Battle of Freiburg 1644
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Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 3 August 1644 – 9 August 1644 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1644 | Wikidata P580 (start 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 |
| Coordinates | 47.9955, 7.8522 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Freiburg, fought over three days on 3, 5, and 9 August 1644, took place during the Thirty Years' War, near Freiburg im Breisgau, now in Baden-Württemberg. A French relief army of 16,000, led jointly by Condé and Turenne, sought to recapture the town, which had recently surrendered to a Bavarian force under Franz von Mercy. In one of the bloodiest battles of the war, both sides incurred heavy casualties, with neither gaining a clear advantage.
Having captured Freiburg on 28 July, Mercy placed his men in strong defences on the hills outside the town. The French assaulted these positions on 3 and 5 August, and although they made little progress, the Bavarians were short of supplies. On 9 August, Mercy learned a detachment under Turenne was marching into his rear to cut off his supply lines, and ordered a general retreat, leaving a garrison in Freiburg. Apart from a brief skirmish with Turenne's cavalry next day, they withdrew in good order, despite abandoning their baggage train and several guns.
Nevertheless, Freiburg convinced Maximilian of Bavaria to open peace negotiations, and he ordered Mercy to suspend offensive operations. This allowed Condé and Turenne to take control of most of the northern Upper Rhine.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Freiburg (revision 1370441091), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
Nearby battles
- Siege of Freiburg (1677) 1677 · 0 km
- Storming of Freiburg 1848 · 1 km
- Battle of Emmendingen 1796 · 14 km
- Siege of Breisach 1638 · 21 km
- Battle of Stockach (1799) 1799 · 34 km
- Battle of Schliengen 1796 · 34 km
Other battles of the Thirty Years' War
- Naval battle of Tarragona 1641
- Siege of Dorsten 1641
- Battle of Breitenfeld (1642) 1642
- Battle of Kempen 1642
- Battle of Tuttlingen 1643
- Battle of Jüterbog 1644
- Battle of Listerdyb 1644
- Siege of Philippsburg (1644) 1644
- Battle of Herbsthausen 1645
- Battle of Jankau 1645
All 80 battles of the Thirty Years' War →
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