Battle of Strasbourg Bridge

Battle of Willstätt
Part of the Thirty Years' War
The Rhine river with Strasbourg in distance during the 17th century, by Wenceslaus Hollar
Date 27/28 September Location Kehl, Margraviate of Baden present-day Baden-Württemberg, Germany Result Catholic victory
Belligerents
Sweden Heilbronn League	Holy Roman Empire Catholic League
Commanders and leaders
Rheingrave Otto Louis	Charles IV of Lorraine Johann von Werth
Strength
6,000–7,000	3,000 cavalry 1,500–2,000 infantry
Casualties and losses
300–1,500	Minor

The Battle of Willstätt was fought during the Swedish phase of the Thirty Years' War near the Free city of Strasbourg, in the Holy Roman Empire. Having dealt a heavy defeat on the Swedish army at the Battle of Nördlingen in September, the armies of the Emperor, Spain and the Catholic League overran much of the Swedish-held southern Germany. As a result, the Swedish commander, Rheingrave Otto Louis, decided to retreat over the Rhine with his army, using the Strasbourg bridge.

The vanguard of the Emperor's and the Catholic League's army, led by Duke Charles IV of Lorraine and general Johann von Werth, caught up with Otto's rearguard at Willstätt, where he barely escaped capture. The Imperials then attacked the entrenchments near the Strasbourg bridge in Kehl, as the Swedish army was in the process of crossing the Rhine. The battle lasted for three hours and culminated with fighting on the bridge. In the end, at least 300 Swedes, or possibly 1,500 or more, were killed or captured. The Rheingrave Otto along with most of his forces saved themselves inside Strasbourg.

Background

Portrait of Charles IV, Duke of Lorraine, by an unknown author.

After the battle of Nördlingen, which saw the destruction of the main Swedish field army at Germany and the capture of its commander, Gustav Horn, the Catholic armies gathered for the battle divided again and advanced northwards to the lands occupied by the Swedish or held by their German allies. While the bulk of the Imperial and Spanish armies advanced upon Franconia, where Duke Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, commander of the German Protestant forces, had withdrawn to defend the province following his defeat, Duke Charles IV of Lorraine invaded the duchy of Württemberg, a wealthy country where his troops could recover from the battle, and the commander of the German Catholic League, Johann von Werth, invaded and took control of Swabia.

Aiming to expel the remaining Swedish forces from the Rhineland, Maximilian I of Bavaria asked Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor, for some reinforcements. Thus, Ferdinand sent Charles of Lorraine with an army corps to Alsace, where the Swedish, in order to prevent the Imperials from taking control of the region, were handing to France, under the terms of the Treaty of Paris, the fortresses and cities that they controlled there. Meanwhile, Johann von Werth advanced on the Black Forest with the Catholic League's army and forced Duke Eberhard III of Württemberg to leave the siege of Willingen, chasing later his retreating forces to the gates of Strasbourg. While Werth went to join forces with Duke Charles, the Duke of Württemberg did the same with the governor of the Swedish Alsace, the Rhingrave Otto, who was collecting the Swedish forces at the Free Imperial city of Offenburg, on the eastern bank of the Rhine, opposed to Strasbourg.

After having received news of the approaching Imperial army, Rhingrave Otto decided on seizing the Strasbourg bridge and retreat over the Rhine. In total, he had 6,000 or 7,000 men, including the troops of the Duke of Württemberg and the Margrave of Baden-Durlach—French reinforcements under colonel Batilly, the lieutenant of the Duke of Rohan, was also expected, but these arrived too late to take part in the fighting. To catch him, Werth led a vanguard consisting of 6 regiments of cavalry, 2 of croats and 300 musketeers, in all about 3,000 cavalry and 1,500 or 2,000 infantry.

Battle

The Rheingrave Otto Louis of Salm, by Cornelis Danckaerts, 1642. Peace Palace Library.

On 27 or 28 September, Wreth made contact with the enemy's rearguard at the village of Willstätt, between Offenburg and the Rhine river, while the bulk of the Swedish army was in Kehl in preparation for the crossing. As Otto rode out with 15 companions to command his rearguard, he stumbled upon some Bavarian cuirassiers of the regiment of Keller, who mistook him for a Catholic officer. When he jumped into the Kinzig stream with his horse to escape, they realized their mistake and opened fire on him; he only received a light wound. Willstätt was burned as a result of the skirmish.

The Rheingrave made his way back to Kehl, where troops were entrenched to cover the crossing. He sent his family ahead over to Strasbourg. On his arrival, Charles of Lorraine ordered an assault of the entrenchments. After three hours of fighting, the Imperial army gained full control and the fighting stopped. The Swedes had at least 300 killed in their ranks according to Pufendorf, of whom many died at the bridge towards the end when the orderly crossing turned into a rout. According to the Imperials, 1,000 Swedes were killed in the entrenchments and hundreds more drowned in the Rhine or perished amidst the flames in a farmstead which was sat on fire; accordingly, they assure that up to 2,000 Swedes had failed to escape. Riezler puts the Swedish casualties at 1,500. The Rheingrave along with the bulk of his army, however, made it over the bridge to Strasbourg.

Charles of Lorraine wrote a letter to the city council of Strasbourg, asking them to open the gates of the city, but the request was denied. The Rheingrave, still controlling the west bank of the Rhine, promptly retreated to Seltz, while the Catholics moved to Rastatt.

Aftermath

Sweden and the Heilbronn League quickly removed their garrisons in the Rhineland after the battle and handed to France the cities of Colmar, Schlestadt and Basel. The Elector of Saxony opened talks with Ferdinand II, but the Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel and the Duke of Lüneburg still fielded troops against the Emperor and were in the surroundings of Frankfurt am Main. Meanwhile, the Imperial armies were between the rivers Neckar and Main, where they took Heilbronn on 27 September, the same day that the battle of Willstätt was fought. Since the battle of Nördlingen, the Catholics had expelled the Swedish and their German allies from Bavaria, Swabia –except from Ulm and Augsburg, where they still held out but blockaded by the Duke of Bavaria–, Württemberg, and most of Franconia; in words of Diego Aedo y Gallart, secretary of the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria: "expelling him [the Swedish] from the roots of the Alps".