The Battle of Wittstock

October 4, 1636

After a long siege in the summer of 1636, the joint Imperial and Saxon troops managed to take Magdeburg. The Swedish army led by Banner was positioned to the north of the city, near Werben, but they were too weak to assist the Magdeburg garrison. Then the opposing armies began approaching one another. Banner intended to invade Saxony, while the Imperials strove to fight him back. The battle finally broke out near Wittstock, in the county of Prignitz. It was one of the most astonishing battles in world history. Banner's army of 16,000 soldiers was outnumbered by the enemy's 22,000. Certain that the enemy would be unattainable from the front, Banner outflanked the Imperials from both sides. The battle raged until dusk, and Banner won a brilliant victory over a numerically vastly superior enemy.