Siege of Bautzen (1620)
 | This article has an unclear citation style. (October 2025) |
| Capture of Bautzen | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 The capture of Bautzen by Johann Georg and the Saxons | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Saxony |
 Bohemia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Johann Georg |
Johann Georg von Jägerndorf | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
8,300 men 3,000 militia | 2,000 (mainly militia) | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| “A few” | Heavy | ||||||||
The Capture of Bautzen occurred in September 1620 during the middle stages of the Bohemian Revolt when the Saxons bombarded the fortress city of Bautzen. The resulted action was a major victory for the Saxons and the Bohemians withdrew to their last fortress in Lusatia
Background
[edit]After the Bohemians were defeated at the Battle of Sablat, Saxony, which had already desired the Austrian provence of Lusatia, now saw their chance to take over the provence. The Saxons made an alliance with the Habsburgs where they would invade Bohemia in return for Lusatia. In August 1620 Johann Georg invaded Lusatia, soon most of Lusatia was overran except for Bautzen and Gorlitz.[1] The Bohemian commander in the region was the Duke of Jägerndorf[2] who only had 2,000 poorly trained militia, he soon went to Bautzen and began preparing defenses. The city of Bautzen was on the river Spree but had very thin, tall, and old walls which were venerable to artillery and therefor outdated.
Bombardment
[edit]When the Saxons approached the city the Bohemians retreated into the city with no choice but to the Saxons began bombarding the city. [3] The old walls crumbled under the ground pressure and then a fire began to rage that burnt down large parts of the city.[4] After a few more days the Bohemians abandoned the city which fell a day later too the Saxons
Aftermath
[edit]After the capture, Jägerndorf retreated too Gorlitz were he held out intel he heard of the defeat at White Mountain, where after he fled to Silesia where he held out intel he retreated south into Hungary where he died.
The siege proved how artillery could destroy old and outdated defenses where to artillery.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]work cited
[edit]- Wilson, Peter H. (2009). Europe's Tragedy: A History of the Thirty Years War. Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9592-3.
- Richard Jecht: Der Oberlausitzer Hussitenkrieg und das Land der Sechsstädte unter Kaiser Sigmund. In: Neues Lausitzisches Magazin, 1. Teil, Band 87, Görlitz 1911, S. 35–279
- Richard Jecht: Der Oberlausitzer Hussitenkrieg und das Land der Sechsstädte unter Kaiser Sigmund. In: Ebda, 2. Teil, Band 90, Görlitz 1914, S. 31–151
- Lutz Mohr: Die Hussiten in der Oberlausitz unter besonderer Berücksichtigung ihrer Feldzüge in den Jahren von 1424 bis 1434. Sonderausgabe Nr. 2 der Reihe: Geschichte und Geschichten aus Neusalza-Spremberg, Greifswald u. Neusalza-Spremberg 2014.