Battle of Werben

The Battle of Werben was a battle of the Thirty Years' War, fought on July 22 (O.S.) or August 1, 1631 (N.S.),[4] between the Swedish Empire and the Holy Roman Empire. The Swedes had 16,000 soldiers and were led by Gustavus Adolphus, while the Imperialists had 23,000 soldiers and were led by Field-Marshal Count Tilly. Tilly's troops attacked Gustavus' entrenchments in front of Werben (Elbe), but Swedish batteries and the cavalry under Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin forced them to retreat. The attack was renewed a few days later with a similar result, and Tilly then drew off his forces, having suffered a loss of 6,000 men.[2]

Illustration of the Battle of Werben (detail)

Battle of Werben
Part of Thirty Years' War
Date August 1, 1631 (N.S.) Location Werben (Elbe), Margraviate of Brandenburg (present-day Saxony-Anhalt) Result Swedish victory[1][2][3]
Belligerents
Sweden	Holy Roman Empire Catholic League
Commanders and leaders
Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Wolf Heinrich von Baudissin	Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly
Strength
16,000 soldiers	23,000 soldiers
Casualties and losses
Unknown, but much less	6,000 killed, wounded or dead from starvation[2] (July 22 - August 6)[3]
Werben Location within Saxony-Anhalt Show map of Saxony-Anhalt Werben Werben (Germany) Show map of Germany

References

1. Algirdas Ratnikas. "Timeline 1626-1660". Timelines.ws. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
3. "Tillys och Gustaf Adolfs andra möte". Zenker.se. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
4. Henrik O. Lunde: A Warrior Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of Sweden as a Military Superpower 1611-1721, 2014, p.109.

Bibliography

• George Bruce. Harbottle's Dictionary of Battles. (Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1981) (ISBN 0-442-22336-6).