I. Tilly's Organization

We know that Tilly had between 32,000 and 40,000 men at Breitenfeld with approximately 5,000 cuirassiers on each wing of his army, the left under Pappenheim and the right under Fustenburg. The Swedish captured 26 guns after the battle, and due to the way the battle went and the immobility of the imperialist's artillery this is probably the total which Tilly had. We know that he placed his heavy guns between the center and the right wing and his light guns in front of the center. We know that Tilly organized his infantry into 17 large battles of approximately 1500 men each. Each battle consisting of a center oblong of pikes with smaller oblongs of musketeers on each corner.

We also know that the Imperialists normally arrayed their pikes 50 men across the front and at least 10 deep. We also know that they never had more musketeers than pikemen, and usually had less.

Below is given a reconstruction of what Tilly's order of battle may have looked like based on the above information.

II. Saxon Organization

On September 15, 1631, two days before Breitenfeld, Gustavus Adolphus inspected the Saxon Army and at that time gave its organization as 6-regiments of cavalry and 6-regiments of infantry. Its total strength has been variously quoted as 16,000 or 20,000 men, although, considering its performance, I tend to favor the smaller. It was arrayed to the left of the Swedish line. Its arrangement is not recorded, but considering the practice of the day it seems logical that it was something like the diagram below.

III. Swedish Organization

Gustavus had 19,100 infantry and 7,700 horse for the battle of Breitenfeld. After this things get very confusing for we have a mass of conflicting information. Both Dodge and Fletcher (see Bibliography) give written orders of battle which agree rather nicely, although they only cover the center and right wing. Both also give identical diagrams of the organization, but the diagrams do not agree with the written order of battle.

Now we know that the Swedish Army was at or close to full strength in each regiment for they had fought no major battle as yet, and the Swedish were very diligent in keeping their units up to strength. Further, no mention is made of a recent plaque. Now the diagram calls for 26 regiments of horse which at full strength would be approximately 26,000 men.

The written order of battle calls for 12 regiments of horse giving approximately 12,000 men, and this for only the center and right wing, but the written orders only list by name 6 regiments of horse. Further, neither the written nor the diagram order of battle account for much more than half the infantry.

I have given below what is the most accurate Swedish organization for Breitenfeld based on the following known facts and assumptions.

1. Swedish Cavalry regiments were known by their geographic area, i.e. East Gothland, Smaland, etc.

2. Mercenary regiments were commonly known by their commanding officer's name.

3. Swedish infantry regiments were normally known by their flag color i.e. white, blue, etc. but, occasionally were called by their commander's name.

4. The diagram is assumed to be accurate with respect to general positioning of units, but not to be accurate with respect to unit size or number of units.

5. The named units in the written organization are correct and the un-named units are simply the other batallion of the named regiments. This solves the disparity in numbers of horse.

6. The units listed as, "Commanded Musketeers", in the diagram are actually batallions of Swedish infantry. This not only takes care of the missing infantry, but the market content of a Swedish infantry battalion contained 288 muskets at full strength (and these should be somewhat understrength) which when rounded down is 200 muskets.

FIRST LINE

LEFT = 3 Batallions Swedish infantry @ Aprox. 600 men each. 3-Batallions Swedish horse @ Aprox. 425 each.

CENTRE = 4 Regiments mercenary infantry @ Aprox. 1200 each.

RIGHT = 4 Batallions Swedish infantry @ Aprox. 600 men each. 4 Batallions Swedish horse @ Aprox. 425 each.

BETWEEN FIRST & SECOND LINE

CENTRE = 2 Regiments mercenary infantry @ Aprox. 1200 each.

SECOND LINE

LEFT = Same as first line.

CENTRE = 3 Regiments mercenary infantry @ Aprox. 1200 each.

RIGHT = Same as first line.

RESERVE

2 Mercentary horse regiments @ Aprox. 850 each behind centre second line.

The Battle Of Breitenfeld

Chief Actors in the 30 Years War
Organizing the Armies
The Battle: September 17, 1631