# Battle of Wittstock (4 October 1636)

URL: https://allhistories.com/sweden/timeline/1636-battle-of-wittstock
Location: Wittstock, Brandenburg
Themes: War

On 4 October 1636 a Swedish army of about 16,000 under Field Marshal Johan Banér defeated a combined imperial and Saxon army near Wittstock in Brandenburg. Banér divided his forces and sent a column on a wide flanking march, which struck the enemy's rear late in the day. After Nördlingen and the Peace of Prague, Sweden had been pushed back towards the Baltic coast and faced mutiny among unpaid troops. The Saxon elector, now an ally of the emperor, sought to drive the Swedes out of Germany altogether. The victory restored Swedish military credibility, secured the hold on Pomerania and reopened central Germany to Swedish campaigning. Banér went on to raid deep into Saxony and Bohemia, and Sweden remained a central party in the war until the peace of 1648.

## Why it matters
Wittstock saved Sweden's position in Germany after the crisis that followed Nördlingen.

Ruler at the Time: [Christina](https://allhistories.com/sweden/rulers/christina)

## Sources
- [Wikipedia — Battle of Wittstock](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Wittstock)
- [Wikipedia — Johan Banér](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johan_Ban%C3%A9r)
- [Wikipedia — Swedish intervention in the Thirty Years' War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_intervention_in_the_Thirty_Years'_War)
- [Wikipedia — Great Power Era (period overview)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Empire)