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The Battle of Tuttlingen was fought in
Tuttlingen Tuttlingen ( Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ea ...
on 24 November 1643 between the French army in Germany led by Marshal Josias Rantzau, composed of French soldiers and the so called ''Weimarans'' or ''Bernhardines'', German troops once in service of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar. They were defeated by the forces of the
Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 un ...
,
Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
and
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...
led by
Franz von Mercy Franz Freiherr von Mercy (or Merci), Lord of Mandre and Collenburg (c. 1597 – 3 August 1645), was a German field marshal in the Thirty Years' War who fought for the Imperial side and was commander-in-chief of the Bavarian army from 1643 to 164 ...
. Technically, Mercy led a military force composed of his Bavarian army, supported by Imperial, Spanish, and Lorrainer troops. The French army was wiped out in a surprise attack in heavy snowfall along with French strategic gains since 1638. The French court suppressed the defeat and it remains largely unknown today, even among historians of the war.


Prelude

In early November the French-Weimarian forces had besieged
Rottweil Rottweil (; Alemannic: ''Rautweil'') is a town in southwest Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Rottweil was a free imperial city for nearly 600 years. Located between the Black Forest and the Swabian Alps, Rottweil has nearly 25,000 ...
to secure winter quarters along the
Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...
at Tuttlingen. They captured Rottweil on 18 November but their commander Guébriant was mortally wounded in the siege. His successor Rantzau who just had arrived with reinforcements from
Lorraine Lorraine , also , , ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; german: Lothringen ; lb, Loutrengen; nl, Lotharingen is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of G ...
was despised by officers who originated from the former German army of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar. Outlying detachments of the French were posted at Mühlingen and Möhringen. With the French inactive and his own army reinforced by Imperial troops under Hatzfeld and Lorrainer troops under the exiled Duke Charles, Mercy convinced the other generals to agree to a surprise attack on the French encampment. To maximize surprise, the Imperials approached from the south-east instead of further to the north where the Danube and the French
garrison A garrison (from the French ''garnison'', itself from the verb ''garnir'', "to equip") is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a mil ...
at Rottweil blocked their way.


Battle

At mid-afternoon on 24 November,
Johann von Werth Johann von Werth (1591 – 16 January 1652), also ''Jan von Werth'' or in French ''Jean de Werth'', was a German general of cavalry in the Thirty Years' War. Biography Werth was born in 1591 most likely at Büttgen in the Duchy of Jülich a ...
led 2,000 cavalry in the first assault group against Möhringen and achieved instant success, wiping out a French infantry regiment of 500 men, including Spanish prisoners of war. The Bavarian
dragoons Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...
captured the French pickets posted near Tuttlingen, allowing the Imperials to seize with minimal opposition the lightly defended French
artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, ...
park in the cemetery outside town. Heavy snowfall contributed to the surprise. The Weimarian cavalry in Mühlheim under Reinhold von Rosen attempted to reinforce the French at Tuttlingen but were intercepted and defeated by Mercy's brother Kaspar. Kaspar then destroyed the Weimarian infantry remaining at Mühlheim. The French cavalry fled the scene. The captured guns were used to bombard the French infantry in Tuttlingen and Möhringen, who capitulated the next day along with their commander Rantzau without losing a single man killed. The fighting lasted for a day and a half, not so much due to the effectiveness of Franco-Weimarian resistance but because of the disorganized and isolated nature of their detachments. The 2,000-strong French garrison in Rottweil surrendered a week later. Rantzau's army largely ceased to exist, with 4,500 survivors retreating back across the
Rhine River ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , sourc ...
into
Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...
.Croxton, pp. 981, 987. Moreover, Mercy held Rantzau, seven other generals, 9 colonels, 10 guns, the baggage and seven thousand French troops captive. Among the prisoners was the Duke of Montausier. Another 4,000 lay dead or wounded. The Weimarian army was permanently crippled by this disaster and the French were reduced to the positions they had held five years earlier. The French court minimized the defeat and it has remained largely unknown ever since.


See also

*
List of battles Lists of battles contain links to sets of articles on battles. They may be organized alphabetically, by era, by conflict, by participants or location, or by death toll. See :Battles for a complete list of articles on battles. Alphabetical list ...


References


Sources

*Croxton, Derek. "The Prosperity of Arms Is Never Continual: Military Intelligence, Surprise, and Diplomacy in 1640s Germany." ''
The Journal of Military History ''The Journal of Military History'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering the military history of all times and places. It is the official journal of the Society for Military History. The journal was established in 1937 and the ed ...
'', Vol. 64, No. 4 (October 2000), pp. 981–1003. * {{Authority control
Tuttlingen Tuttlingen ( Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ea ...
Tuttlingen Tuttlingen ( Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ea ...
Tuttlingen Tuttlingen ( Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ea ...
Tuttlingen Tuttlingen ( Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ea ...
Tuttlingen Tuttlingen ( Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ea ...
Tuttlingen Tuttlingen ( Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ea ...
1643 in the Holy Roman Empire
Tuttlingen Tuttlingen ( Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ea ...