138 Wallenstein
Wallenstein’s departure, and Tilly’s hungry soldiers were the victims.
The truth is that no-one supplied the Imperial or any other army with-
out expecting to be paid, and even if Wallenstein had been willing to
do so he could not have financed it.
Resumption
Once Wallenstein decided that he could no longer afford to stand aside
the response from the court was predictably prompt, and at the begin-
ning of December he set out for Znaim (Znojmo), about 50 miles north
of Vienna. There he met Eggenberg, and after some initial sparring
about arrangements the matter was quickly settled, with Wallenstein’s
appointment to date from 15 December 1631.^28 It was he who stipulated
that it was to be for three months only, and for the specific purpose of
reorganising the army over the winter. Some have seen this as a tactical
manoeuvre on his part, but this would have been pointless as he could
have named his own terms from the outset. Instead it reflects his con-
tinuing reluctance to return to the command, accepting a limited com-
mitment only because of the increasingly desperate military situation.
No doubt a sense of duty to the emperor, whom he had first volunteered
to help as Ferdinand of Styria in 1617, and whom he had loyally served
for most of the intervening years, counted for something, particularly
in view of the latter’s personal appeals.^29 Whether this would have suf-
ficed had not Wallenstein also been in straitened immediate personal
circumstances, and facing much worse should a victorious enemy
restore the status quo ante in Bohemia, is another matter.
Whether he really believed that he would be able to withdraw after
three months must also be questionable, despite him repeatedly stress-
ing the temporary nature of his assignment in his correspondence.^
Perhaps this was wishful thinking, closing his eyes to the likely longer-
term burden he was reassuming, or perhaps he was seeking to leave a
way out if the task proved impossible or his health deteriorated further.
The problem of financing the army remained intractable, and such
promises of funds as Eggenberg had been able to bring were barely
enough to make a start. His critics had been temporarily silenced by
their own fears and need for help, but he had experience enough to
know that they would soon be back. Tilly’s relieved response to his
discharge from the Imperial appointment spoke for itself, echoing
Wallenstein’s own at Memmingen.^30 Then Tilly had been the only fea-
sible candidate to replace him. Now there was no-one. Three months
looked a forlorn hope.