Battle of Nördlingen (1634)

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The Battle of Nördlingen, fought over two days from 5 to 6 September 1634, was a major battle of the Thirty Years' War. An Imperial–Spanish force led by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand and Ferdinand of Hungary inflicted a crushing defeat on the Swedish–German army led by Gustav Horn and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar. By 1634, the Swedes and their German allies occupied much of southern Germany. This allowed them to block the Spanish Road, an overland supply route running from Italy to Flanders, used to support Spain's war against the Dutch Republic. Seeking to re-open this, a Spanish army under the Cardinal-Infante linked up with Imperial forces near Nördlingen, which was held by a Swedish garrison. Horn and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar marched to its relief, but significantly underestimated the numbers they faced. After limited fighting on 5 September, on the 6th they launched a series of assaults south of Nördlingen, all of which were repulsed. Superior numbers allowed the Spanish-Imperial commanders...

Read on Wikipedia · Image Jan van den Hoecke, Public domain