The Battle of the Alte Veste was a significant battle of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...

Background

In the late summer of 1632 the army of Swedish King

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met

Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein () (24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein ( cs, Albrecht Václav Eusebius z Valdštejna), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Th ...

near

Nürnberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ci ...

. The successes of Gustavus Adolphus over General Tilly forced Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II to recall

into military service from retirement. Wallenstein was unmatched in his ability to raise troops, and within a few weeks he took to the field with a fresh army. The Imperial Army's ranks swelled as Wallenstein moved to stop the Swedes' advance at Nuremberg. Repeatedly, Gustav Adolf formed for battle and challenged Wallenstein to come out of his fortified camp, but was refused. As the supply situation continued to worsen, the impetuous King grew desperate.

Battle

Gustavus Adolphus attacked the Imperial camp at the Alte Veste (or "Old Fortress")—a derelict castle situated atop a wooded hill. Its ownership would then allow the Swedish guns to dominate the Imperial camp. The Imperials were prepared with trenches and an

abatis An abatis, abattis, or abbattis is a field fortification consisting of an obstacle formed (in the modern era) of the branches of trees laid in a row, with the sharpened tops directed outwards, towards the enemy. The trees are usually interlaced ...

that stymied the Swedish advance. When the vaunted brigades faltered, much of the cavalry was sent in dismounted. Wallenstein saw an opportunity to strike a blow and sallied his cavalry and cut down many of the exhausted troops. Only the final introduction of the

Swedish cavalry This is a list of Swedish cavalry regiments, battalions, corps and companies that have existed in the Swedish Army. They are listed in three ways, first by the actual units that have existed, then by the various names these units have had, and la ...

reserve averted a complete disaster. Alte Veste f sw

Result

The Swedes had been defeated. The Commander of the Swedish artillery,

Lennart Torstenson Lennart Torstensson, Count of Ortala, Baron of Virestad (17 August 16037 April 1651), was a Swedish Field Marshal and military engineer. Early career He was born at Forstena manor in Västergötland. His parents were Märta Nilsdotter Posse a ...

, was taken prisoner and locked up for nearly a year at

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube in Upper Bavaria with 139,553 inhabitants (as of June 30, 2022). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bav ...

. Several weeks later, lack of supplies led Wallenstein to break camp and move north, allowing the Swedes out of Nuremberg. The two armies met again two months later at the Battle of Lützen, where Gustavus was killed.

Citations

References

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External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of The Alte Veste Alte Veste 1632 in Europe Alte Veste 1632 Alte Veste 1632 Alte Veste 1632 1632 in the Holy Roman Empire Events in Nuremberg Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Albrecht von Wallenstein Alte Veste