Battle of Breitenfeld (1642) 1642
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 23 October 1642 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1642 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Germany | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Thirty Years' War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Holy Roman Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 51.3403, 12.3748 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Second Battle of Breitenfeld, also known as the First Battle of Leipzig, took place during the Thirty Years' War on 2 November 1642 at Breitenfeld, north-east of Leipzig in Germany. A Swedish Army commanded by Lennart Torstensson defeated an Imperial Army under Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria and his deputy Ottavio Piccolomini.
Victory allowed the Swedes to occupy and establish a secure base in Leipzig, the second most important town in the Electorate of Saxony. Although significantly weakened by the defeat and forced onto the defensive, the Imperial Army prevented them from fully exploiting their victory and kept John George I, Elector of Saxony from making peace with Sweden.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Breitenfeld (1642) (revision 1370108147), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Battle of Leipzig 1813 · 4 km
- Battle of Breitenfeld (1631) 1631 · 7 km
- Battle of Lützen (1632) 1632 · 17 km
- Battle of Lützen (1813) 1813 · 19 km
- Battle on the Elster 1080 · 25 km
- Battle of Halle 1806 · 32 km
Other battles of the Thirty Years' War
- Siege of Turin (1640) 1640
- Battle of Martorell (1641) 1641
- Battle of Preßnitz 1641
- Naval battle of Tarragona 1641
- Siege of Dorsten 1641
- Battle of Kempen 1642
- Battle of Tuttlingen 1643
- Battle of Freiburg 1644
- Battle of Jüterbog 1644
- Battle of Listerdyb 1644
All 80 battles of the Thirty Years' War →
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