He rose in the ranks of the Imperial Army, becoming a
field marshal in 1605. In 1609, when Rudolf proposed
a controversial and unpopular law to allow freedom of
worship, Tilly remained by his side, but when Rudolf
was overthrown by his brother Matthias in 1612, Tilly
was removed as a leading commander. He then went to
serve Maximilian of Bavaria, who headed the Catholic
League, and for the next decade he worked to establish
a Bavarian army.
In 1620, Tilly was named as a lieutenant general
in the Catholic League’s army, and he served as com-
mander in chief of its forces in the Thirty Years’ War
(1618–48). A European conflict arising from religious
differences (Catholic/Protestant), the war pitted Austria,
France, and Spain against Italy, the Germans, and the
Dutch, although alliances often changed. At Bílá Hora
(better known as White Mountain), outside of Prague,
on 8 November 1620, Tilly first led some 20,000 men
into battle and won a victory against some 15,000 Bohe-
mians led by Christian I of Anhalt-Bernberg. He was de-
feated at Wiesloch (25 April 1622) by Ernst, count von
Mansfield, but scored a triumph at Wimpfen (6 May
1622) over Georg Frederick of Baden-Durlach. Follow-
ing his victory at Höchst (20 June 1622) in which he
defeated the forces of Christian of Brunswick trying to
cross the Main River, Tilly was given the title of Count
Tilly. He took the city of Heidelberg (19 September
1622), and again defeated Christian at Stadtlohn (6 Au-
gust 1623) near the border with the Netherlands.
The Danes, under King Christian IV of Denmark,
entered the war against the Catholic League by invading
Germany from the north, and Tilly teamed with Count
Albrecht von Wallenstein to fight them. At Lutter am
Barenberge (27 August 1626), Wallenstein aided Tilly in
achieving a decisive victory in which nearly half of the
Danish army was killed or wounded.
In 1630, gustaVus ii, the Swedish warrior king,
came into the conflict. In order to stop him, Tilly sur-
rounded the city of Magdeburg, which he intended to
use as a base. The siege of the city was short, ending
on 20 May 1631, but Tilly’s plans to use the city were
disturbed when his own army sacked Magdeburg and
slaughtered its inhabitants, earning him the undeserved
reputation of “Butcher of Magdeburg.” Adolphus, be-
cause of logistical problems, could not arrive in time to
save the situation and left his army at nearby Werben.
Twice Tilly sent his forces to attack the Swedes, and in
both battles, at Breitenfeld, approximately six miles from
Leipzig (17 September 1631), and Rain (15 April 1632),
he was defeated. The former encounter, also known as
the battle of Leipzig, was key to Tilly’s overall defeat.
Historian George Bruce writes that the battle wasbetween 40,000 Swedes and an equal force of
Saxons, under Gustavus Adolphus, and John
George, Elector of Saxony, and 32,000 Imperial-
ists, under Field Marshal the Count of Tilly. The
Imperialist right totally routed the Saxons, who
fled from the field, headed by the Elector. Mean-
while the Swedes had completely defeated the left
of the Imperialists, under [Gottfried Heinrich,
count von] Pappenheim, and repulsed the center
under Tilly, and on the return of the right from
pursuing the Saxons, they were attacked by the
Swedish left and driven from the field, only four
regiments holding their ground in a wood until
nightfall. The Imperialists lost 8,000 killed and
wounded and 5,000 prisoners; the allies [lost]
2,700, of whom only 700 were Swedes. Gusta-
vus captured the whole of Tilly’s artillery, and his
victory was the salvation of the Protestant cause,
which was trembling in the balance.Historians believe that Pappenheim, an inexperienced
officer, gave Tilly bad intelligence on the Swedes, leading
to the defeat. Following the second defeat at Rain, Tilly
tried to block Adolphus from crossing the Lech River.
Adolphus moved his forces across the river in boats and,
on 15 April 1632, attacked Tilly’s army before it was
ready. During the clash, Tilly was wounded seriously
and taken to the city of Ingolstadt. Maximilian I, elec-
tor of Bavaria, took control of the army but could not
stop Adolphus’s forces and was compelled to withdraw,
leaving most of the army’s supplies and artillery on the
field of battle. Tilly lingered for two weeks, finally suc-
cumbing to his wounds on 30 April 1632 at the age of
about 73.
Historians studying the 17th century and warfare
in Europe consider Tilly one of the more successful mili-
tary leaders of his time. He never lost a battle in which
he had the proper resources, and he lost the most impor-
tant, Breitenfeld, because he had bad intelligence.References: Windrow, Martin, and Francis K. Mason,
“Tilly, Johann Tserclaes, Graf von,” in The Wordsworth
Dictionary of Military Biography (Hertfordshire, U.K.:tilly, JohAnn tSeRclAeS, count von