Battle of Nördlingen (1634) 1634
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 5 September 1634 – 6 September 1634 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1634 | 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 |
| Participants | Catholic League, Duchy of Lorraine, Electorate of Bavaria, Heilbronn League, Hispanic Monarchy, Holy Roman Empire, Swedish Empire | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 48.8056, 10.4858 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Nördlingen, fought over two days from 5 to 6 September 1634, was a major battle of the Thirty Years' War. An Imperial–Spanish force led by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand and Ferdinand of Hungary inflicted a crushing defeat on the Swedish–German army led by Gustav Horn and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar.
By 1634, the Swedes and their German allies occupied much of southern Germany. This allowed them to block the Spanish Road, an overland supply route running from Italy to Flanders, used to support Spain's war against the Dutch Republic. Seeking to re-open this, a Spanish army under the Cardinal-Infante linked up with Imperial forces near Nördlingen, which was held by a Swedish garrison.
Horn and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar marched to its relief, but significantly underestimated the numbers they faced. After limited fighting on 5 September, on the 6th they launched a series of assaults south of Nördlingen, all of which were repulsed. Superior numbers allowed the Spanish-Imperial commanders to continually reinforce their positions, and Horn ordered his troops to withdraw. As they did so, they were outflanked by Imperial cavalry and retreat turned into a rout, with both Horn and his deputy Scharffenstein among those taken prisoner.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Nördlingen (1634) (revision 1373505403), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Thirty Years' War
- Battle of the Alte Veste 1632
- Battle of the Alte Veste 1632
- Siege of Nuremberg 1632
- Battle of Oldendorf 1633
- Siege of Rheinfelden (1633) 1633
- Battle of Strasbourg Bridge 1634
- Battle of Dömitz 1635
- Battle of Les Avins 1635
- Siege of Leuven 1635
- Battle of Tornavento 1636
All 80 battles of the Thirty Years' War →
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