Battle Of Höchst
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The Battle of Höchst (20 June 1622) was fought between a Catholic League army led by Johan Tzerclaes, Count of Tilly and a
Protestant Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
army commanded by Christian the Younger, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, close to the town of Höchst, today a suburb of the city of
Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
. The result was a one-sided Catholic League victory. The action occurred during the
Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
.


Background

In April 1622, Tilly had lost the
Battle of Mingolsheim The Battle of Mingolsheim () was fought on 27 April 1622, near the German village of Wiesloch, south of Heidelberg (and south of Wiesloch), between a Protestant army under General von Mansfeld and the Margrave of Baden-Durlach against a ...
to
Ernst von Mansfeld Peter Ernst, Graf von Mansfeld (; 158029 November 1626), or simply Ernst von Mansfeld, was a German military commander; despite being a Catholic, he fought for the Protestants during the early years of the Thirty Years' War. He was one of the l ...
. In early May, however, Tilly won a decisive engagement with Georg Friedrich, Margrave of Baden-Durlach at the
Battle of Wimpfen The Battle of Wimpfen took place during the Palatinate campaign period of the Thirty Years' War on 6 May 1622 near Wimpfen. The combined forces of the Catholic League (German), Catholic League and the Spanish Empire under Marshal Johann Tsercl ...
, which dispersed or killed approximately 3/4 of Georg Friederich's army, leaving only Christian of Brunswick and Ernst von Mansfeld to command in the coming battle. Tilly's had been deprived of his Spanish ally in Wimpfen, Gonzalo de Córdoba y Cardona, but he was compensated by the arrival of another Spanish army from
Bohemia Bohemia ( ; ; ) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. In a narrow, geographic sense, it roughly encompasses the territories of present-day Czechia that fall within the Elbe River's drainage basin, but historic ...
under Tommaso Caracciolo, as well as additional reinforcements by the Count of Anholt, Johann Jakob. Christian wanted to use the situation for a crucial strike against the Catholic League. With 12,000 infantrymen, nearly 5,000 cavalrymen, and three guns he moved from Westphalia along the
Weser River The Weser () is a river of Lower Saxony in north-west Germany. It begins at Hannoversch Münden through the confluence of the Werra and Fulda. It passes through the Hanseatic city of Bremen. Its mouth is further north against the ports of Br ...
shoreline, and through Hesse towards the
Main River The Main () is the longest tributary of the Rhine, one of the major European rivers. It rises as the White Main in the Fichtel Mountains of northeastern Bavaria and flows west through central Germany for to meet the Rhine below Rüsselsheim, ...
to unite his troops with armies of Mansfeld and Baden-Durlach, at Darmstadt. Continuing their mission of blocking a rendezvous between Mansfeld and Christian of Brunswick, the Catholic forces reached the river at Höchst on 20 June to find Christian's army already crossing the river.


Battle

On 15 June, Christian reached the territory of the
Archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz ( or '; ), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop-Elec ...
at
Oberursel Oberursel (Taunus) (, , in contrast to " Lower Ursel") is a town in Germany and part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It is located to the north west of Frankfurt, in the Hochtaunuskreis county. It is the 13th largest town in Hesse. In ...
. He sent Colonel
Dodo zu Innhausen und Knyphausen Dodo Freiherr zu Innhausen und Knyphausen (sometimes Knijphausen or Kniphausen; 2 July 1583 – 11 January 1636) was a German professional soldier who saw extensive service in the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), rising to the rank of Field Ma ...
with an advance guard of 1,500 men against Höchst to take the town in a
coup de main A ''coup de main'' (, : , ) is a swift attack that relies on speed and surprise to accomplish its objectives in a single blow. Definition The United States Department of Defense defines it as "An offensive operation that capitalizes on surprise ...
and to safeguard the Main crossing point. However, the Höchst municipal troops successfully defended the town against Knyphausen's initial assault. On the 16th Knyphausen's troops finally stormed and plundered Höchst. Two days later the Protestants started building a
pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, is a bridge that uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the support ...
across the Main. Meanwhile, Christian moved with his troops towards Höchst and destroyed the villages of Oberusel,
Eschborn Eschborn () is a town in the Main-Taunus district, Hesse, Germany. It is part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main Regional Authority, Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area and has a population of 21,488 (2018). Eschborn is home to numerous corporations due to it ...
, and Sulzbach. At the same time the Catholic troops approached in forced marches from Würzburg with 20,000 infantrymen, 6,000 cavalrymen, and 18 guns. On 19 June, they arrived at the Nidda River between
Nied The Nied (; ) is a river in Lorraine, France, and Saarland, Germany. It is a left tributary of the Saar. It is formed where two streams converge: the ''Nied allemande'' ("German Nied") and the ''Nied française'' ("French Nied"), which join in C ...
and Sossenheim late at night. When the bridge was completed on the morning of 20 June, Christian's baggage started to cross the river. Tilly planned to force Christian's troops back to the Höchst walls and the Main, isolating the two thousand troops in Sossenheim. Hence, Christian ordered his troops to withdraw over the pontoon bridge towards
Kelsterbach Kelsterbach () is a town in Groß-Gerau district in Hessen, Germany, part of the Frankfurt Rhein-Main urban area. It is located on Frankfurt's southwestern outskirts at a bend on the left bank of the river Main, right where a small brook, call ...
, but under the Catholic artillery fire the withdrawal turned into a headlong flight. The bridge broke after only 3,000 men had crossed and many of Christian's soldiers and horses drowned in the Main. By the time Höchst castle was captured at around 10 p.m., Christian had already lost a third of his army and was forced to retreat. Mansfeld lost an additional 2,000 troops acting as rearguard at Mannheim. Christian's entire baggage train and guns became Catholic loot. While the League troops lost only 100 soldiers, nearly 2,000 of Christian's soldiers died. However, Christian succeeded in escaping with 3,000 cavalrymen, 8,000 infantrymen, and his
war chest A war chest is a metaphor for any collection of tools or money intended to be used in a challenging or dangerous situation. Historically, it referred to an actual chest located in the homes or barracks of soldiers or military leadership, in which ...
, eventually uniting with Mansfeld's army. More recent investigations, however, showed that Christian had lost most of his booty.


Aftermath

Tilly claimed a strategic victory because his army had far fewer losses, despite the fact that Christian of Brunswick had achieved his operational goal of uniting his army with Mansfeld's. As a result of the battle, however, his troops were severely demoralised and had also lost most of their equipment, making them more of a liability than a reinforcement. Höchst was the decisive battle of the 1622 campaign and signalled the end for "Winter King" Frederick V. Shortly after the battle, the combined Protestant forces, now numbering 26,000 strong, positioned themselves on the western bank of the
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
and ceased to resist the invasion of the Palatinate. Frederick cancelled their contract and they were then hired by the
Dutch Republic The United Provinces of the Netherlands, commonly referred to in historiography as the Dutch Republic, was a confederation that existed from 1579 until the Batavian Revolution in 1795. It was a predecessor state of the present-day Netherlands ...
to lift the siege of Bergen-op-Zoom. On their way there, they were intercepted by Córdoba's troops in the Battle of Fleurus on 29 August, but despite heavy losses, they managed to escape and reach the siege.
Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...
came under siege and despite an 11-week resistance, fell on 15 September. With this news, the token English forces under Sir
Horace Vere Horace Vere, 1st Baron Vere of Tilbury (1565 – 2 May 1635) was an English army officer who served in the Eighty Years' War and the Thirty Years' War. A brother of Francis Vere, he was sent to the Electoral Palatinate by James VI and I in 1620. ...
evacuated
Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...
, which fell on 2 November, and moved to the fortress of
Frankenthal Frankenthal (Pfalz) (; ) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate. History Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinians, Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, aft ...
, which served as a final outpost for Protestant resistance in this area. It fell the following year. Duke Maximillian now controlled half of the Lower Palatinate and installed Heinrich von Metternich as governor.Maier, ''Unterpfalz'', pp. 36–37, 70–96.


Illustrations of the battle

The Swiss engraver Merian depicted the battle and the bridging of the Main in an engraving. Another contemporary engraving of an unknown artist shows the battle in a large panorama. Neither of these artists had been an eye witness of the event.


References


External links


Johann Philipp Abelin: Theatrum Europaeum, Vol. 1, Frankfurt am Main 1662, plate 1622, pages 630-633 (German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hochst 1622 Conflicts in 1622 Military history of Frankfurt 1622 in the Holy Roman Empire Military history of Hesse Palatinate campaign Battles of the Thirty Years' War involving the Holy Roman Empire Battles of the Thirty Years' War involving Spain Battles of the Thirty Years' War involving the Palatinate