Battle_at_Breitenfeld

Battle at Breitenfeld: A reflection on Clausewitz’s Paradoxical Trinity element of Chance and Probability Uncertainty, chance, and probability led the Swedish King, Gustavus Adolphus, to victory in the Battle at Breitenfeld. By applying Clausewitz’s paradoxical element of Chance and Probability to the talent, courage, and determination of Adolphus and his force, the Battle of Breitenfeld can best be analyzed. Prior to his great victories, he studied the doctrine of other armies, other commanders’ actions, and the formations they employed in battles. Using his talent and vision he molded and modified modern-day practices into a new effective fighting system that increased his chance for success. Adolphus was responsible for many doctrinal innovations and new battle formations. He studied Maurice of Orange and observed how he had used disciplined and well drilled troops to produce maximum combat power in linear formations that led to the defeat of the Spanish Tercio. He took this idea a step further by reducing the musket formations from 10 to 6 ranks and changed the pikemen from a defensive force to an offensive force. He also changed his cavalry doctrine based on past experience. In previous battles, Swedes had tried the caracole against the Poles and were beaten badly. The Polish cavalry chose the shock of a saber and lance charge when faced with the caracole of the pistol armed Swedish force. The result of this change in contemporary tactics by the Poles was a soundly defeated Swedish cavalry. Through his learning and examination, Adolphus was able to adjust these actions into inventive battle formations and future doctrinal concepts. These new battle formations and doctrinal concepts changed the way he arrayed and deployed his troops and increased his likelihood of success. Adolphus was also a great leader of troops who had progressive organizational ideas for his time. He encouraged his senior leaders to employ initiative on the battlefield and trained his junior officers to think for themselves. He also promoted a training schedule that included high standards of drill and discipline. These practices were not common in armies of his day, but the suppleness of the Swedish structure depended on it. Further innovations from the Swedish King included how he acquired his troops. Unlike most armies of the day that paid for expensive mercenary troops, Adolphus conscripted his troops off the countryside. Thus, his forces tended to be more loyal and of better quality. He then was able to use the money saved from not paying mercenary troops to increase his army as he marched through the German interior. On the day of battle at Breitenfeld, Adolphus was as prepared as any commander going into battle. He had used all his military talents to field a powerful Swedish Army and his political prowess to gain Saxon allies that gave him a mathematical advantage on this day (42,000 men made up of 24,000 Swedes and 18,000 Saxons to the enemy’s 35,000). He was facing an Imperialist force led by John Tzerclaes (Count Tilly) which consisted of Bavarians, Austrians, Italians, and Croats. This was a flourishing army that had just had a major victory at Magdeburg. Once the battle began, the legendary cavalry under Count Tilly led by Pappenheim made the first overt offensive action by charging across the field toward the Swedish right flank, which was led by Field Marshall Banner. Adolphus had expected this and trusted his subordinates to fight the battle as planned. Using the superior tactics of surprise over fire, Banner defeated the caracole of Pappenheim’s Calvary. During the attack on the left flank, Count Tilley launched a cavalry attack against the Saxons on the left flank of the Swedish front. The entire Saxon force retreated, leaving the heart of the Swedish line exposed and Adolphus outnumbered. The crisis of the battle was upon the Swedish king, and they only had moments to react. In this crisis, Adolphus put his trust in the left wing commander, Field Marshal Horn. Using the tactical flexibility and well drilled execution of the Swedish forces, Horn quickly moved 4,000 infantry in place to meet the attaching Imperialist. In the end, the trust in Horn paid off as he secured the Swedish left flank and eventually pushed Count Tilley from the field. The preparations for war greatly increased the probability of victory for Adolphus but on this day chance, even luck, were on his side. It was even suggested that the God of Battles seemed to intervene in his favor. As the battle began, Pappenheim’s cavalry battle on the right flank had kicked up a vast cloud of dust that had drifted along the front of the Swedish line into faces of the Imperialists facing Horn. Horn’s troops, with the wind and dust to their backs continued their fires into the enemy. The Imperialists, blinded by the dust, recoiled and then retreated. Once the battle was over, 7,600 Imperialist were dead on the battlefield and another 3,000 taken prisoner. Compared to the Imperialist, Adolphus’s losses only numbered just over 2,000. The victory at the Battle at Breitenfeld is directly attributed to the talent, courage, and determination of Gustavus Adolphus and his force. However, the battle could have easily swung to the other side without the combined effects of the luck of the wind and the chance that Count Tilly would be an unprepared leader. Adolphus understood the need to study his opponents in order to prepare superior tactics and battle formations as well as to influence his probability and chance for success in battle.