Gustavus Adolphus

Is revered among Swedish society as their greatest leader and the day of his death, is commemorated by a holiday

Defining moment

The battle of Breitenfeld

17 September 1631

The battle of Breitenfeld is not just notable for being the first major Protestant victory of the Thirty Years War, but also for the innovative military tactics that the Protestant force employed. Commanding over 40,000 men, Adolphus was able to utilise a combined arms approach in his tactics, using his infantry, cavalry and superior artillery in self-supporting movements. This added flexibility enabled the Swedes, at times led by the King himself, to outmanoeuvre the Imperial army of over 30,000, which was almost entirely decimated.

» Event: Entering a new war

The King lands at Usedom, northern Germany, with a small force of around 15,000 men, including many mercenaries, some of which had travelled from Scotland.

6 July 1630

These are captains, and fit to command armies,' Gustavus had once declared to a French envoy.

However, the Swedes also carried with them a healthy number of artillery units, which Gustavus would use to great effect in his overwhelming defeat of Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, at the Battle of Breitenfeld, near Leipzig. Now commanding a force of around 40,000, including a newly arrived force of Saxons, Gustavus was able to fully utilise his innovative battlefield strategy.

By combining his resources into self-supporting, co-ordinated attacks, bringing together cavalry, infantry and artillery, he was able to outmanoeuvre Tilly and entirely destroy his 30,000-strong army. Gustavus had effectively codified this new deployment of gunpowder units, which were still primitive at the time, moving them around the battlefield in a flexible manner to respond to the enemy's movements.

For a short time it seemed as though fate was finally smiling on the Protestant cause. In the King of Sweden, those opposed to the Catholic powers had finally found their champion who, unlike Christian of Denmark, could deliver victory. History, however, tells a different story.

Ever since he received his wounds on the battlefields of the 1620s, the King had declined to wear his full armour in the field, and the morning of 6 November 1631 was no different. 'God is my I armour,' Gustavus declared with characteristic zeal and indifference to the perils that lay ahead. The Swedish army now faced the mighty imperial general Wallenstein - a gifted strategist and the Emperor Ferdinand Il's ruthless Catholic enforcer - at the Battle of Lutzen. At

A final peace

The Treaty of Altmark saw the end of Sweden's series of campaigns against Poland. Though they left most of Prussia, the Swedes maintained control over crucial port towns.

25 September 1629

Around midday Gustavus lead a cavalry charge against Wallenstein's left flank, in an attempt to break it and divert pressure away from his infantry's attack in the centre.

However, in the confusion of the lingering mist and gunpowder smoke, the King and his escort became separated from the main force. Gustavus, already severely wounded in the arm by a pistol shot, turned to a member of his entourage and said: 'Lead me out of the tumult, for I am hurt.' As the group attempted to return to their lines, the King was shot in the back and he fell from his horse, which abandoned him. His luck had finally run out and he had earned the heroic death that he had seemingly so desired.

Gustavus' body was eventually found stripped, mutilated and left lying in the cold mud. Though many soldiers panicked on seeing the King's horse fleeing rider-less, the Swedish captains, whom Gustavus had put such faith in, were able to rally them and the battle was won, though in reality this victory was hollow. The Swedes had lost their chief and the Protestant cause had lost its champion. During his relatively short reign, Gustavus had made Sweden a great power in Europe and had single-handedly turned the tide of the 30 Years War that, arguably, may

Only have been half this length had he lived.

His brilliant tactical acumen 1 and leadership even earned him recognition from Napoleon some 200 years later, who placed him among the greatest generals the world had seen - in the company of Alexander the Great, Hannibal and Julius Caesar - and undoubtedly there is no fitter place for Gustavus Adolphus.

Defining moment