Lützen 1632 - THIRTY YEARS' WAR DOCUMENTARY

[Music] in our previous video we detailed the intervention in the 30 Years War by the Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus and his decisive victory at the Battle of Brighton failed in the summer of 16 31 the experienced veteran army of the holy roman emperor ferdinand ii had been almost totally destroyed and the protestant forces were on the rise however the war was not over and 1632 which proved to be the most intense year of fighting that the 30 Years War would produce culminating at the Battle of lützen Swedish King Gustavus Adolphus was now at the peak of his popularity in the Protestant world after his glorious victory at Brighton felled he was now the Lion of the north a new Hercules or Alexander destined to bring greatness it was true that he had achieved significant success since his intervention but the war was not won yet he now had competing needs defending the baltic coast beachhead from attack keeping the wavering Saxons from making peace and further pushing his already gained advantage he had also failed to eliminate his principal enemy Johan so classgraph von tiehl who escaped with the shattered remnant of his army west through Westphalia and then south into Franconia to join his reinforcements [Music] due to his insecure supply lines the difficulty of operating in Catholic territory and the insecurities of his Protestant allies direct pursuit of the enemy was not an option at this moment the swedish king eventually decided on thrusting Southwest through Thuringia and into the Rhine main Valley the so called clerics ally a string of Catholic territories he wanted to seize as much land as possible before winter came as this would possibly allow allies in the south such as Hessen castle and burton burg to join his army opposition was unexpectedly weak in this region and cities began to surrender one by one Erfurt fell on October 2nd while the wealthy bishopric of verts Burke's are ended on the 15th it's garrison pleading for mercy while the Protestants responded with Magda Berg's quarter after resting for a brief while the sweet and sees Frankfurt gustavus adolphus crossed the Rhine at Oppenheim and finally took the electoral capital at mines on the 23rd of December the seat of the Archbishop elector of the Empire Heidelberg and the rest of the lower palate inert which had started this entire conflict was conquered in the subsequent weeks meanwhile the war had expanded even further enhance Gig von Arnim who had previously fought for Valentine advanced into Bohemia at the head of a large Saxon army and recaptured Prague for the Protestant cause during the invasion of Bohemia Arnhem made contact with Valentine which almost led to peace between the Emperor and Saxony but these talks fell through at the beginning of 1632 gustavus adolphus commanded the main strike force of 16000 at meit's while marshal horn was leading 10,000 to subdue local Catholic Garrison's in Franconia the Catholics of the Empire were now panicking Till's confidence had been shattered by Brighton felled and he now avoided battle and was presented by his soldiers with the Imperial Army being crowned into bavaria Swedish forces were resting in fresh church lands though the main swedish and imperial armies were relatively localized it was at this point in the war that conflagrations began to erupt all around germany emboldened protestants and catholics began to raise smaller armies which fought against each other all over the country whilst the Swedes began to dispatch smaller armies as well causing massive devastation and human suffering skirmishes continued between Arnhem Saxons and the Imperials near bohemia and imperial marshal Zuppa Bernheim conducted a brilliant campaign in the north rescuing thousands of imperial troops who were trapped in besieged cities such as Magdeburg and shada whilst destroying protestant contingents many times the size of his own [Music] Swedish marshal Gustav Horan attacks bamberg and teal who now seemingly charged into action they called in Garrison's from the nearby upper palate inert and Bavarian militia and attacked Hearns proceeding force on March 9th who lost 1/3 of his army hearing of the defeat and worried that it might make the wavering Protestants Germans desert him Gustavus Adolphus march from Mainz reunited with Hearn and entered Nuremberg to the south was the powerful Bavaria led by Maximilian the first it was cut in two by the Danube River and the Swedish king could not afford to slice his force into to attack both the northern and southern portions so he chose to conquer the south due to the presence of the rich electoral capital at Munich in that part of the electorate this would require him to cross the lake River and he chose to move towards the city of Rhine where Teel had entrenched with 21 thousand men and 20 guns the lek was a bifurcated River split into a series of parallel fast flowing streams each around 60 to 80 metres wide while the Bavarian Bank consisted of submerged woods and marshland a formidable obstacle the only viable route across for the large Swedish force was around five kilometers south of Rhine where there was a large island flitting the river [Music] gustavus meanwhile drew up his army and cannon on the open ground opposite Till's in Calment and began to bombard the imperial forces with his numerically superior guns he also sent a small faint force to make teal think he would cross there slightly further south at the main crossing point Musketeers and more artillery began to converge on the island ready for the crossing and attack at dawn the units on the island began to burn straw and gunpowder in order to make a smokescreen which made visibility minimal in the midst of this shroud a small finnish unit crossed to the bavarian bank and secured a mine of beach head floating a prefabricated bridge across to the island in order for the main army to make the crossing they began to make their way across the pontoon bridge under the cover of cannon shot from both the island and the west bank of the river Teil dispatched troops to the area immediately as he learned of the Swedish crossing at the main point realizing he had been fooled a fierce fights developed in the area near Till's camp and it seemed indecisive at first with the Swedish still half crossing the bridge however unknown to the Imperials a small two thousand strong elite Swedish cavalry force had crossed the lake two kilometers further to the south and smashed into the flanks and rear of the Imperial formations leading to their collapse in the midst of the frame Teil who had commanded since the Battle of White Mountain was mortally wounded by a cannonball and perished two weeks later command went to maximilian the first who ordered a retreat from the unsalvageable situation attempts at diplomacy to call on catholic France Lorraine and Spain for help had failed so the Emperor's forces finally realized there was no other choice than to recalled the military genius our Brecht Fon Valentine back to service though they might dislike him on the 13th of April 1632 Valentine was formally reinstated as the supreme commander of Imperial forces immediately balanced and began to mobilize his vast resources in Bohemia rebuilding shattered Imperial regiments and stockpiling military resources within weeks of his reinstatement he was ready to March his appointment had an impact almost immediately and by the end of May he had recaptured Prague from the Saxons and by late spring had forced them out of Bohemia he now held the initiative and could either threaten Saxony or strike at the swedish king and moved to the west with around 32,000 men after leaving troops to guard for him eeeh meanwhile back west the catholic populations were beginning to realize that easily surrendering would mean expropriation extortion and persecution so resistance began to mount Valentine now arrived in the region with his larger force reuniting with his old rival Maximilian's shattered army at Egger on July 1st knowing their precarious position both men knew they could not afford disunity and were respectful to one another realizing that Gustavus Adolphus was a formidable commander Valentine's tactics were extremely cautious aware that another major defeat could mean the end of the Imperial cause in July instead of attacking the Kings entrenched position Valentine moved into a heavily fortified position of his own anchored on a medieval castle called outer Vesta his fortifications were so intense that they required the felling of thirteen thousand trees and the shifting of 21,000 modern truckloads of earth it was the 17th century equivalent of world war 1 with sharpened and trimmed tree branches pointing at the enemy to skewer them Imperial Garrison's commanded the roads into Nuremberg while cavalry patrolled the countryside rather than a direct assault Valentine would starve the Swedes out indeed the situation was initially far better in the imperial camp as they were able to be resupplied from many directions however the hot August weather changed all that so many troops in such a small space spread rats flies and ultimately disease the Imperial Army became non operational after the Swedes managed to catch a supply column and felon Stein was unable to intercept a swedish relief army of 24,000 men and three thousand supply wagons sent by chancellor axel oxen when're to join their king at nuremberg meanwhile to the north the battle of Steindl resulted in a saxon victory however Valentine sent one of his captains Heinrich Hulk to punish Saxony with a 10,000 strong raiding force he plundered raped and pillaged mercilessly through the countryside and was widely known as the master of warfare by devastation his campaign through Saxony in 1632 earned his troops a reputation for appalling savagery around Nuremberg the Swedes now had 28,000 infantry 17,000 cavalry and 175 cannon while Valentine had 31,000 infantry and 12,000 horsemen it was the strongest army Gustavus Adolphus had ever commanded and he would use it to try to break the Imperial defenses attempts at surprise proved impossible as the enemy alerted Valentine upon the Swedish capture of the redness river crossings and fared on the 1st of September Gustavus Adolphus wanted to pin the majority of the Imperial defenders with a withering artillery barrage from the east bank of the red Mnet's while he attacked from the north though an initial artillery strike failed to silence the Imperial guns the swedish king attacked anyway he sent his infantry up to the slope but rainfall had made the ground slippery hindering the assault and making taking the regimental guns with them impossible he continued and renewed the attack repeatedly into the night feeding more and more troops in they got as far as the outer fortifications when the king decided to retreat losing 1,000 killed and 1,400 badly wounded [Music] believing that balance tine whose army was suffering from diseases and knack of horses no longer represented an immediate threat gustavus adolphus marche south towards Swabia in the hopes that his enemy would be either forced to chase him or would stay and wait for reinforcements however Valentine recovered very quickly broke camp and mashed north to crush Saxony the swedish king quickly realized his mistake as the imperial commander was now not only endangering his main Saxon Ally but was also threatening his Baltic communication and supply bridgehead so he raced north covering a massive 650 kilometers in 17 days hoping to force a battle after dispersing his own troops into their countryside winter quarters Valentine halted at lützen when he realized the Swedes were closing in on him he attempted to recall his soldiers urgently but did not manage to bring his entire army back in time Valentine anchored his line on the leipzig post Road north of the road were three windmills standing on a shallow hill which would serve as an employment irreal artillery battery further to the Imperial right a ring of gardens full of Mannheim mud walls surrounded lützen which would be ideal shelter for Musketeers Valentine drew up his roughly sixteen thousand strong initial force in a defensive battle formation compact deep and allowing for the transfer of units between the wings the imperial infantry no longer deployed in tokyo's were arrayed in three battle lines five regiments were in the first line two in the second and one in reserve the cavalry was mostly on the wings formed up in a reverse bow shape to prevent encirclement Croat Light Horse formed a forward screen on the wings while heavy black armored choruses formed the main hammer and haka Perseus sat behind them taking advantage of Swedish tactics Valentine placed 150 Musketeers in front of each cavalry wing though not in the Swedish style the Imperial Canon were deployed in two main batteries the aforementioned windmill battery which contained fourteen to seventeen guns and the left wing battery which was in placed in a lower lying ditch and contained six or seven guns [Music] meanwhile on the approach the Swedish king led prayers and gave rousing speeches to both his Scandinavian and German troops harried all the way by Imperial crow at lights Raiders at around 8:30 to 9:00 a.m. the armies caught sight of one another and the Swedes began to cross the frost grabbin River with makeshift bridges after they had made the crossing the nineteen thousand strong Swedish army formed up into the tradition of two line battle formation with intervals between each units to allow retreat to the rear during combat regimental artillery occupied this gap the king commanded the position of honor on the right wing while Duke Bernard commanded the left and Connie Falzone held the reserve the battle began with an hour-long artillery exchange during which neither side suffered serious casualties at the same time balanced time sets lute Center blades in order to prevent it falling into Swedish hands and to prevent them from turning his right flank the Swedish king fearing being outflanked himself commanded 2000 to send some of his reserve to bolster the right wing cavalry finally with the sounding of a trumpet the entire Swedish line began to slowly advance as one on the right the first decisive action came when Gustavus Adolphus commanded his finished pathway to attack the crow X and Kuras ears while the king stayed with his infantry this worked out and the right wing of the Swedes swept the Imperial left from the field however Gottfried Soup Oppenheim arrived on the battlefield with an additional 3,000 cavalry and steady to the situation there while they had stopped the Swedish flanking attack a benign was hit by a cannonball during the charge and passed away not long after in the center the Swedish infantry regiments advanced and were hammered by Imperial artillery and entrenched Musketeers but these were elite units so they continued to advance and eventually gained the road and the left wing Imperial battery on the left Duke Bernhard had a difficult situation he had to advance on the heavily fortified lutes and gardens and the windmill battery which was bristling with imperial cannon harried by Christ light horse as he moved Bernards cavalry and some infantry supporting them advanced under the smoke screen created by the burning City as they reached the Millers house just in front of the road a fierce engagement began which would last for hours the defining action of this battle would take place on the Swedish right flank Gustavus Adolphus seeing his troops having trouble personally led an attack with some of his small and a cavalry but was shot in the arm and severely injured as this father of modern warfare was being led away by an ace to the rear an imperial kuressaare emerged from the mist recognized the king and shot him in the back outnumbered by the Imperial cavalry hissed a versus entourage fled leaving him alone when Valentines caresses asks the injured king who he was he answered I was the king of Sweden and was then fatally shot in the temple Gustavus Adolphus was dead the battle was not over and the imperial center left frontline was shattered by massed salvos of musket and cannon fire from the elite swedish regiments as this frontline retreated the elite of valentine's army marched forth and pinned the flower of the swedish army engaging it in a brutal melee a contingent of imperial Kira Sears then charged the flank of these elite color regiments and all but annihilated them destroying the cream of the Swedish army meanwhile the attack on the left was bogged down by the Imperial fortifications the right wing was leaderless due to the Kings apparent disappearance and the central units had suffered a mauling it was clear that the Swedish army was close to collapse and so at 3 p.m. the lines pulled back and parted contact retreating out of artillery range in order to reform the Army's command now passed to Juke Bernard who was keen to attack again he rallied his soldiers and moved the reserves who had been expertly steadied by kane' thousand to the frontline after a 30-minute interval be depleted armies engaged again and a savage combat began across the front massive cannon aids and qualifier from muskets on both sides shredded infantry regiments so thoroughly that's two-thirds of some units were gone after darkness had fallen though the Swedes finally captured the Imperial windmill battery it was in vain witnessing the state of his brutalized and smashed army the shaken and appalled Valentine signaled a retreat believing there was no hope of victory Lutsen had been an unmitigated slaughter on both sides with the Swedes losing 10,000 while the Catholic casualties being more than 12,000 and although the Protestants won this battle the lost of gustavus adolphus left the Protestant cause largely rudderless and changed the balance of power in Germany still the war was far from over and soon we will bring you more episodes covering the 30 Years War so make sure you are subscribed to our Channel and have pressed the bell button we would like to express our gratitude to our patreon supporters ads channel members who make the creation of our videos possible now you can also support us by buying our merchandise via the link in the description this is the kings and Generals channel and we will catch you on the next one

Channel: Kings and Generals

Views: 478,312

Keywords: Thirty Years' War, 30 years war, White mountain, european wars of religion, hussite, eighty years war, ottoman wars, holy roman empire, thirty years war, gustavus adolphus, full documentary, gustav ii adolf, battle of white mountain, full length documentaries, documentary film, kings and generals, military history, decisive battles, world history, Stralsund, breitenfeld, lutzen, Lützen, Lech, 17th century, swedish empire, battle of lutzen, lion from the north, napoleonic wars

Id: gvbM9xO5LWI

Length: 22min 4sec (1324 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 06 2019