe, but establishing a connection with Prussia and Oxensteirn would have to wait. Despite his good position, being in between the imperials as he was, his army was spread out in three separate bodies that could not support each other except by sea; under the King, was the force that was stationed at Oderburg and Stettin; Kagg's force was based on Usedom (a sort of "[link] in the chain"^[37]); and Kneiphausen's force that was based on Stralsund.^[37] It was critical that before he advance into the interior, or that Oxensteirn should join him, he should be able to act in concert with all of these bodies and move them about at will so they could support each other without encountering the enemy en route. One of the features that makes him the first "modern general" as some have labelled him, is his scrupulous care for his communications and his operating under the principle that his army should be united, or each unit having the ability to join the other units, at any time. Holding Anklam was not enough to ensure that the body based on Stralsund could quickly join his army at Oderburg should matters become problematical. The line from Stralslund to Anklam down to Stettin could be punctured at any point. The river Tollense (immediately west of Anklam) ran roughly parallel to this irregular line that he had garrisoned. To hold his gains on the coast secure, he must have this river as to prevent the imperials based out of Mecklenburg^[37] from cutting his line. To change this situation, the King ordered Kniephausen to move his army forward in a south-westerly direction towards the Tollense,^[37] and Kagg was to follow Kniephausen's movement and simultaneously ensure that Kniephausens force was not attacked on its northern flank. As the line was spread out as it was, with a somewhat weighted right flank, it would ensure that the Imperials could not support each other, as the original units would be forced to hold their position or risk losing their positions in their attempt to save another fortified place.^[37]

Savelli was still at Griefswalde,^[38] and when he learned of the occupation by a small Swedish unit at Clempenow, he sent a small detachment to observe it.^[38] Upon learning that Wolgast had fallen, sensing that he was being surrounded, he marched his army by way of Demmin onto Clempenpow. As there were only 100 men stationed in the city, it fell.^[38] Only one officer and 6 men surrendered.^[38] Seeking to tighten his grip on the Tollense region, as having been driven out of Griefswalde, it was effectively his new line; he garrisoned Clemenpow,^[38] Loitz and Demmin.^[38] He also garrisoned Neu-Bradenburg, Treptow and Friedland.^[38] He ordered Pasewalk taken, a small town outside of Stralsund, and despite fierce fighting the place was taken and the town was burned to the ground.^[39]

Meanwhile, stationed at Pasua and Elbing (to the far east), Oxenstiern was seeking to move towards the King. The cities that were critical to establishing a land route between the two armies was Colberg (occupied by the Imperialists) and Cammin. Kneiphausen and Oxenstiern were entrusted with the task of establishing a land route between Prussia and Swedish occupied Pomerania.^[40] Meanwhile, being August as it was, the King was contemplating the establishment of winter quarters.^[40] However, the Administrator of Magdeburg, Christian William declared in favor of the Swedish, drove out the Imperial garrison and called the Swedes to aid the city. This was done without the King's prior knowledge, and there were many objects which the King deemed to be of higher importance then the city of Magdeburg. It is not likely the King would have encouraged such a move if he had been consulted about it. The King still wanted to march to the elbe,^[40] take possession of the duchy Mecklenburg and engage in negotiations with Hamburg and Lubeck. Magdeburg was much too far away, and there were large contingents of Imperial troops between the Swedish Army and Magdeburg. However, the king sent a colonel to the city and ordered him to bring the city into the highest level of defense for an anticipated siege by the imperials.^[41]

This put the King in a difficult position. If he left Magdeburg to its fate, then he would be seen by the Protestant powers of Germany as being unreliable and being unable to support his allies. They were already reluctant enough to support the Swedish and provide man power and material. If he was seen in this light by the Protestant powers, then they would be even more inclined to withhold their support.

Mecklenburg

Duchy of Mecklenburg. Also featured is Lubeck

In December of 1630, the King was confident that he had secured himself on the coast of Germany. Desiring to reach out west, he had a number of reasons for doing so; He wanted to restore his cousins to their duchies in Mecklenburg (whose territories had been taken from them by Ferdinand and given to Wallenstien for his services),^[42] to establish a firm connection with the Duke of Hesse-Cassel (who was the only prince at the time that had provided support to the Swedish - he was essentially the only whole hearted ally that he had in Germany),^[42] to reach Magdeburg (if at all possible),^[42] reach out to the Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg who had assured him that he would be received warmly (only if he reached his duchy)^[42] and to establish contact with Lubeck and Hamburg.^[42] Although this route, with Magdeburg in mind, was indirect, it was the only route he could take without passing through Electorate of Saxony and the Electorate of Brandenburg (which was also in the hands of the same family that possessed Prussia). These princes, desiring to maintain the integrity of their dominions and their ostensible neutrality (The imperialists had forced them to allow armies to march through their territories on several occasions, and would do so again) did not want armies, especially imperial armies, marching through their territories and destroying their land.^[42] These two German powers were also Protestant. They were awaiting events to see who would gain the upper hand, and they too were duplicitous in their dealings with both sides. Both of their princes were just as suspicious of the Swedes as they were of the Imperialists. They were both powerful German states, and could not be and rode over roughshod the way Pomerania had been. The King was accordingly more cautious in his dealings with them and courted them with the desire of attaining an alliance with them.

To move towards his potential and actual allies, with Magdeburg in the back of his mind, without invading Saxony and Bradenburg, the King saw that Wismar and Rostack would be necessary to take. Wismar was especially important because it allowed him to incorporate more of the Baltic sea within his control, and would allow him to exclude inimical fleets from the baltic ocean by preventing them from having a place to land to resupply.^[42] Gustavus Horn had brought reinforcements from Finland and Livonia.^[42] He left these reserves, as well as the majority of the army stationed at Stettin, under Horn.^[42] The King issued him orders that he was to hold the place securely, he assigned him the task of taking Greifswalde before the spring^[42] and to hold on to the road between Stralsund and Stettin. If the Imperials were to march on him directly with a numerically superior force, he was to abandon the project of Greiswalde and protect the Stettin-Stralsund line and march towards the King.

Swedish sail with intention of taking Rostack

Leaving Stettin on 9 September, he landed at Wolstack. He quickly arrived at Sralsund in anticipation for his advance on Mecklenburg. Although he anticipated receiving reinforcements from Prussia, all that was on hand were the Finlanders and the Livonians that had been brought up by Horn.^[43] In addition, there was sickness in the camp.^[43] allegedly, every 6th man was sick in this force that was to invade Mecklenburg^[43] From here he set sail in the direction of Ribnitz towards Rostack.^[44] He took this place, and Dammgarten^[44] While here the king learned that there was an army assembling at Demmnitz in the east. This worried the King, and as a result of which he abandoned his scheme of taking Rostack.^[44]

However, a turn of events took place that would aide the Swedish further. A congress had been in session at Ribnitz for the last 6 months,^[44] and one of the results of this Congress was that Wallenstein was dismissed. Many of the potentates in Germany were prejudiced against him, because of the license he allowed his troops in their dominions. Tilly was rewarded with the command, but as a large part of the Imperial army, being mercenaries as they were, had been under contract to Wallenstein personally,^[44] rather than to the Emperor. As a result of this, upon the dismissal of Wallenstein the mercenaries that were under contract to Wallenstein dispersed. Many of these soldiers enlisted in the Swedish service, and it is related that they were quickly brought up to the Swedish standard of discipline.^[44] The King deemed Wallenstein to be such an able general, that upon learning of his dismissal, he reached out to him and requested that he serve under him.^[44] The Catholic cause, had lost an able general.

Albrecth von Wallenstein. Gustavus Adolphus deemed him to be such an able general that he sought to enlist him in the Swedish service after he was dismissed from Imperial service. Although he played with the idea, it would only be later that he would seriously consider it. Due to conflicts between himself, the Elector of Bavaria and the Holy Roman Emperor himself.

Temporary Setbacks

Settling for not taking Rostack at the present, the King determined that he must take the Tollense river before progressing. However, before doing this he decided to definitively settle the Colberg question, and instead of observing the place to take it, so he could communicate completely with Oxenstiern. Horn, the general who had been allocated to command the Colberg region and see about the taking of Colberg itself, was informed of an imperial plan to march to Colberg from Garz and relieve the place.^[44] Horn assembled all of the forces that he could, leaving a small force to observe Colberg, and marched towards Rossentin,^[45] immediadely to the south of Colberg^[45] to await the arrival of the Imperial army from Garz.^[45] The Imperials made a huge circuit, hoping to avoid detection marched via an elaborate circuit to the south.

Imperial Circuit

However, their movement and subsequent attack was repulsed, and they retreated. However, the imperialists were so eager to take relieve the city, and expecting to catch the Swedes off guard, contemplated another move on colberg. For whatever reason, during the beginning of this plan it lost impetus, and the army that was marching to relieve colberg became disorganized. Upon arriving on the Eastern side of his new acquisitions, he assembled his generals, got all the facts from them pertaining to the dispositions of the enemy forces, and resolved to attack Garz. The time for wintering his troops was coming, but he desired to strike a blow to the Catholic cause before taking to camp for the winter.^[46]

The army moved mostly down the right (east) bank of the Oder towards Garz. There were also troops on the left (western) bank that were kept in constant communication with the main army via the naval force that was to keep the two armies in communication with each other. Moving towards Griefenhagen first, when the Imperial General in command of the city observed the army coming to his position he deemed it to be nothing more than a salve that was typical of the Swedes to distract him. However, the Swedes camped in a nearby forest, and the next day - Christmas - after a solomn observation of religious traditions was observed, the attack was begun.^[46] A breach was made in the Griegenhagen fortifications, and the King in person^[46] led the first assault. After this place was successfully assaulted, the imperial troops here started to retreat towards their comrades in Western Pomerania.

The next day the King marched his army towards Garz, in preparation for battle in battle order, but the Imperialists soon retreated.^[46] They moved to the south in a south-easterly direction, certain units were detailed to hold Custrin and Landsburg, in order to ensure that they were not cut off from Frankfurt. The King sent units towards these cities to prevent the retreat of the Imperials, but Landsburg the King deemed to be too strong for an assault. Satisfied with this victory, his army marched back to Neumark Konigsburg.

Dispositions of the armies after the victory of the Swedish at Garz

Frankfurt

Having taken Garz and Griefenburg, which if utilized properly could lead the King, through Prussia and Silesia into Ferdinand's hereditary possessions, the King left Horn with 6 regiments of infantry and 6 of Cavalry.^[47] These were faced towards the Warta river,^[47] with orders to keep the enemy pinned in the Warta country between the Landsburg and Custrin neighborhood.^[47] Instructions were left to horn not to engage the enemy outright, to act strictly on the defensive against a numerically superior enemy and if the opportunity should arise, seek to seize Frankfurt and Landsburg.^[47] His reserves were stationed in Pyritz, Stargard and Gullnow.^[47] These were stationed there so that he could retreat towards them if a numerically larger foe should present itself against his front at Soldin,^[47] while simultaneously protecting Swedish gains along the right bank of the Oder and Eastern Pomerania.^[47]

The King set out from baerswalde to Stettin, crossed there and accumulated 12,000 men.^[48] From Stettin he marched through Germany towards Prenzlow, Neu-Brandenburg.^[47] Taking Neu-Brandenburg, the Imperial garrison at Treptow also retreated for fear of being captured.^[48] The next day Clemenpow was also taken.^[48] These tows were important, because they could prevent any imperial armies from advancing north to relieve Demmin. Upon taking Demmin, the King would hold the entirety of the Tollense river.^[47] This he had set out some time back to do, but had been distracted from the project. Being winter as it was, the King could afford to take up a project that was comparatively conservative in scope for a winter campaign as such that he was in the process of conducting. In addition, in spite of the fact that it was winter, it was important that he should establish a firm base between the Stralsund and Stettin country. With this line secured, his proposed expedition into Mecklenburg would be more secure.^[47]

Demmin was at the confluence of three rivers, and the ground was something of a bog.^[47] As it was mid-January significant portions of the area were somewhat frozen, and this aided the Swedish in their siege of the place.^[47] Kniephenhausen, who was at that time stationed at Griefswalde and besieging it, was ordered to come south and aide in the siege at Demmin.^[47] Loitz, and city that is in between Griefswalde and Demmin, had to be taken first though, as it was in the way. The King took it before sitting in front of Demmin, and after having taken it he urged Kniefphenhausen to come as quickly as possible.^[47] In addition to making room for Kniephenhausen's army to come up on eastern side of Demmin, it also blocked Griefswalde and left it completely without aide.^[47]

As a result of this manoevre Tilly was placed in a difficult position. He wanted to go head towards Mecklenburg, but if he left only the reserve he had in the Landsburg country (8,000 men),^[47] then he feared that Horn would push these reserves out of Landsburg and establish the Swedes on the Warta river. Inversely, if he stayed here to protect the Warta line (which if opened would give the Swedes free access into the Hereditary lands of the Austrian Emperors), then the Swedish would have an easy time of marching into Mecklenburg over the Havel and relieving the siege at Magdeburg.^[47] Tilly deemed it important to take Magdeburg, as taking it would be an impressive moral victory over the Swedes and it would keep the Protestant powers cowed.^[49] In addition, he wanted to ensure that Demmin wasn't taken. Since the Swedes had all the towns that were on the most direct route between Frankfurt and Demmin, he made a circuit to the south.^[49] This allowed him to simultaneously move towards his objective and at the same time ensure the siege of Magdeburg continued by quickly gaining a secure footing on the Havel from which he could prevent the Swedes from relieving Magdeburg.^[47] However, in addition to making this indirect route, he had to march through the Electorate of Bradenburg as tenderly as possible. As Brandenburg had not declared for either side, it still retained a neutrality, but only in the technical sense. Enough so that Tilly could demand to march through the Electors territory, but sought to alleviate the worst of the enmity this might arouse in the elector by avoiding his Capital, Berlin.^[49] After making this "tender" march, he finally arrived in Neu-Rippin.^[49] As the Havel was behind him, he had achieved one of his objectives, that of keeping Magdeburg safe. However, from this position he now marched North in order to help relieve Demmin.

However, Tilly was not able to come to the support of his subordinate in time. After two days of sitting before the city, Savelli believed that he could not hold Demmin, and surrendered on condition of his army not serve in Pomerania and Mecklenburg for three months.^[49] This city was well stored, as it had anticipated holding out for a while against a Swedish siege. However, as the city was given up after only 2 days, the Swedes gained all of the provisions.^[49] Among the baggage that was discovered, which as per the agreement was to be returned to the Imperialists, were the possessions of a Quinti Del Ponte,^[50] a man who had served under the Swedish and had been paid to betray the Swedish and then desertered.^[50] The King was asked what he would like to do with this stuff, but he stated that he had no intention of taking petty revenge.^[50]

With so much success in Pomerania, the estates in the duchy were finally roused to action, and offered their support to the Swedes.^[50] 10,000^[50] infantry and 3,000 ^[50] cavalry were offered to garrison the duchy itself. This was valuable because the Swedes would be able to free up men from Garrison duty and bring them into the field.^[50] In the face of the imperial armies, and their sheer size, this was a sorely needed acquisition.

Although the King was seriously considering wintering his troops at the present, he himself, as well as Kniephenhausen, came to believe that Tilly was contemplating a march on Neu-Rippin in an attempt to relieve the siege that was taking place at Griefswalde. As the siege was important and he didn't want to lighten up the impetus of the siege taking place, he ordered Horn to march towards Friedland^[51] in order to ensure the Kniephenhausen did not have to move troops away from the siege to prevent Tilly from reaching Griefswalde.^[51]

Colberg had previously fallen, and Gustavus believed that the manoeuveres by Tilly were designed in part to compensate for this loss. Which was indeed a blow to the Imperialist cause. The King moved back to the Oder, thinking that it would draw Tilly away from his advance towards the siege, stralsund and Stettin. He proposed marching on either Frankfurt or Landsburg. Tilly does not seem to have paid any attention to this manoevre.^[52] Instead he marched towards Stargard, the one just south of Neu-Bradenburg. Stargard was not a place that could be easily defended, the King did not believe in the strength of the position, and informed Kniephenhausen of this. He had ordered Kniephenhausen to plan on retreating after an honorable period of time, but the messengers had been seized and Kniephenhausen held out to the last. The city was breached, and only Kniephenhausen, and three other man, survived the siege. The subsequent looting of the city was allegedly horrible.

The position of the imperialist and Swedish armies after the capture of Landsburg and Frankfurt

After this siege though, and Imperialist victory, Tilly retreated. He failed to capitalize on his victory.^[53] Seeing this, the King continued with his plan toward Frankfurt. However, before advancing towards Frankfurt he was informed that the Imperialists had sent a detachment of the force that had been left at Landsburg towards Anklam. They had taken this place.^[53] In spite of this, the King ignored it, this would have been considered a very bold manoeuvre at the time, but despite the fact that the King had a force that could easily operate on his lines of communication, he continued his advance south.^[53] Moving from Schwedt^[54] the king moved his force south towards Frankfurt along the Oder.^[54]

Arriving in front of Frankfurt on the 3rd of April.^[54] A small breach was made, from this breach the city was taken.^[54] This battle was a solid victory for the Protestant cause. On the 5th the king continued his advance.^[55] He marched towards Landsberg after driving Imperialist cavalry attachments which were placed in the country surrounding Landsburg.^[55]

On the 15th, the King positioned his army outside of Landsburg.^[55] Baner, with 5 regiments.^[55] set out from Frankfurt, who had been stationed there, to join him in the siege of Landsburg.^[56] The siege was begun the same day. There was situated outside of Landsburg a strongly entrenched fortress, and it was clear to the King that if he wanted to acquire the city, he must first take this fortress. He had cannons brought up and fired upon the fortress. After a minimal exchange of artillery fire and the repulse of a sortie, the King stiffly offered terms to Landsburg. The next day the terms were accepted and the 4,000 Imperialist soldiers abandoned the city and fortress promising not to serve in the war for the next 8 months.^[56]

Diplomatic Difficulties and the Fall of Magdeburg

With the recent string of victories, the left flank (eastern flank) of the army was secure. There were two courses of action available to the King at this time; The first, was to march through Silesia ^[57] which would lead him through the lands attached to the Bohemian crown (a crown which Ferdinand held) directly to Vienna and bring the Habsburgs and the Catholics to terms by compelling them to sign a treaty after occupying Vienna. Despite the advantages of this scenario, for whatever reason the King deemed it to not be the best course of action.

The Second was to march to Magdeburg and relieve the siege taking place there and unite with his real and potential allies in Mecklenburg.^[57] Despite the King's inclination, he had promised aid to the besieged city. At the present however, all he had done was send an able officer to oversee the construction of the defensive fortifications, train the local militia and oversee the defense itself once the siege commenced.

George William, Elector of Brandenburg, Duke of Prussia was one of the Principal German Princes during the Thirty Years war. He sought a policy of neutrality for much of the thirty years war, but was unable to keep his fiefdom out of the conflict. His reign was marked by ineffective governance during the conflict.

However, despite the fact that it was clear to the King what he wanted to do, it was to prove to be more difficult to bring about. If the King had not yet fully grasped the recalcitrance and distrust that existed among the Protestant German powers towards himself, then he would develop a proper appreciation of the situation in short order. After the taking of Landsburg and Frankfurt, the King, anticipating that Tilly would advance towards these places from Neu-Ruppin via Custrin (Or Kustrin), ordered that the bridge that which was situated in Custrin (which would allow armies to march over the Oder) be destroyed. Custrin was a part of the Electorate of Bradenburg, and the Prince-Elector of Brandenburg, George William felt that his neutrality had been violated.

The King wanted to set up his base of operations for the campaign that would lead him to the Elbe at Spandau.^[58] This place was also within the realm of George William. The King met with George William and expressed his wish to get both Custrin and Spandau into his possession. George William denied the request, despite the fact that the king was his brother-in-law and fellow Protestant. After attempting to deal diplomatically with George William's vacillation, he finally informed him that if these places were not handed over to him voluntarily, he would take them with force.^[58] Arrangements were then made by George William, who felt himself to be diplomatically isolated from both Saxony and the Habsburgs, to surrender the two places.^[58] Even after the King began his advance towards Magdeburg, George William, proving recreant to his trust, did not surrender complete control of Spandau to the Swedish.

In addition, Pomerania was not meeting the quota of men and resources that it had promised to the Swedes. The money that was supposed to be delivered to the King for the conduct of the war, both from Sweden itself as well as the powers that had promised financial aid, were not coming in on time.^[58] Also, the army had been hard pressed by the previous winter. Particularly the cavalry, which had been pushed to the limit. The Cavalry of the Swedish force on the whole was not on par with the Imperialists because of this. Conditions had become so bad that the men had started to engage in looting and banditry, which the King addressed by punishing the perpetrators of these actions.

Having acquired Spandau, the King set out in the direction of Magdeburg on the 8th of May.^[58] It was on his way to Dassau - part of the Electorate of Saxony that he learned of the difficulties that George William was going to impose on his operations - although they were largely immaterial - it was indicative of the difficulties that George William was going to cause. There were multiple routes through which the Swedish Army could reach Magdeburg. However, the ones that were to the south of Saxony had been ruined by the occupation of imperial forces, as a result of which he would not be able to feed the army that had been designated as, "The Army of the Elbe".

Engraving of Johann Tserclaes, "Tilly"

In addition, he did not have pontoon bridges with which he could construct a bridge over the Elbe.^[59] All of the boats that were in the Elbe and in the vicinity had been seized by the Imperial armies - and the river elbe itself is very wide. Given that time was of the essence in relation to the period of time that Magdeburg could hold out and the deficiencies of the other routes, Dessau was the most strategically advantageous option.

Engraving of John George I, Elector of Saxony. Although not without political acument, John George was not a great ruler.

Given the size and strength of Saxony and Brandenburg, and the problems that they could pose to his lines of communication should he handle them too severely they had to be handled with care and a certain degree of deference. The King had hoped that he would have an easier time dealing with the Elector of Saxony, John George I then he had had with George William. However, John George proved to be just as uncooperative as George William. After exchanging letters and embassies with John George, some of the former were just ignored, John George refused him access to his territories.^[60] John George had 40,000 men^[60] at his disposal, and these could be brought to bear against the Swedish should they not handle Saxony respectfully. He was therefore in a difficult position, and as he deemed it more important to do everything in his power to ensure that Saxony did not join the Imperialists, he did not make the march through Saxony towards Dessau.

Magdeburg was at this point in a desperate position. Although initially there had been only 6,000 imperial forces^[61] observing the town under Pappenheim, Tilly had by mid April brought 25,000 men to take the city. Falkenburg, who was a Swedish Colonel, had been sent to bring the city to the highest level of defense that he could given the means that he had at his disposal. He had brought the force defending the city to 2,500 men in addition to the city militia.^[61] However, now the Colonel had a much larger force in front of him - and despite the positive news of Swedish victories in the East - given the situation that prevailed in Magdeburg these were not received very well. Moral in the city was low. The governor of the town, the town council, the denizens of the city and the strong minority of Catholic supporters were constantly bickering.^[61] In the beginning of May Tilly started to negotiate with the town. He was fearful of the Swedish relieving the siege,^[62] and was therefore eager to see it brought back into Imperial possession by any means. However, nothing came of these negotiations in time.^[61] By May 19, Tilly was so fearful that he proposed making a final assault on the city. By this point the only surrender he would accept from the town was an unconditional one. The town council agreed to surrender the city, but Falkenburg requested to have an audience with the council at 4 am on the following morning to talk them out of it.^[62] Despite the fact that the Imperial negotiator was still in the city awaiting the final answer of the city council, Tilly ordered the final assault on the city. Many of the officers and soldiers had abandoned the defensive works because they knew the final decision of the town council was being made. Falkenburg, hearing of the assault despite the fact that Tilly was supposed to be awaiting the councils answer, summoned all the men that he could and led an effort against the assault. Although he achieved some initial successes, Falkenburg died in the defense. Shortly thereafter the city was sacked.

The Elbe

Upon receiving news of the fall of Magdeburg, The King ordered his forces to retreat towards the Oder.^[63] As many blamed the King for the fall of Magdeburg, the king released a manifesto blaming John George for the fall of Magdeburg.^[64] The King, fearful that Tilly would take advantage of his victory at Magdeburg, took a number of measures to secure his possessions on the Oder. First of all; he ordered Horn to reconstruct the bridge that had been destroyed at Schaumburg so that he might retreat across it if necessary; secondly, he ordered that Frankfurt be strongly fortified.^[64]

A map of Germany with a focus on the Elbe

The King also ordered the following dispositions to be taken by the army. Baner was entrusted with the center; his forces were stationed at Brandenburg, Rathenow,^[65] Potsdam, Bernau and Butzow.^[65] Fehrbellin was to be the headquarters.^[65]

Horn was trusted with the left, but he had only 1,500 men to hold it.^[65] After the victory at Magdeburg, forces were gathered in Silesia to march up the Oder and attack the Swedish left. There was an outpost at Crossen which occasionally was engaged by the Imperialists. He was to take particular care of the bridges at Frankfurt, Landsburg and Schaumberg.^[65] The King assured him of relief with forces from the center if matters should become problematical. He was also to recruit forces in this area in order to ensure that his forces were of sufficient strength to hold the flank.^[65] Shortly thereafter he received orders to march to Crossen and establish a strong camp there.^[65]

While the King was establishing plans for his advance at Stettin, the Czar of Russia, Alexis of Russia, sent an embassy informing his good will to the King and offered an auxiliary force. The King refused the force but thanked the Tsar for his friendly disposition.^[66]

Despite the Kings fear of Tilly after his victory, Tilly made no moves to advance on the Swedes and push them back to the sea.^[66] He feared moving to the East because of the force that the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassell William V was assembling. The Landgrave was one of the only ardent supporters of the Swedish, and it had previously been the intention of the King to meet the Landgrave via northern Mecklenburg and join their respective forces.

Maximilian I, Duke of Bavaria, Elector of Bavaria (Elector Palatine) and President of the Catholic League. Maximilian was a consummate political opportunist and one of the principal beneficiaries of the Thirty Years War. After the revolt of Frederick V against Ferdinand, which sparked the whole conflict, Maximilian was rewarded with Frederick's electoral dignity. Frederick, as a Wittelsbach was Elector Palatine and Imperial Vicar and thereby held the honor of being among other things the first to vote in Imperial elections. His electoral dignity was the most prestigious in the empire, and its' passage to Maximilian increased his prestige considerably.

Tilly wanted to prevent his forces from being surrounded from the West by Hesse-Kassell and the Swedish in the East.^[67] Consequently, Tilly marched north with 17,500 infantry,^[65] 7,000 horse,^[67] and 28 guns.^[67] While en-route he received 9,000 infantrymen and 2,000 horse from the Catholic League and four regiments from the Spanish Netherlands (which were in possession of a collateral branch of the Habsburgs).^[67] In addition to this, there were 25,000 men in Italy marching towards Germany, but these were seriously delayed and only reached the Elbe a year later.^[67]

While en route, the John George made it clear that he would resist either side that opted to march through his territory.^[67] Tilly, who feared that Saxony would soon join the Swedish cause, as the Protestant powers had been more outraged by the sack of Magdeburg than cowed.

The King, at this point fed up with the vacillation of George William, finally opted to bring the issue to a head once and for all. He marched to Berlin from Spandau and required the Elector make a new treaty with him. The provisions of this treaty were that the Swedes were to retain Spandau for good,^[68] the Swedish should be allowed to march through Custrin at will, and were to receive 30,000 thalers from the Elector a month.^[68]

An imperialist party, which seems to have lost its way, was seen outside of Malchin.^[68] This made the King fear that the Imperialists were going to make a move to relieve the siege at Greifswalde, and as a result of this ordered the commander of the area, Ake Tott to move all available forces to Greifswalde and to storm the place. After the imperialist commander of the garrison was killed in the initial bombardments, the remaining force sent an ambassador to Tott on June 25 and sued for peace.^[68] The King commended Tott for his work and promoted him to the rank of Field marshal. The Field Marshal then advanced into Mecklenburg and reinstated the Dukes whose duchies had been taken from them by the Imperialists. These too, however were to prove recalcitrant allies and were slow to provide aid to the Swedish.^[68] Mirow, Butzow, Schwan and Plau were all taken. All that was left as a result of this advance was Rostock, Wismar and Domitz.^[68] Many of the forces in these cities, rather than being parolled or taken prisoner, opted to enlist in the Swedish service.^[68]

Baner had been busy securing the Spree-Havel line, and took Havelburg while he was busy securing the line.^[68]

Meanwhile, Tilly had been busy enforcing the emperors edict of restitution. He had been ordering parties of his force to issue orders to all the German princelings to hand over various cities and towns of strategic significance and to disband their forces, which they were ostensibly raising to maintain their neutrality. As Protestant Germany had been more outraged then cowed by the sack of Magdeburg, in reality these forces were being raised to defend themselves against clear Imperial aggression and maintain their rights as independent princes of their principalities.^[69] From his march from Magdeburg he progressed North towards Hesse-Kassel and seized Oldisleben, Muhlhausen in June.^[69] He also captured Gotha, Eisenach, and Weimar.^[69] Erfurt purchased its safety by paying Tilly.^[69] Tilly sent embassies to the landgrave of Hesse-Kassel ordering him to disband his forces, 6,000^[69] of which were stationed in strongly placed cities.^[69] William refused the order of Tilly, and assembled his forces at Cassel.

Around this time, 8,000 fresh reinforcements arrived from Sweden.^[69] 4,000^[69] of these were ordered to the Havel to join the main army.^[69] The balance of the force was ordered to march to Mecklenburg to serve under Tott.^[69] Tott, was to join the King and bring with him an additional 4,000 veterans^[69] men. During this time 7,000 soldiers^[69] from England arrived under the Marquis Hamilton. These soldiers arrived on the Peene, instead of on the Wesser,^[69] as had been expected.^[69] The King ordered them to march to Horn who was to distribute 4,000^[70] of his total force along the Oder line.^[69] Horn himself was to bring the rest of his force to join the King.^[70]

Having concentrated his forces on Havel, the King made his move to the Elbe.^[70] With 7,000^[70] men of the line and 3,000^[69] horse, he proceeded from Brandenburg towards Burg. The King moved towards Jerichow, which roused Pappenheim, who had been left behind by Tilly at Magdeburg, to action.

Advance of the Swedes to the Elbe. Counter march not depicted. English reinforcements in Yellow

While the King was at Jerichow, Pappenheim was personally at Tangermunde, just north on the other side of the Elbe. The King wanted Pappenheim to believe that he was moving towards Magdeburg, and started to march in that direction.^[70] Pappenheim, seeking to ensure that he did not get there before he did, marched off toward Magdeburg. However, the King immediately turned his army around, marched it north, left a couple of hundred^[70] men on the left (western) bank of the Oder and moved to Tangermunde.^[71] The Swedes captured Tangermunde and its citadel and then fortified Tangermunde. The Swedes collected all of the boats they could, and then advanced further north up Elbe to Werben. Werben was also taken. Fortifications were installed at the confluence of the Havel and the Elbe, right by Werben.^[71]

Tilly, upon receiving the news from Pappenheim, advanced his army South to meet the Swedes.^[72] They took up their position at Wolmirstadt, (totaling 27,000^[70] men) north of Magdeburg, and sent out 3 regiments of cavalry to observe what was happening at Werben. The King, by calling in further reinforcements from his lieutenants to the East and North, was able to assemble 16,000^[72] men.

The King personally was at Arnesburg.^[72] He opted to concentrate his Cavalry here. After sending out a party to recoinoitre the enemies position; he moved his forces up on the night of August 1.^[72] Before reaching a place called Burgstall he divided the 4,000 man force into three columns.^[72] The first column; under the Rhine-grave was ordered to attack Burgstall; the second column was to attack Angern; the King marched with the third column, which was in between the two other forces and was marching towards Rheindorf.^[73]

The Rhine-grave's attack was successful, and he managed to take Burgstall and seize all of the baggage. The column led by the King reached Rheindorf to find that Tilly had received news of the two other engagements and prepared his army and got it into line. Despite the fact that there were only 300^[73] men on hand with the King, the King lead a charge right into the regiment and smashed it. At one point, the King had driven his horse into the action and was surrounded. His life was saved by loyal captain.^[73]

Imperialist movements after their defeat to Tangurmunde, and then there subsequent retreat to Wolmirstadt

Tilly opted to retreat at this point, and moved his army South back to Tangermunde.^[74] Horn subsequently arrived with 9,000^[74] reinforcements to Rathenow, which caused Tilly, for fear of being taken in flank, to move his army back to Wolmirstadt.^[74] Between August the 5th and August 8, the day on which Tilly retreated, he had lost 6,000 men, in addition to desertions that took place after the defeat at Rheindorf. Despite the fact that Tilly had won a resounding victory by taking Magdeburg, he had not seized on the moment and take advantage of his victory. Despite the major drawback that the Swedes faced with Magdeburg, they had increased their grip on the country and had achieved one of their primary objectives, securing the southern baltic coast.^[74]

Hesse-Kassel and Saxony

Entire Strategic Situation in Germany in August

Reinforcements came to Tilly from Italy.^[75] While on their march from Italy, the reinforcements compelled the princelings to submit to the emperor, using the threat of major fines to force them to enlist their troops in the service of the Imperial cause.^[75] The recently defeated Tilly, fearing the intervention of Swedish reinforcements from the right (eastern) bank of the Elbe, had placed himself at Wolmirstadt^[75] to be close to Hesse-Kassel, Saxony, and Brandenburg.^[76]

The King was at Werben,^[75] and it was here that he finally met with William of Hesse-Cassel. The Landgrave concluded a treaty with the Swedish. Weimar, a city of note, was also included in this treaty.^[75] These parties were to reject the emperor and his forces from wherever they had it in there power to do so, and in return the Swedish were obligated to protect their new allies.

The King left his camp at Werben at Werben under Baudissin and Teuffel, a force that he deemed to be suitable to defend the location against any imperial attack, and left with eighteen thousand troops.^[75] As opposed to operating on his base, he opted to operate on the Havel.^[75] His goal was to push Tilly into Saxony, and thereby compel a decision upon the elector of Saxony to either side with him, or against him. He had little doubt, acting upon the emperors orders, Tilly would soon force the electors hand. Once the Swedes had pushed the Imperial forces into the electorate, he anticipated that the issue would naturally come to a head of itself.^[75] Additionally, by advancing in a southerly direction from the Havel, he anticipated that once the elector had made his decision, he would be ideally placed to join his forces with the Elector.^[75]

In Tangermünde, Tilly informed the Hessians that they must submit to imperial rule and disarm.

Swedish Strength and Material

Notes

References