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008TAVUS ADOLPHUS. 



GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUa 



i:3ADOLPlir.S,orCI II, King of Sweden, was 



bora oo December 9. 1581. He was the i-ixth monarch of the dynasty 

 of Vase, which, lino* the liberation of Sweden, in 1520, by its founder, 

 OtMtavnt Erickson, reifned over tlie kingdom. 



OucUrua Adolphtu was the ton of Charles, the youngest ROD of 

 Gustavus Vasa. Hit father, Charles, had boen decUred king of 

 Sweden to the exclusion of SlgUmund, the heir of the elder line of 

 the house of Vase. Chute* died October SO, 1611, loving the 

 Swedish sceptre to hu son, then in hii seventeenth yeer. Inline 

 diately on hii accession the young king had sufficient opportunity for 

 displaying his talents for government Sigismund, whose father John, 

 as the elder son of Uustarus Vasa, had occupied the throne of Sweden, 

 had been elected king of Poland in his father's lifetime. On accepting 

 the Polish crown, Sigismund abjured the Lutheran faith. This 

 circumstance hnd offended the States of Sweden, and in consequence 

 in the year 1699 he was declared to hare forfeited bis right of succes- 

 sion, and hi* nucle Charles, duke of Sudermauia, was called to the 

 throne. As long as Charles lived Sigismund never ventured to renew 

 his claims to tho throne of Sweden ; but, upon hU death, when he 

 saw a youth of seventeen upon tho throne, he thought that he should 

 have an easy game against so inexperienced an adversary. Accord- 

 ingly ho invaded Sweden, and laid claim to the crown for his son 

 Ladulaus, then a minor ; but this war only served to develop the 

 brilliant qualities of Ouxtnvna. He fought successfully against the 

 Czar of Kussia, the ally of Sigismund, and also against Sigismuud 

 himself, until, by the mediation of England and Holland, a peace was 

 concluded in 1629, upon the most advantageous terms for Adolphus. 

 A great part of Livonia, and the important town of Itiga, were on 

 this occasion annexed to the territory of Sweden. These warlike 

 exploits of the youthful king had drawn upon him the attention of 

 nil Europe, and it is not surprising that the eyes of the persecuted 

 Protestants of Germany, who sighed under the tyranny of Ferdi- 

 nand II. and the barbarous sword of his field-marshal Tilly, should 

 have been directed towards the Swedish monarch for help and protec- 

 tion. The real of Quatavus Adolphus for the Protestant religion, and 

 his companion, excited by the almost unparalleled cruelties perpe- 

 trated upon the persecuted 1'rotestants of Bohemia, were powerful 

 motives for inducing him to aid the German Protestants in their 

 resistance to Austria. But Gustavus felt the truth of the principle, 

 that foreign intervention in the affairs of a country, though certainly 

 welcome in a time of need, is, on thut very account, ultimately 

 disagreeable and even hateful. For this reason he printed a declara- 

 tion, in which he endeavoured to prove to all Europe that he was not 

 moved to the invasion of Germany by any improper desire to inter- 

 meddle in German affairs, but on account of the enmity already 

 shown tiwards himself on the part of Austria. In particular ho 

 instanced the assistance given by this power to bis enemies during the 

 1'oli-h war, and maintained that Austria had violated the territories 

 (if Sweden by entering them with hostile troops. 



In pursuance of this declaration of war Gustavus Adolphus lauded 

 in Pomerania on the 24th June 1630. When he entered the mouth 

 of the Oder his little squadron bore only sixteen troops of cavalry and 

 a few regiments of foot, which altogether amounted to not more than 

 8000 men. With this small force however he made himself master 

 of the islands of Usedom and Wollin, and pressed Bogislav, the duke 

 of Pomerauia, so warmly, that lie was compelled to agree to a treaty 

 by which the town of Stettin was put in possession of the conqueror, 

 and the whole country placed at his disposal. 



The army of Gustavus was reinforced by the arrival of six English 

 (or rather Scottish) regiment*, under the conduct of tho Duke of 

 Hamilton, and he provided himself with money by raising a contri- 

 bution of 50,000 rix-dollars in Pomerania. The fortress of Wolgast, 

 which fell into his hands, furnished him with arms and ammunition, 

 of which latter he began to be in much want He next made himself 

 master of the towns of Anclam and Stolpe, and thus opened for him- 

 self a road into the province of Mecklenburg. Tho attack of the 

 Austrians under General Gotz on the Pomeranian town of Pasewalk, 

 and the frightful cruelties perpetrated upon the inhabitants so near 

 the Swedish army, exasperated the troops to the highest degree. 

 Gustavus now resolved to prosecute his campaign with increased 

 vigour. He divided his force into four parts. One division, under 

 tho Duke of Laueuburg, was ordered to the relief of Magdeburg ; 

 General Bauditc was sent to make an attack upon Kolberg; Horn 

 was left with a garrison in Stettin ; and Gustavus Adolphus himself 

 encamped at Ribbenitz in the duchy of Mecklenburg. While lying 

 there be received a Utter written by the Emperor Ferdinand, contain- 

 ing proposals fur pcac-, in which he made the most advantageous 

 offers to the Swedish king, including the possession of Pomerania. 

 Gustavus however replied that he bod not entered Germany for his 

 own aggrandisement, but to protect his fellow-Protestants. Ho there- 

 fore rejected these proposals and continued to make himself master 

 of the towns and fortresses of Pomerania and Mecklenburg. By the 

 end of February 1631, in the course of only eight months, he had 

 already taken eighty fortified places ; but the towns of Kostock and 

 Wismar yet remained in the hands of his enemies. The emperor 

 beginning to feel the danger which threatened him from Pomerania, 

 cut against him Field-Marshal Tilly, at the head of the Imperial 

 army. With varying fortunes Guitavus and Tilly struggled for vic- 



tory ; the Swedes suffered many defeats ; yet the success which 

 usually attended the arms of Tilly seemed to abandon him after he 

 hod delivered up the inhabitants of the town of Magdeburg to be 

 plundered and murdered by his infuriated soldiers. Tho army of 

 Gustavus pressed forward into the heart of North Germany. His 

 forces continually increased, and the persecuted Protestants hastened 

 to jiiiu his standard. His generals also, who had been acting sepa- 

 rately, were victorious. Colberg, Werben, Konigaberg, fell into the 

 hands of the Swede* ; General Pappenhoira, whom Tilly had despatched 

 with four regiments to protect Prussia, suffered a decisive defeat near 

 Magdeburg ; and Gustavus, collecting all his forces together, marched 

 into the territories of the Elector of Saxony. On the 1st of August 

 1631, the Swedish army encamped near Wittembrrg, whero Giutavus 

 received Count Aniheim, the ambassador of the elector. Through 

 him a treaty was quickly concluded, by which the Saxon dominion* 

 were opened to the king of Sweden, and tin- whole military power of 

 the electorate placed under his command ; while at the same time the 

 elector promised to provide tho army with ammunition and provision, 

 and to conclude no peace with Austria without tho consent n( tin 

 king of Sweden. Immediately on concluding this treaty Gustavus 

 prepared to encounter Tilly, who had advanced a^aiuut him to Kil- 

 marschen. On the 7th of September 1631 they met on the plains of 

 Leipzig. The collected force of the king of Sweden, to which the 

 Saxon troops under Arnheim were joined, amounted to about 40,000 

 men ; Tilly's army was somewhat more numerous. The victory was 

 long doubtful between the two contending armies, led by two of the 

 greatest military commanders of their time ; but the enthusiasm of 

 the Swedes, animated by the eloquence as well as the example of their 

 heroic king, at length overpowered the Imperial troops, who fought 

 only for fame or plunder. Tilly's defeat was complete ; more than a 

 third of his army remained upon the field of battle, and the remaiuder 

 owed their safety to his firmness and military talents, which were 

 displayed in a most difficult and admirably conducted retreat. 



All Germany was now open to the Swede*, and Gustavus hastened 

 forwards in nn uninterrupted course of conquest To his first ally 

 the landgrave of Hes.se he made over the country on the Weser, and 

 to the elector of Saxony he promised part of Bohemia. He himself 

 took pogseneion of the beautiful district which lies betwixt the Rhine 

 and the Main. But the progress of the Swedish arms excited the 

 jealousy and apprehension of the whole German population. Even 

 among the ProtestanU the national feeling was strong enough to make 

 them lament tho establishment of a foreign dominion upon the Ger- 

 man soil. Gustavus also, whether justly or not docs not appear, was 

 accused of having designs on the Imperial crown. His allies bciMini* 

 lukewarm, and the inhabitants everywhere viewed the Swedes with 

 dislike. Upon the defeat of Tilly at Leipzig, and the Saxon army 

 making itself master of Bohemia almost without opposition, the 

 emperor Ferdinand became excessively alarmed, and called in Wai- 

 lenstein, whom he had some time before dismissed, through the 

 intrigues of the papal party, to oppose Gustavus in the field. Wallen- 

 stein, the most extraordinary man of hU time, had scarcely received 

 his commander's staff, when he drove the Saxons out of Bohemia, and 

 threatened his adversary Gustavus Adolphus, who in the meantime 

 had obtained a second victory over Tilly on the Lech, in which that 

 general lost his life. Walleustein took up a strong position in the 

 neighbourhood of Nurnberg, by which he cut off all succours from tho 

 king of Sweden, and frustrated his plan of penetrating ul.> 

 Danube through Bavaria into Austria. In fruitless attacks upon the 

 camp of Wallenstein, and through hunger and disease, in the course of 

 seventy-two days Gustavus lost 30,000 men. At length \Vallenstein 

 moved towards Saxony, and on the 1st of November 1632 he offered 

 battle to his opponent at Lutzen. 



The two armies engaged on the 6th of November. Gustavus opened 

 the battle of Lutzen to the sound of music, with Luther's hymn, ' Eiuo 

 feste Burg ist unser Gott' He himself sang the words, and the army 

 followed in chorus. He led the attack in person, descended at the 

 critical moment from his horse, and killed the foremost of the enemy 

 with a lance. While heading a second attack on horseback . 

 the enemy's cavalry, a ball struck him from behiud, and he fell. The 

 horse, without its rider, Hying through the Swedish ranks, announced 

 the death of the king; but Duke Bernhard of Weimar crying out to 

 the Swedes that the king was mado a prisoner, inflamed them to such 

 a degree, that nothing could resist their impetuosity, and after a fright- 

 ful carnage the enemy was forced to retreat. The Swedes gained a 

 victory, but with the loss of their king, whose body was found naked 

 and bleeding upon the field. A strong suspicion of tho crime of 

 assassination rests upon his cousin the Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg, who 

 at the moment of his fall was near him, and who shortly afterwards 

 entered the Austrian service. 



Thus ended the life of Gustavus Adolphus, one of tho best men 

 who ever wore a crown. He was simple and moderate in his private 

 life, wise in tho administration of civil affairs, and a most able com- 

 mander. He died esteemed by all, even by his enemies, but lamented 

 by no one, not even by those whom he had saved. The Uoman 

 Catholics rejoiced over the fall of their powerful adversary ; and the 

 Protestants, who now thought themselves strong enough without his 

 help, were glad to be freed from a master whom they envied and 

 ti .pecti-d. But the war btill raged for sixteen years after his death, 



