The Battle of Jankow 6 March 1645

Background

Unsure of the Swedish armies location and direction of march the Imperials could not decide how best to meet the threat. The Imperials were forced to divide their force to cover any eventuality. Hatzfeld’s Imperial force was the closest to the approaching Swedes and the Imperial general decided on a strong defensive position for his army guarding a river crossing. Having observed the strong position adopted by the Imperials, Torstensson feigned several retreats, but Hatzfeld was not tempted to abandon his position in pursuit of the Swedes. However, when Torstensson’s army bypassed Hatzfeld’s force, the Imperials were forced to rapidly withdraw to head off the Swedish advance. The Imperial army took up a defensive position around the village of Jankow and awaited the approach of the Swedes.

The Imperial Army

CinC: Hatzfeld

Command	General
Right Wing	Werth
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Bavarian Cuirassier	Trotter	Veteran	1	4	S
Bavarian Cuirassier	Trotter	Regular	3	4	S
Imperial Cuirassier	Trotter	Veteran	1	4	S
Imperial Cuirassier	Trotter	Regular	3	4	S
Bavarian Arquebusiers	Caracole	Regular	1	4	S
Croats (Det)	Skirmish	Regular	1	2	S

Command	General
Centre	Suys
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Imperial Foot	Later Tercio	Veteran	1	10	p/S+Bn
Imperial Foot	Later Tercio	Regular	2	10	p/S+Bn
Bavarian Foot	Later Tercio	Veteran	1	7	p/S+Bn
Bavarian Foot	Later Tercio	Regular	2	7	p/S+Bn
Demicannon	Artillery	Regular	1	4	S
Falcon	Artillery	Regular	1	4	S

Command	General
Reserve	Callenberk
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Saxon Lifeguard Horse	Trotter	Veteran	1	4	S
Saxon Horse	Trotter	Regular	4	4	S

Command	General
Left Wing	Gotz
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Imperial Cuirassier	Trotter	Veteran	1	4	S
Imperial Cuirassier	Trotter	Regular	3	5	S
Imperial Cuirassier	Trotter	Regular	5	4	S
Dragoon (Det)	Dragoon	Regular	1	3	S

The Swedish Army

CinC: Torstensson

Command	General
Right Wing	Wittenberg
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Lifeguard Horse	Trotter	Guard	1	6	S
German Horse	Trotter	Veteran	1	4	S
German Horse	Trotter	Regular	3	4	S
German Horse (Det)	Trotter	Regular	7	3	S
German Horse (Det)	Trotter	Regular	1	2	S
Shot Detachment	Regiment	Regular	4	1	S + Bn

Command	General
Centre	Mortaigne
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
Lifeguard Foot	Regiment	Guard	1	8	p/S+Bn
Swedish Foot	Regiment	Veteran	1	5	p/S+Bn
German Foot	Regiment	Regular	6	7,7,8,8,10,10	p/S+Bn
Demmicannon	Artillery	Regular	2	4	S
Demmiculverin	Artillery	Regular	2	4	S

Command	General
Left Wing	Douglas
Unit Type	Tactic	Grade	No. of Units	Strength	Weapon
German Horse	Trotter	Veteran	1	4	S
German Horse	Trotter	Regular	1	5	S
German Horse	Trotter	Regular	2	4	S
German Horse (Det)	Trotter	Regular	7	3	S
German Horse (Det)	Trotter	Regular	2	2	S
Shot Detachment	Regiment	Regular	4	1	S + Bn

The Battle

The difficult terrain prevented a general attack against the entire Imperial line so Torstensson decided to focus Swedish attention on Hatzfeld’s left wing. By six o’clock in the morning the Swedish army was moving. Aware of this movement, Gotz ordered his dragoons to take Chapel Hill; however, they quickly abandoned the position when the enemy arrived. At this point Gotz ordered up the rest of the wing to re-take the hill, but the attack lacked co-ordination and was devastated by Swedish infantry and artillery fire, unable to withstand this pressure, Gotz’s cavalry where driven back as the Swedes counter-attacked.

The Swedes were now on the offensive and encountered the main body of Imperial foot that was marching up to support Gotz’s wing. As more and units arrived the engagement developed into a furious fire-fight. The Imperial line was driven back in places but managed to hold. Eventually both armies disengaged.

The difficult terrain did not favour a rapid withdrawal or a vigorous pursuit. The Imperials established a new position further back and planned to withdraw under the cover of darkness. The Swedish army regrouped rapidly and moved its artillery up to support another attack. This last attack was ultimately successful for the Swedes although the cost was heavy, the Imperial army was annihilated.

The Game

The map details a very large area which will be beyond the scope of many wargames tables. However, the battle itself will probably be confined to quite a small area. It is up to the Swedish player to choose which direction of approach they wish to make and it is up to the Imperial player to determine what sort of response they wish to make, this will determine which area of the map the battle will be fought in and therefore determine the terrain to be deployed on the table. The Swedish player will take the first turn.

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