Battle of Lützen (1632) 1632
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 16 November 1632 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1632 | 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 | Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden, Holy Roman Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 51.2678, 12.1567 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Lützen, fought on 16 November 1632, was one of the most important of the Thirty Years' War. A Swedish army under Gustavus Adolphus, supported by troops from Saxony and Hesse-Kassel, narrowly defeated an Imperial force under Albrecht von Wallenstein. Both sides suffered heavy casualties, with Gustavus himself among the dead.
The battle began with a series of frontal attacks by the Swedish infantry, which nearly succeeded in breaking through before being repulsed with severe losses by Imperial cavalry under Pappenheim. Gustavus was killed as they fell back, but re-formed by his subordinates, his infantry overran the Imperial centre just before nightfall, supported by close range artillery fire. Wallenstein withdrew in good order, but was forced to abandon his wounded, many of his guns, and most of his supply train.
Despite the loss of their king, the Swedes continued the war under the direction of Axel Oxenstierna. Backed by French subsidies, in April 1633 Sweden formed the Heilbronn League with their German allies, and shortly afterwards won an important victory at Oldendorf. In February 1634, rumours Wallenstein was about to change sides resulted in his assassination by Imperial agents.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Lützen (1632) (revision 1374575907), 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 Lützen (1813) 1813 · 6 km
- Battle on the Elster 1080 · 11 km
- Battle of Breitenfeld (1642) 1642 · 17 km
- Battle of Rossbach 1757 · 18 km
- Battle of Leipzig 1813 · 19 km
- Battle of Breitenfeld (1631) 1631 · 19 km
Other battles of the Thirty Years' War
- Siege of Wolgast (1630) 1630
- Battle of Breitenfeld (1631) 1631
- Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder 1631
- Battle of Werben 1631
- Siege of Demmin 1631
- Battle of Rain 1632
- Battle of Wiesloch (1632) 1632
- Battle of the Alte Veste 1632
- Battle of the Alte Veste 1632
- Siege of Nuremberg 1632
All 80 battles of the Thirty Years' War →
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