Zusmarshausen, May 17, 1648

Above: A portion of an engraving depicting the fighting at Zusmarshausen, a sharp rear-guard action on May 17, 1648, that was the last relatively large engagement between field armies in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War. Source: Above: A portion of an engraving depicting the fighting at Zusmarshausen, a sharp rear-guard action on May 17, 1648, that was the last relatively large engagement between field armies in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War. Source: 

Above: A portion of an engraving depicting the fighting at Zusmarshausen, a sharp rear-guard action on May 17, 1648, that was the last relatively large engagement between field armies in Germany during the Thirty Years’ War. Source:

Above: A portion of an engraving depicting the fighting in the sharp rear-guard action at Zusmarshausen, the last relatively large engagement between field armies in Germany during the final phase of the Thirty Years' War. Source:
 

Osten, Carl Henricus de, and Cornelius von dem Busch. Schleunige oder geschwinde Action vnd Treffen, so zwischen der Kayserl. Armee vnter dem Command. des Herrn Gen. vnd Feldmars. Graff Holtzapfell, vnd gegentheils Schwed. vnter dem Command. des Herrn Gen. vnd Feldmars. Wrangels Exell. den 7. May 1648 fürgangen. Theatrum Europaeum, Oder Außführliche Und Warhafftige Beschreibung Aller Und Jeder Denckwürdiger Geschichten, so Sich Hin Und Wieder in Der Welt, Fürnemblich Aber in Europa Und Teutschlanden, Sowol Im Religion- Als Prophan-Wesen, Vom Jahr Christi ... Biß Auff Das Jahr ... Exclus. ... Sich Zugetragen. - Beschrieben Durch Ioannem Philippum Abelinum. [Frankfurt am Main]: [Merian’s Erben], 1700. 

Zusmarshausen was a victory of the Franco-Swedes, commanded by Turenne and Wrangel, over the Imperialists and Bavarians, commanded by Melander and Gronsfeld. The cooperation of Turenne, a Frenchman, and Wrangel, a Swede, is the subject of one of the essays in Turenne et l'art militaire, described in my last post. That essay: Gyllenstierna, Col. E. “Henri de Turenne et Charles Gustave Wrangel: Stratégie et tactique pendant les dernières années de la Guerre de Trente Ans,” written by a Swedish military historian, largely minimizes the very real differences between the two. The late Will Guthrie, in the second volume of his history, provides in my opinion a better, more critical account (of course he was not addressing a colloquium in Paris). But then, victory tends to smooth differences. Moreover, Guthrie's account focuses largely on the battle and stresses by contrast the poisonous relationship of Melander and Gronsfeld, good soldiers who were no match for their gifted adversaries.