View source for Battle of Freiburg

{{Short description|1644 battle of the Thirty Years' War}}
{{Distinguish|Battle of Freiberg}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Freiburg
| partof            = [[Thirty Years' War]]
| image             = H. Grobet - Condé à la bataille de Fribourg-en-Brisgau (1644).jpg
| caption           = Condé at Freiburg
| date              = 3 August – 9 August 1644
| place             = [[Freiburg]], [[Baden-Württemberg]]
| result            = Inconclusive{{sfn|Schaufler|1979|p=120}}{{sfn|Schott|1978|p=12}}{{sfn|Thion|2008|p=135}}{{sfn|Wilson|2009|p=684}}
| combatant1        = {{Flagicon|Kingdom of France}} [[Kingdom of France]]
| combatant2        = {{Flagicon|Holy Roman Empire}} [[Holy Roman Empire]]<br/>{{Flagicon|Electorate of Bavaria}} [[Electorate of Bavaria]]
| commander1        = {{Flagicon|Kingdom of France}} [[Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé|Grand Condé]]<br>{{Flagicon|Kingdom of France}} [[Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne|Turenne]]
| commander2        = {{Flagicon|Electorate of Bavaria}} [[Franz von Mercy]]<br/>{{Flagicon|Electorate of Bavaria}} [[Johann von Werth]]
| strength1         = {{circa}} 16,000{{Sfn|Périni|1904|p=57}}{{sfn|Zabecki|2014|p=437}}
| strength2         = {{circa}} 13,000{{efn|The number present during the battle is unclear. According to Périni, Mercy reached Freiburg in June with 15,000 men. Schaufler reports he lost 1,600 men during the siege that preceded the battle.{{Sfn|Périni|1904|p=50}}{{Sfn|Schaufler|1979|p=65}}}}   
| casualties1       = {{circa}} 8,000
| casualties2       = {{circa}} 4,000
}}
{{Campaignbox Thirty Years' War Swedish-French Intervention}}
The '''Battle of Freiburg''', fought over three days on 3, 5, and 9 August 1644, took place during the [[Thirty Years' War]], near [[Freiburg im Breisgau]], now in [[Baden-Württemberg]]. A [[Kingdom of France|French]] relief army of 16,000, led jointly by [[Louis, Grand Condé|Condé]] and [[Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount of Turenne|Turenne]], sought to recapture the town, which had recently surrendered to a [[Electorate of Bavaria|Bavarian]] force under [[Franz von Mercy]]. In one of the bloodiest battles of the war, both sides incurred heavy casualties, with neither gaining a clear advantage.

Having captured Freiburg on 28 July, Mercy placed his men in strong defences on the hills outside the town. The French assaulted these positions on 3 and 5 August, and although they made little progress, the Bavarians were short of supplies. On 9 August, Mercy learned a detachment under Turenne was marching into his rear to cut off his supply lines, and ordered a general retreat, leaving a garrison in Freiburg. Apart from a brief skirmish with Turenne's cavalry next day, they withdrew in good order, despite abandoning their baggage train and several guns. 

Nevertheless, Freiburg convinced [[Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria|Maximilian of Bavaria]] to open peace negotiations, and he ordered Mercy to suspend offensive operations. This allowed Condé and Turenne to take control of most of the northern [[Upper Rhine]].

==Background==
A decisive [[Swedish Empire|Swedish]] victory at [[Battle of Breitenfeld (1642)|Breitenfeld]] in November 1642 secured control of Northern Germany, while in 1643 their French allies took the offensive in the [[Rhineland]]. On 18 November 1643, a French army captured [[Rottweil]], which they intended to use as a winter base, but their commander [[Jean-Baptiste Budes, Comte de Guébriant|Guébriant]], was mortally wounded during the siege. On 24 November, his successor [[Josias von Rantzau]] was ambushed at [[Battle of Tuttlingen|Tuttlingen]] by a [[Electorate of Bavaria|Bavarian]]-[[Holy Roman Empire|Imperial]] army under [[Franz von Mercy]] and [[Johann von Werth]].{{sfn|Eggenberger|2012|p=450}} Taken by surprise, the French force of 16,000 effectively disintegrated, with more than two thirds killed, wounded, or captured either during the battle, or afterwards as they retreated into [[Alsace]].{{sfn|Parker|1984|p=157}}

{{Location map many|Baden-Württemberg|caption = Campaign in South-West Germany 1643 to 1645; key locations mentioned in text
|border = black|width =280|float = left|relief = yes
|label  =Rottweil     |pos   =top   |lat_deg  =48.168056|lon_deg  =8.624722
|label2 =Überlingen   |pos2  =right |lat2_deg =47.766667|lon2_deg =9.165
|label3 =Villingen    |pos3  =left |lat3_deg =48.060278|lon3_deg =8.458611
|label4 =Nördlingen[[File:small battle symbol.svg|frameless|centre|10px]]  |pos4  =left  |lat4_deg =48.851111|lon4_deg =10.488333
|label5 =Breisach     |pos5  =top   |lat5_deg =48.033333|lon5_deg =7.583333
|label6 =Philippsburg |pos6  =right  |lat6_deg =49.233333|lon6_deg =8.45
|label7 =Stuttgart    |pos7  =top   |lat7_deg =48.7775|lon7_deg =9.18
|label8 =Rottenburg   |pos8  =top   |lat8_deg =48.477222|lon8_deg =8.934444
|label10=Herbsthausen [[File:small battle symbol.svg|frameless|centre|10px]] |pos10 =bottom   |lat10_deg=49.401944|lon10_deg=9.828889
|label11=Mainz        |pos11 =bottom|lat11_deg=49.9|lon11_deg=8.266667
|label13=Tuttlingen [[File:small battle symbol.svg|frameless|centre|10px]]   |pos13 =bottom   |lat13_deg=47.9852  |lon13_deg=8.8234
|label20=Worms        |pos20 =left   |lat20_deg=49.631944|lon20_deg=8.365278
|label21=Landau       |pos21 =left   |lat21_deg=49.2|lon21_deg=8.116667
|label22=Freiburg [[File:small battle symbol.svg|frameless|centre|10px]]     |pos22 =bottom   |lat22_deg=47.995|lon22_deg=7.85
}}
Rantzau was among the prisoners and he was replaced by [[Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount of Turenne|Turenne]], who took urgent steps to rebuild his shattered army.{{efn|This was composed primarily of German mercenaries known as ''Weimarans'' or ''Bernhardines'', formerly employed by [[Bernard of Saxe-Weimar]] (1604-1639). Unlike Guébriant, who had formerly served under Bernard, Turenne was an outsider; many of those who escaped Tuttlingen had not been paid for months, and were on the verge of mutiny, forcing Turenne to pay for supplies himself {{Sfn|Périni|1904|p=47}}}} The French position was further weakened when Sweden initiated the [[Torstenson War]] with [[Denmark-Norway]] in December 1643, diverting resources and attention away from Germany. Over the winter of 1643/1644, Mercy used the opportunity to seize control of large areas along the [[Upper Rhine]], [[Swabia]] and the [[Breisgau]].{{sfn|Zabecki|2014|p=436}} 

For the 1644 summer campaign, [[Maximilian I, Elector of Bavaria]], decided to capitalise by forcing Turenne out of his bases on the Rhine. To achieve this, on 11 May Mercy first secured his rear by capturing [[Überlingen]] on [[Lake Constance]], then advanced on the French-held town of [[Freiburg im Breisgau|Freiburg]]. After some skirmishing with Turenne in the [[Black Forest]], he arrived outside Freiburg on 16 June, and began siege operations.{{sfn|Bonney|2014|p=71}}

Turenne, who had withdrawn to [[Breisach]], was ordered to relieve Freiburg, which he reached on 1 July with around 8,000 men. By this time, the Bavarians had established strong positions in the mountains at [[Schönberg (Ebringen)|Schönberg]] and [[Lorettoberg]], as well as a series of redoubts along the plain in front of the town.{{Sfn|Périni|1904|p=50}} When his initial assault was repulsed, Turenne broke off the attack and demanded reinforcements from [[Cardinal Mazarin]].{{sfn|Godley|1915|p=92}} On 2 August, 9,000 men arrived in Breisach from [[Flanders]], led by [[Louis, Grand Condé|Condé]], although Freiburg itself had surrendered on 28 July.{{efn|Turenne criticised the garrison commander for his "premature surrender", while Condé tried to have him executed.{{Sfn|Périni|1904|p=56}}}} As he was senior to Turenne, Condé assumed overall command, and decided to attack the following day.{{Sfn|Périni|1904|p=56}}

==Battle; 3 and 5 August==
[[File:Spruner-Menke Handatlas 1880 Karte 44 Nebenkarte 11.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.1|Battle map; note '''Schönberg''' (bottom left}, '''Merzhausen''' (bottom centre), '''Lorettoberg''' (''Loretto-Kapelle'', centre)]]

There were lengthy debates over the French plan of attack, which were later recorded by several of those present. It was ultimately agreed Condé would assault Mercy's defences on the Schönberg which blocked the main road into Freiburg, while Turenne made a flanking march via [[Wittnau, Baden-Württemberg|Wittnau]] against the village of [[Merzhausen]] in their rear (''see Battle map right'').{{sfn|Schaufler|1979|pp=72-74}} To ensure both happened simultaneously, Condé delayed his operations until 17:00 to give Turenne time to move into position.{{sfn|Guthrie|2003|p=204}} 

Despite the difficult ground over which he had to manoeuvre, Turenne began his attack as planned. However, he was driven back by Mercy's reserves of infantry and supporting cuirassiers, and unable to make progress against determined resistance.{{sfn|Schaufler|1979|pp=83-84}} Meanwhile, ignoring the protests of his subordinates, Condé personally led the assault on the Schönberg. His men took the positions after several hours of fighting, but suffered heavy casualties doing so, while it was now too dark to follow up their success. Although Turenne had finally resumed his advance, many of his men were still coming up, slowed by heavy rain, and at midnight the two commanders agreed to halt operations.{{sfn|Godley|1915|pp=100-101}} 

Mercy used this pause to withdraw his troops to new positions at the Lorettoberg. Driving the Imperial-Bavarian forces off the Schönberg allowed Condé and Turenne to reunite their troops at Merzhausen, five kilometres outside Freiburg. However, they still faced a series of formidable defensive entrenchments, while persistent rain meant no fighting was possible on 4 August.{{Sfn|Périni|1904|pp=61-62}} 

Deciding the only other choice was to retreat, on 5 August the French commanders opted for frontal assaults against entrenchments along the Lorettoberg and at [[Wiehre]]. These degenerated into a series of bloody and poorly co-ordinated firefights, which continued for most of the day. When night came, Mercy had held his ground, but two days of fighting had reduced his force by a third, with the French having lost half the number of men engaged.{{Sfn|Périni|1904|pp=62-65}}

==Battle; 9 August==
[[File:Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne by Circle of Philippe de Champaigne.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|left|Turenne]]

The French spent the next three days evacuating their wounded to Breisach, and gathering 5,000 replacements from local garrisons for their next attack. While Condé remained in Merzhausen to occupy Mercy, early on 9 August Turenne took 6,000 men and began marching into his rear at [[Denzlingen]], five kilometres north of Freiburg. Since this would cut off the escape route to [[Villingen-Schwenningen|Villingen]], the French commanders hoped Mercy would be forced to fight, or make a hurried flight.{{efn|Like the French after [[Battle of Tuttlingen|Tuttlingen]], or the Imperials after [[Battle of Jankau|Jankau]], armies which retreated in disorder often disintegrated entirely.{{sfn|Parker|1984|p=182}}}} {{sfn|Guthrie|2003|p=212}}  

However, Mercy had already decided to withdraw. Two days of battle had reduced his strength to around 6,000 men, who were short of both ammunition and food. The problem was especially acute for his cavalry, essential for covering the retreat but whose combat effectiveness was quickly declining due to lack of [[forage]] for their horses. Leaving a hand-picked garrison to hold Freiburg, on 9 August the rest of his army began falling back on [[Sankt Peter, Baden-Württemberg|St. Peter]], which controlled the road to Villingen.{{Sfn|Périni|1904|pp=66-67}} On the morning of 10 August, Turenne's cavalry caught up with the Bavarian rearguard just outside the village, forcing them to abandon several guns and some baggage.{{sfn|Guthrie|2003|p=214}} Despite this, Mercy reached [[Rottenburg am Neckar]] on 15 August without incident.{{Sfn|Périni|1904|pp=66-67}}

Total casualties for the three days of battle were enormous on both sides. Périni suggests French losses were around 50%, or 8,000, those of the Bavarians about a third, or 3,000.{{Sfn|Périni|1904|p=65}} Other estimates range from 5,000 to 8,000 for the French,{{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=39}}{{sfn|Guthrie|2003|p=212}} and 2,500 to 6,800 for the Bavarians.{{sfn|Guthrie|2003|p=212}}{{Sfn|Bodart|1908|p=72}} {{sfn|Clodfelter|2017|p=39}} At the time, the French claimed victory because Mercy's retreat left them in possession of the battlefield, a view supported by a number of historians.{{sfn|Thion|2008|p=29}} {{sfn|Zabecki|2014|p=437}} Others suggest it can also be seen as a draw,{{sfn|Schaufler|1979|p=120}} or a Bavarian tactical victory, as they fought off the French assaults and inflicted heavy casualties.{{sfn|Wilson|2009|p=684}}{{sfn|Schott|1978|p=12}}

==Aftermath==
[[File:Franz von Mercy.jpg|thumb|right|upright=0.8|[[Franz von Mercy]]; his death at [[Battle of Nördlingen (1645)|Second Nördlingen]] in August 1645 deprived the Bavarian army of their most effective military commander]]

Mercy still controlled most of Swabia, but his losses led Maximilian to ban any further offensive action, while his retreat to Rottenburg left the Upper Rhine exposed. Turenne convinced Condé not to waste the rest of the summer retaking Freiburg, but instead march north to capture [[Siege of Philippsburg (1644)|Philippsburg]], which surrendered on 12 September.{{sfn|Wilson|2009|pp=683–684}} After this, the French went on to occupy [[Worms, Germany|Worms]], [[Oppenheim]], [[Mainz]], and [[Landau]], leaving them in control of the Rhine valley.{{sfn|Guthrie|2003|p=214}}

Maximilian was now convinced the war could no longer be won, and put pressure on [[Ferdinand III, Holy Roman Emperor|Emperor Ferdinand]] to restart peace negotiations.{{Sfn|Croxton|1998|p=273}} These began in November 1644, although fighting continued as both sides tried to improve their negotiating position. Much of the veteran Bavarian cavalry was lost at [[Battle of Jankau|Jankau]] in March 1645, while in May Mercy destroyed a French detachment at [[Battle of Herbsthausen|Herbsthausen]].{{sfn|Guthrie|2003|pp=214–217}} He in turn was defeated and killed at [[Battle of Nördlingen (1645)|Second Nördlingen]] in August, depriving Maximilian of his most effective military commander.{{sfn|Guthrie|2003|pp=221–223}}

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{reflist|20em}}

==Sources==
* {{cite book | last=Bodart | first=Gaston | year=1908 | title=Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905) | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Eo4DAAAAYAAJ/page/72/mode/1up | url-access=registration | access-date=9 January 2022}}
* {{Cite book|last=Bonney|first=Richard|title=The Thirty Years' War 1618–1648|date=2014|publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing|isbn=978-1-4728-1002-1}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Croxton |first=Derek |title=A Territorial Imperative? The Military Revolution, Strategy and Peacemaking in the Thirty Years War |date=1998 |journal=War in History |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=253–279 |doi=10.1177/096834459800500301 |jstor=26007296 |s2cid=159915965}}
* {{Cite journal|last=Croxton|first=Derek|date=2000|title="The Prosperity of Arms Is Never Continual": Military Intelligence, Surprise, and Diplomacy in 1640s Germany|journal=The Journal of Military History|volume=64|issue=4|pages=981–1003|doi=10.2307/2677264|jstor=2677264}}
* {{cite book|last=Clodfelter|first=M.|title=Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492-2015|publisher=McFarland|location=Jefferson, North Carolina|year=2017|edition=4th|isbn=978-0-7864-7470-7}}
* {{Cite book|last=Eggenberger|first=David|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C5pkSZBIXW0C|title=An Encyclopedia of Battles: Accounts of Over 1,560 Battles from 1479 B.C. to the Present|date=2012|publisher=Courier Corporation|isbn=978-0-486-14201-2|language=en}}
* {{cite book|last=Godley|first=Eveline Charlotte|title=The Great Condé, a life of Louis II de Bourbon, Prince of Condé|publisher=John Murray|year=1915}}
* {{Cite book|last=Guthrie|first=William P.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=iarLf0_8or8C|title=The Later Thirty Years War: From the Battle of Wittstock to the Treaty of Westphalia|date=2003|publisher=Greenwood Publishing Group|isbn=978-0-313-32408-6}}
* {{Cite book|title=The Thirty Years' War|publisher=Routledge|editor-last=Parker|editor-first=Geoffrey|year=1984|edition=1997|isbn=0-203-99549-X|oclc=252816798}}
* {{cite book|last=Périni|first=Colonel Hardy de|title=Batailles françaises. 4e série|publisher=Flammarion|date=1904|lang=FR}}
* {{cite book |last1=Schaufler |first1=Hans-Helmut  |title=Die Schlacht bei Freiburg im Breisgau 1644 |date=1979|publisher=Rombach |isbn=978-3793002239|language=de }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Schott |first1=Rudolf |date=1978 |title=Die Kämpfe vor Freiburg im Breisgau, die Eroberung von Philippsburg und die Belagerungen mehrerer Städte am Rhein im Jahre 1644 |url= | language=German |journal=Militärgeschichtliche Zeitschrift |volume=24 |issue=2 |pages=9–22 |doi=10.1524/mgzs.1978.24.2.9|doi-access=free }}
* {{cite book|title=French Armies of the Thirty years War|first=Stéphane|last=Thion|publisher=LRT Editions|year=2008|isbn=978-2-917747-01-8}}
* {{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=Peter |title=Europe's Tragedy: A History of the Thirty Years War |date=2009 |publisher=Allen Lane |isbn=978-0713995923 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Zabecki|first=David T|title=Germany at War: 400 Years of Military History [4 volumes]: 400 Years of Military History|date=2014|publisher=ABC-CLIO|isbn=978-1-59884-981-3}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2017}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Freiburg 1644}}
[[Category:1644 in the Holy Roman Empire]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1644]]
[[Category:History of Freiburg im Breisgau]]
[[Category:Military history of Baden-Württemberg]]
[[Category:Battles of the Thirty Years' War involving Bavaria]]
[[Category:Battles of the Thirty Years' War involving France]]
[[Category:Battles of the Thirty Years' War involving the Holy Roman Empire]]