title: Battle of Herbsthausen
text: # Battle of Herbsthausen
  
  vteThirty Years' War :
  
  Bohemian Revolt (1618–1620)
  
  Pilsen
  
  Lomnice
  
  Sablat
  
  Wisternitz
  
  Bautzen
  
  White Mountain
  
  Neu Titschein
  
  Palatinate campaign (1620–1623)
  
  Bad Kreuznach
  
  Oppenheim
  
  Bacharach
  
  Jülich
  
  Mingolsheim
  
  Wimpfen
  
  Höchst
  
  Bergen op Zoom
  
  Heidelberg
  
  Fleurus
  
  Mannheim
  
  Frankenthal
  
  Stadtlohn
  
  Transylvanian invasions of Hungary (1619–1621, 1623–1624, 1626)
  
  Humenné
  
  Érsekújvár
  
  Tyrnau [de]
  
  Hodonín
  
  Vlach uprisings
  
  Danish intervention (1625–1629)
  
  Breda
  
  Dessau Bridge
  
  Oldenzaal
  
  Lutter am Barenberge
  
  Groenlo
  
  Stralsund
  
  Wolgast
  
  's-Hertogenbosch
  
  Swedish intervention (1630–1635)
  
  Swedish landing
  
  Frankfurt
  
  Magdeburg
  
  Werben
  
  1st Breitenfeld
  
  Bamberg
  
  Rain
  
  Maastricht
  
  Nuremberg
  
  Wiesloch
  
  Alte Veste
  
  Fürth
  
  Lützen
  
  Oldendorf
  
  Pfaffenhofen
  
  Steinau
  
  Konstanz
  
  1st Breisach
  
  1st Rheinfelden
  
  Liegnitz [de]
  
  1st Nördlingen
  
  Strasbourg Bridge
  
  Swedish-French Period (1635–1648)
  
  Les Avins
  
  Leuven
  
  Schenkenschans
  
  Ray-sur-Saône
  
  Dömitz [de]
  
  Haselünne [de]
  
  Raon
  
  Tornavento
  
  2nd Magdeburg
  
  Somme
  
  Wittstock
  
  2nd Breda
  
  Venlo
  
  Leipzig
  
  Hanau
  
  2nd Rheinfelden
  
  Saint Omer
  
  Fuenterrabía
  
  Kallo
  
  Wittenweiher [de]
  
  Thann [de]
  
  Vlotho
  
  2nd Breisach
  
  1st Freiberg
  
  Chemnitz
  
  Melnik
  
  Thionville
  
  Salses
  
  Cambrils
  
  Montjuïc
  
  Preßnitz
  
  Plauen
  
  La Marfée
  
  Dorsten
  
  Wolfenbüttel
  
  Kempen
  
  Honnecourt
  
  Schweidnitz
  
  2nd Breitenfeld
  
  2nd Freiberg
  
  Rocroi
  
  Tuttlingen
  
  Kolding
  
  Freiburg
  
  Philippsburg
  
  Jüterbog
  
  Bysjön
  
  Jankau
  
  Mergentheim
  
  2nd Nördlingen
  
  3rd Hulst
  
  Brünn [de]
  
  Korneuburg [de]
  
  Totenhöhe [de]
  
  Hohentübingen [de]
  
  Triebl
  
  Naples
  
  Zusmarshausen
  
  Wevelinghoven
  
  Lens
  
  Dachau [de]
  
  Prague
  
  Naval battles
  
  Gibraltar
  
  Genoa
  
  The Slaak
  
  1st Saint Martin
  
  Lizard Point
  
  Dunkirk
  
  Calais
  
  The Downs
  
  Cape St. Vincent
  
  2nd Saint Martin
  
  Lister Dyb
  
  Colberger Heide
  
  Fehmarn :
  
  $_{Treaties}$ :
  
  The Battle of Herbsthausen, also known as the Battle of Mergentheim, took place near Bad Mergentheim, in the modern German state of Baden-Württemberg. Fought on 5 May 1645, during the Thirty Years War, it featured a French army led by Turenne, defeated by a Bavarian force under Franz von Mercy.
  
  In February 1645, Mercy detached 5,000 of his veteran Bavarian cavalry to support the Imperial army in Bohemia, most of whom were lost in the defeat at Jankau on 6 March. Thereafter, he avoided battle until he had assembled enough troops, then surprised Turenne at Herbsthausen on 5 May. The inexperienced French infantry quickly disintegrated and suffered over 4,400 casualties, compared to Bavarian losses of 600.
  
  Despite his victory, Mercy was unable to gain a clear strategic advantage and was killed at Second Nördlingen in August. Although fighting continued, both sides accepted their inability to impose a military solution and stepped up the negotiations that ultimately concluded with the 1648 Peace of Westphalia.
  
  ## Background
  
  The Thirty Years War began in 1618 when the Protestant dominated Bohemian Estates offered the Crown of Bohemia to fellow Protestant Frederick V of the Palatinate, rather than the Catholic Emperor Ferdinand II. However, most members of the Holy Roman Empire remained neutral, and the revolt was quickly suppressed, while in 1621 a Catholic League army invaded the Palatinate and sent Frederick into exile.
  
  His replacement as ruler of the strategically vital Palatinate by the Catholic Maximilian of Bavaria changed the nature and extent of the war. It drew in Protestant German states like Saxony and Brandenburg-Prussia, as well as external powers like Denmark-Norway. In 1630, Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden invaded Pomerania, partly to support his Protestant co-religionists, but also to control the Baltic trade which provided much of Sweden's income.
  
  Swedish intervention continued after Gustavus was killed in 1632, but their objectives increasingly conflicted with those of other Protestant Imperial states like Saxony, as well as regional rivals such as Denmark. Following Sweden's defeat at Nördlingen in 1634, most of their German allies made peace with Emperor Ferdinand II in the 1635 Treaty of Prague. The war lost much of its religious nature and became another chapter in the long-standing rivalry between the Habsburg emperors and France, which was supported by Sweden and George Rákóczi, Prince of Transylvania.
  
  Ferdinand III, who succeeded his father in 1637, agreed to peace talks in 1643, but ordered his diplomats to delay since he stilled hoped for a military solution. However, in 1644 the Swedes defeated the Danes, who re-entered the war as an Imperial ally, then destroyed an Imperial army in Saxony. Despite victory at Freiburg in August 1644, the Bavarians under Franz von Mercy were unable to prevent the French capturing Philippsburg, and occupying Lorraine. Mercy withdrew into Franconia, and established winter quarters at Heilbronn.
  
  In 1645, Swedish commander Lennart Torstensson proposed a three part attack on Vienna, to compel Ferdinand III to agree terms. While the French advanced into Bavaria, Rákóczi would join forces with the Swedes in Bohemia, who would then move against Vienna. Mercy sent 5,000 veteran Bavarian cavalry under Johann von Werth to reinforce the Imperial army in Bohemia, which was heavily defeated at Jankau on 6 March.
  
  Armies of this period relied on foraging, both for men and the draught animals essential for transport, and cavalry; by 1645, the countryside was devastated by years of constant warfare, and units spent much of their time finding supplies. This limited operations and materially impacted the battle, since Turenne had widely distributed his army in order to support themselves. Of his 9,000 soldiers, 3,000 never made it onto the battlefield, while many others arrived too late to influence the outcome.
  
  ## Battle
  
  Victory at Jankau seemed to provide an opportunity to knock Bavaria out of the war, and French chief minister Cardinal Mazarin ordered Turenne to bring the Bavarians to battle. Mercy evaded him until he had more troops and after a month of counter-marching, the French were exhausted and short of supplies; in mid-April, Turenne halted and distributed his army between Rothenburg and Bad Mergentheim while he awaited reinforcements from Hesse-Kassel; most of the veteran French infantry had been lost at Freiburg and Turenne did not yet trust his new recruits.
  
  Although only 1,500 of Werth's 5,000 cavalry returned from Bohemia, Mercy gathered 9,650 men and nine guns at Feuchtwangen, and marched north on 2 May. By the evening of the 4th, they were two kilometres from Herbsthausen, a small village south-east of Bad Mergentheim. They made contact with French cavalry patrols under Rosen around 2:00 am; Turenne ordered Rosen to position his cavalry on the right, while Schmidberg assembled the infantry along the edge of a wood overlooking the main road.
  
  Taken by surprise, Turenne was unable to deploy his guns, while 3,000 of the 9,000 troops in the area did not arrive at all. The Bavarian artillery opened fire, splinters and branches from the trees increasing its effectiveness, and Mercy ordered a general advance. As was common with inexperienced troops, the French infantry opened fire at too great a distance, and dissolved in panic. Turenne led a cavalry charge that scattered Werth's veterans, and fought his way out with 150 others, reaching Hanau in southern Hesse. The infantry was forced to surrender, along with the garrison at Mergentheim, and 1,500 cavalry; Rosen and Schmidberg were taken prisoner, while total French casualties amounted to 4,400. The Bavarians lost 600.
  
  ## Aftermath
  
  Most modern descriptions suggest Turenne was simply taken by surprise, but many nineteenth century French writers blamed Rosen for the defeat. Described as a "better soldier than general", in 1647 Rosen was arrested by Turenne for mutiny and only released after 14 months. Although victory restored Imperial morale after the defeat at Jankau, it left the strategic position largely unchanged. Condé, victor of Rocroi, assumed command, and by early July had some 23,000 men.
  
  Mercy returned to Heilbronn, where he received 4,500 men from Ferdinand of Cologne, bringing his army up to 16,000. The Bavarian once again demonstrated his ability to out manoeuvre his opponents, but on 3 August was killed at the battle of Second Nördlingen. Despite their victory, the French had also suffered heavy losses and by the end of the year were back where they started, while in September the Swedes agreed a six month truce with John George of Saxony. Both sides accepted a military solution was no longer possible, and in October they recommenced peace negotiations.
  
  