Battle Of Alte Veste, 1632, In The Thirty Years’ War

By André Geraque Kiffer

The Thirty Years War from 1618 to 1648 is considered one of the most destructive wars in European history. It is estimated that between 4.5 and 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a direct result, while some areas of Germany suffered population declines of more than 50%, also from hunger and disease. On 24 August or 3 September 1632 (Julian or Gregorian calendar), Gustavus Adolphus attacked the imperial camp at Alte Veste (or “Old Fortress”) – an abandoned castle perched atop a wooded hill. His ownership would then allow Swedish guns to dominate the imperial camp. These protected themselves in trenches and with abatises that blocked the Swedish advance. In the battle simulation, we will try to correct the flaws presented in the historical analysis, testing improvements in the maneuvers. And then we will prove which maneuver will prevail, both being instructed with the best and maximum effort.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Clube de Autores
• Release date: Feb 5, 2024

Book preview

ANDRÉ  GERAQUE  KIFFER

Battle  of  Alte  Veste,  1632,  in  the

Thirty  Years’  War.

A  historical  simulation

Author’s  Edition Rio  de  Janeiro

2023

---  Kiffer,  André  Geraque.

Battle  of  Alte  Veste,  1632,  in  the  Thirty  Years’  War.  A historical  simulation.  André  Geraque  Kiffer.

Author’s  Edition,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  2023. Bibliography:  190  p.  57  im.  21  cm..

1.  History.  2.  Art  of  War.  3.  Science  of  War.  4.  War Games.  I.  Author.  II.  Title.

ISBN  978-65-00-76567-0

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3 PROLOGUE

As  a  Military  Historian  I  rely  on  a  summary  of  the historical  fact,  I  analyze  and  highlight  the  decisive factors,  before  simulating  hypotheses  what  if… hypotheses  through  a  board  game.  In  the simulation,  all  possibilities  of  the  purpose  of  the study  are  completed,  when  the  past  of  history  is analyzed  based  on  the  theory  of  the  present  and projected  for  similar  situations  in  the  future.  Since 2010  I  have  published  the  following  series  of simulations:  I.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  Wars  of the  First  Empires;  II.  Historical  Simulation  of  the Wars  in  Classical  Greece;  III.  Historical  Simulation of  the  Roman  Wars;  IV.  Historical  Simulation  of Wars  in  the  Medieval  Era;  V.  Historical  Simulation of  Wars  in  the  Modern  Era  (1453  to  1774);  VI. Historical  Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Age  of Revolutions  (1775  to  1860);  VII.  Historical Simulation  of  Wars  in  the  Industrial  Age  (1861  to 1913);  "VIII.  Historical  Simulation  of  the  First  World

War;  IX.  Historical  Simulation  of  World  War  II;  X.

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Historical  Simulation  of  the  Cold  War  (1917  to 1991);  and  XI.  Historical  Simulation  of Contemporary  Wars  (1991  to  ...)". Keywords:  History.  Art  of  War.  Science  of  War.  War

Games.

5 SUMMARY

HISTORICAL  FACT…………..…….….……………6 HISTORICALANALYSIS….……………..…………17 HISTORICAL  SIMULATION….……………………56 ANNEXES........…………………………………….170

REFERENCES....………………………………….189

6 HISTORICAL  FACT

I  suggest  to  the  reader  who  wants  to  know more  about  the  war  that  this  battle  is  part  of,  to acquire  my  book  A  historical  simulation  of  the Thirty  Years'  War,  1618  to  1648  .

Im  1:  Thirty  Years’  War.

Swedish  intervention  in  the  30  Years'  War

Swedish  King  Gustavus  Adolphus  had  spent the  previous  years  reorganizing  and  modernizing

his  armies  during  Sweden's  war  with  Poland-

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Lithuania,  ruled  by  his  Catholic  cousin  Sigismund, who  was  a  pretender  to  the  Swedish  throne, supported  by  imperial  auxiliary  troops.

Im  2:  Religion  divides.

As  only  a  few  Protestant  German  states,  such as  Hesse-Kassel,  still  openly  opposed  the consolidation  of  Catholic  imperial  power,  this  made Sweden  the  most  obvious  ally  of  Cardinal  Richelieu, whose  stated  policy  was  to  halt  the  course  of Spanish  progress  on  the  borders  of  France. With  most  French  resources  pinned  down  in  Italy,

Richelieu  worked  on  negotiating  the  September

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1629  Altmark  Truce  between  Sweden  and  Poland, freeing  Gustavus  to  enter  the  great  war.  Partly  out of  a  genuine  desire  to  support  fellow  Protestants such  as  Christian,  King  of  Denmark,  Gustavus  also wanted  to  maximize  his  share  of  the  Baltic  Sea trade,  which  provided  much  of  Sweden's  income.

After  failed  negotiations  with  the  Holy  Emperor, Gustavus  landed  in  Pomerania  in  June  1630  with about  18,000  soldiers.  Using  Stralsund  as  a beachhead,  he  marched  south  along  the  Oder  River towards  Stettin  and  coerced  Bogislaw  XIV,  Duke  of Pomerania,  into  agreeing  to  an  alliance  that  secured his  interests  against  his  rival  Sigismund.  As  a  result, the  Poles  turned  their  attention  to  Russia,  starting the  Smolensk  War  (1632–34).

Swedish  expectations  of  widespread  German support  proved  unrealistic,  and  by  the  end  of  1630 their  only  new  ally  was  the  Magdeburg  administrator Christian  William,  whose  capital  was  besieged  by an  imperial  army  under  the  Walloon  (Belgian)  Tilly. Despite  the  devastation  inflicted  on  their  territories

by  imperial  soldiers,  the  Protestant  German  states

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of  Saxony  and  Brandenburg  had  their  own ambitions  in  Pomerania,  which  clashed  with Gustavus's.

Im  3:  Gustavus  Adolphus's  German  campaign.

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Past  experience  had  also  shown  that  soliciting support  from  powers  outside  the  Empire  was  easier than  getting  them  to  leave  afterwards.  Gustavus responded  by  moving  his  troops  south  against Brandenburg,  plundering  Küstrin  and  Frankfurt  an der  Oder.

Once  again  Richelieu  used  French  financial power  to  reconcile  the  differences  between  the Swedes  and  the  German  princes;  the  1631  Treaty of  Bärwalde  provided  funds  for  the  Swedes  and their  Protestant  allies,  including  Saxony  and Brandenburg.  Gustavus  then  won  major  victories  at Breitenfeld  in  September  1631,  then  Rain  in  April 1632,  where  Tilly  was  killed.

After  Tilly's  death,  Holy  Emperor  Ferdinand turned  once  more  to  the  Bohemian  (Czech) Wallenstein,  who,  realizing  that  Gustavus  had  his lines  stretched,  established  himself  in  the  region  of Fürth,  from  where  he  could  threaten  the  supply  lines of  the  Swedes.

The  biggest  battle  of  the  war,  Alte  Veste,  took

place  in  early  September  1632,  when  a  Swedish

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attack  on  the  imperial  camp  outside  the  town  of Zirndorf  was  repulsed,  arguably  the  single  biggest tactical  blunder  Gustavus  made  during  his  German campaign.

Two  months  later,  the  Swedes  and  Imperials met  at  Lützen,  where  both  sides  suffered  heavy casualties;  some  Swedish  units  suffered  losses  of over  60%,  while  Wallenstein's  deputy  commander, the  Bavarian  Pappenheim  and  Gustavus  himself were  killed.

After  Gustavus's  death,  Swedish  politics  were directed  by  its  Chancellor  Axel  Oxenstierna;  in  April 1633  the  Swedes  and  their  German  allies  formed the  Heilbronn  League  with  French  funding.  In  July the  Swedes  and  their  German  allies  defeated  an imperial  army  commanded  by  the  Bavarian Bronckhorst-Gronsfeld  at  Oldendorf.

Lützen  severely  affected  Wallenstein's  prestige, which  combined  with  rumors  that  he  was  preparing to  switch  sides,  caused  Emperor  Ferdinand  to  order his  arrest,  followed  by  his  assassination  by  his  own

officers.

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However,  the  loss  of  the  experienced  and competent  Wallenstein  and  his  virtually  private  army left  the  Holy  Emperor  at  the  mercy  of  Spain  for military  support.  This  had  as  its  main  strategic objective  to  reopen  the  so-called  Spanish  Road, an  important  logistical  axis  in  its  military  campaign against  the  Dutch  –  because  at  sea,  the  latter,  with English  support,  dominated.  This  meant  that  the focus  of  the  war  shifted  to  the  Rhineland  and Bavaria.

Cardinal-Infant  Ferdinand  of  Austria,  newly appointed  governor  of  the  Spanish  Netherlands, raised  an  army  of  18,000  in  Italy,  which  met  with  an imperial  force  of  15,000  at  Donauwörth  on  2 September  1634.  Three  days  later  they  obtained  a Decisive  victory  at  the  Battle  of  Nördlingen  that shattered  Swedish  power  in  southern  Germany  and led  to  the  defection  of  their  German  allies,  who sought  to  make  peace  with  the  Emperor.

Battle  of  Alte  Veste

August  24  or  September  3,  1632  (Julian  or

Gregorian  calendar).  The  momentum  of  the

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Swedish  invasion  began  to  stall,  as  with  Gustavus Adolphus's  forces  scattered,  he  was  beaten  back  at Ingolstadt.

It  was  Wallenstein's  opportunity  to  reassert control.  The  Saxons  withdrew  before  his  advance from  Moravia  into  Bohemia,  allowing  him  to  retake Prague  on  18  May.  Gustavus  then  turned  north  in hopes  of  preventing  the  joining  of  Maximilian's Bavarian  and  Wallenstein's  imperial  forces,  but  this failed.

So  the  Swedish  king  decided  to  concentrate  on Nuremberg,  planning  to  lure  Wallenstein  all  the  way from  Saxony.  The  Swedes  reached  Nuremberg  on July  3  and  fortified  the  place.  Wallenstein  had learned  his  lesson  from  Tilly  and  was  unwilling  to risk  a  battle,  however  on  10  July  his  imperial  army began  to  deploy  to  cut  off  the  Swedish-occupied city.

Nuremberg  was  well  prepared  and  had  enough supplies  for  several  weeks,  although  the  army  and population  together  numbered  over  125,000  people,

plus  thousands  of  horses.  Wallenstein's  Croatian

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light  cavalry  excelled  at  gathering  food,  leaving  little or  nothing  for  the  Swedes.

Im  4:  Operational  area  in  Bavaria.

As  the  month  of  August  progressed,  famine  and plague  overtook  both  armies.  Not  wanting  to abandon  Nuremberg  and  given  Wallenstein's  strong position,  Gustavus  Adolphus  asked  for reinforcements.

When  they  arrived  on  24  August,  Protestant numbers  doubled,  however  this  increased  the

logistical  difficulty,  and  so  the  Swedish  king  tried  to

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draw  the  Imperials  into  battle.  Wallenstein,  knowing the  numbers  were  stacked  against  him,  was uncooperative.

Gustavus  gathered  his  army  in  battle  order  on 31  August,  but  Wallenstein  did  not  move.  The  next day,  an  assault  was  attempted  against  the  eastern