The Second Battle of Breitenfeld was a major engagement of the Thirty Years' War between the Imperial Army of the Holy Roman Empire under Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria and Ottavio Piccolomini, supported by Saxon troops, and the Swedish Army under Lennart Torstensson. It was the last battle of the war featuring more than 20.000 soldiers on each side and one of the rare occasions where both combatants were attacking.
The Swedish Army had been besieging the nearby Saxon fortress Leipzig but relieved it in face of the Imperial advance. The imperials interpreted the Swedish movements as an unorganized retreat because the Swedes had trickled out their troops to obtain a more favourable terrain. The imperial war council under the Archduke overruled Piccolomini's objections against battling an almost even-matched opponent in open field and ordered an attack. The Swedes awaited them in battle formation at Breitenfeld, the place of Gustavus Adolphus' famous victory in 1631.
Both armies used a linear formation with two wings of cavalry around the infantry in the center. The infantry was divided in two subgroups by both armies because of the woods that intersected the imperial lines. An early rout of the Madlo Arquebusier and most of the Saxon regiments at the imperial left wing allowed the Swedes to gain the upper hand on this side of the battle. The imperial right wing achieved similar success against the Swedish left until Torstensson sent large parts of his victorious right around the woods and behind the imperial center to attack the imperial right from the rear. They ultimately drove the imperials from the field, only the Leibregiments supported by Alt- and Neu-Piccolomini, Mislik, Borneval and Luttke resisted long enough to cover the retreat of the right group of the imperial center. The left group however was encircled and forced to surrender by the victorious Swedes.
Imperial-Saxon army
There are essentially two different orders of battle for the Imperial-Saxon army. The one cited by William Guthrie mostly uses the information from the Theatrum Europaeum. According to Otto Rudert, this order of battle was the intended one but was changed shortly prior to the battle. Rudert and Arndt Preil instead use the Callenbergische Battaglia from the battle report of Colonel Kurt Reinecke von Callenberg. The Battaglia is meant to indicate the actual order of troops in battle and is used in this list.
Overall commanders were Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria and Field-Marshal Ottavio Piccolomini. Unless otherwise noted, all units are German.
Left
Generalfeldwachtmeister Hans Christoph von Puchheim, 31 squadrons
First Echelon (Colonel Nicola Montard de Noyrel) Pompeij Cuirassier – Colonel Thomas Pompeji Madlo Arquebusier – Colonel Hans Georg Madlo Luigi Gonzaga Cuirassier – Major Khauts Vorhauer Cuirassier – Colonel Hans Vorhauer Wintz Cuirassier – Colonel Christoph von Wintz Jung-Heister Cuirassier – Colonel Arnold von Heister Alt-Heister Cuirassier – Lieutenant Colonel Andreas Stahl Nicola Cuirassier – Lieutenant Colonel Dominik Cadé Puchheim Cuirassier – Lieutenant Colonel Candido
Second Echelon (Colonel Schleinitz) Burksdorf Cuirassier – Colonel Conrad Burksdorf Warlowsky Arquebusier – Colonel Peter Warlowsky Krafft zu Lammerstorf Cuirassier – Colonel Heinrich Krafft zu Lammerstorf Callenberg Saxon Cuirassier – Colonel Kurt Reinecke von Callenberg Gall à Bourck Dragoons – Lieutenant Colonel Olivier Stephanson Knoche Saxon Cuirassier – Colonel von Knoche Gallas Dragoons – Lieutenant Colonel Johann Ablmont Schleinitz Saxon Cuirassier – Colonel von Schleinitz Flankers 8 squadrons of Croats and Cossacks