Class Jl)2=_44-. 
 BookJiAm 
 
 Copyright N° 
 
 COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 
 
GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS. 
 
Gustavus Adolphus 
 in Germany 
 
 FROM THE GERMAN 
 
 Loui Lalk Weinstein 
 
 Reformation Series, Vol. II. 
 
 1906 
 
 The German Literary Board 
 
 burlington, ia. 
 
LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
 Two Copies Received 
 
 NOV 8 1906 
 
 - Gogyright Entry 
 CLASS /\ XXc„No, 
 CC/PY B. 
 
 J)x4 
 ■Ws- 
 
 COPYRIGHT 1906 
 
 By R. Neumann, Burlington. Ia. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 I. In the Chamber of the Queen 5 
 
 II. A Retrospect 16 
 
 III. In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 23 
 
 IV. Gustavus Adolphus' Army; Departure From 
 
 Sweden and Arrival in Germany 37 
 
 V. Progress in Germany 48 
 
 VI. The Fall of Magdeburg 56 
 
 VII. The Encampment on the Elbe and the Alli- 
 ance with Saxony 67 
 
 VIII. The Battle at Breitenfeld 75 
 
 IX. Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March 
 Through Thuringia, Franconia and 
 
 Bavaria 82 
 
 X. Wallenstein Again General in Chief. The 
 
 Fortress at Nuremberg 100 
 
 XI. The Battle at Luetzen Ill 
 
 XII. In the Royal Church at Wittenberg 121 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany, 
 
 I. 
 
 In the Chamber of the Queen, 
 
 I 
 
 T was Sunday afternoon toward the end of January 
 in the year 1630. The stillness of winter reigned 
 on the parks and streets of Stockholm; the fast-fall- 
 ing snowflakes veiled the outlook into the distance 
 and brought a premature twilight, which was felt even 
 in the apartments of the castle, although it occupied 
 an elevated position. 
 
 In muffled strokes the bells announced four 
 o'clock, here and there in the village houses faint lights 
 already began to glimmer. 
 
 In the forepart of the castle with its beautiful 
 view of the many cliffs and bays, far out to the break- 
 ers of the Baltic sea, we find the boudoir of the queen. 
 Marie Eleanor was born a princess of Brandenburg, 
 and for ten years had been the wife of Gustavus Adol- 
 phus, king of Sweden. Neither convenience nor poli- 
 tics, but genuine love had formed this union, and pre- 
 served it pure, sincere and holy, — a good model for 
 the people of all ranks and classes. 
 
 According to his daily custom when affairs of 
 
 5 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 state did not interfere, the king on this day paid a 
 visit to his wife in her apartments. They had engaged 
 in pleasant conversation. Now the queen was busy 
 with embroidery, while the king read from a plainly 
 bound book which he had carried in his hand when he 
 entered the room. 
 
 A Sabbath afternoon ! What peace is not found 
 in those hours ! The precious word of God, to which 
 we have listened, elevates and hallows mind and soul, 
 leaving its blessing with us through all the following 
 week. 
 
 The shadows of twilight gradually grew deeper 
 in the room; the flickering fire in the grate sent a 
 longer and rosier reflection across the dark carpet. 
 The queen was obliged to drop her work; the king, 
 however, continued reading from the little book, al- 
 beit with strained eyes. 
 
 The queen touched a silver hand-bell. It was 
 the summons for the servant to bring the candles. 
 While she herself remained in her easy chair, the 
 king moved to the table near the fire place, that he 
 might proceed with his reading. 
 
 The queen now had the opportunity quietly to 
 observe her beloved husband. Her eyes rested with 
 approval on him. What a handsome man ! He was 
 of powerful stature; his large blue eyes expressed 
 sovereignty and gentleness. His face was oval and 
 
In the Chamber of the Queen. 
 
 blond, his short, thick hair was light. His large slightly 
 aquiline nose gave him a somewhat determined look, 
 an impression heightened by his pointed beard. Dig- 
 nity and gentleness were combined in the poise and 
 movements of the king. 
 
 The somewhat sudden smiling and gentle nodding 
 of her beloved husband attracted the queen's atten- 
 tion. 
 
 "May I ask," she said "what so absorbs your at- 
 tention and interest? 
 
 She approached him, laid her arm on his shoulder, 
 and cast a hasty glance into the book. 
 
 "Autobiographical notes of my blessed father, 
 king Carl IX" he read, "short reports of state and 
 family affairs, thoughts and aphorisms." "It must 
 also contain humorous incidents," said the queen, "for 
 you were laughing over it." 
 
 "And not without reason," answered the king; 
 "hear for yourself what my father wrote." — He read: 
 
 "On the 9th of December, 1594, at eight o'clock 
 in the morning, there was born to me by my second 
 wife, Christina, princess of Holstein-Gottorp, at the 
 castle of Stockholm, a son, who in holy baptism re- 
 ceived the name of Gustavus Adolphus. More than 
 ten years previous, the celebrated Astrologist and 
 Mathematician, Tycho de Brahe, read in the heavens, 
 that a new star, discovered in Cassiopia, denoted a 
 
 T 
 
Gustavus Adolphus %n Germany. 
 
 great prince, born in the north, who, as the lion of 
 the midnight, would perform wonderful deeds, and 
 would rescue the Protestant Church from the power of 
 Rome. O merciful Lord and Master! Shall this 
 mercy, perhaps fall to the lot of my new-born son?" 
 The king was silent a moment. Then he said: 
 "My dear, good father" ; and, laying his hand on the 
 page, he leaned back in his chair. 
 
 "But has not this prophecy, in part at least, been 
 fulfilled"? said the queen tenderly. "Have you not 
 become a great prince in the north?" 
 
 A faint smile spread over the king's face. 
 "And moreover," continued the queen, "your 
 father's own prophecy, frequently made, when his 
 council endeavored to persuade him to great under- 
 takings, and with a wave of the hand he pointed to 
 you and said: Tile faciei/ ! (He will do it)— has 
 this not been fulfilled? Speak for yourself, have you 
 not during your reign of eighteen years conducted 
 great wars with Russia, Poland and Denmark; en- 
 hanced the power and prestige of your house and 
 your kingdom ; increased the welfare of your coun- 
 try and people, promoted right and justice by wise 
 laws and measures, and made for yourself a great 
 name with friend and foe?" 
 The king heaved a sigh. 
 
 "Consequently you should be content with your 
 8 
 
In the Chamber of the Queen. 
 
 efforts," continued the queen, "and enjoy the long- 
 desired rest in your kingdom, and live henceforth only 
 for your child and me." 
 
 The king arose. With his hands folded behind 
 him he paced the room. 
 
 Halting before the queen he said earnestly : "And 
 yet not everything is done, that my father desired. 
 The key-stone is still wanting in my structure, but," — 
 raising his eyes toward heaven, he said with a clear, 
 bold, and determined voice : "I will yet put it in place." 
 
 "Only not with sword in the bloody turmoil of 
 battle !" argued the queen. Taking his hand, she said : 
 "O, enough, enough of the care and anxiety, which 
 you fiery, untamed giant of the north have caused 
 me!" 
 
 The king clasped the beloved wife in his arms. 
 
 "Has not the strong hand of God often rescued 
 you from imminent danger?" said she, raising to him 
 in faithful, conjugal love eyes that were moist with 
 tears. "On Widsjo sea it was, in fierce fight against 
 the Danes, in the stormy night when the ice broke 
 under your horse and you fell into the deep water. 
 The brave rider, Jacob Ericson, saved you at the risk 
 of his own life. Then again" — 
 
 "Jacob Ericson !" exclaimed the king, visibly 
 affected at the recollection of this plain man's heroic 
 deed. "I bestowed upon him a farm at Igelstadt. He 
 
 9 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 has prospered, I hear; he has doubtless grown old 
 and has thrifty sons and daughters, who have mar- 
 ried well. Remind me of him occasionally, Eleanor, 
 that we may visit brave Ericson in his village some 
 day." 
 
 The queen did not answer; her thoughts dwelt 
 on the dangers to which the king had exposed him- 
 self. 
 
 "Then again, it was three years ago in a siege 
 against the Poles," she hastily continued. "You had 
 attacked their camp, seized their luggage, victory was 
 assured you. But while at the head of a detachment 
 of infantry a musket ball wounded you in the shoul- 
 der. Had it struck you a few inches lower it would 
 have pierced your heart. You were carried to Dir- 
 shau. There for a long time, you lay, in a strange 
 land on a lonely bed of pain. O, that I might have 
 been near you and nursed you !" 
 
 "Enough, enough, Eleanor," cried the king, 
 "these reminiscences excite you too much. Neverthe- 
 less it is a monarch's most sacred duty to precede his 
 men fearlessly in battle. Then the soldiers ignore 
 any and every danger, while without a courageous 
 leader the largest armies never reap fame, never make 
 great conquests." 
 
 "And was it otherwise at the Liebe river in 
 Poland?" said the queen, in a tone of tender reproach. 
 
 10 
 
In the Chamber of the Queen. 
 
 ''Even there you would have been lost had not the 
 squadron of Erich Soop apprehended your dangerous 
 position in time and rescued you from the clutches 
 of the enemy." 
 
 "And yet some day it may come to me" said the 
 king pensively, almost in an undertone. 
 
 "God forbid, God forbid" cried the queen, em- 
 bracing her husband as though never, never to part 
 from him. 
 
 The king tried bravely to conceal his anxiety. 
 
 "You will not escape me to-day," said the faith- 
 ful spouse ; "and if a secret grief oppresses you — 
 O, pour it out to me ! Yes, I claim my right to it. 
 Did I not swear at the altar to share with you joy and 
 sorrow?" 
 
 "What need is there of many words when you 
 know — ," he stopped abruptly, propped both hands 
 on the table, and thoughtfully drooped his head. 
 
 "It offended you" said the queen candidly "that 
 the German emperor rendered the Poles assistance 
 against you, and that on your remonstrance against 
 such procedure, the arrogant Wallenstein sent you 
 the contemptuous answer: "The emperor has soldiers 
 enough cheerfully to supply his threatened neighbors 
 and friends with them." 
 
 "Go on, Eleanor, go on," said the king, brooding 
 thoughtfully. 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 "Wallenstein's occupation of the Mecklenburger 
 dukedom does not suit you." 
 
 "Never will I consent to it" cried the king in 
 quickly rising anger, "that the German cities on the 
 Baltic and the North sea should become the haunts 
 for the Hapsburger pirates." 
 
 "The rejection of your embassadors from the 
 peace negotiations at Lubeck" — 
 
 "Was against all international law!" stormed the 
 king, "an affront which I shall never forget. And 
 never that Wallenstein, as I am correctly informed, 
 wrote to General Arnim concerning the Stralsunder 
 affair, that he wanted nothing to do with Sweden, be- 
 cause there is nothing but lying and deceit." 
 
 "The ruffian" said the queen excited, while Gus- 
 tavus resumed his pacing. 
 
 "A dangerous neighbor at sea" she added. "One 
 who if he deemed it expedient, would blockade the 
 Swedish coast, and finally burn the houses over our 
 heads, did I not devise ways and means to avert this 
 danger," said the king with emotion. 
 
 Collecting himself, he stood before his wife, took 
 her hand and said : 
 
 "My father earnestly advised me to dwell in 
 peace with the Evangelical princes of Germany, and to 
 promote the cause of the Lutheran confession to the 
 best of my ability, that it become a power and a strong- 
 
 12 
 
In the Chamber of the Queen. 
 
 hold for all who are persecuted on account of their 
 faith. He often said, 'Listen favorably to those who 
 seek thy help, and do not let them go away uncom- 
 forted.' Eleanor, you know me! I could bear the 
 insults offered me by the emperor and his field-mar- 
 shal, if the peace and welfare of my kingdom 
 demanded it. But it were a sin, a crime, longer to 
 ignore the fact that Austria persecutes my German 
 fellow-believers, or to permit her, urged on by the 
 arts and deceits of the Jesuits, at last to put her heavy 
 foot also upon the free neck of the Lutheran Swedes. 
 Time presses. In the enemy's camp they are much 
 more active than we are. The emperor has taken a 
 bold, outrageous step. By the Restitution-Edict he 
 demands that all bishoprics and parishes, that have 
 been confiscated since the Religious Peace of Passau 
 in 1552 should be returned by the Evangelicals! To 
 every Catholic prince has been granted the right to 
 force his subjects to adopt his faith. Those who pro- 
 test, yes, even those who delay are threatened with 
 the ban of the Empire. Eleanor, that cuts deep into 
 the flesh of Saxony, Brandenburg, Holstein and Pom- 
 merania ; for there are the former episcopal duke- 
 doms of Magdeburg — ha, this one, like Stralsund 
 defended itself manfully against Wallenstein, and 
 proved itself a perfect tower of strength — then 
 Bremen, Halberstadt, Minden, Verden, Luneberg, 
 
 13 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 Ratzeburg, Kammin, Brandeburg, Havelburg, Mer- 
 seberg, Raumburg and Meissen. Can there be any- 
 thing worse than such persecution? And is not every 
 king and ruler to be despised, if, bound by the same 
 religious faith to the persecuted, he carelessly looks 
 on this miserable play while his arm is strong and 
 free?" 
 
 The queen gazed at her husband with luminous 
 eyes. 
 
 "Depend on it" continued the king after a 
 moment, "it is no child's play in which I voluntarily 
 engage. But my cause is a good and just one; the 
 Lord will be with me, of that I am convinced. And 
 the Lord is my judge, that I do not take this step to 
 acquire vain glory, but to save Protestant freedom, 
 even though I sacrifice my possessions and my blood, 
 my liberty and my life ! You are a German, Eleanor, 
 your faith is my faith! It is sorely tried. For the 
 sake of this precious gift we must despise all earthly 
 possessions. Thus I expect you also to be strong! 
 Will you be, Eleanor?" 
 
 "Yes," said the queen smiling amid tears, and 
 offered him her hand. 
 
 A fair, curly-haired head now peered through the 
 It was their only child, princess Christine, at 
 
 door. 
 
 this time four years old. 
 
 14 
 
In the Chamber of the Queen. 
 
 "May I come papa, mama?" she asked, before 
 entering. 
 
 The king hastened toward her, took her up, and 
 placed her in the arms of her mother. 
 
 15 
 
n. 
 
 A Retrospect. 
 
 For almost twelve years war had raged in Ger- 
 many. In Bohemia where it began, the first act of 
 the great tragedy was quickly brought to a close by 
 the defeat of the king, Frederick V of the Palatinate, 
 who had been elected by the Bohemians. While he 
 wandered through Germany, homeless and despised, 
 the Spaniards overran the Palatinate and devastated 
 it terribly. 
 
 Tis true, the unfortunate king of Bohemia found 
 defenders of his cause, but being too weak to with- 
 stand the secret power of the Roman Catholic league, 
 at whose head the arch-duke Max of Bavaria stood, 
 one leader after another succumbed. 
 
 So Austria was practically saved by the league. 
 Out of gratitude, the emperor Ferdinand II leased 
 to the Bavarian the now rulerless upper Palatinate, 
 although in secret he was envious of the good fortune 
 of this Wittelsbacher duke, and of his ever-widening 
 influence in Germany. 
 
 Tilly, the League general, on the 6th of August 
 1623 dealt the brave partisan, duke Christian of Bruns- 
 wick, a severe blow, at the city of Lohn in Miinster; 
 
 IB 
 
A Retrospect. 
 
 and by this means deprived the adventurous Count 
 Mansfield of the opportunity of further enterprises. 
 
 Then it was that king Christian IV of Denmark, 
 who was at the same time duke of Holstein, was 
 appointed commander in chief of the lower Saxony 
 dukedoms and cities. In harmony with the duke of 
 Brunswick and the count of Mansfield he offered new 
 defiance to the emperor. Now lower Saxony became 
 the seat of war, and while as Dullen says : "the indi- 
 vidual rabid partisans passed through the German 
 countries like destroying angels, with bloody swords 
 in the glare of crackling flames, leaving ruins and the 
 lamentations and curses of the people in their wake, 
 the most powerful countries in Europe, Holland, Eng- 
 land and France remained in the background, threat- 
 ening the emperor." 
 
 In the latter country Cardinal Richelieu was at 
 this time the influential minister. It was his main 
 ambition to destroy the power of Hapsburg in Ger- 
 many and Spain, and to place the control of both these 
 Kingdoms into the hands of France. 
 
 Thus threatened on all sides, and unwilling again 
 to put himself into the hands of the league and the 
 arch-duke of Bavaria, the emperor determined to col- 
 lect an army of his own. But for this both money and 
 generals were wanting. 
 
 A Bohemian nobleman, Albrecht von Waldstein 
 17 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 or Wallenstein, also called the Friedlander on account 
 of his large estate of Friedland in Bohemia, offered 
 the emperor an army of 50,000 men. Naturally Fer- 
 dinand did not refuse this offer. At once Wallen- 
 stein 's recruiting drum sounded through Germany, and 
 in a short time the proffered army, composed of hire- 
 lings and servants of every clime and creed, gathered 
 under the Friedlander's flag. 
 
 Wallenstein was the only man to regain for the 
 emperor and the Catholic church its former prestige 
 and power. 
 
 His very nature, his powerful figure, his princely 
 bearing, his dark mysterious glance, commanded 
 respect in the hearts of the troops, while the reports 
 of his secret arts at once inspired dread and the cer- 
 tainty of victory. 
 
 He soon appeared on the field of battle, and at 
 once attacked Count Mansfield on the bridge spanning 
 the Elbe at Dessau. While he pursued him shortly 
 after as far as Hungary, Tilly had the good fortune 
 to defeat King Christian of Denmark at Lutter (6th 
 of May 1626). One result of this victory was the 
 subjection of lower Saxony to the imperial power. 
 
 Wallenstein now quickly appeared on the Ger- 
 man coast, stationed himself in Mecklenburg, expelled 
 the Lutheran dukes from the land, and as security for 
 
 18 
 
A Retrospect. 
 
 his expenses in the war, he had the emperor bestow 
 upon him both dukedoms. 
 
 The Friediander now proudly and defiantly raised 
 his head, he felt himself as high-born as the emperor, 
 and directed and governed him as he pleased. He 
 looked upon Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, as 
 dangerous. To protect himself from him he desired 
 to garrison Pomerania. For this purpose the strong 
 town of Stralsund was of great importance. He 
 demanded therefore of the citizens free passage for his 
 army, and as they refused, threatened them with fire 
 and the sword, only to meet with ridicule. 
 
 He besieged the city on the 13th of May 1628. 
 Had it fallen into his hands the defenders would cer- 
 tainly have met a terrible fate. But the brave Stral- 
 sunders had sworn to fight to the last man, and cour- 
 ageously maintained the defense. They had a firm 
 friend in the background. The king, Gustavus Adol- 
 phus of Sweden, who at this time was stationed on the 
 Rhede at Dantzig in war with Poland, assisted them 
 secretly with powder, lead, and even with soldiers. 
 Wallenstein, becoming more and more determined, 
 swore to take Stralsund even though it were chained 
 to heaven. 
 
 He did not take it, however, but was obliged to 
 retreat on the 3rd of August. 
 
 With his eyes always directed on Sweden he now 
 
 19 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 caused the emperor to conclude peace with the Danish 
 king at Lubeck, and by sending a relief corps into 
 Poland harassed Sweden in its hard struggle against 
 this nation. 
 
 The emperor at this time, March, 1629, had 
 already issued the previously mentioned Restitution 
 edict. Imperial and league soldiers, scornfully called 
 "Salvationists" by the people, carried out its tyrannical 
 commands with infamous barbarity; primarily, how- 
 ever, only in South Germany, because the emperor 
 needed the services of the dukes of Saxony and Bran- 
 denburg in order to secure for his son, Ferdinand, the 
 royal crown of Rome. 
 
 In Augsburg this change of faith was enforced 
 with swords on the 8th of August 1629. Here the 
 Evangelical population l©st its religious liberty ; seven 
 churches within the city and two outside; their gym- 
 nasium, which was immediately occupied by the Jes- 
 uits ; their schools, hospitals and nurseries were given 
 over to the Catholics. The children of Evangelical 
 parents were forced into the churches, and compelled 
 to become Catholics. All praying and singing was 
 forbidden in Evangelical homes. The Protestants 
 were excluded from the council ; they were not allowed 
 to marry without having heard mass. Without mass 
 no apprentice could become master, and attendance at 
 Catholic churches was demanded of all under penalty 
 
 20 
 
A Retrospect. 
 
 of exile. This injustice was perpetrated under the 
 pretext of restoring to the bishop of Eichstadt, the 
 rights he had in Augsburg in the year 1548, without 
 regard to the religious treaty of 1555. 
 
 The Jesuits soon stretched out their greedy hands 
 toward certain cities of north Germany. Magdeburg 
 stubbornly resisted and thereby, like Stralsund, ac- 
 quired title to a civic crown. 
 
 Wallenstein's residence was at Giistrow in Meck- 
 lenburg. Here he conceived dark plans for the increase 
 of his power, and the humiliation of Germany, while 
 his unbridled soldiers scattered over lower Saxony 
 and the coast of the Baltic sea, lived at the expense 
 of the countries of friend and foe, and were guilty of 
 all sorts of vandalism and crime. 
 
 Louder and louder the lamentations and com- 
 plaints of the oppressed rang in the emperor's ear. 
 Above all other German dukes it was the archduke, 
 Max of Bavaria, who had long been jealous of Wal- 
 lenstein's unlimited power in the empire, who now 
 used this opportunity to cause Wallenstein's downfall. 
 
 In the Reichstag at Regensburg in the summer 
 of 1630 the Friedlander's removal was decided on. 
 The emperor Ferdinand protested solemnly against 
 the consequences of this measure. He wanted to be 
 innocent before God and man of the disaster that was 
 certain to ensue. But the Bavarian pressed him hard, 
 
 21 
 
Uustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 referred with threats to the power of the league ; and 
 as Saxony and Brandenburg too insisted on the with- 
 drawal of Wallenstein, the emperor finally signed the 
 document. He was now again in the hands of the 
 league and his son Ferdinand was not made king of 
 Rome. 
 
 At this time Wallenstein occupied Memmingen 
 with a rather strong division of troops. The news 
 of his removal reached him here. Apparently indif- 
 ferent to his defeat he withdrew to his Bohemian 
 estates. In his stead the aged Tilly was made com- 
 mander of the army of imperialists and leaguers, 
 which still numbered about 70,000 men, after a part 
 of it had been discharged, and another had gone over 
 to the Swedes, who after landing in Germany took 
 town after town in Pomerania, Mecklenburg and 
 Brandenburg. 
 
 Although the emperor Ferdinand at the appear- 
 ance of Gustavus Adolphus in Germany said: "There 
 we've got one little enemy more," and the Jesuits were 
 of the opinion that "this snow-king would soon melt 
 in the sun of his imperial majesty," yet the further 
 execution of the Restitution-edict was temporarily 
 arrested. 
 
 We have meanwhile anticipated the course of our 
 narrative, and will in the next chapter give an account 
 of events omitted. 
 
 22 
 
in. 
 
 In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 
 
 A few weeks after the conversation between the 
 king and queen, which we reproduced in the first chap- 
 ter, Gustavus Adolphus appointed a time for the diet. 
 
 The passionate desire to bring help and salvation 
 to the oppressed Evangelicals in Germany grew 
 stronger and more consuming; it absorbed his whole 
 soul. 
 
 The king had previously taken his chancellor and 
 friend Axel Oxenstjerna into his cabinet. The two had 
 often had in mind an expedition to Germany, and dis- 
 cussed it, but never as yet fully and satisfactorily. 
 
 "I expect candor from you, Axel/' said the king. 
 
 "Which I have never denied you," he answered. 
 
 "You know the question before us to-day. Speak." 
 
 "In consideration of our weak force and the 
 strength of our enemy, I disapprove of an attack." 
 
 "Ha !" cried he king, starting from his chair, 
 "Pomerania and the sea-coast are like bastions for 
 Sweden ! That is our security and our superiority 
 over the emperor." 
 
 "But how shall such a mighty war be carried on ? 
 It will be impossible for Sweden to bear the enormous 
 
 23 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 expense alone. Of course I know that one can buy 
 soldiers, but I know also how unreliable they are, and 
 how prone to mutiny at the slightest provocation. 
 The imperialists extort from all German states im- 
 mense sums for the maintenance of their army ; the 
 soldiers live at the expense of the countries which they 
 conquer. But we could never do that, since we shall 
 leave Sweden only in order to liberate, and not to 
 subjugate Germany. In my opinion it were more 
 advisable to wait — and the time is not far distant — 
 until the emperor attacks us." 
 
 "Axel, Axel," exclaimed the king, "you forget 
 that the advantage is for the most part on the side of 
 the aggressor, especially if one strides rapidly over 
 the neck of the enemy, and does not allow him to catch 
 his breath. 'Tis true the power of the emperor is 
 superior to ours, but — that does not worry me. The 
 number of the combatants does not decide the issue 
 of a battle, but the weight of the cause for which one 
 fights. And can there be a higher, holier one than 
 freedom of spirit and conscience? Many of the coun- 
 tries over there are drained to the last drop of blood, 
 but those least which I need most for my cause: the 
 larger cities and the Free Cities. All Germany bristles 
 with hatred and enmity against the Jesuits, the people 
 will sacrifice their last drop of blood and make com- 
 
 24 
 
In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 
 
 mon cause with me, their deliverer, against a common 
 enemy/' 
 
 "Your majesty, I insist," said Axelstjerna openly 
 and fearlessly, "that this expedition to Germany is the 
 result rather of an inspired idea than of mature delib- 
 eration." 
 
 The king made no direct answer. 
 
 "No time is more propitious than the present," 
 he then said. "We have concluded peace with Den- 
 mark, and a six years truce with Poland." 
 
 "But my lord and king," said Oxenstjerna, "what 
 if the king of Denmark, who according to his own 
 words has received more in the Lubecker treaty than 
 he had ever expected, should in the absence of your 
 majesty from Sweden, show himself grateful to the 
 emperor? Christian IV is a restless, quarrelsome 
 neighbor, and easily forgets the smaller interest in 
 view of the larger." 
 
 "Not in this case, Axel," said the king firmly. 
 "Our interests are mutual — to force the emperor 
 from the Baltic and North sea." 
 
 "How about Poland?" asked Oxenstjerna doubt- 
 fully. "Does your majesty count so firmly on the 
 truce with this country?" 
 
 "Poland," repeated the king, and thought for a 
 moment. "Of course Poland could make use of our 
 slightest misfortune and again cast a challenge at our 
 
 25 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 feet. And yet, the famine prevailing in Prussia will 
 stay every enemy until harvest, and by that time the 
 Lord in heaven will have vouchsafed us victory. The 
 slightest advantage to our army in Germany is a defeat 
 for all our enemies. Therefore let me hear nothing 
 more of a defensive war. The sea is large and we 
 would have an extensive coast-line to defend. If the 
 enemy's fleet escaped us, or if we were defeated, it 
 would be much more difficult to defend Sweden than 
 to attack the enemy in his own country. Come, Axel, 
 we will hear what our council thinks of the matter! 
 But this let me tell you, there is no other peace for me 
 except in the grave." 
 
 Thus they both entered the assembly hall of the 
 council. Venerable, patriotic men : the brothers Mag- 
 nus and Abraham Brahe, Carl Carlson, Nickolas Horn, 
 John Skytte, Gabriel Gustersee, Peter Baner, John 
 Sparr, Nicholas Flemming, Matthew Soop and others 
 were here assembled. 
 
 The king spoke: "You will perhaps remember 
 that I have often told you that the terrible war in Ger- 
 many would not come to a close without Sweden being 
 involved. You know the injury the German emperor 
 has done us. England and France have offered me an 
 alliance, and to-day the French ambassador will reach 
 Stockholm. But before I take any steps, I consider 
 it important to consult your opinion, in order that the 
 
 26 
 
in the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 
 
 people may not complain against me if the results are 
 not commensurate with their expectations. Two ways 
 are open to us : either we quietly wait until we are 
 attacked by the emperor, or we boldly attack him in 
 Germany. * Concerning this matter I should like your 
 opinion." 
 
 The aged John Skytte, the former tutor of the 
 king, spoke: "In this evidently long-drawn-out war 
 your majesty stakes his monarchy; for the emperor 
 and his Jesuits are tenacious." 
 
 The king answered : "All monarchies have passed 
 from one generation to another. A monarchy does 
 not consist of individuals but in laws." 
 
 Nicholas Horn said: "Your majesty's subjects 
 would think it very singular that we have concluded 
 peace with Denmark and Poland not to enjoy it but 
 to be plunged into a new and much more extravagant 
 war. Much dissatisfaction and discontent would pre- 
 vail, if the outcome were unsuccessful." 
 
 "So weigh the matter carefully," the king urged, 
 "that your children and children's children may not 
 be able to reproach you." 
 
 Abraham Brahe said: "Your majesty must not 
 depend altogether on the assistance of the Protestant 
 princes. Demand of them on your arrival that they 
 should show their colors and render you aid, and you 
 
 27 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 will find that the old innate respect for the emperor 
 will surely deter them." 
 
 The somewhat hot-headed Claudius Horn 
 thought: "If we conquer, however, without having 
 had the aid of the princes of the Holy Roman Empire, 
 so much the better for us; their countries will be a 
 fine booty." 
 
 "O ! O ! Claudius Horn," rejoined the king smil^ 
 ing," that you should think of the rich booty. If you 
 had your way, you would certainly make quick work 
 of these German armies. But that is not our plan, God 
 forbid! For we do not advance merely to conquer 
 and to oppress, but to bring help, and keep our friends 
 true to the word of God." 
 
 "I know these gentlemen equally well," Matthew 
 Soop now added. "They would like to have their fur 
 washed, but dislike to see it wet. These people are 
 very effeminate, raised in luxury; they have no sol- 
 dierly mind, neither have they soldiers in their council ; 
 on the other hand they have more officers, scribes and 
 jurists, who 'tis true, practice the Roman law, but who 
 will not break the necks of the Roman flatterers and 
 oppressors." 
 
 This twaddle was unbearable to the king; with 
 difficulty he mastered his rising anger. Axel Oxen- 
 stjerna spoke for him : 
 
 "We have assembled here for an altogether dif- 
 28 
 
In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 
 
 ferent purpose, than to occupy ourselves with such 
 trifling. Earnestness and dignity should characterize 
 our deliberations to-day more than ever before. The 
 future and greatness of our fatherland are at stake." 
 
 "One war is apt to be succeeded by another," now 
 said Peter Baner. "Your majesty cannot gain ground 
 in Germany without making sure of the Elbe, Oder 
 and Weser. This might complicate matters and give 
 the Dutch, the Danes and even the English cause for 
 grievance. The imperial field-marshals will try with 
 all their power to render our passage over these rivers 
 difficult. Where shall we raise the necessary soldiers ? 
 Taking for granted we found them, the revenues of 
 our country would decrease in proportion. Foreign 
 powers, particularly England and France, encourage 
 this war, but what security has your majesty that they 
 will not desert you if your cause does not seem to 
 prosper?" 
 
 John Sparr, a venerable man with snow-white 
 hair, who already in the time of king Carl IX had fos- 
 tered the welfare of Sweden by word and deed, now 
 rose from his chair and said : "I will not speak for or 
 against war, our eyes are short-sighted, our councils 
 null and void ; Alpha and Omega are in God's hands. 
 There is one thing, however, my lord and master that 
 troubles me. You have spent nearly eighteen years 
 in war, have exposed yourself to imminent danger. 
 
 29 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 You are a husband, father and sovereign! Is it any- 
 thing but reasonable that you preserve yourself for 
 your wife, your family and your subjects? Do not 
 voluntarily challenge the enemy; do not tempt God, 
 but trust Him. Truly you have higher duties at home ; 
 but if you are forced to war, then sacrifice every- 
 thing!" 
 
 An approving look from the king rewarded the 
 honest man. His gigantic figure towered boldly, 
 majestically; from his eyes a noble lire shone. 
 
 "It is evident," said he, raising his voice, "that 
 the emperor Ferdinand harbors an irreconcilable 
 hatred aganst the Lutheran Swedes. Think you he 
 will spare us after he has overthrown the Evangelicals 
 in Germany ? Austria is striving for a universal mon- 
 archy ; only France, the Netherlands and Sweden can 
 bar the way. The Restitution-edict is a powerful 
 weapon against us. If the emperor and his Jesuits 
 succeed in enforcing this edict, the Evangelical faith 
 in Germany is lost, perhaps forever. But God forbid. 
 The emperor has at times secretly, at times before the 
 whole world, intrigued against us, he will surely 
 advance as soon as he is secure in Germany. The 
 time is near, it is best not to wait, but energetically to 
 direct our bayonets against him ; especially since we 
 have always found this course leading us to success. 
 If we do not enter Germany, the enemy will soon again 
 
 30 
 
In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 
 
 cast his eyes on Stralsund, and finally take it; and 
 Stralsund is the key to the Baltic sea. And suppose 
 Ferdinand should unite with us, Holstein would never 
 remain a peaceful witness. She would send forth a 
 mighty fleet and instead of fighting against the em- 
 peror we would have to fight the Amsterdam pepper- 
 sacks, who are much more formidable at sea than the 
 emperor is on land. The cry for help from the exiled 
 princes of Mecklenburg, our cousins and friends; the 
 wail of distress of Evangelical Germany comes over 
 to us, — let us not close our ears in fear and trembling, 
 but let us act like men and good Lutherans ! And if 
 our undertaking should fail so utterly, that our whole 
 army perished, and not a single man returned to Swe- 
 den, the situation would then be no worse than it is at 
 present : we would still have our ships to defend the 
 sea, and our militia to protect the land." 
 
 The king had scarcely ceased when a servant 
 announced the French embassador, Marquis Charnace, 
 who had just arrived. The king ordered him to be 
 ushered in. 
 
 With French volubility he pictured to the king 
 in rosiest hues the campaign in Germany. 
 
 "All hearts will greet your majesty, and look 
 upon you as a deliverer. The German people are sick 
 and tired of the unbearable government of the em- 
 peror; they long for the Swedish liberator. Victory 
 
 31 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 upon victory will follow your majesty's flag; the 
 humiliation of the emperor is assured." 
 
 "To be candid, Marquis," said the king, smiling, 
 "I do not imagine this undertakng so easy. Tilly and 
 Wallenstein are tried warriors, and the emperor still 
 has a large following. The people are swayed by tra- 
 ditions and sympathies for Austria, whose subjection 
 might cause an enemy much trouble." 
 
 "My master the Christian king of France," said 
 the Frenchman, "goes so far as to open up to your 
 majesty the prospect of the Byzantine-Turkish empire 
 of the orient, so you," — 
 
 "Provided I renounce my victory and conquest in 
 Germany," interrupted the king, "concede to another 
 the place in the council of nations, which I secured by 
 the greatest sacrifices, or, after I became too trouble- 
 some to the mediator behind the scenes." 
 
 The Marquis in his zeal took no notice of the 
 objections of the king and continued: "You alone, 
 worthy majesty, are the right man for these places; 
 supported by the rich and powerful crown of France, 
 which will remain favorably disposed to you under all 
 circumstances, radiant with the glory which your vir- 
 tues have gained for you, loved and adored by all the 
 world, your majesty is equal to every undertaking." 
 
 The king finally declined these praises, and 
 thanked the crown of France with quiet dignity for 
 
 32 
 
Iii the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 
 
 the magnanimous offer to help him to great things. 
 In conclusion he added : "To return to the attitude of 
 Germany, the Marquis is hardly correctly informed. 
 The archduke of Saxony for instance, boldly told one 
 of my messengers, that if I came over to Germany 
 he was resolved to unite his troops with those of the 
 emperor in order to expel me, the stranger. I know 
 also that Tilly, the old corporal, as he is called, has 
 sworn that he only desired to live longer in order that 
 he might be able to fight me to the death, and in so 
 doing, to conquer or to die. Furthermore Wallenstein 
 has threatened to drive me back with whips across the 
 Baltic sea." 
 
 Charnace made ingenious replies. Finally in the 
 name of his monarch, Louis XIII, who, like his great 
 predecessor, Henry IV, bent all efforts to crush the 
 ascendency of Hapsburg, he offered the king three 
 tons of gold for the war with Germany. 
 
 An assenting murmur passed through the assem- 
 bly. Enticing, however, as this offer was, and gladly 
 as the king, under other circumstances, would have 
 availed himself of it, he rejected it; for he would not 
 combine a just cause with an unjust one; he would 
 not in conjunction with a Catholic power, which had 
 already often horribly persecuted her own dissenting 
 subjects, hasten to the aid of the Evangelicals in Ger- 
 many. He would not tie his hands and become the 
 
 33 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 tool of France to be cast aside at will. After he once 
 appeared as victor in Germany he knew this alliance 
 would be sought anew, but then he and not they would 
 dictate the terms of peace. 
 
 The French ambassador was dismissed, the mem- 
 bers of the council agreed with the king, and thus 
 the bold Gustavus Adolphus, trusting to God and his 
 sword, plunged into war without foreign assistance. 
 
 The diet, which Gustavus convened shortly after 
 this council, concurred in his opinion ; and though 
 there were many among the people who were weak 
 and fearful, who looked upon war with Germany as 
 the ruin of Sweden, the daily-increasing enthusiasm 
 of the country carried him away also. This war 
 against the wanton encroachments of the Catholic 
 Hapsburger was soon looked upon as a crusade. 
 Preparations were rapidly begun. The army was 
 strengthened and increased ; transports were collected, 
 the fleet was put in good condition, provisions and 
 ammunition attended to, and as much money as pos- 
 sible raised within and without the country. 
 
 On the 20th of May 1630 the king entered the 
 council chamber with the four year old princess, Chris- 
 tine, on his arm. He bade them and his native coun- 
 try, which he was never to see again, farewell. Like 
 a man and christian who goes forward to death, he 
 had ordered his house and appointed his daughter as 
 
 34 
 
In the Council of the Empire at Stockholm. 
 
 successor, in case of his death. The assembly swore 
 allegiance to him. With touching words he com- 
 mended her and his wife to the council. A deep emo- 
 tion stirred the members and even the king had tears 
 in his eyes. 
 
 He then pictured in impressive manner how he 
 had been forced into this war by the emperor Ferdi- 
 nand II. 
 
 I call on God Almighty to be my witness, that I 
 do not fight for mere gratification. The emperor 
 oppresses and persecutes our German brothers of the 
 faith. They stretch out their hands to us imploring 
 help. They shall not call in vain. I realize the dan- 
 gers which threaten me. The oftener I expose myself 
 to them, the less hope there is that I will escape. 'Tis 
 true, divine Providence has until now preserved me 
 in a wonderful manner, but I must eventually die in 
 the defense of my country." 
 
 Upon this he addressed himself to the counsel- 
 lors, and exhorted them to live worthy of their calling, 
 and to the glory of God; he encouraged the nobility 
 to bravery and manliness ; the servants of the Church 
 to harmony. They should ever by an incorruptible 
 and pious conduct be an example to their congrega- 
 tions, preach the gospel, and guard against passion 
 and vanity. He wished for the peasantry and citizens 
 
 35 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 the blessing of God upon the diligence of their hands, 
 for their fields, gardens, houses and barns." 
 
 "So for all my subjects" said he with folded 
 hands, "I raise my most heartfelt prayers to God. I 
 say a hearty farewell in the hope that we shall see each 
 other again here or in the heavenly and eternal home." 
 
 He was silent a moment, allowed his grief and 
 that of his faithful followers to subside; then prayed 
 aloud and with great reverence from the 90th Psalm : 
 
 "Return, O Lord, how long? and let it repent 
 thee concerning Thy servants. O satisfy us early with 
 Thy mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our 
 days. Let thy work appear unto Thy servants, and 
 Thy glory unto their children. And let the beauty of 
 the Lord our God be upon us : and establish Thou the 
 work of our hands upon us ; yea, the work of our 
 hands establish Thou it." 
 
 It was a great hour, never to be forgotten. 
 
 36 
 
IV. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus' Atmy t Departure From Sweden 
 and Arrival in Germany. 
 
 The next morning the Swedish army had assem- 
 bled on a meadow at Elfsnabben, where the fleet lay 
 at anchor, ready for embarkation. Arms of various 
 kinds were put on board, among them a number of 
 light guns, which in the course of the war, rendered 
 the Swedes excellent service. 
 
 The army which Gustavus Adolphus led to Ger- 
 many consisted of 15,000 men: 92 companies of 
 infantry and 16 of cavalry. Nevertheless it was a 
 mere handful compared to the 130-140,000 men, which 
 at the beginning of summer, before Wallenstein's dis- 
 missal, rallied around his flag and Tilly's. 
 
 And this mighty army relied on the revenues of 
 a great kingdom, whose strength had often been taxed 
 but not exhausted, while Sweden had in the long wars 
 with its neighbors made great sacrifices. 
 
 An historian of the time writes of Germany : 
 
 "Germany lies between the Oder and the Maas, 
 between the Vistula and the Aa, between the Baltic 
 and the Adriatic seas, between the North Sea and the 
 Alps. This glorious empire is of about equal' length 
 
 37 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 and breadth and contains much grain, wine and fish. 
 It is rich in mines of gold and silver and many vari- 
 eties of metals, and excels all other countries in 
 Europe. Nature has given the soil wells of salt water 
 so that there is no want of salt. Germany also has 
 merchandise, and beautiful rivers the more easily to 
 transport it. The inhabitants cultivate the arts and 
 intellectual pursuits. The Free Cities enjoy rich reve- 
 nues, the provisions are inexhaustible. Germany is 
 also powerful at sea: Emden, Bremen, Hamburg, 
 Liibeck, Rostock and other cities lying on the coast 
 have many ships. In conclusion, the empire is so 
 powerful it need fear no enemy if it will only stand 
 united. 
 
 But it was then as often afterward disunited, and 
 that was Gustavus Adolphus' principal weapon against 
 the mighty head of the empire, Austria. 
 
 It might here be in place to say something about 
 the Swedish war department. 
 
 The regiments of infantry as well as cavalry were 
 inferior to those of the imperialists. A squadron con- 
 sisted of two divisions, in each of which were 33 cav- 
 alry-men, in all then 66 men. The company of 
 infantry numbered 144 men, including eighteen ser- 
 geants and six corporals, and the following officers : 
 one captain, two lieutenants and one ensign. The lat- 
 
 38 
 
Gustavus Adolphus' Army, Departure, Etc. 
 
 ter carried the flag in battle. In order to engender in 
 the common soldier more love for the sacred emblem, 
 the ensign was never punished ; he even had the right 
 to intercede for culprits. Eight companies constituted 
 a regiment, two regiments a brigade. It was the cus- 
 tom, in order to reduce the size of the regiments, to 
 call for volunteers for dangerous undertakings. This 
 custom prevented the destruction of whole regiments. 
 In the battle formation of his army, it was Gustavus 
 Adolphus' principle to make each individual soldier 
 as effective as possible. Pikemen and musketeers were 
 therefore drawn up only six deep. The former were 
 massed closely in battle-array, man to man; in the 
 case of the musketeers, on the contrary, there was 
 between each squad, which consisted of four or five 
 soldiers, a space of from 3 to 4 feet, through which 
 the first file would retire, half to the right, half to the 
 left; to allow them to reload and to make room for 
 the firing of the next line. 
 
 The king's second very important principle was, 
 that one weapon should support and aid another. For 
 this purpose he ordered small divisions of musketeers 
 alongside of the battalions of pikemen, and scattered 
 them also among the cavalry, leaving empty spaces 
 among the squadrons for the reception of 150 to 200 
 musketeers. Finally the first line of battle was sup- 
 ported by a second, which could come to the assist- 
 
 39 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 ance, in case any portion of the former was hard 
 pressed and which could also defend the flanks. 
 
 An English historian said on this subject: "The 
 battle-array of the Swedish king is like a well-built 
 fort, able to meet the enemy from whatever side the 
 attack comes. This excellent arrangemnt could only 
 be overthrown by a sudden charge where the troops 
 had not time to get in line." In like manner Gustavus 
 Adolphus improved the cavalry. The attack was made 
 by a squadron with 15 or 16 men in front, and four 
 men deep. Man stood to man, line on line. Coming 
 within range the riders galloped, and not until the 
 white of the enemy's eye was visible would the first 
 and second divisions discharge their pistols, which 
 were then quickly thrown into the halter, and daggers 
 produced. This latter was in the king's opinion the 
 chief weapon : the pistol should only serve to make 
 a break and facilitate the invasion. If such an attack 
 miscarried, or, if the soldiers were pursued, then the 
 musketeers were to advance, arrest the enemy, and 
 crush them with their rifles and artillery which until 
 then were concealed by the front. 
 
 In regard, finally, to the Swedish artillery, — with 
 the German armies this had thus far been a most 
 clumsy and unwieldy weapon, — Gustavus Adolphus 
 reduced the size of the guns. He re-cast each piece, 
 and his small cannons weighed scarcely a hundred 
 
 40 
 
Gustavus Adolphus' Army, Departure, Etc. 
 
 pounds ; but as they became too easily heated, he kept 
 them only until the year 1631. In their places he 
 introduced the cannon invented by the Englishman, 
 Hamilton, which was only four feet long and did not 
 weigh more than 600 pounds. It discharged a ball 
 weighing four pounds, with a load of ij lbs. powder, 
 was readily transported and formed the beginning of 
 the flying artillery. Musketeers were drilled in gun- 
 ning so that there was never a dearth of gunners. 
 Besides he had, like the imperialists 24 to 28 pounders, 
 only that these were loaded with cartridges. In the 
 number of arms the Swedes excelled. The local 
 mines furnished material in abundance. So the 
 Swedes shot from 100 pieces in Breitenfeld, on the 
 Oder from 200, and in the camp at Nuremberg 330 
 pieces held the enemy in check. 
 
 The outward appearance of the Swedes con- 
 trasted strongly with that of their opponents. They 
 wore loose coats, lined with sheep-skin through the 
 winter; over these collars of buffalo or elephant's 
 skin. The officers had no decorations of orders, the 
 various regiments were recognized by their colors. 
 The cavalry wore helmets and cuirasses. 
 
 The articles of war, which were conceived and 
 written by Gustavus Adolphus himself, and read for 
 the first time to the assembled armies in Elfsnabben 
 by Axel Oxenstjerna must not remain unmentioned 
 
 41 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 here, for they soon became the model for all European 
 armies. 
 
 They began with these words : Idolators, sorcer- 
 ers and deserters shall be tried according to divine and 
 Swedish laws. The king, as God's plenipotentiary on 
 earth, is the highest judge in war and in peace. This 
 God-given power he exercises through the higher and 
 lower courts. Crimes which affect life, rank or honor 
 shall be tried under the open sky in the presence of 
 the assembled army. Complaints concerning prop- 
 erty will be tried in the tent. The punishments are 
 decapitation, hanging of every tenth man by lot if 
 a squadron of cavalry or infantry has fled during an 
 engagement while they could still have used their 
 swords. The remaining soldiers serve in this case 
 without a flag, lie outside of the camp and are obliged 
 to clean it until they have made good their shortcom- 
 ings by bravery. Lesser punishments are : to ride 
 wooden horses, imprisonment in irons, on bread and 
 water, running the gauntlet, fines, dismissal of officers, 
 expulsion in disgrace from camp, etc. The flogging 
 of soldiers by superiors is forbidden. Useless and 
 disreputable persons are not tolerated in camp. The 
 chaplain conducts religious services every Sunday and 
 delivers short sermons during the week if opportunity 
 offers. Prayers morning and evening, etc. 
 
 The king maintained the friendliest relations with 
 
 42 
 
Gustavus Adolphus Army, Departure, Etc. 
 
 all his soldiers, and permitted them to call him com- 
 rade and brother. He often invited the officers to his 
 table. Bravery and excellence found his highest rec- 
 ognition ; he did not ask for birth or station, the man 
 alone counted. . . 
 
 The whole court and a multitude of people had 
 assembled on the meadow at Elfsnabben. On a plainly 
 harnessed horse the king rode up and down the files 
 of his soldiers ; he had a friendly word for many a 
 bearded man who had engaged in former marches 
 with him. He also cheered the army officers and the 
 sea-men with word and deed. From time to time he 
 would ride to the state coach in which the queen sat 
 with the young princess, Christine. He comforted 
 the weeping wife with an assurance of a successful 
 outcome of the undertaking and of a joyful return. 
 
 As the king was about to leave his wife before the 
 embarkation of the army, his eyes fell on a man close 
 by in peasant's dress. The king being somewhat near- 
 sighted eyed him sharply, as the man with powerful 
 arms forced his way out of the multitude. 
 
 "Well, is it you, Jacob Ericson?" cried the king 
 astonished. 
 
 "It is I, your majesty," he answered. 
 
 "And you came the long distance from Igelstadt 
 to see me once again?" 
 
 "God willing, it shall occur often, day after day, 
 
 43 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 my worthy lord and king ; for my most heartfelt wish 
 is that you should take me with you to Germany." 
 
 "Ericson," said the king, "you have grown older, 
 and have a wife and children." 
 
 "I had them, but the Lord in heaven called them 
 unto himself a short time ago, and I thought now I 
 can again devote my arm and heart to my most gra- 
 cious king." 
 
 "Your arm," said the king, hesitatingly, "no, for 
 you have grown eighteen years older since then; but 
 your heart, — yes, that I need ; your love and your 
 fidelity !" 
 
 The queen approached the group. 
 
 "Do you recognize this man?" the king asked. 
 
 "Whom, your saviour the brave Jacob Ericson?" 
 
 "He begs to accompany me to Germany." 
 
 "You certainly will not deny this honest man his 
 wish ?" 
 
 "No, never !" exclaimed the king. "You shall go 
 Ericson. You have already done me a service on the 
 treacherous Widjo sea, who knows whether you will 
 not again find opportunity, even if it were the last 
 service of closing the eyes of your dying king?" 
 
 "God in mercy forbid !" said the queen. 
 
 "You shall not accompany me as a soldier," said 
 the king quickly, "but as a body-guard. Will you?" 
 
 "I will, my lord and king," exclaimed the loyal 
 
 44 
 
Gustavus Adolphus' Army, Departure, Etc. 
 
 Ericson, delighted. "I can ride as well as any one, 
 and to serve you, and if necessary protect you, will be 
 my most sacred duty." 
 
 "Make haste, then, Ericson," said the king, "they 
 will soon weigh anchor!" 
 
 "I am ready, your royal majesty" he answered. 
 Waving his hat he shouted with resounding voice: 
 "Long live Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden !" and 
 the entire multitude joined enthusiastically. 
 
 The king expressed his thanks, called a farewell 
 to all, and again embraced his wife and child. 
 
 As lie was about to go aboard, a sloop landed 
 with three deputies from the duke Bogislaw. 
 
 "What brings you?" asked the king. 
 
 "The fervent request of our master," one spoke 
 up "that your majesty do not land on the coast of 
 Pomerania. Our country, which has already suffered 
 so much, would then again become the seat of war." 
 
 "Away with these petty considerations" roared 
 the king, "and remember that the cause of the gospel 
 which your people as well as I confess is here at stake. 
 Even if Wallenstein has robbed you of much, and in 
 your country acted cruelly, there will still be found 
 for my tired soldiers a protecting roof and a litter 
 of straw. But tell your master that I come to Germany 
 not as a conqueror or enemy but as saviour and friend. 
 It remains for him to choose." 
 
 45 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 With these words the embassy was dismissed. 
 
 The same afternoon the army embarked. Salutes 
 thundered from aboard and from the harbor. The 
 entire fleet consisted of 28 large and small vessels, 
 several merchantmen, besides various little flat-bot- 
 tomed boats useful for landing and for the navigation 
 of streams, each with three fieldpieces on board. 
 
 The fleet had scarcely reached mid-sea, when a 
 continuous south-west wind delayed the voyage, and 
 the progress was so slow and difficult that fresh pro- 
 visions had to be obtained from the nearest sea-coast 
 cities. 
 
 Finally on the 24th of June the bold deliverer 
 from Sweden arrived ; exactly on the day on which 
 100 years before the Evangelical dukes had handed 
 the German emperor, Carl V, the Augsburger confes- 
 sion of faith. He came to restore its honor and at 
 the point of the sword if necessary, to save freedom 
 of faith and of conscience for Germany, which since 
 that time had groaned under heavy oppression. On 
 the following day during a severe thunderstorm the 
 troops disembarked on the island Usedom. 
 
 The king was first to land. He sank upon his 
 knees and prayed aloud, folding his hands reverently 
 above his head. 
 
 "O God, God, who rulest heaven and earth, the 
 wind and the waves, how shall I thank Thee that Thou 
 
 46 
 
Gustavus Adolphus' Army, Departure, Etc. 
 
 hast so mercifully protected me during this dangerous 
 voyage. O, I thank Thee from my innermost heart, 
 and pray Thee to bestow Thy grace and Thy blessing 
 upon this enterprise, which I undertake not for my 
 aggrandisement, but alone for Thy glory, for the 
 defense of Thy oppressed Church, and the succor of 
 all believers. Thou, Lord, who provest hearts and 
 souls, knowest the uprightness of my purpose. Bless 
 me, bless me and mine now and forever. Amen." 
 
 The sight of the king in prayer greatly affected 
 the generals and officers surrounding him. Many wept 
 with emotion. When the king observed this, he said: 
 "Weep not, my friends, but pray. The more prayers 
 the more victories. The most pious soldier is always 
 the bravest ; he knows his cause rests with God and 
 that He will prosper it." 
 
 Upon this he took a spade and threw up some 
 earth for a bulwark. He wanted to set his soldiers a 
 good example. They worked faithfully; in another 
 day the entire army was not only disembarked but 
 entrenched. The enemy was not in sight ; it had 
 retreated at the approach of the Swedes, but not before 
 burning clown villages and farm-buildings. 
 
 The king's daily command was : "No soldier 
 shall, under pain of death, raze or burn a house, insult 
 a citizen or peasant or rob him of his goods." 
 
 47 
 
V. 
 
 Progress in Germany. 
 
 From Usedom to Stettin, the capital of Pom- 
 erania, the way lay open to the king. It was imper- 
 ative to seize this place before the imperialists. A few 
 days later the king appeared before the city. The Pom- 
 eranian Colonel von Damitz sent a drummer into the 
 Swedish camp, to say to the king that if he approached 
 any nearer his army would be fired upon. 
 
 The king answered, smiling: "I also carry can- 
 non, and who knows which shoot the better. More- 
 over I am not accustomed," he added, with dignity 
 "to treat of such weighty matters with a drummer. 
 Tell your colonel to come in person to my camp." 
 
 Not long after he appeared. He begged, as had 
 the Pomeranian embassadors at Elfsnabben, for neu- 
 trality. 
 
 "It will be impossible to grant it" was the king's 
 answer. "I demand a conference with the duke of 
 Pomerania himself." 
 
 Before night set in, the latter was on his way to 
 the Swedish camp with a numerous retinue. 
 
 The frightful picture of the imperial anger filled 
 this little German duke's soul. And yet how could he 
 
 48 
 
Progress in Germany. 
 
 be made to suffer any more than he now suffered? 
 For months 30,000 infantry and 7,000 cavalry had 
 been encamped in Pomerania and had exhausted it 
 shamefully. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus received the frightened old 
 duke graciously. 
 
 "My enterprises," said he, "are not against you, 
 cousin, but against our common enemy. I did not 
 leave Sweden to appropriate to myself another's 
 property, but to make secure the Evangelical religion, 
 the liberty of the German empire and peace of con- 
 science. Acknowledge the hand of God, which within 
 a few days put me in possession of the largest and 
 most important part of Pomerania. Do not longer 
 delay to make my cause yours." 
 
 Duke Bogislaw, a man who loved peace and quiet, 
 wriggled and writhed with smooth words, and would 
 come to no conclusion. The king became impatient 
 and vehement. "Who is not for me is against me," 
 he cried. "Say yes or no !" 
 
 "Well then yes, in God's name," came the answer. 
 
 An hour later the Swedish army entered Stettin. 
 The soldiers were not quartered in houses, but in tents 
 in the streets. The king himself slept on board one 
 of the boats in the Oder, "for," said he, "a mantle 
 lined with fur for the generals and straw for the sol- 
 
 49 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 diers are excellent beds for the subjects of a king, 
 who himself would rather sleep in a hammock." 
 
 Stettin was now quickly fortified against every 
 attack on land or sea. The king well understood how 
 to arouse the enthusiasm of the workers at the forti- 
 cations. Those who would, in one day, collect and 
 deliver a certain number of wagons full of earth, 
 would receive a can of Dantziger beer. Within four 
 days Stettin was encircled with a girdle of breast- 
 works, which long served as a model. The Swedish 
 army now daily grew stronger. Lieutenant Leslie 
 joined it with two regiments from Stralsund, military 
 forces from Prussia arrived, also 700 newly acquired 
 Scottish troops, besides the experienced soldiers which 
 once served under Mansfield, the Bruswicker and the 
 Danish king; later many of Wallenstein's army 
 thronged in, although not to the advantage of the 
 morality and discipline of those under Gustavus Adol- 
 phus' flag. 
 
 Rapid progress was made. Damm and Stargard 
 were taken, (the latter from the Pomeranians) and an 
 attack on Garz attempted. The king led this one him- 
 self ; he was in danger of being brutally murdered by 
 an assassin, a former imperial lieutenant by name of 
 Ouintin, who had won the king's confidence. An 
 Italian named Baptiste was in league with Quintin. 
 Before his execution he confessed : "It has long been 
 
Progress in Germany. 
 
 my purpose to kill the king, but my heart always failed 
 me, and when my hand grasped my pistol it suddenly 
 became paralyzed so that I could never carry out 
 such an intention. — " Quintin received his deserts 
 at Leipzig. Here he was found torn to pieces by a 
 ball from a Swedish cannon. 
 
 Garz remained temporarily in the possession of 
 the imperialists; the king, however, prepared an 
 expedition against Mecklenburg. By way of Damm- 
 garten and Ribnitz he pressed over the border. It was 
 a daring move, as the imperialists under field marshal 
 Conti beleaguered Greifswald and Wolgast. It is 
 true, this place was soon taken by general Kniphausen, 
 but in the little town of Pasewalk a Swedish detach- 
 ment suffered a terrible defeat. Scarcely had they 
 triumphantly entered here when they were attacked 
 by 3,000 soldiers, who rapidly followed them under 
 Colonel Gotz. A horrible street fight ensued : all the 
 Swedes, nearly 200 men, were cut down with swords, 
 and such atrocities committed upon the Lutheran 
 inhabitants as would beggar description, and belong 
 to the most outrageous recorded during the entire 
 thirty years war. 
 
 Although Gustavus Adolphus constantly achieved 
 victories against Mecklenburg, he hastened with the 
 larger part of his army back to Stettin, which the 
 imperialists threatened. From here he conducted the 
 
 51 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 so-called small war. Besides Greifswald and Kol- 
 berg, — whose hour had also about struck — there 
 was at the end of the year 1630 not a single Pome- 
 ranian city in the hands of the imperialists; the 
 Swedes even held part of the Neumarkt in siege. 
 
 Meanwhile the Margrave Christian William, 
 who had been expelled by the Danish king from his 
 Lutheran archbishopric at Magdeburg, and had been 
 put under the ban by the emperor, had returned from 
 Brandenburg to Magdeburg. This city soon became 
 the refuge of dispersed troops ; and since the citizens 
 had successfully defended Magdeburg against Wal- 
 lenstein's whole army, they were in a war-like mood 
 and unanimously decided to defend their liberty and 
 privileges against every other enemy. Gustavus Adol- 
 phus had sent Colonel Dietrich von Falkenburg, a 
 man prudent and experienced in war, to this city. 
 
 Tilly on his way to lower Saxony came upon defi- 
 ant Magdeburg. He began to besiege it in the fall 
 of 1630. He meant that it should serve him as a firm 
 bulwark against the Swedes. Imploring calls soon 
 came to the king to assist this oppressed fortress with 
 his entire army. Gustavus Adolphus could only have 
 done this had he sacrificed his position in Pomerania 
 and on the Oder. On account of the uncertainty and 
 timidity of the Evangelical princes he could not afford 
 to do this. 
 
 52 
 
Progress in Germany. 
 
 Leaving Pappenheim in front of Magdeburg, 
 Tilly undertook a march to Pomerania. The victories 
 of the Swedes gave him no peace. Fortune favored 
 him ; he soon recaptured Brandenburg. Cruelties such 
 as had been exercised in Pasewalk, and were about to 
 be inflicted on the besieged Magdeburg, were perpe- 
 trated here also by the soldiers of the emperor Ferdi- 
 nand, the patron and protector of the entire German 
 nation. In spite of their petitions the garrison 
 received no quarter. Of 2,000 men all but about 60, 
 who had concealed themselves in the vilest corners of 
 the houses, were massacred. Satiated with revenge, 
 Tilly hastened back to Magdeburg. The Swedes now 
 took Frankfurt on the Oder by storm. The king him- 
 self led the scaling party, but could not prevent his 
 soldiers from exercising the right of retaliation for 
 New-Brandenburg. "New-Brandenburg quarter !" 
 cried the victor to the vanquished. Swords and lances 
 played fearful havoc in the streets, houses and courts. 
 Of 7,000 Imperialists about 1,800 escaped. Lieuten- 
 ant Auer, a German who hoisted the first Swedish 
 flag on the stormed wall, received from the king 1,000 
 dollars and was made captain in the royal guards. 
 
 Let us hear how one of the colonels, the Scotsman 
 Monro speaks of Gustavus. "Every one serves such 
 a chief joyfully. It is his custom to be first and last 
 in danger. He has the love of his officers ; under his 
 
 53 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 guidance they consider themselves invincible. He 
 never hesitates to have carried out what he has once 
 commanded. He does not change his orders, makes 
 no apologies for such measures as the necessities of 
 war demand." 
 
 We must add here that Gustavus Adolphus in 
 1 63 1 at Barnevalde in Neumarkt, where his head- 
 quarters were, concluded the long proffered and 
 almost compulsory alliance with the crown of France 
 for a period of six years. The king was to receive for 
 the past year 12,000 dollars, thereafter, however, annu- 
 ally 400,000, in consideration of which he pledged 
 himself to furnish 30,000 infantry and 16,000 cavalry; 
 not to interfere with the Catholic religion in the con- 
 quered countries and cities, and to grant the league 
 neutrality upon demand. 
 
 This proves that France was only bent on the 
 humiliation of the emperor, Ferdinand ; in all other 
 respects the purposes of the two partners differed 
 widely. 
 
 This money was very acceptable to Gustavus 
 Adolphus. In Pomerania there was a dearth of every- 
 thing. Because the soldiers finally began to mutiny, 
 on account of the money due them, the king, as one 
 historian puts it "had virtually to pay court to them." 
 In spite of all he was hopeful for the future. "Those 
 whose lives will be spared will witness my success," 
 
 54 
 
Progress in Germany. 
 
 he wrote to Oxenstjerna. At another time he wrote: 
 "My cause rests in God's hands, and I console myself 
 in this world with the firm hope of salvation in the 
 next." 
 
 55 
 
VI. 
 
 The Fall of Madgeburg. 
 
 The Swedish king had expected that the Evan- 
 gelical princes and cities of Germany would at once 
 make common cause with him. At first this hope was 
 not realized as we perceived in Pomerania. The elec- 
 tor of Saxony did not wish to take arms against his 
 emperor. At a convention held in Leipzig, on the 
 other hand, voices were raised advocating war. For 
 instance the duke Bernhard of Saxe- Weimar spoke 
 fervently in favor of a strict alliance of all Evangelical 
 dukes and cities. 
 
 "Life and property we must risk," said he, "in 
 order that the oppressed political and spiritual liberty 
 of Germany may be protected. The constant appeals 
 to the emperor and the Catholic princes avail us noth- 
 ing. The time has come to open our eyes and close 
 our fists." 
 
 The elector of Saxony knew how to suppress such 
 ardor. 
 
 "All due respect to your suggestion, cousin," he 
 answered. "Yet the formation of a strict alliance is 
 contrary to the constitution of the empire, and let us 
 not desert the ground of law. Not until the emperor 
 
 56 
 
The Fall of Magdeburg. 
 
 rejects all propositions and the Catholic League 
 refuses further negotiations, can we proceed to general 
 arming." 
 
 After a session of twenty days the convention at 
 Leipzig adjourned. 
 
 The king's ambassador, Chemnitz, came to Leip- 
 zig. His proposition to the elector John George was 
 in effect, that he should openly declare against the 
 emperor, and if he did not wish to do this, he should 
 at least support Sweden with money, favor their arms, 
 and refuse the imperialists refuge, money and recruit- 
 ing stations. Chemnitz spoke earnestly and urgently, 
 but in vain. A mere semblance of treason against the 
 emperor was for John George an unbearable thought ; 
 but a compact with the Swedes an utter abomination. 
 The ambassador was more successful with the lesser 
 German electors, for Weimar, Cassel and Liineburg 
 declared for Gustavus Adolphus. 
 
 Meanwhile the latter without any assistance had 
 advanced ever nearer to the Mark of Brandenburg. 
 He was not, however, able to render the heavily 
 oppressed Magdeburg any help; for in order to do 
 so he would first be obliged to have possession of two 
 Brandenburg fortresses, Kuerstrin and Spandau in 
 order to protect his rear. The elector, George Wil- 
 liam, a weak regent and timid man, strangely influ- 
 enced by his Catholic minister, Schwarzenburg, was 
 
 57 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 willing, under certain conditions, to open to him 
 Kuerstrin, but Spandau never. 
 
 Thus Gustavus Adolphus at the head of his army 
 was forced to negotiate with his brother-in-law. With 
 ten regiments of infantry, the entire cavalry and an 
 adequate artillery he appeared at the end of April 163 1 
 in Copenick near Berlin. Field-marshal Gustavus van 
 Horn was ordered to Berlin. He was given the com- 
 mission to insist on an immediate delivery of Kuestrin 
 and Spandau, and to inform the elector that both 
 places should be returned to him as soon as the king- 
 had relieved Magdeburg. 
 
 But Horn accomplished nothing and the danger 
 to Magdeburg increased from day to day. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus now demanded a personal 
 interview with George William. This took place on 
 the 3rd of May in a summer-house before the gates 
 of Berlin, and on the part of the elector was conducted 
 very ceremoniously. 
 
 The king said : "I forced the Imperialists to aban- 
 don the greater part of New Brandenburg territory; 
 I will also prevent their return in future. I should 
 hold this service worthy of your recognition. My sol- 
 diers will observe the strictest discipline, and not 
 cause the inhabitants of the Mark any such miseries 
 as they experienced in full measure from the Imperi- 
 alists. But if Magdeburg is conquered, everything is 
 
 58 
 
The Fall of Magdeburg. 
 
 lost ! The enemy will return with renewed fury to the 
 Mark, and Tilly will carry the war there." 
 
 In reply to all these true words the elector only 
 expressed the wish, that the king would grant him a 
 short respite in order to get the opinion of his coun- 
 sellors. 
 
 In a short time he returned with the declaration 
 that it was impossible to accede to the king's demands. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus did not longer hesitate. 
 With 1,000 musketeers he entered Berlin. He was 
 about to use force. Only through the mediation of 
 the elector's wife and her mother, Louise Juliane of 
 the Palatinate, were negotiations begun anew on the 
 following day. 
 
 The king expressed himself to several Branden- 
 burger officers as follows : "I cannot think ill of the 
 elector for hesitating in his resolve; certain it is that 
 I ask of him serious and grave things. I do not ask 
 it for myself, but for the benefit of the elector, his 
 country and its people, yes, even for all Christendom." 
 
 To the Duke John Albrecht of Mecklenburg he 
 said aloud so that all the bystanders heard him : "My 
 course leads to Magdeburg, to take possession of that 
 town, not for my advantage, but for that of the Evan- 
 gelicals. If no one will stand by me, I will retreat, 
 clear myself of all reproaches, come to terms with the 
 emperor and retire to Stockholm. I know the emperor 
 
 59 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 will make an agreement if I desire it. But you will 
 reap the result of your negligence, for if Magdeburg 
 is lost, beware of the consequences !" 
 
 To the Brandenburger ambassador von Wilmers- 
 dorf, who was also opposed to the surrender of the 
 fortress and the alliance with Sweden, which could not 
 be concluded without embarrassing the honor and 
 faithfulness due to the emperor, the king said: "You 
 will be honored by losing your land and your people. 
 The imperialists will keep faith with you as they have 
 ever kept their capitulations !" 
 
 When Wilmersdorf said : "We must keep in mind 
 the future and remember how everything will be dis- 
 turbed if the enterprise fail," the king responded 
 quickly : "That will come to pass anyway, though you 
 remain inactive ; it would have transpired already 
 had I not come over from Sweden. Tell your master 
 he shall do as I do and trust the outcome of the mat- 
 ter to God. I have not lain in bed for fourteen weeks ; 
 I too would like to be relieved of care and remain at 
 home in peace, if I considered nothing else." 
 
 When the embassador again referred to the fact 
 that his electoral highness would rather remain neu- 
 tral, the king burst out: "What is neutrality? Do 
 you know ? Chaff which the wind takes up and scat- 
 ters. I will have none of it." 
 
 Late in the evening of this day the agreement 
 
 60 
 
The Fall of Magdeburg. 
 
 between Gustavus Adolphus and the elector George 
 William of Brandenburg concerning the fortress was 
 consummated. On the 6th of May several Swedish 
 regiments occupied Spandau and swore allegiance to 
 the elector. In Kuestrin the Brandenburger garrison 
 was retained, but was obliged to take the oath of alle- 
 giance to the king of Sweden. 
 
 Immediately after the taking of Spandau by the 
 Swedes, the imperialists in Brandenburg, Havelberg 
 and Rathenow retired to Magdeburg. Gustavus Adol- 
 phus advanced from Berlin to Potsdam, in order to 
 relieve this heavily oppressed city. From here he 
 endeavored to win the elector of Saxony to his cause, 
 and demanded that he proceed with his military forces 
 along the west bank of the Elbe as far as Dessau and 
 there join the Swedish forces approaching on the east 
 bank. If he did not care to do this, he should at least 
 relinquish to the Swedish king the fortress at Wit- 
 temberg. 
 
 The answer of the elector of Saxony, which at the 
 king's request was shortly delivered at Saarmund, 
 was negative. It contained these words : "It is im- 
 possible for me to take measures contrary to my duty 
 as a German elector. The surrender of Wittemberg 
 would transfer the war to the electorate of Saxony, 
 and plunge my country and my people into heavy mis- 
 fortune." 
 
 61 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 The king was very indignant, nay angry at such 
 conduct in an evangelical prince. "These people are 
 determined to rush to their doom," he exclaimed. 
 "Well, so be it! I will retire to Pomerania and wait 
 until all these wise politicians stand at the precipice 
 of ruin and are forced to call on me for help. But 
 Magdeburg will go to destruction and with it the last 
 vestige of German liberty !" 
 
 This soon happened; a day later on the ioth of 
 May 1 641 a dreadful fate overtook the city. 
 
 Tilly and Pappenheim besieged the city with 
 30,000 men. Toward the end of March the condition 
 of the inhabitants became very precarious. They were 
 driven from their fortifications and finally from their 
 suburbs. The indefatigable Falkenburg saw the 
 storm approach. He did his duty to the extent of his 
 ability. 
 
 In the early part of May Pappenheim erected 
 three batteries in the ruins of Neustadt. Five others 
 were raised at three opposite points. Tilly ordered 
 the inhabitants to surrender, but met with a refusal. 
 The Magdeburgers hoped for speedy relief from the 
 Swedes near by. Tilly also feared the approaching 
 enemy : he acted quickly. On the 8th and 9th of May 
 he bombarded the city. Pappenheim succeeded in 
 gaining and holding the trench. He prepared for an 
 attack. During the night from the 9th to the ioth of 
 
 62 
 
The Fall of Magdeburg. 
 
 May, Tilly removed several heavy guns from his for- 
 tifications. His plan really was to give up the siege. 
 But Pappenheim differed from him and prevailed. 
 The citizens, reassured by the withdrawal of the guns, 
 had for the greater part returned to their homes, when 
 suddenly at seven o'clock the bombarding began from 
 all sides. Bravely as the terrified Magdeburgers and 
 the courageous soldiers of the administrator fought, 
 they soon succumbed to the superior forces : through 
 every gate, breach and opening the savage troops of 
 Tilly and Pappenheim rushed into the city, like the 
 swelling waves of the sea, which has broken its dykes. 
 A fearful carnage began ; neither age nor sex was 
 spared; swords, lances, bullets and flames devastated 
 frightfully. No place was safe, no sanctuary pro- 
 tected ; with brutal lust and fiendish glee the con- 
 querors raged and ravaged. 
 
 "The Magdeburger marriage" the imperial and 
 league soldiers called this day: they there were wed- 
 ded to the shame and disgrace, and to the curse of 
 contemporaries and posterity ! Officers of the army, 
 moved by the boundless misery of the people, begged 
 Tilly to restrain by an authoritative decree the reckless 
 soldiers from further torturing, plundering and mur- 
 dering. "Come again after an hour," he answered, 
 "the soldier must be recompensed for his pains and 
 danger." Pappenheim wrote to the emperor at 
 
 63 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 Vienna : "Since the fall of Troy and Jerusalem no 
 greater victory has ever been won. My only regret is 
 that your imperial ladies did not witness all, in order 
 to bestow upon me a knight's reward. 
 
 Within a few hours the flourishing city of Mag- 
 deburg lay in ashes ; only the tower and cathedral 
 remained, like threatening fingers raised as if to swear 
 that the surviving generation would wreak vengeance 
 for this wanton outrage. Only 3,000 of the 33,000 
 inhabitants were spared ; among these was the admin- 
 istrator Margrave Christian William of Brandenburg, 
 who was carried a prisoner to Vienna. Falkenburg 
 fell with honor early in the street-fights. 
 
 On the 13th of May, Tilly entered the smoulder- 
 ing and gory ruins. His frightful victory was cele- 
 brated by mass in the cathedral. 
 
 Later historians pronounce Tilly innocent of the 
 serious charge of having so ruthlessly destroyed Mag- 
 deburg, and cast the burden of the crime on the fiery, 
 zealous and fanatical Pappenheim. But Tilly was 
 chief while the former was only subordinate. His 
 subsequent fate proves his consciousness of guilt. 
 After Magdeburg's fall he achieved no material vic- 
 tories ; the hero of more than twenty battles was 
 doomed henceforth to succumb to the enemy; the 
 curse of his misdeeds at Magdeburg had banished for- 
 tune from him forever. 
 
 64 
 
The Fall of Magdeburg. 
 
 A cry of distress rang through Protestant Ger- 
 many at the news of Magdeburg's fall and frightful 
 devastation. Occasionally a malevolent person would 
 ascribe the blame for this terrible catastrophe to Gus- 
 tavus Adolphus. In defense of himself he issued a 
 manifesto in which he fearlessly designated the unre- 
 liability of the electors of Saxony and Brandenburg as 
 the cause of this great calamity. 
 
 Meanwhile the king's forces had wrested Meck- 
 lenburg from the imperialists. The king himself later 
 in August brought back the old dukes to the capital 
 of the country, Giistrow, amid great festivities ; and 
 gained in them faithful allies. The city of Greifswald 
 was conquered by the Swedish general Tott. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus after the fall of Magdeburg 
 had withdrawn from the town of Saarmund, which 
 was under the protection of Spandau. Now that Mag- 
 deburg was ruined the elector of Brandenburg 
 appeared and demanded, in view of the agreement 
 concluded between the king and himself in May, the 
 restoration of Spandau. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus exhausted all means to con- 
 ciliate his brother-in-law. Nothing availed, all his 
 good words were in vain. Finally he became angry. 
 "Well and good" he exclaimed to the negotiator, 
 "early tomorrow Spandau shall be evacuated by my 
 
 65 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 troops, but I demand the return of all my papers. My 
 friendship with Brandenburg is hereby terminated." 
 
 At once the entire Swedish army marched toward 
 Berlin. It was placed in line of battle before the gates 
 of the capital, all the artillery was loaded, hauled to 
 the front, and directed against the electoral castle. 
 
 Only when he found himself in this extremely 
 dangerous position, did the elector change his mind. 
 Not only was Spandau relinquished to the king during 
 the entire continuation of the war, but an alliance 
 offensive and defensive was concluded. Brandenburg 
 obligated itself to pay a monthly military tax of 
 30,000 dollars. 
 
 % 
 
VII. 
 
 The Encampment on the Elbe and the Alliance 
 "With Saxony, 
 
 Tilly marched from the Magdeburg ruins to 
 Erfurt. From this place he could cut off the land- 
 grave of Hesse from Gustavus Adolphus. Neverthe- 
 less he only tarried a short time. In order to give his 
 troops better resources he went to Muhlhausen and 
 later threatened Cassel. The news of Gustavus Adol- 
 phus' approach induced him to adopt other measures. 
 
 At the end of June we find the king at Branden- 
 burg. The entire eastern shore of the Elbe as far as 
 Magdeburg was in his power ; it was now his purpose 
 to gain the western shore during Tilly's absence. He 
 crossed the river at Jericho and Tangermunde on 
 pontoons built with greatest dispatch. At the latter 
 town he had occasion to meet Pappenheim for the first 
 time. He forced him, after a short fight, to abandon 
 his position on the western bank. He then took pos- 
 session of the famous fortress at Werben, at that time 
 one of the strongest in all Germany. 
 
 Recalled by Pappenheim's courier Tilly also 
 marched thither. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus soon convinced him that he 
 67 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 was prepared not only for resistance, but for an attack. 
 In three divisions the Swedes made a night attack 
 upon the enemy's flank. General Bandissin overthrew 
 Montecuculi's riders at Burgstall the king himself the 
 Bernstein regiment at Reindorf, and the Rhine-grave 
 surprised Hoik's dragoons with a violent attack at the 
 village of Angern. This attack cost Tilly a thousand 
 men and two cannon. Harassed day and night by the 
 Swedish cavalry, he hastened to Werben, in order to 
 persuade his far weaker enemy to engage in an open 
 battle. But Gustavus Adolphus remained quietly hi 
 his fortifications; he cherished other plans, of which 
 we shall presently hear. Smaller engagements oc- 
 curred daily. While the king shrewdly opened battle 
 in front of Werben, Swedish skirmishers went to the 
 east shore of the Elbe, and appearing in the rear of 
 the enemy, intercepted the convoys, which came from 
 Halberstadt, Ouedlinburg and other directions. 
 Within a radius of eight iniles food was not attain- 
 able for Tilly's numerous cavalry. Bread too was 
 wanting, and even water, so indispensable during the 
 oppressive heat. Tilly soon came to the conclusion 
 that he was not strong enough to force the king from 
 his secure position. Under the circumstances he con- 
 sidered it advisable to withdraw. On the 19th of July, 
 early morning he broke camp ; he first withdrew to 
 Tangermund, where he thoroughly intrenched himself 
 
The Encampment on the Elbe, Etc. 
 
 in order to be secure against the Swedes. Hunger 
 drove him from here by the middle of August. As he 
 dared not go to the east shore of the Elbe, he returned 
 to the neighborhood of Magdeburg, whence he 
 marched two months previously with such high hopes. 
 The withdrawal of Tilly with his purpose unaccom- 
 plished was the first result of the excellent position of 
 the king at Werben ; the second was the already men- 
 tioned re-instatement of the dukes of Mecklenburg; 
 and the third, Sweden's treaty with the landgrave of 
 Hessen-Cassel. 
 
 Meanwhile the king received re-inf orcements : 
 from Sweden itself there came 2,000 men, and the 
 Englishman Hamilton came to his aid with 6,000 more. 
 
 These events induced Tilly to turn his eyes to 
 the flourishing fields of Saxony, which until now had 
 escaped the long destructive wars. He had no other 
 resource to enable him to maintain his position in 
 middle Germany ; he was cut off from the lower Elbe 
 by the king ; from Franken, Westphalia and the Rhine 
 by the dukes of Hessen and Weimar ; from Silesia by 
 the devastated Mark of Brandenburg and the Brit- 
 ish Hamilton whom the king had sent thither; and 
 from the hereditary estates of Austria by the neutral 
 elector of Saxony. 
 
 It was necessary for him, with the consent of the 
 emperor to make an end to this neutrality. 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus had anticipated this move; 
 for this reason he had until now waged no battle. 
 Pressed by Tilly, the elector of Saxony would be 
 obliged to unite his forces with the king's. 
 
 Tilly now hastened from Magdeburg, where he 
 had made the necessary repairs in the fortifications, to 
 Eisleben. From here he dispatched several ambassa- 
 dors to Merseberg, the elector's court residence. They 
 were instructed to tell him to open his country to the 
 imperialists, to join Tilly against the Swedes or to 
 expect to be treated as an enemy. 
 
 The elector, as was his wont, received the ambas- 
 sadors graciously, and entertained them sumptuously 
 at his table. But as the dessert was served he said 
 to them : "I plainly see that the reserved Saxon tid- 
 bit is £o be devoured. But beware, gentlemen, that 
 you do not spoil your teeth, for it is likely to contain 
 all kinds of hard nuts, which are difficult to crack." 
 
 The following day he announced boldly that un- 
 less he wished his country devastated he could not 
 enter into a treaty with the emperor. 
 
 Shortly after, — the elector had scarcely repaired 
 to his army — Pappenheim advanced with fire and 
 sword into the neighborhood of Merseberg. On the 
 30th of August Tilly appeared before Leipzig with his 
 entire army. He bombarded it, the suburbs were 
 devoured by flames and the city capitulated in a dis- 
 
 70 
 
The Encampment on the Elbe, Etc. 
 
 graceful manner when it might have resisted. The 
 capitulation was concluded in the grave-digger's 
 house, which alone had escaped the flames. Horror 
 overcame Tilly when he saw the death heads and skel- 
 etons, scythes and hour-glasses pictured on the walls. 
 
 At the news of Leipzig's surrender, the Saxon 
 army marched hastily under the ramparts of Torgau. 
 From here the hardpressed elector petitioned help 
 from Gustavus Adolphus, whose headquarters were in 
 Brandenburg. The Saxon field-marshal von Arnim 
 came thither. The king received him very coldly, 
 because he had formerly by his counsels greatly 
 injured the cause of Sweden. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus shrugged his shoulders and 
 said : "I regret the fate of the elector, but it is his own 
 fault. Had he joined me in the spring, Saxony would 
 never have seen an enemy in its country, and unfortu- 
 nate Magdeburg would still be standing. This disas- 
 ter is the natural consequence of the vacillating policy 
 of your master. Now that his neck is endangered, he 
 seeks my help; but I am not minded, for the sake of 
 the elector of Saxony, to plunge myself and my faith- 
 ful allies into disaster." 
 
 The king strode restlessly back and forth through 
 the room. Arnim tried to appease him with smooth 
 words. 
 
 71 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 "Merely talk," stormed the king; "I understand 
 that." 
 
 "Who will vouch for the fidelity of a prince whose 
 highest officers enjoy the imperial favor, and who 
 would himself desert me again as soon as Tilly's 
 position became more promising?" 
 
 Arnim exerted his eloquence to influence him 
 favorably toward Saxony. 
 
 The king finally closed the interview; Arnim 
 withdrew ; with fleet horses he hastened to Torgau — 
 only to reappear in Brandenburg. 
 
 After a prolonged waiting, the king again admit- 
 ted him ; Saxony of all countries had treated him most 
 shabbily. 
 
 In the most flattering manner Arnim said : "My 
 master, in view of the recent transactions does not in 
 the least condemn the precautions which your majesty 
 takes for future protection. But I beg your majesty 
 earnestly to state the conditions which you exact from 
 my master. He is ready to furnish all possible secur- 
 ities." 
 
 The king still hesitated; Arnim appealed to his 
 magnanimity, saying the king surely would not allow 
 a protestant prince whose country was the cradle of 
 the Reformation, to plead in vain for help and pro- 
 tection. 
 
 "Very well," said the king, apparently yielding, 
 
 72 
 
The Encampment on the Elbe, Etc. 
 
 and approaching Arnim, "I demand that the elector 
 evacuate Wittenberg, give me the crown-prince as a 
 hostage, banish without delay the traitors from his 
 secret council" — he waited a moment, his eyes fixed 
 on Arnim, who grew hot — "pay my army quarterly 
 wages ; and conclude with me an offensive and defen- 
 sive alliance." 
 
 Arnim's authority did not extend so far as to 
 accede to these demands. He hastened to Torgau. 
 
 When he communicated them to the elector, the 
 latter was highly elated: "Not only shall Wittenberg 
 and Torgau but all Saxony be open to the king of 
 Sweden, I will give myself and mine as hostages, if 
 he demand it. The king shall name the traitors, I will 
 immediately dismiss them. With pleasure will I pay 
 the stipulated wages, and sacrifice my life and posses- 
 sions to the oppressed Evangelical cause." 
 
 When Arnim delivered this answer to the king, 
 it almost embarrassed him. With great friendliness 
 he said : "Confidence begets confidence. Let the past 
 be forgiven and forgotten. I will waive all conditions, 
 and only desire for my army the quarterly wages." 
 
 The king broke camp with his army. His way 
 led over Wittenberg. As he crossed the bridge over 
 the Elbe here, the students greeted him with thunder- 
 ing cheers. 
 
 In the small Saxon town of Kemberg the king 
 
 73 
 
Gustavns Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 took a day of rest. He had scarcely reached his quar- 
 ters, when a multitude of people assembled at his win- 
 dows. When he questioned the provost of the place, 
 Jeremiah Spiegel, who happened to be with him, about 
 the cause of this crowd, the latter answered : "The 
 people would like to see the great king of Sweden." 
 He quickly left the room and, appearing in the street, 
 called to the crowd : "Dear children, here you see a 
 great sinner of Sweden, whom artless people call the 
 great king of Sweden. God forgive them." . . . 
 
 From Kemberg the king's path led to Duben on 
 the Mulde. Here both armies united on the 5th oi 
 September in a body of 40,000 men. The rejoicing 
 was great. Two days later Tilly's fortune at arms and 
 emperor Ferdinand's superiority were things of the 
 past. 
 
VIIL 
 
 The Battle of Breitenfeld. 
 
 On the morning of the 7th of September, 1631, 
 the king convened the Swedish and Saxon generals in 
 his headquarters at Wolkau. The electors of Bran- 
 denburg and Saxony also appeared. 
 
 The king emphasized the fact that they had before 
 them a mighty and powerful enemy ; an enemy whose 
 flag had often led to victory; but all previous con- 
 quests could in a few hours be wrested from him if 
 they stood courageously united. Magdeburg is to be 
 revenged ; the true faith protected ; and he doubted 
 not that the Lord whose strong arm had heretofore 
 shielded him would again prove faithful and strong. 
 The enemy's camp, loaded with rich booty, was before 
 Leipzig, and with a fortunate turn of affairs the rich- 
 est section of Germany would be open to them, and 
 they would be rewarded for their bravery, their efforts 
 and their hardships. 
 
 When the leaders communicated these words of 
 the king to their soldiers a prolonged rejoicing ensued. 
 The courage of the army was heightened particularly 
 by the hope of finally bringing Tilly, the old corporal, 
 the hated destroyer of Magdeburg, to account. Many 
 
 75 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 wonderful tales of Tilly's waning power were indulged 
 in. 
 
 The chroniclers report that on the 18th and 19th 
 of June 1 63 1 terrible miraculous signs were observed 
 in Ashersleben. Two armies engaged in violent fight- 
 ing were visible in a clear sky. The one came out of 
 noonday, the other from midnight and — the one out 
 of midnight remained victor. A man in long robes, 
 with bow and arrow shot the leader who had come 
 from the army out of the noonday. Also : In the little 
 town of Sonnenwalde in Lausitz a violent shooting 
 and cannonading was heard as if muskets and guns 
 had been discharged. In the direction of the noon-day 
 sun the noise finally ceased. 
 
 Further: During a severe thunderstorm at Wit- 
 tenberg in the night between the 20th and 21st of June 
 on the great parapet on the ramparts a rider with a 
 large black dog had attacked the sentry, whereupon 
 the latter had cried out undismayed : "Who goes there?" 
 — Answer: The Watch. The soldier asked: "Rider 
 on duty?" when a mocking laugh ensued. As this 
 rider after an hour returned, exactly on the stroke of 
 twelve, the sentinel distinctly recognized the figrue of 
 Count Tilly, mounted headless on his horse. 
 
 The aged Tilly, as late as the evening of the 6th, 
 was determined not to give battle ; the younger com- 
 
 76 
 
The Battle at Breitenfeld. 
 
 manders, especially Pappenheim disagreed. He con- 
 sidered Tilly's caution senility, his hesitation fear. 
 
 Early on the 7th of September the Swedish-Saxon 
 army lined up in battle array before Wolkau. Tilly 
 approached from Etruria. 
 
 On the march against the enemy Gustavus 
 Adolphus gave his cavalry-men, who were mostly 
 mounted on small, weak horses, good advice. Said he, 
 "When you engage the imperialists, who ride heavy 
 stallions, and you find yourselves unable, on account 
 of their armor, to reach their ribs, strike for the 
 horses, and forcing your dagger in deep rip the 
 wound wide open ; then man and beast will soon sink 
 upon the ground. 
 
 Tilly's restlessness visibly increased as the Swedes 
 came nearer; their movements and tactics were new 
 to him; he realized he was dealing with an enemy 
 who was a match for him. The mercenaries of Mans- 
 field and the Brunswickers had been much easier to 
 overcome. 
 
 Tilly, a small hoary old man, who, on account of 
 a peaked shrivelled face and a long snow-white beard, 
 had a somewhat uncanny appearance wore a green 
 satin dress. A long red feather waved on his Span- 
 ish hat ; his horse was strikingly large and powerful. 
 
 The moment awaited with painful suspense on 
 both sides was drawing nearer. Pappenheim's impet- 
 
 77 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in German^. 
 
 uosity opened the battle. Having gone too far in 
 reconnoitering among the enemy and being hard- 
 pressed, he demanded immediate assistance from Tilly, 
 who rendered it unwillingly with the remark: 'This 
 man will rob me of honor and good name and the 
 emperor of land and people." 
 
 The battle began at Loberbach. Pappenheim's 
 cavalry, now greatly strengthened, for some time pre- 
 vented the king from crossing. Yet — Pappenheim 
 was repulsed. To the right of the burning town of 
 Podelwitz Gustavus Adolphus formed his skillful line 
 of battle: Infantry and cavalry exchanged with one 
 another in small squads. The imperial troops advanced 
 at Gobschelwitz in two lines. Arnim commanded the 
 first, the elector the second. 
 
 The watch-word of the imperialists was : "Jesus, 
 Maria" ; that of the Swedes and Saxons : "God with 
 us." 
 
 Heavy cannonading thundered from both sides. 
 During the first attack the Swedes had the wind and 
 dust against them. For a long time they defended 
 themselves by skillful turns. Pappenheim vehemently 
 attacked the right wing, which Baner commanded. 
 His plan was to outflank it. — The danger increased. 
 The king himself hastened to the relief of the danger- 
 ous situation. A furious fight ensued. Pappenheim 
 endeavored to force a victory, but the combined effect 
 
 78 
 
The Battle at Breitenfeld. 
 
 of the cavalry-men's swords, the infantry's guns, and 
 the small easily handled cannon was irresistible. A 
 regiment of infantry following Pappenheim was 
 entirely destroyed. 
 
 While these events were transpiring on the Swed- 
 ish line, General Fiirstenberg's heavy cavalry attacked 
 the Saxons occupying the extreme left wing. For a 
 time these offered the bravest resistance; but when 
 the enemy threw more and more forces into the fight, 
 their ranks finally broke; whole companies threw 
 away their weapons and fled. The elector himself gal- 
 loped to Eilenburg, Arnim fled to the ranks of the 
 Swedes. 
 
 By this procedure the king's left flank was seri- 
 ously threatened. 
 
 It was now that Gustavus Adolphus' generalship 
 recovered the battle. A second line together with the 
 reserve, quickly joined the first. A new sword and 
 fire line loomed up before the enemy. The attacks 
 crowded and repeated themselves, man fought against 
 man, hand to hand until finally the king, like a storm 
 overcoming all opposition, broke his way into the midst 
 of the enemy. 
 
 At this moment the news came that Baner had 
 vanquished the left wing of the enemy and was repuls- 
 ing him in the direction of Breitenfeld. 
 
 The king ordered a general forward movement. 
 
 79 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 He rode a fiery roan horse, wore a grey coat over his 
 elk-cape; and a wide-brimmed hat with a green 
 feather adorned his head. His ranks at present in 
 diverging lines, formed again and advanced, the cav- 
 alry leading up the heights, where the enemy's artillery 
 stood. It was such an onslaught as none could with- 
 stand. All the batteries fell into the king's hands; 
 they were rapidly reversed and their murderous mis- 
 siles crashed into the centre and reserve of the enemy. 
 The rout was complete; fear and terror took hold on 
 all; every one that had a horse or legs fled. Tilly 
 himself was in the greatest danger. A Swedish cap- 
 tain of horse was close at his heels and recognizing 
 him, pounded him on the neck and back with a pistol 
 until he himself was shot by an imperial rider. 
 
 In a rectangle formed by several veteran regi- 
 ments that were still intact, Tilly marched back to 
 Halle. He was very weak and much affected, had 
 received three shots, none of which, however, had 
 struck home. The report soon spread that he was 
 taken prisoner. 
 
 Over 6,000 of the enemy strewed the battle-field ; 
 the Saxons had lost 2,000; the Swedes only 700 men. 
 Besides these, at least 5,000 imperial and league sol- 
 diers fell into the hands of the pursuing victors. 
 Tilly's beautiful army was annihilated in a few hours ; 
 
 80 
 
The Battle at Breitenfeld. 
 
 his artillery lost; the fame of his invincibility gone 
 forever. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus, as soon as he realized the 
 victorious outcome of his attack, fell on his knees 
 among the dead and wounded, and with the fervency 
 peculiar to him gave thanks to the Lord of hosts for 
 the glorious victory. In the starlight a thanksgiving 
 service was held and the choral : "A mighty fortress 
 is our God," was sung. From numerous surrounding 
 villages the bells pealed out on the mild summer night, 
 and on the heights for miles around bonfires blazed. 
 
 Couriers recalled the elector of Saxony who had 
 fled. The re-assembled cavalry and infantry of his 
 scattered army captured Leipzig after a few days, and 
 thus shared in a small measure the great victory of 
 the Swedes. 
 
 As the destruction of Magdeburg a short time 
 ago had called forth rejoicing and exultation from 
 Catholic Germany, so the defeat of Tilly at Breiten- 
 feld and Leipzig spread fear and dismay among them. 
 The elector of Bavaria trembled, and the emperor him- 
 self was ill at ease. The "little enemy" had grown to 
 be a powerful foe. 
 
 Among the Protestants, however, Gustavus Adol- 
 phus' name very soon became highly honored ; songs 
 and portraits immortalized the hero as the saviour of 
 spiritual and political liberty. 
 
 81 
 
IX. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March Through 
 Thuringia, Franconia and Bavaria* 
 
 The king rested for a few days in Halle. The 
 elector of Saxony also reported here soon after. He 
 feared reproaches but met with a very gracious recep- 
 tion. 
 
 The king was holding a council of war in Moritz- 
 burg. Many princes were present; the object was to 
 turn to the best advantage the late brilliant victory. 
 
 "Straight to Vienna, your majesty," was the 
 advice of the elector of Saxony, whose courage had 
 now waxed strong. "The road is clear since it leads 
 largely through Evangelical countries : Bohemia and 
 Moravia will greet you cordially, and join forces with 
 you ! Before the walls of Vienna the laws shall be 
 dictated to the emperor Ferdinand!" 
 
 Prince Ludwig of Anhalt advised the king to 
 pursue Tilly's army, which in all probability would 
 re-assemble in Westphalia. 
 
 The duke Frederick Adolphus referred to the 
 devastated north German countries which were not 
 able to support one army, much less two. 
 
 The elector of Saxony reiterated his suggestion, 
 
 82 
 
Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 
 
 that the king march against Vienna ; he himself would 
 offer the league the sword. 
 
 A slight shadow flitted across the cheerful coun- 
 tenance of Gustavus Adolphus : The elector of Sax- 
 ony would never be capable of this task. 
 
 Duke William of Saxe- Weimar, the elder brother 
 of the duke Bernhard, proposed another plan. "My 
 dear sir," said he to the king, "you must penetrate the 
 so-called Pfaffengasse, gain possession of the course 
 of the Main, and settle on the Rhine. Only in this 
 way is it possible to attract to ourselves the Protes- 
 tants there, and break the league's remaining power." 
 
 This plan prevailed. To the king it appeared 
 much more advantageous than an advance to Vienna. 
 He hoped to reach that city in this roundabout way. 
 He also knew that in a march to southwestern Ger- 
 many he stood the best chance of meeting Tilly again. 
 His words were: "I will pursue this old corporal to 
 the end of the earth." 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus was severely criticized for 
 going to the Rhine instead of Vienna, even by his 
 clever chancellor Oxenstjerna, who on meeting him at 
 Frankfort on the Main, called to him : "I rejoice Sire 
 to find you here a famous victor, but it were more 
 agreeable to me to greet you in the royal residence at 
 Vienna." 
 
 While the Swedes now kept themselves in readi- 
 
 83 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 ness for an invasion into the fertile and sunny coun- 
 tries of southwest Germany, the Saxons occupied 
 Bohemia and their native country almost without 
 resistance; but accorded to the imperial estates and 
 officers the most considerate treatment. 
 
 On the 17th of September the Swedish army 
 began its march from Halle to Erfurt. It reached this 
 place on the 24th. In order to conciliate the inhabi- 
 tants of this city, the king at once gave audience to 
 the magistrates and the administrators of the guilds. 
 
 In a lengthy and excellent address he emphasized 
 the cause which had induced him to take part in the 
 German war : the rescue of the threatened Evangelical 
 liberty. 
 
 He then spoke of his labors and hardships for the 
 sa]ce of this blessing. "It is true," he said, "I am still 
 strong and well, but I must meet anew an embittered 
 enemy, who will endeavor in every way to injure me, 
 and put me out of the way. But whatever comes I 
 shall accept as a dispensation from God. I would 
 consider myself happy if the Lord in heaven ordained 
 me to suffer danger or death for His name's sake." 
 
 He showed himself very patient and humane 
 toward the Catholics in Erfurt. To the deans of the 
 cathedral he said: "Inform your master, the elector 
 of Mayence, that he would do me a favor by with- 
 drawing his troops from the army of the league. I 
 
 84 
 
Gustavus Adolphns' Triumphal March, Etc. 
 
 am not come to oppress the electors, but to defend 
 them and it would grieve me exceedingly to be forced 
 to hostilities. " 
 
 To the Jesuits he said with his accustomed can- 
 dor: "You will some day be called to answer before 
 heaven for the unrest and bloodshed you have caused. 
 I know more about you than you imagine. Your 
 intentions and teachings are evil, your behavior crimi- 
 nal. I advise you to take care and not meddle here- 
 after in affairs of state." 
 
 From Erfurt his march proceeded over the inhos- 
 pitable roads of the Thuringian forests. It was his 
 plan to penetrate the wealthy bishopric at Wurzburg. 
 The key to it, the fortress of Konigshofen, readily fell 
 into his hands. The city itself he was obliged to take 
 by force. The castle resisted longest. The brave 
 defenders lay in rows in the court, the corridors and 
 rooms. Many, however, had only feigned death in 
 order not to meet it at the hands of the conquerors. 
 When the king on his entrance into the castle per- 
 ceived the many rosy vigorous countenances among 
 the cold corpses he said laughingly: "Arise, no harm 
 shall come to you !" More than a dozen obeyed. 
 
 Meanwhile Tilly had received re-inforcements, 
 had united with the troops of the duke of Lorraine, 
 and raged fearfully in Hessen. He burned with a 
 desire to measure arms anew with the king and to 
 
 85 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 atone for Leipzig. He received, however, from the 
 elector of Bavaria, his real superior, the express com- 
 mand not to attack Gustavus Adolphus, nor to risk 
 the fate of Bavaria and Swabia. The aged Tilly wept 
 over this. By the conquest of Hanau, which the Held- 
 marshal Gustavus van Horn accomplished, the way to 
 Frankfurt was open to the king. As he approached 
 this city ambassadors of the senate met him and 
 urgently begged him to avoid Frankfurt, or, at least 
 to spare the city an encampment. 
 
 The king answered : "It surprises me greatly that 
 you value your ease and your rations higher than your 
 conscience. From the largely Evangelical population 
 of Frankfurt I had expected better things. On the 
 road from Usedom to the Main I obtained the key to 
 many cities, I will not allow Frankfurt to lock its 
 doors against me. Furthermore, I do not come for 
 my own advantage, but in the interest of religious 
 liberty and the general welfare." 
 
 He energetically refused the subterfuge of the 
 Frankfurters to consult the elector of Mayence, their 
 bishop, about the surrender of the town, adding : "As 
 master of the town of Aschaffenburg, I now occupy 
 the place of the elector of Mayence, and can impart 
 to you as vigorous a resolution as he." 
 
 The king entered Frankfurt on the 14th of No- 
 vember. Mayence did not fall into his hands so 
 
Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 
 
 quickly. The Spaniards here defended the clerical 
 elector for weeks, but finally this town also flung open 
 its gates to the victor. 
 
 From here the king returned to Frankfurt. He 
 had the great pleasure of greeting his beloved wife 
 here after a separation of one and one half years. 
 
 And what a meeting! Her bold giant of the 
 north was master of half of Germany. 
 
 The whole royal army encamped around Mayence 
 during the winter. It was pleasant to live here; for 
 this stretch of the great German country was until now 
 little affected by the long war, and the inhabitants of 
 the cities and villages were well supplied with pro- 
 visions of all kinds. 
 
 An abundance, such as they had never enjoyed, 
 existed in the Swedish camp. The soldiers would sell 
 a cow to the citizens or peasants for one dollar, a 
 sheep, hog or calf for 5 to 6 pennies. In the former 
 wars of Gustavus Adolphus, namely the Polish and 
 Prussian, the soldiers had to content themselves with 
 water and mouldy bread, now they prepared their 
 cold drinks in their helmets with wine, zwieback or 
 rolls. 
 
 Like the king the field-marshals were victorious 
 at all points. 
 
 The cause of the emperor and the league were in 
 a bad plight. The fall of both was prophesied with 
 
 87 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 certainty. Scarcely 50,000 men, scattered here and 
 there over Germany, were at their disposal. Besides 
 Hungary was threatened by the Turks and in Ob der 
 Ens an uprising of the Evangelical peasants, who 
 demanded liberty and the restoration of their churches 
 and preachers, caused the emperor much uneasiness. 
 
 We must not conceal the strained relations be- 
 tween Ferdinand and Max of Bavaria. The latter 
 had concluded a secret truce with France. Richelieu 
 himself feared further victories of the king. He had 
 not imagined his progress so rapid and so brilliant. 
 He now regretted having built for him the golden 
 bridge to Germany. Instead of having for a neighbor 
 the less dangerous German emperor he now had the 
 glorious intrepid Gustavus Adolphus. 
 
 And when the latter in the spring of the year 
 1632 threatened to garrison German Alsace and Lor- 
 raine, the Parisian cabinet grew pale with fear. Fur- 
 ther reports were to the effect that this crusade was 
 for the protection of the French Huguenots (Protes- 
 tants) and that the king's intention was to cross the 
 Alps with 70,000 men and depose the pope. 
 
 The present French ambassador Marquis of Breze 
 begged Gustavus Adolphus in the name of his mon- 
 arch not to press on to Alsace as France wished to do 
 this and unite to itself a province which even in king 
 Dagobert's time belonged to this crown. 
 
Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 
 
 The king was enraged: "I came not over the 
 Baltic sea to be a traitor to the German empire but 
 as its protector, and will never give my consent that 
 a province or even a city be severed from it." 
 
 When the ambassador suggested that the French 
 army now gathered on the border of Lorraine should 
 repair to Germany and support the Swedes, the king 
 rejected this offer with the words: "I doubt exceed- 
 ingly whether two armies so unlike could agree in 
 Germany. It were better that the king of France 
 should attack the emperor's confederates, the Span- 
 iards in Catalonia or elsewhere, and allow me to 
 carry on the war in Germany on my own responsi- 
 bility." 
 
 It happened that at this time the elector of Bava- 
 ria also sought from Gustavus Adolphus neutrality 
 for himself and his country under certain conditions. 
 But the latter was not minded to have terms dictated 
 but rather to name his own. The sword was soon to 
 decide matters between him and the proud prince of 
 Bavaria. 
 
 Simultaneous negotiations for peace between 
 Gustavus Adolphus and the emperor, whose mediator 
 was the elector of Mayence likewise came to naught. 
 
 The king invaded Franconia in the spring after 
 Tilly, who now besieged Nuremberg, had rioted in the 
 territory of Anspach. But he was obliged to abandon 
 
 89 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 this enterprise on account of the treachery of one of 
 his gunners who had blown up his whole supply of 
 powder — 125 hundredweight, and done great injury 
 to his army. Tilly marched to Nordlingen. There 
 he discharged the last remnant of the troops brought 
 over by the duke of Lorraine. 
 
 The bishop of Bamberg first felt the power of 
 the Swedish hand. It was Horn who attacked here, 
 and though he suffered great loss Gustavus Adolphus 
 repaired it. 
 
 With 40,000 men the king now marched from 
 Forschheim to Erlangen and beyond. Having reached 
 Fiirth he was greeted by a deputation of Nuremberger 
 patriots and invited to honor their city with his pres- 
 ence. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus gladly consented. Nurem- 
 berg had long ago become dear to him. He had lately 
 promised the city the glorious German estates which 
 lay within municipal jurisdiction, and had allowed 
 Nuremberger merchants to travel to the Frankfurter 
 spring fair under Swedish escort. 
 
 With immeasurable rejoicing he was received by 
 the Nurembergers. At a brilliant banquet which the 
 city gave in his honor, after the elders had presented 
 him with a costly silver cup, he made a lengthy speech 
 from which we quote the following: 
 
 "Never swerve from the precious Evangelical 
 
 90 
 
Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 
 
 religion ! Your enemies will leave no stone un- 
 turned, — therefore stand firm ! Consider to what 
 dangers you would be exposed, if you fall into their 
 power. I can not overcome my surprise and must 
 ascribe it to the grace of God that the enemy did not 
 again take possession of Nuremberg since he occupied 
 it for two or three years previously. God has pro- 
 tected you in just such a miraculous way as He has 
 called me to this holy work. I had never hoped to 
 come into your city, which I long loved and prized 
 on account of your works of art, trade and commerce. 
 I have heretofore avoided no danger for the sake of 
 the Evangelical religion and German liberty, and will 
 in the future at the risk of my life, do all I possibly 
 can for the same, and particularly for your city. Have 
 patience and suffer yet a little longer ! Be firm, fight 
 a good fight and keep the faith, and God will preserve 
 you henceforth, and cause your city to increase in the 
 riches of faith, and grant you the earthly and here- 
 after a heavenly crown." 
 
 The king only remained in Nuremberg for the 
 afternoon ; toward evening he followed his army, 
 which was passing close by the city in its march 
 toward Swabia. 
 
 A few days later we find him in Donauworth. 
 This city formed the bridge across the Danube into 
 Bavaria. A second road led over the Lech. Tilly 
 
 91 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 here maintained a firm position at the little town of. 
 Rain, and to insure his own safety he had cut off all 
 the bridges as far as Augsburg. His camp held a 
 valuable treasure; namely, the elector Max of Bava- 
 ria, who was now greatly alarmed about the safety of 
 his hereditary estates. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus personally appeared at the 
 Lech. He did not conceal from himself that the pas- 
 sage over this river, and the attack upon Tilly who 
 had deeply intrenched himself would be a difficult one. 
 His field-officers agreed with him. The aged and 
 experienced Horn tried urgently to dissuade him from 
 an attack. 
 
 "We," exclaimed the king at this protest, "we 
 who have sailed across the Baltic sea and have crossed 
 many of Germany's large and small streams, should 
 fear to cross the Lech, when the solution of the prob- 
 lem lies beyond?" 
 
 On the same evening in the pale moonlight three 
 batteries were erected and surrounded by a trench. 
 Under cover of this 300 determined Finns built a 
 bridge, and, as meanwhile a ford had been discovered 
 the whole Swedish army had soon crossed to the east 
 shore. 
 
 Tilly attacked the Swedes with mortal courage 
 before they could form and establish themselves. His 
 old soldiers fought with the greatest skill, but the mis- 
 
 92 
 
Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 
 
 fortune which now befell their aged leader, disheart- 
 ened all their columns. 
 
 A Swedish falconet-bullet shattered the right leg 
 of the commander-in-chief above the knee. He was 
 still able to give the command for a retreat to Ingol- 
 stadt. He died here after fifteen days of intense suf- 
 fering. His last words to the elector, Max, who tar- 
 ried at his death-bed were: "Hold Regensburg! the 
 Bavarian elector's hat falls with that city !" 
 
 Concerning the strength of the Bavarian position 
 the king remarked : "Had I been master of it, I would 
 never have been expelled, not even if a bullet had torn 
 away beard and chin." 
 
 The victory at Lech led Gustavus Adolphus to 
 Augsburg. He immediately introduced again the 
 Lutheran divine service, restored the old municipal 
 government, placed a permanent Swedish garrison in 
 the city, and had the inhabitants swear allegiance. He 
 attended service in the St. Anna church. Dr. Fabri- 
 cius, the court-chaplain, spoke on the text: "For the 
 oppression of the poor, for the sighing of the needy, 
 now will I arise, saith the Lord ; I will set him in safety 
 from him that would ensnare him." After the sermon 
 the Te Deum was sung. 
 
 The king hereupon repaired to the Fugger palace 
 at the wine market, examined the venerable town-hall 
 and arsenal and gave orders to be conducted to the 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 chamber in which the Evangelical princes 102 years 
 before had presented to the mighty emperor, Charles 
 V, their confession. 
 
 Noble thoughts certainly filled Gustavus' soul at 
 this time ; for he had restored in Germany to a great 
 extent the confession which the catholic Hapsburgers 
 and their Jesuits had trampled under foot. 
 
 The siege of the fortress of Ingolstadt which he 
 shortly undertook did not have the desired result. It 
 seemed more important to the king to march to Munich, 
 the capital of Bavaria. On the way he took Lands- 
 hut. The citizens of this town had perpetrated great 
 cruelties upon the Swedish prisoners. Filled with 
 anxiety lest the victorious king would exercise the 
 right of reprisals, the counsellors met him hal'f-way, 
 offered him the keys of the city and fell prostrate, 
 begging forgiveness. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus addressed them sternly; it 
 was his intention to discipline Landshut for the cruel- 
 ties and misdeeds. 
 
 "When I consider your disgraceful actions against 
 my brave soldiers, anger overcomes me. You cut off 
 their noses and ears, chopped off their hands and feet. 
 It were weakness for me to show you mercy. You 
 shall be punished even as you have deserved to be." 
 
 And yet his noble heart conquered, — he forgave 
 94 
 
Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 
 
 them. In Landshut the French ambassador also 
 sought audience with the king. It was granted. 
 
 Of late the jealousy of France over Gustavus 
 Adolphus' victories had increased. King Louis XIII 
 had taken occasion in the presence of the Venetian 
 ambassador to say: It is high time to set a limit to 
 the triumphal progress of the bold Goth. 
 
 The ambassador demanded neutrality for the 
 elector of Bavaria. It was a serious matter; the 
 Frenchman haggled beyond all endurance. Gustavus 
 Adolphus finally told him : "I will have nothing more 
 to do with you, as you have no letters of authority 
 from your sovereign." 
 
 "Then I demand," said he, no less excited, "that 
 your majesty at least state the conditions under which 
 you are willing to grant the elector neutrality." 
 
 "Well and good" exclaimed the king. "The 
 Bavarian shall have peace, if he immediately discharges 
 his troops, not delivering them to the emperor, and if 
 he will take oath not to undertake hostilities against 
 me or the crown of Sweden within three years. But 
 I will have an answer by to-morrow, — yes or no ! 
 If he shows, however, that he only dallies with me, I 
 will take revenge; I will burn and desolate Bavaria 
 in such a manner, that your flippant elector shall mar- 
 vel." 
 
 As the ambassador at the conclusion of the audi- 
 
 95 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 ence ventured to ask the king how far he intended to 
 carry his conquests, and where the limit would be, he 
 answered rapidly : "There where my interest demands 
 it." 
 
 The threat that France would feel compelled to 
 march on Sweden, was met by the king with the reply : 
 "Then I will appear before Paris with 100,000 men." 
 
 One consequence of these strained relations was, 
 that the French subsidy came sparingly and finally 
 ceased altogether. 
 
 With the seizure of Landshut the way to old 
 Bavaria was opened to the king. This was a good 
 prospect for his army; for the war had until now 
 wholly spared this country; houses, barns and cellars 
 were stocked. 
 
 But there was a different obstacle: the Swedes 
 now came to a country, where the national spirit was 
 inimical. On every Sunday fanatical preachers prayed 
 to God from the pulpit: "Deliver us from the arch- 
 enemy, the Swedish devil." 
 
 The king shortly before crossing the boundary 
 issued a strict mandate to his army. Among other 
 things he said: "A soldier who shall within or with- 
 out his quarters, or, on the highway plunder, or com- 
 mit wrong shall be arrested and punished without 
 clemency. No soldier may without especial permit 
 
 96 
 
Gustavus Adol pints' Triumphal March, Etc. 
 
 carry open or concealed weapons outside of his quar- 
 ters." 
 
 In Munich the approach of the king created a 
 panic. The electoral treasury was transferred to 
 Werfen; the elector's wife fled to Salzburg. 
 
 The magistrate believed it to be the wisest course 
 under the circumstances, to dispatch several deputies 
 to the king at Freising to offer an agreement. How- 
 ever Gustavus Adolphus would not listen to him, but 
 demanded a voluntary surrender. The magistrate 
 now approached the king, handed him the keys of the 
 city and commended it to his mercy. 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus met the deputation very gra- 
 ciously. "You have done well," said he, "your sub- 
 mission disarms me. I might with justice have 
 avenged myself on your city for the misfortune of 
 Magdeburg. But fear nothing, have no anxiety on 
 account of your possessions, your families or your 
 religion. Depart in peace, you have my word and that 
 is worth more than all the articles of capitulation in 
 the world." — 
 
 On the 7th of May the king entered Munich. 
 Only three regiments followed him ; the others 
 camped outside the city. 
 
 He took up his headquarters in the castle, where 
 he had the opportunity to admire the splendor and 
 tasteful arrangement of this ducal residence. "Who 
 
 97 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 is the architect of this gorgeous palace?" he asked 
 of the accompanying guard, while examining the same. 
 "The elector himself," he answered. "O, that I could 
 send this architect to Stockholm I" "My gracious 
 lord and master will know how to prevent that," added 
 the guide candidly; an answer which the king did 
 not resent. 
 
 The next morning he visited the arsenal. He 
 found only gun-carriages, but no cannon. A peasant 
 divulged the secret : they were buried under the floors. 
 "Arise, you that are dead," the king called jocosely. 
 The boards were raised and 140 cannon lay revealed. 
 Among them was one bearing the name "Sow" and 
 in it were hidden 30,000 ducats. 
 
 At a military review, which the king conducted, 
 all Munich streamed to the Isaargate and admired the 
 superb army. The inhabitants observed how the king 
 would dismount and now and again take the gun from 
 the hand of a soldier, who did not do particularly well 
 and show him how to shoot. 
 
 By a visit to the church of the Jesuits he won 
 over many thousand citizens. The rector greeted him 
 in a Latin address, to which he gracefully responded 
 in the same language. The hero then defended the 
 Lord's Supper under both forms, although with most 
 temperate words. On the 10th of May, the anniver- 
 
Gustavus Adolphus' Triumphal March, Etc. 
 
 sary of the fall of Magdeburg, which fell on ascension 
 day, he attended Lutheran service in the cathedral. 
 
 On his exit he allowed money to be scattered 
 among the multitude. 
 
 He soon departed from Munich. A revolt among 
 the upper Swabian peasants called him to the Iller. 
 At the end of May 1632 all Bavaria except Ingolstadt 
 was in the king's power. Max sent express messen- 
 gers to Vienna to implore help from the emperor, who 
 himself was uneasy concerning the situation. He 
 hoped everything, however, from — Wallenstein. 
 
 L.0FC. 
 
 M 
 
X. 
 
 Wallenstein Again General in Chief. The Fortress 
 at Nuremberg* 
 
 The reader will recall in the second chapter — A 
 Retrospect — that the emperor Ferdinand in the 
 Reichstag at Regensberg, had discharged Wallenstein 
 at the urgent request of the Evangelical and the league 
 princes, particularly Max of Bavaria. 
 
 In the meantime Wallenstein had dwelt on his 
 estates in Bohemia. His palace stands today in Prague, 
 bearing testimony to his taste and wealth. He had a 
 richly paid body-guard and a court household con- 
 sisting of four chamberlains, twelve knights and sixty 
 pages. Three hundred draft and saddle horses were 
 in his stables and fed from marble cribs. Besides the 
 rich revenues he obtained from his extensive estates 
 in Moravia, Schleswig and Bohemia he controlled 
 large deposits in banks at Venice and Amsterdam. 
 
 He alone was the man who could save the Aus- 
 trian monarchy. 
 
 As Gustavus Adolphus was constantly and rap- 
 idly gaining ground in Germany, the emperor sent 
 baron Questenberg to' Wallenstein with the request 
 to again take command of the army. But he declined. 
 
 100 
 
Wallenstein- Again General in Chief, Etc. 
 
 When he learned that he was only to have command 
 under the emperor's son. he said to one of his confi- 
 dants : "And if they offered me a commission along 
 side of our Lord I would decline; for I must com- 
 mand alone." 
 
 The emperor was greatly dismayed at this refusal. 
 He immediately wrote him a personal and very appeal- 
 ing letter, that he might not desert him in time of 
 greatest need. Wallenstein now pledged himself 
 within three months to furnish the emperor an army 
 of from 40-50,000 men. But he declared unequivo- 
 cally that he would not accept a command. 
 
 His recruiting drum sounded. From all sides old 
 and young responded and collected around his newly 
 unfolded flag of hope. They were allured by the high 
 wages and the prospect of rich booty. Those in Bohe- 
 mia and Moravia who did not volunteer were forced 
 into service. The recruiting officers offered the young 
 men a rope and a sum of money. "Now choose" they 
 said. The army was in marching order in the spring 
 of 1632, but the general was wanting. The emperor's 
 repeated petitions that Wallenstein should undertake 
 the command was denied. His pride had reserved for 
 the last the direst humiliation of the German emperor. 
 
 While the Saxons remained in Bohemia Wallen- 
 stein resided in Znaim. The imperial ambassadors 
 flocked thither to approach the all-powerful one. He 
 
 101 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 scorned them all; finally the prince Eggenberg suc- 
 ceeded in propitiating the evil spirit. 
 
 But oh ! what conditions Wallenstein made ! 
 There is nowhere in history a similar example of com- 
 promise between chief and subject. The master 
 became servant, the servant, master. Let us hear. 
 
 i. The duke of Friedland is and shall remain 
 commander-in-chief not only for the emperor, but also 
 for the whole arch-duchy of Austria and for the 
 Spanish. II. The emperor shall never be with the 
 army, still less take command. III. As security for 
 well-earned and suitable reward the duke of Friedland 
 shall be granted in proper form one of the Austrian 
 hereditary estates until after the war. IV. For reward 
 extraordinary he shall be lord-paramount over such 
 countries as he shall conquer in the German empire. 
 
 V. The confiscation of wealth and property depends 
 entirely upon the will of the duke of Friedland. 
 
 VI. In matters of pardon the duke will follow his own 
 pleasure. Without his approval, a pardon granted by 
 the emperor is void. VII. Unconditional pardon shall 
 (on account of the leniency of the emperor) be sought 
 from the duke of Friedland alone. VIII. After a 
 treaty of peace the duchy of Mecklenburg is to be 
 guaranteed to the Duke of Friedland. IX. All the 
 Austrian hereditary estates shall at all times be open 
 to the duke and his troops." 
 
 102 
 
Wallenstein Again General in Chief, Etc. 
 
 In the beginning of April the emperor signed this 
 humiliating and dishonorable agreement. 
 
 The Catholic church rejoiced : Wallenstein was 
 the man to drive the heretical king of Sweden from 
 German soil. Pope Urban VIII sent the Friedlander 
 a consecrated dagger with his apostolic blessing. "The 
 fatherland of nations (Rome!)," he wrote to him, 
 "has learned with great satisfaction that you, pious 
 son of the church, have again been called into the 
 German war. We pray the Lord of hosts that he may 
 gloriously guide in your victorious hand the spear of 
 heavenly vengeance, to punish those peoples who assail 
 heaven, and to smother the sighs of the oppressed 
 church. May the heavenly host join your hosts, who 
 fight for the Lord." . . . 
 
 Wallenstein's first act of war was the expulsion 
 of the Saxons from Bohemia; his first triumph the 
 humiliation of his arch enemy, the elector Max of 
 Bavaria. The latter hastened from Regensburg to 
 Eger to pay his respects to Wallenstein. A master 
 in the art of deception and hypocrisy he embraced the 
 Friedlander as his deliverer. In the Friedlander's 
 eyes there shone in this farce the malicious fire of 
 gratified revenge. 
 
 A few days later the troops of the league joined 
 Wallenstein at Eger, and marched with thunder and 
 lightning, in the glare of the burning upper Palati- 
 
 103 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 nate to Franconia. Wallenstein's haughtiness induced 
 him to say: "Within a few days we shall see which 
 of us is master in Germany, I or the Swede!" 
 
 Gustavus Adolphus judging from the reports of 
 the above facts thought Wallenstein's blow would 
 strike the Saxons first. Now he learned it was to 
 be aimed at him. 
 
 Finding himself too weak to withstand the com- 
 bined forces of the enemy in open field he hastened 
 to Nuremberg.* He wanted to save this protestant city 
 from the fate of Magdeburg, be to them shield, helm 
 and girdle. He arrived in time to make the most care- 
 ful preparations. With the help of the inhabitants 
 mighty breastworks were raised within twenty hours. 
 By the end of June an entire inaccessible fortress 
 was completed. In a large wide circle the breast-works 
 extended around the city. A deep trench surrounded 
 the lines, the entrances were covered by crescents or 
 hornworks. The black mouths of 300 cannon gaped 
 at the enemy. The Nurenbergers had also provided 
 richly-filled magazines. All male inhabitants between 
 the ages of 18 and 60 to the number of 30,000 were 
 obliged to take arms and were drilled daily. It was 
 their duty to guard the less threatened points. The 
 king, himself, was present early and late at all work 
 
 * The real army of the king only numbered 18,000 men, 
 Wallenstein's, on the contrary about 60,000. 
 
 104 
 
Wallenstein Again General in Chief, Etc. 
 
 and practice. He made his headquarters at the home 
 of the patrician Leubelfing, whose son entered his ser- 
 vice as page and remained at his side until death. 
 
 The following song was composed in the city of 
 Nuremberg : 
 
 "Nuremberg, the glory of the nation, 
 The enemy has sworn thy ruination. 
 But God has graciously remembered thee 
 And sent from Sweden, from beyond the sea 
 A father who beneath the heaven's blue 
 O'er thee keeps faithful watch with heroes true. 
 Fail not their daily needs to supply 
 For in their welfare thine also doth lie. 
 Gladly would Magdeburg now all things do, 
 Were't not too late, to have a friend so true." 
 
 When Wallenstein received the news of the king's 
 occupation of Nuremberg he considered it a small mat- 
 ter to overpower him, and so end the war with one 
 blow. But as he soon learned how excellently his 
 opponent was intrenched he quickly changed his mind, 
 repaired to Swalbach below Nuremberg across the 
 Rebnitz, and occupied a height called the "old hill," 
 which he fortified by trenches and breastworks. 
 
 To the elector of Bavaria who insisted on a hasty 
 decision he said cold-bloodedly: "We have given 
 battle enough ; it is time to follow other tactics," 
 105 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 Here for nine weeks from the beginning of July 
 the two greatest generals of their century stood, fac- 
 ing each other with the eyes of the world turned 
 toward them. 
 
 A little war was waged, which resulted for the 
 most part to the advantage of the Swedes ; and many 
 transports of cattle, grain and ammunition were taken 
 by the skillful Swedish foragers. 
 
 On the 24th of August after the king had 
 increased his army to 45,000 men by the union of 
 Oxenstjerna's, Baner's and the duke of Weimar's 
 forces, he stormed Wallenstein's camp for ten 
 hours; but in vain. With great loss of life he was 
 obliged to retreat to his ramparts. A cannon-ball tore 
 away the sole of the king's boot, throwing him from 
 his horse. "It is nothing" he said on rising, "the 
 apple is not yet ripe." 
 
 Naturally Wallenstein's army also suffered 
 greatly. Famine and sickness caused still further loss 
 of life. It was on this account that the strict disci- 
 pline relaxed. This is obvious from the king's 
 remarks to his assembled German officers. "Princes, 
 lords and nobles," he said, "you who help to destroy 
 your own land ! My heart is embittered by the com- 
 plaint which I hear that soldiers of my army are con- 
 sidered more disgraceful than even those of the enemy. 
 Not the Swedes but the Germans defile themselves 
 
 10fi 
 
Wallenstein Again General in Chief, Etc. 
 
 with excesses. Had I known that you Germans car- 
 ried in your hearts so little love and loyalty for your 
 native country, I had not, on your account, saddled a 
 horse, let alone put at stake my crown and my life. 
 I sacrificed everything and neither from you nor your 
 empire have I received enough to clothe myself 
 meanly ; and in fact would rather ride naked than robe 
 myself by theft. If you are willing to deny God and 
 your honor, nevertheless, all Christendom shall know 
 that I was willing to sacrifice my life ; and if you 
 should now rebel against me, I will know how to 
 defend myself with my Swedes and Finlanders. 
 Reflect and consider that you will be called upon to 
 give an account to God for your actions. I am so 
 grieved that it vexes me longer to mingle with you. 
 
 A German servant at this moment passed by, 
 leading a stolen cow. The king took the thief by the 
 hair and handed him over to the executioner with the 
 words : "It is better that I punish you immediately 
 than that God should chastise not only you hut me and 
 the entire army." 
 
 All were astonished at the king's anger. 
 
 On the 8th of September Gustavus Adolphus 
 broke camp at Nuremberg. Only General Kniphausen 
 remained with 4500 men to protect the city. In full 
 view of the enemy and with the bands playing, the 
 Swedish army marched to Neustadt on the Aisch; 
 
 107 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 From there to Windsheim. Larger companies were 
 sent to upper Bavaria and the Rhine. 
 
 But even Wallenstein could not remain longer on 
 account of hunger and misery. Five days later he too 
 broke camp and went to Forchheim. Because of the 
 scarcity of draught-horses he was obliged to leave 
 behind much equipment, weapons and such things — 
 a booty which came handy to the Nurembergers. In 
 Bamberg the elector of Bavaria with his army of 
 9,000 men parted from Wallenstein to render his own 
 country assistance. Wallenstein's intention was to 
 exhaust Franconia and Thuringen next. After doing 
 this thoroughly, — the chronicles of this country re- 
 port frightful things — he took his course to Saxony. 
 Scarcely had the elector received the news of the 
 approach of the evil guest, when he dispatched mes- 
 sengers to Gustavus Adolphus. The latter was just 
 on the point of besieging Ingolstadt. A march to 
 Saxony appeared more urgent to him. Had he at this 
 time refused the elector the desired assistance, the 
 unreliable confederate would have been induced to 
 throw himself into Wallenstein's army. Therefore 
 forward ! 
 
 In Arnstadt the king again joined forces with 
 Duke Bernhard of Saxe- Weimar. Here he vouchsafed 
 his army, unstrung by the long and rapid march, a 
 few days rest. His troops numbered only 1,300 men. 
 
 .108 
 
Wallenstein Again General in Chief, Etc. 
 
 In Erfurt he met his wife after a long separation. 
 The meeting was exceedingly joyous, the parting there- 
 fore the more painful. Never had husband and wife 
 experienced such grief. The queen had here the 
 opportunity to speak with Jacob Ericson, the body- 
 guard. She begged him earnestly not to desert his 
 royal master, and to bring him back to her alive or 
 dead. From the head of the departing army the king 
 called to his wife : "If we never see each other again 
 here, we will meet in the future world. Farewell I" 
 
 On the entrance into the Saxon city of Naum- 
 burg, he was received with indescribable exultation. 
 The people crowded around him and prostrated them- 
 selves. 
 
 The action displeased the king. To the chaplain 
 accompanying him he said seriously : "Our Saxons 
 are otherwise well enough, but I fear the Lord will 
 punish me for their folly. These people seem to want 
 to make me their idol, and I am only a weak mortal. 
 Lord, Lord," he prayed turning his eyes heavenward, 
 "I commend myself to thy omniscient providence and 
 pray that thou mayest not leave unfinished the work 
 begun for the glory of Thy name.' ' 
 
 Wallenstein had meanwhile reached Leipzig. His 
 plan was to press forward to Dresden. As he was 
 about to cross the Mulda at Grimma he heard the news 
 of Gustavus Adolphus' presence at Naumburg. It 
 
 109 
 
Gusiavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 was at once apparent to him that he was pursued for 
 the protection of the Saxons. He turned about to 
 resist the enemy. He marched to Weisenfels by way 
 of Leipzig, and detached the generals Snys and Breda 
 to garrison the pass at Saal and the bridge at Kosen. 
 The Swedes had anticipated them. Wallenstein and 
 his generals concluded that the king only intended to 
 occupy a defense for the winter. In this belief he 
 issued the order to Pappenheim to advance to West- 
 phalia, but incidentally to take the weakly-fortified 
 city of Moritzburg in Halle. He dispatched count 
 Colleredo to Weisenfels ; general Snys to Zwickau to 
 keep guard of the king from all sides. He, himself 
 encamped at Merseberg between the canal and the 
 Saal. 
 
 As soon as the king was informed of Pappen- 
 heim's departure, he firmly decided to attack Wallen- 
 stein. He broke camp at Naumburg. 
 
 110 
 
XL 
 
 The Battle of Luctzcn. 
 
 When the king was half way between Naumburg 
 and Pegau, about ten o'clock in the morning on the 5th 
 of November in severe cold weather, he learned that 
 Wallenstein's army was encamped in the villages 
 around Liitzen. He exclaimed joyfully, "I now firmly 
 believe that God has given the enemy into our hands !" 
 He immediately sent a larger division for the occu- 
 pation of Weisenfels. Colleredo was about to evacu- 
 ate this place, when he saw from the castle on the 
 heights the entire Swedish army advance toward 
 Liitzen. He hastened to notify Wallenstein, who at 
 once wrote Pappenheim to return without delay that 
 the enemy had already reached Rippacher pass.* 
 
 The king spent the last night of his life in a coach ; 
 the army encamped in an open field. During the entire 
 night there was a great commotion in the enemy's 
 camp. Three cannon-shots summoned the scattered 
 regiments ; Wallenstein's adjutants were speeding in 
 
 * This letter, drenched in Pappenheim's blood, for he 
 still had it in his possession when the fatal bullet struck him 
 during the battle of Liitzen, is preserved in the imperial 
 archives at Vienna. 
 
 Ill 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 all directions. Picks and shovels burrowed into the 
 frozen ground to erect a bulwark for the musketeers, 
 and the trenches on both sides of the high-way between 
 Leipzig and Lutzen were made deeper. Wallenstein's 
 position was north of this road, which his front ranks 
 covered. His right wing rested on Lutzen and the 
 windmills here; the left extended into the open field 
 toward the ditch. 
 
 Four immense squares of infantry formed the cen- 
 ter of the imperial army; here Wallenstein himself 
 was stationed. Smaller squares in front resembled 
 advancing bastions. On the highway there was a bat- 
 tery about which a murderous encounter was about 
 to develop. The remaining batteries tarried in the 
 neighborhood of the windmills. To the right and left 
 of the infantry there were long columns of Picolo- 
 mini's cuirassiers, and beyond these were hordes of 
 Croates. The Swedes crossed the ditch without oppo- 
 sition. Their line of battle was the same as at Leip- 
 zig. The cavalry was everywhere interspersed with 
 divisions of musketeers of 80-100 men. The king 
 commanded the right wing, Duke Bernard of Wei- 
 mar the left, and Nils Brahe the centre. The brave 
 Scotsman, Henderson, and general Ohm of the Palati- 
 nate commanded the reserve. Five large cannon were 
 in front of every Swedish brigade, 40 smaller ones in 
 the space between the cavalry and infantry. 
 
 112 
 
The Battle of Luetzen 
 
 A heavy fog, which only began to disperse toward 
 ten o'clock in the morning, hung over the plain at 
 Lutzen, on the 6th day of November, 1632. The Swed- 
 ish army conducted their morning devotions, sang, 
 amid the clang of drum and fife, Luther's hymn : "A 
 mighty fortress is our God." After this the king him- 
 self joyfully sang: "Jesus Christ, our Saviour, who 
 conquered death." 
 
 When Jacob Ericson pleaded earnestly with the 
 king as he mounted his charger to wear his armor, — 
 for he had solemnly promised the queen to take all 
 possible care of the king, he answered: "God is my 
 shield !" In a simple doublet over which he had drawn 
 a cloth coat he rode through the ranks of his soldiers 
 and addressed them with encouraging words. "Only 
 fight bravely !" said he to several German cavalry regi- 
 ments, "you fight not only under my command, but 
 with me and along side of me. With God's help I 
 hope for a victory that shall be a blessing to your 
 remotest grandchildren !" 
 
 After these words to which the entire army re- 
 sponded with clang of weapons and joyous shouts the 
 king exclaimed : "Now to work in God's name. Jesus, 
 Jesus, let us fight to-day in the glory of Thy name!" 
 and brandishing his sword over his head he gave the 
 command: "Forward!" 
 
 Lutzen was in flames, — the work of the imperial- 
 ly 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 ists. The king was at this moment accompanied by 
 Duke Francis of Saxen-Lauenburg, the chamberlain 
 Truchsess, the page Leubelfing, several adjutants and 
 two body-guards, of which Jacob Ericson was one. 
 
 The rapidly advancing right wing of the Swedes 
 received a heavy fire from the guns and muskets. 
 Nevertheless three brigades pressed across the high- 
 way, took the battery, overthrew two of the enemy's 
 platoons and were about to capture the third when they 
 were forced to retreat by the superior forces of the 
 foe. 
 
 The Swedish horses which at sight of the deep 
 trenches had hesitated, finally crossed them. The king 
 was in the front squadron. Here he was informed 
 of the speedy victory of his men. "God, God I thank 
 thee," he prayed with uncovered head. 
 
 Opposite him were the imperial cuirassiers, from 
 head to foot rigid in iron. 
 
 "Stahlhandski" the king called to the leader of 
 the Finnish riders, "attack the black fellows, they will 
 make us suffer !" 
 
 He now learned of the weakening of his infantry. 
 At the head of his Samland cavalry he hastened to 
 their assistance, — all too eagerly — for becoming sep- 
 arated from his troops on account of the mist and 
 powder-smoke he found himself in the ranks of the 
 enemy's cavalry. His horse was wounded; a pistol 
 
 114 
 
The Battle of Luetzen 
 
 shot at close range soon shattered his left arm. "Take 
 me from the turmoil, brother," he said to the Duke of 
 Lauenberg; at the same moment he received a shot 
 in the back. With the cry: "My God, my God," he 
 fell from his horse, which dragged him some distance 
 as he remained fastened in his stirrups. 
 
 Of the two body-guards, who had accompanied 
 the king thus far, one was about dead, the other, Jacob 
 Ericson, was seriously wounded and unable to render 
 his monarch assistance, but he kept his eyes glued to 
 the spot where his master had fallen. 
 
 The Duke of Lauenberg had fled ; the page Leu- 
 belfing was with the king and tendered him his horse. 
 The king stretched out his hands, but the page, him- 
 self wounded, had not the strength to raise him 
 unaided from the ground. 
 
 The imperial cuirassiers now approached asking 
 "Who is this?" Leubelfing was silent, when the 
 severely-wounded king called out : "I am the king of 
 Sweden !" whereon one of the enemy shot him through 
 the head. 
 
 The chamberlain Truchsess first carried the news 
 of this catastrophe to the duke of Weimar. The king's 
 bloody, wildly-roving charger spread the dreadful 
 tidings from rank to rank. 
 
 The experienced Kniphausen advised an orderly 
 retreat. 
 
 115 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 The fiery duke Bernhard cried courageously : "No 
 retreat ! Revenge ! Revenge ! Victory or death !" 
 
 An officer who demurred against his order he 
 pierced with his sword. 
 
 He rode hastily from the left wing to the right 
 and assumed command. 
 
 "Forward!" was the order to all columns. It is 
 necessary to avenge the death of the king. With pow- 
 erful energy the Swedes rushed on the enemy. In the 
 twinkling of an eye the batteries and squadrons were 
 re-captured, and the entire imperial cavalry thrown on 
 this wing. The confusion was great, but was increased 
 when Swedish bombs exploded the gun-carriages that 
 stood behind the imperial front. The cry of terror 
 sounded: "The enemy is already in our rear!" 
 Every one fled. 
 
 Taking advantage of this moment, the left Swed- 
 ish wing took the enemy's guns at the wind-mills.. 
 
 Pappenheim now appeared. His first question 
 was: "Where does the king of Sweden command ?" 
 He threw himself into the place designated. It was 
 his sincerest desire to measure arms with him, who 
 now was no longer on earth. Carried into the mur- 
 derous tumult by the savage lust of war, he hastened 
 to his fate. General Stalhandski, who had just res- 
 cued from the hands of the rapacious Croates the nude 
 corpse of the king, which disfigured with blood and 
 
 116 
 
The Battle of Luetzen 
 
 ■ .' . • 1 i . . ;dj i ': ■•:■ :1 -.- • .. Q • 
 
 wounds was lying face to the ground, shot him down. 
 
 The battle still raged and roared. Advantage and 
 loss vacillated hither and thither. Wallenstein's cav- 
 alry and infantry plunged as with the desperate 
 strength of wounded lions upon the Swedes. Yet 
 these for the most part tried veteran troops stood firm, 
 and as they fell their rigid bodies covered in rows the 
 same ground which in life they had defended. 
 
 The declining day hastened the decision. 
 
 The Swedish reserve had not yet entered the fight. 
 Duke Bernhard imagined them long hewn to pieces, 
 but he now found in them a powerful support for his 
 broken regiments. 
 
 Like a hurricane he broke upon the enemy with 
 this new force. Those who were not seriously wounded 
 or dying roused themselves to a share in this new tri- 
 umph. 
 
 This last encounter was terrible. The ever-thin- 
 ning wall of exhausted human bodies quivered and 
 fell. But like a Phoenix rising out of blood, death 
 and destruction, Swedish victory arose from the blood- 
 stained spot. Pappenheim's infantry, which had just 
 appeared in the field, was carried along in the general 
 flight of the imperialists. Victory ! victory ! yelled the 
 Swedish regiments. They spent the cold winter night 
 on this battle-field which was reeking with powder- 
 smoke and human blood. 
 117 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 Late in the night Wallenstein reached Leipzig, 
 to which place the dying Pappenheim had been carried 
 a few hours earlier. 
 
 As the latter here received the news of Gustavus 
 Adolphus' death his face brightened, and his dim eyes 
 flashed once again with the extinguishing heroic 
 spirit. 
 
 'Tell the Duke of Friedland," said he, "that I am 
 prostrate without a ray of hope, but that I go hence 
 contented and joyous since I know that the most irrec- 
 oncilable enemy of my church is no more." 
 
 The Swedes were victors, but they did not rejoice 
 over it, on the contrary they were filled with dismay 
 and grief, for their royal chief was missing, whom the 
 now widowed and orphaned army had so tenderly 
 loved. — 
 
 Let us refer here to judgments and estimates of 
 Gustavus Adolphus from various standpoints. 
 
 Axel Oxenstjerna said of him : "He was a ruler, 
 God-fearing in all his acts and deeds, even unto death." 
 
 A Catholic historian expresses himself thus: 
 "The whole army was deeply grieved over his death ! 
 for every soldier loved him dearly. Some bemoaned 
 his youth; others his bravery; but all, the splendid 
 endowments of the ruler and the not less brilliant ones 
 of the warrior. He possessed in like degree courage 
 and wisdom ; ardent in attack, he was none the less 
 
 118 
 
The Battle of Luetzen 
 
 careful to preserve the prize. Fortune favored him 
 since after so many battles and constant victories he 
 was triumphant at his death, and that a long list of 
 victories crowned even his grave." 
 
 The Swedish historian Gustavus Geiger said of 
 him : "He was humble in heart and recognized in his 
 calling a noble charge. It was far from him to value 
 himself as indispensable, for he placed the goal far 
 above his personality. There never existed a more 
 joyous heroism. It is true, his great thoughts were 
 extinguished with his life on the battlefield at Liitzen. 
 But even in death he conquered." 
 
 Franz Mauritius said: "Gustavus Adolphus was 
 at least in equal degree a German, as William of 
 Orange, whom the British in national pride to this 
 day look upon as a deliverer of their religious liberty, 
 was an Englishman." 
 
 Gustavus Freytag writes of him : "Gustavus Adol- 
 phus' end was considered a national calamity, the 
 people had lost a deliverer, a saviour. A cry of grief 
 rang through all Protestant countries ; in city and 
 country funeral services were conducted ; elegies were 
 innumerable; even the enemies masked their joy be- 
 hind manly sympathy, such as in those times was never 
 accorded an opponent. We also recognize in the figure 
 of Gustavus Adolphus much of the brilliancy which 
 
 119 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 distinguished him in the eyes of his contemporaries 
 from other generals and princes." 
 
 In these excellent testimonies may the portrait of 
 the noble Gustavus Adolphus be preserved to a grate- 
 ful German people. 
 
 120 
 
xn. 
 
 In the Royal Church at Wittenberg* 
 
 The night of the 13th to 14th of November in 
 the year 1632 was bitter cold. In the streets the snow 
 creaked, the stars twinkled in the deep blue vault of 
 heaven. The new moon was setting, the necessary 
 light in the streets of Luther's city, Wittenberg, from 
 the long bridge over the Elbe to the royal chapel, was 
 furnished by a double column of citizens carrying 
 burning torches. A great multitude of people were 
 assembled ; a deep stillness reigned. Earnestness, 
 grief and sorrow were depicted on all faces. 
 
 The tolling of the bell began, muffled drums were 
 heard in the distance, the firm tread of warriors ap- 
 proached ; the king's body was escorted to Wittenberg 
 for the night. 
 
 Four hundred Samland cavalrymen, the remnant 
 of the heroic regiment at whose head the king had 
 fallen in the mortal combat at Liitzen, constituted the 
 guard of honor. As the hearse drew up before the 
 ehapel door, twelve riders dismounted and bore the 
 coffin before the high altar. 
 
 Only the magistrates and students were assembled 
 in the church. A dirge was sung, the superintendent 
 
 121 
 
Gustavus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 made a brief address. The audience left the church; 
 a gloomy stillness soon reigned in the large auditorium. 
 The burning tapers at the altar threw their flickering 
 light on the guards surrounding the bier, who ap- 
 peared more like statues than like living beings. 
 
 This Wittenberger royal chapel is a large his- 
 torical building. Doubly important this night. Deep 
 in the somber vault slept Luther, who had as God's 
 implement without fear of man brought about the 
 Reformation; over him rested the mortal remains of 
 Gustavus Adolphus, king of Sweden, who had guarded 
 the work with the sword, and heroically gone to his 
 death in its defense. Eighty-five years before the 
 emperor Charles V had stood on this spot as victor 
 over the Protestant princes, and had spurned the ad- 
 vice of the benighted Roman Catholic Alba to destroy 
 Luther's sepulchre, with the words: "I do not war 
 with the dead, but with the living !" — To-day the 
 political situation was reversed : the emperor and 
 Roman Catholic Germany were the vanquished ones. 
 
 A royal servant had led the king's favorite horse 
 after the hearse. Now this man Jacob Ericson, the 
 fallen king's bodyguard, with the burgomaster and 
 two senators, were in the sacristy of the royal church. 
 Ericson carried his arm in a sling; he was, as we 
 know, also wounded at Liitzen, near the king. 
 
 A November night is very long; in the sacristy 
 122 
 
In the Royal Church at Wittenberg. 
 
 a pleasant warmth prevailed, and the three Witten- 
 berger counsellors, good Evangelical citizens, longed 
 to hear particulars of the death of the great king. 
 The faithful old Ericson was, of course, the proper 
 man to impart this information. 
 
 "The report is circulated," said the burgomaster 
 with suppressed voice in deep regard for the place 
 and the subject, "that the king was slain treacher- 
 ously." 
 
 "The duke Francis von Lauenberg is designated 
 as his murderer," responded Ericson, "but do not be- 
 lieve it ! The people like to regard the death of great 
 men like their birth, as extraordinary." 
 
 "But the duke is said to have fled immediately 
 to Weisenfels," remarked one of the senators. 
 
 "Probably because he feared for his own life," 
 added Ericson; "for to my knowledge he has never 
 displayed any particularly heroic nature. I saw dis- 
 tinctly that the king was honorably wounded in the 
 thick of battle after he had felled with his sword 
 several of the enemies who had rushed upon him." 
 "And where was the body of the king found?" 
 "Not three horses-length from the spot where I 
 saw him fall from the saddle, without being able, on 
 account of my own physical weakness, to hasten to 
 him. In spite of severe pains in my shattered leg, I 
 tried the next day, with help of several peasants from 
 123 
 
Gustdvus Adolphus in Germany. 
 
 Meuchen, to roll a large rock to the spot; but I had 
 to desist from the heavy work. The spot is about 
 forty steps farther to the right on a ridge between 
 the fields, where an Acacian tree stands." 
 
 "And what happened then?" inquired the burgo- 
 master. 
 
 "We took the body to Meuchen first. Here it 
 was deposited before the altar in the church. A 
 surgeon examined him and found it necessary to dis- 
 embowel him immediately. A part of the entrails 
 were entombed the next day under a stone in a wall 
 of the church. 1 After a fervent prayer by the village 
 pastor the body was taken to the schoolmaster's house, 
 and as this was found too small, to that of a neighbor. 
 
 Here it was placed on a long table. 2 The schoolmas- 
 ter, who was at the same time a carpenter, constructed 
 a plain coffin in which the remains were transferred 
 to Weisenfels on the next day. The royal corpse was 
 here embalmed by the apothecary Casparus. 
 
 "Nine wounds were found on the body. All in- 
 ternal organs were entirely healthy; the heart was 
 uncommonly large; it weighed a pound and ten 
 
 1 This spot, distinguishable by the Swedish coat of arms, 
 was examined in 1632, when on removing the stone from the 
 wall, a partly decayed urn of oak was found. 
 
 2 This same table was exhibited twenty years ago, per- 
 haps it is yet preserved. 
 
 124 
 
In the Royal Church at Wittenberg. 
 
 ounces. Never shall I forget the grief of the queen 
 when she beheld the body of her husband. The once 
 beautiful woman looked like a shadow. She kissed 
 the king's face, moistened it with her tears and only 
 separated from her dear departed one upon the urgent 
 entreaties of those around her. At ten o'clock in the 
 evening we left Weisenfels. In all the cities through 
 which we passed the bells tolled, young and old, rich 
 and poor paid tribute to the departed king." 
 
 With such and similar conversation the night 
 wore on. 
 
 At dawn the procession again began. The three 
 Wittenberger magistrates accompanied it to the Mark 
 of Brandenburg. 
 
 In the Ridderholm church in Stockholm rest the 
 ashes of Gustavus Adolphus, the great king of Sweden. 
 
 125 
 
NOV 8 1906 
 
LIBRARY OF CONGRESS!