The campaign was first primarily fought for the forest towns in Baden-Württemberg but then shifted to Breisach and Alsace, and then finally shifted to the France-Comté. Campaign was a decisive victory for the French and established there mane base for their future German Campaigns at Breisach, it further consolidated French control over Alsace and significantly weakened the Burgundian resistance.
Following the campaign Bernard would die of a fever that was a complication of an infection in his ear that he suffered after a battle. Bernard's death, would finally incorporate Weimar Army into the French Army of Germany (1638-1648), many of the Weimarans would join the French. Most of the gains of the campaign would be lost at the Battle of Tuttlingen, it would also destroy the final Weimarans in the French Army.[4]
The shattering defeat at Nördlingen left the Swedish Army is a horrible state, he had lost 12,000-14,000 at the battle of out of 25,700, Bernard was powerless to stop Johann von Werth from sweeping West into Baden-Württemberg, Bernard abandoned Heilbronn and retreated to Mainz. Only Hohentwiel and Ulm held out in Swabia, Bernard's situation grew worse when an imperial Army under Philipp von Mansfeld moved south and another Army under Matthias Gallas moved moved north. With little options Bernard offered his service to the French, the French agreed to give him his own personal Duchy in Alsace.
arly in February 1638, having been prodded by the French government, Bernhard advanced his army of 6,000 men and 14 guns[7] to the Rhine in order to find a crossing. Arriving at an important crossing point at the town of Rheinfelden, Bernhard prepared to invest the town from the south. Meanwhile, he would use the ferry at Beuggen to throw troops across the river in order to complete the investment from the north. The attack on the town was to be made on 1 March. In order to prevent this, the Imperialists, under the Italian mercenary Count Federico Savelli and German general Johann von Werth, moved with 2,600 infantry and 4,500 cavalry through the Black Forest to attack Bernhard's army and relieve the town.[8]
Rheinfelden held out stubbornly as Werth and Savelli moved closer. The Imperials appeared early on Sunday of February 28th outside of Beuggen, but were blocked by some of Bernards dragoons. The Imperials were unable to deploy, they took another more difficult road parallel to the river and headed west to Rheinfelden. Bernard used the four hours it took for the them to ferry over 600 musketeers and 8 light guns, as well as concentrated the cavalry already north of the river under Georg Christoph von Taupadel on the higher ground above the town. Taupadel charged as the Bavarian Cavalry tried to deploy from the road at Karsau.[8]
Battle of Rheinfelden
The Bavarians where through back, but left Rohan and Johann Phillip von Salm-Kyrburg, another Palatine veteran, Salm was mortally wounded, while Johann Ludwig von Erlach and Rohan were captured. Savelli and the Imperial Infantry now arrived and gained the heights. Bernard held his position until the night, then slipped past the enemy to retreat eastwards along the river to Säckingen, abandoning at least three of his guns and 150 men.[8]
The absence of pursuit is unsurprising given Savelli and Werth had just force-marched their men through the mountains in winter on low rations. Bernard regrouped at Lauffenburg, 14km upstream, where he was joined by the rest of his army from the south bank of the river on March 2rd. He now undertook one of the risky maneuvers that made him famous, setting off early the next day back along th north bank to Beuggen, collecting 3 artillery pieces that Werth and Savelli had failed to find. Bernard was spotted by Imperial pickets around 7 am.[8]
Werth and Savelli hastily deployed behind a ditch that had drained into the Rhine, but before he could get his troops together they were killed. The Berhardine infantry advances in good order, firing a salvo at half range, supported by their artillery. The cavalry on the flanks then charged, the Imperial infantry replied with a salvo but then fled, as the Bernhardinists moved across the ditch. Werth attempted to stand with the rest of the Bavarians until they were forced to surrendered. 500 Imperial-Bavarians were killed while 3,00 were captured including Savelli, Werth, Adrian von Enkevort, and Claus Dietrich von Sperreuth, Savelli managed to escape his captivity after the Battle.[8]. Werth and Enkevort where exchanged for Swedish Generals in 1641 and 1642 respectively, Sperreuter was held hostage in Hohentwiel and was exchanged for Taupadel.
Aftermath of Rheinfelden and Beginning of the siege of Breisach
Rather than pushing along the Forest Town route, Bernard turned against Breisach, Freiburg was abandoned because it was too hard to defend on April 10th. Bernard concentrated his artillery and infantry outside Breisach, Bernard left Taupadel and the cavalry east of the Black Forest to deter a relief force. Hans Heinrich IX, Baron of Reinach, commander of the Garrison was competent and skilled officer, had reinforced the Garrison with 3,000 men and 152 artillery pieces. Johann von Götz was given command of the relief force, Götz collected 13,500 men at Rottweil east of the Black Forest. He intended to coordinate a relief effort with Charles de Lorraine, who still held out with 5,000 men in the Franche-Comté against Henri d'Orléans-Longueville and his 13,000 strong French Army.[4]
Götz climbed the mountains to appear north of Breisach on June 26th. He slipped in supplies, but was too weak to attempt a relief directly and crossed over into Alsace hoping that taking French positions there that would force Bernard to lift his siege. The French Garrisons proved too strong, Bernard now switched Taupadel's force west of the Rhine to counter Götz. Thwarted, Götz withdrew to Württemberg, leaving Savelli opposite Strasbourg. Having recuperated, Götz rejoined Savelli to give a combined army of 15,000 at Offenburg on August 7th.[4]
Götz attempted to sent provisions to Breisach by using his entire army to escort supplies that were to be loaded onto barges at Rheinau. When Bernard realized he could never take Breisach while Götz remained in the field and decided to force a battle. He drew 11,400 men from his siege lines and headed north through Kensingen and Lahr. It was not until scouts reported his approach on Sunday August 8th that the imperial commanders realized Bernard was no longer at Breisach. The imperial cavalry in the vanguard were driven back into the village of Friesenheim, about 4km north of Lahr. Götz reacted quickly, placing infantry and artillery on a vine covered hill at Schuttern, 2km west, while the rest of the rest of the army drew behind a ditch between there and Friesenheim.[4]
Bernard sent his French infantry to clear Friesenheim, Friesenheim was captured thought the Imperials set fire to the village. Götz regrouped his troops on the hill, while Bernard moved his artillery into the vineyard opposite the hill. Bernard soon realized that the terrain was unsuitable for cavalry, which comprised about half of his troops, and so broke the action, falling back to the more favorable ground at Mahlberg having lost about 50 to Götz's 120. Götz, determined to get the supply convoy through, he gave Savelli 2/3 of the army and sent him early the next day towards Wittenweiher to reach Rheinau.[4]
Battle of Wittenweiher
Götz hopes the large Kaiserwald wood would screen this move, but Bernard was alerted and headed north-west after morning prayers to catch Savelli off guard as he emerged from a gap in the trees. Savelli had failed to take precautions and had moved too far ahead of the supply train that blocked the road behind. Bernard and Guébriant arrived at the gap first. Savelli's cavalry was disordered by 400 musketeers and 2 cannons Bernard had posted in the wood by the Rhine. They gave way as Bernard charged, some units of the imperials fleeing, discovering their infantry and plundered the supply train.[9][10]
Savelli and the fugitives escaped through the chaos as Götz arrived with the rearguard. However, Taupadel's cavalry on the right faced better regiments, and were thrown back by Götz who attacked Bernard's infantry and captured their artillery. Bernard replied to the threat by using cannons abandoned by Savelli, while two veterans infantry regiment arrived from the reserve. Götz launched repeated attacks but would withdraw to Offenburg. Götz and Savelli lost 2,000 killed, 1,700 captured, 13 cannons, 3,000 wounded, and 3,000 wagons full on food, while Bernard lost 1,000 casualties, furthermore Taupadel was captured but was later exchanged.
Thann and the Siege of Breisach
The Breisach Campaign
Though Götz was wounded he still persisted, he regrouped ar Rottweil to wait for Guillaume de Lamboy, Baron of Cortesheim and his force of 3,900 men were originally intended to reenforce Spanish Italy[4] but were diverted to join Götz directly, he was further reinforced by troops for Franconia and Bohemia. An unsuccessful attempt to supply food to Breisach through the Black Forest was beaten back, but Savelli, now posted at Philippsburg, did slip some food across the Rhine by sending Croats down the West Bank to Breisach.
Bernard, known down to 9,000 and could no longer isolate the fortress completely. Some peasants were able to slip into the city and would sell food at a very inflated rate. The situation in Breisach was nonetheless desperate; Rheinach had already expelled the citizens of Breisach and was now down to 1,6000 effective men. Bernard tried to sow dissent within Breisach by sending captured letters into the city.
Duke Charles would make his own attempt to relieve Breisach with his own exiled army. He moved north from the Franche-Comté with 4,000 men into Alsace.
When the advancing army under Charles of Lorraine, numbering 4,000 men and its accompanying supply train with numerous supply wagons, entered the town of Thann, news of the army's arrival soon reached Colonel Reinhold von Rosen, who, as commander of a Weimar branch of the army, was conducting the siege of the fortress of Château de Landskron, about 50 km from Thann. With a request for reinforcements, General Rosen immediately sent the news of the army's arrival to Commander-in-Chief Bernhard von Weimar in Colmar. Although he was ill with fever, Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar immediately moved from Colmar to La Croix-aux-Mines, about 70 km south, where reserve troops were stationed under the command of William Otto of Nassau-Siegen.
With these troops and several hundred musketeers, reinforced by French troops and eight regimental guns, the two generals moved north again to Ensisheim, about 60 km away, 20 km east of the town of Thann, where the Lorraine relief army and its supply train, had initially been reported, but then moved on.
Charles Duke of Lorraine and Bar
Since a reconnaissance party sent by Bernhard got lost while searching for the enemy army, his troops were initially to seek a waiting position in a forest. When the Lorraine relief army under Duke Charles and its supply train were discovered on October 15, 1638, on the Ochsenfeld between the towns of Thann and Cernay, the two armies unexpectedly clashed. The left wing of Charles's troops was fiercely attacked by Bernard's cavalry and threatened to be completely dispersed if the Lorraine right wing had not simultaneously successfully defeated Bernard's left wing and even captured its artillery. Only through his personal efforts was Bernard able to regroup the troops of the left wing and lead them into a counterattack.
The counterattack was so successful that the Weimar troops not only recaptured their own artillery but also captured the Lorraine artillery. The Lorraine cavalry and Duke Charles himself then turned to flight. The infantry managed to hold out for another two hours, but after the explosion of two powder wagons, they also turned to flight. Duke Charles, who had lost his horse, narrowly escaped on foot to Thann. The Duke of Weimar's booty included all the artillery, baggage, 44 colors, and, above all, all the grain intended for Breisach. In addition, there were numerous captured officers and soldiers. Bernards's cavalry showed superior discipline, returning to the field having broken Charles's cavalry and assisted their infantry crush Charles's infantry, who fought for two hours before breaking and retreating back.[11]
Anne-François de Bassompierre, one of the captured Lorraine Generals at Thann
Götz then marched with 10,000 men top the Glotter Valley past Freiburg, to appear art Breisach on October 22th, only to find Bernard was safely back in his entrenchments. Having been repulsed, Götz sent 1,000 musketeers over the Rhine to clear the besiegers from the Alsatian side of the Rhine, but where driven back by Turenne. Götz recrossed the Black Forest, with his army in poor shape, he relied on peasant militia to attack the Forest Towns in a desperate attempt to relieve Breisach. To support Götz, Charles of Lorraine advanced to Thann and Savelli attacked from Philippsburg, but all of the attacks were to weak to do something.
Fall of Breisach
Bernard's troops storming Breisach's defences
Reinach, now down to 400, was surviving by chewing horse and cow hides. Reinach now finally reached an agreement with Bernard about the surrender on December 19th, in exchange for free passage. Bernard intended Breisach to be his new capital of his duchy. As a reprisal for the alleged atrocities, Bernhard deliberately humiliated Reinach's troops as they staggered out of Breisach. He was determined to claim his triumph, riding Werth's horse captured at Rheinfelden as he entered the fortress. He obliged Reinach to leave the government archive behind as he intended Breisach as a capital for his own principality. He also insisted on garrisoning it with his own men and not those of the French, who had spent 1.1 million talers on a campaign that claimed at least 24,000 lives.[4]
Franche-Comté and Alsace
A massacre in the Franche-Comté, 1637
In 1637, three armies invaded the Franche-Comté simultaneously: Duke Bernard of Saxe-Weimar via the Saône, Jacques Rouxel de Grancey Montbéliard via Montbélliard, and Henri d'Orléans-Longueville via Bresse. On 29 March 1637, the wealthy town of Saint-Amour, Jura, in the Bailiwick of Aval, was besieged by the Duke of Longueville and, despite a week's resistance from its inhabitants, the town fell into French hands, along with several other villages in the surrounding area. Bernard overran large parts of the Franche-Comté, he mainly faced peasants.
In 1639 another Franco-Weimaran Army finally captured Thann, the last Alsatian outpost of Charles of Lorrainen. He escaped with his mistress and 1,600 troops across the western edge of his duchy to Sierck on the Luxembourg frontier in February, leaving a few isolated garrisons in Lorraine, but exposing the Franche- Comté. The war had shifted deeper into the Empire, as Bernhard could now be reinforced to operate east of the Rhine.
Aftermath
Henri de Rohan with an ill Bernard before his death
Bernard's victory now complete he moved his army back to Breisach, having complexed his goals he, he planed to consolidate his control of his Duchy in Alsace and Breisgau and hope to become more independent from the French. His plans were dashed when he contacted the plague, and dies only 7 months after his campaign in Neuenburg am Rhein. Bernard's health, however, was deteriorating. He died at Neuenburg am Rhein at the beginning of the campaign. The governor of Breisach Johann Ludwig von Erlach was bribed to transfer the fortress to France. Bernard was temporarily buried at Breisach, his remains were not carried to Weimar until 16 years later.[13][14]
Bernard's campaign managed to cut the Spanish Road forcing the Spanish to use the far more dangerous sea route, making it harder to reenforce the Spanish Netherlands.
Ackermann, Astrid (2023). Herzog Bernhard von Weimar: Militärunternehmer und politischer Stratege im Dreißigjährigen Krieg (in German). De Gruyter. ISBN978-3-1107-0191-3.
Notes
↑also known as Friedrich Ludwig Chanowsky von Langendorf
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