Breitenfeld

Catholic League-Imperial Army

CinC: Lieutenant-General Count Jean T’Serclaus, Baron of Tilly

Command	General
Right Wing	Furstenberg
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Imperial Infantry	Tercio	Veteran	1	12	p/S
League Horse	Caracole	Regular	3	5,9,9	S
Imperial Cuirassier	Caracole	Regular	1	4	S
Imperial Arquebusier	Caracole	Regular	1	6	S
Croats	Skirmish	Regular	2	4,5	S

Command	General
Centre	Schonberg
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
League Infantry	Tercio	Veteran	2	20 – 24	P/s
League Infantry	Tercio	Regular	3	20 - 22	P/s
Imperial Infantry	Tercio	Veteran	3	10,11,11	p/S
Imperial Infantry	Tercio	Regular	4	9,9,9,20	p/S
Demicannon	Artillery	Regular	3	4	S
Demiculverin	Artillery	Regular	2	2	S
Falcon	Artillery	Regular	4	4	S

Command	General
Left Wing	Pappenheim
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Imperial Infantry	Tercio	Veteran	1	15	p/S
Imperial Cuirassier	Caracole	Veteran	3	5,6	S
Imperial Cuirassier	Caracole	Regular	2	4,5,5	S
Imperial Arquebusier	Caracole	Regular	2	5, 8	S

Command	General
Reserve	Erwitte
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Life Guard Horse	Caracole	Guard	1	3	S
League Horse	Caracole	Regular	1	4	S
Imperial Cuirassier	Caracole	Regular	1	4	S
Imperial Arquebusier	Caracole	Regular	3	4	S

Swedish-Saxon Army

CinC: Gustav Adolf Vasa, King of Sweden and Finland

Command	General
Right Wing	Gustavus
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Detached Musketeer	Regiment	Veteran	4	3	S
Finnish Horse	Galloper	Veteran	2	4	S
Swedish Horse	Trotter	Veteran	3	4	S
German Horse	Trotter	Regular	3	4,7,8	S

Command	General
Centre	Teuffel
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Swedish Infantry	Regiment	Veteran	6	6	p/S*
Scottish Infantry	Regiment	Veteran	3	8	p/S*
German Infantry	Regiment	Regular	12	6	p/S*
Detached Musketeer	Regiment	Regular	4	3	S
German Horse	Trotter	Regular	4	4,4,5,5	S
Demicannon	Artillery	Regular	1	4	S
Demiculverin	Artillery	Regular	3	4	S
*Battalion guns	Artillery	-	-	-	S

Command	General
Left Wing	Horn
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Detached Musketeer	Regiment	Veteran	3	3	S
Life Guard Horse (Det)	Trotter	Guard	1	3	S
German Horse	Trotter	Regular	4	4,4,5,6	S
German Dragoon	Dragoon	Regular	1	5	S

Command	General
Saxon Right Wing	Arnim
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Life Guard Horse	Trotter	Regular	1	6	S
Saxon Horse	Trotter	Militia	3	5	S

Command	General
Saxon Centre	Sax-Altenburg
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Saxon Household Foot	Regiment	Regular	1	6	p/S
Saxon Infantry	Regiment	Conscript	2	20	p/S
Saxon Infantry	Regiment	Militia	3	20	p/S
Detached Musketeer	Regiment	Regular	2	3	S
Demiculverin	Artillery	Regular	2	4	S
Falcon	Artillery	Regular	2	4	S

Command	General
Saxon Left Wing	Bindauf
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Saxon Horse	Trotter	Conscript	5	5,6,6,6,6	S

Breitenfeld

September 17, 1631

The Battle

The Objective : The Swedish army rapidly approached the Catholic forces in an attempt to destroy it, in the first major pitched battle between the two sides.

The Outcome : A lengthy bombardment commenced at noon and after several hours Pappenheim and Furstenberg’s wings engaged their opponents. Pappenheim’s force was rebelled by the musket fire from Swedish detachments. After two hours of attacking, Pappenheim’s cuirassiers were exhausted and were swept away by a Swedish counter-attack of fresh cavalry. On the opposite flank the Saxon army rapidly collapsed in the face of the Catholic advance. Tilly ordered his tercio’s from the centre to support the attack on his right. Horn repositioned his force, pulling it back at an angle to meet the new threat following the collapse of the Saxons. Unfortunately for Tilly his attack did not fall as one blow and was disrupted by the terrain and limited counter-attacks. The fighting continued for several more hours but the Catholic forces were eventually broken, Tilly narrowly escaped death and left the battlefield badly wounded.

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