246 The Origins of the Thirty Years War and the Revolt in Bohemia, 1618
Valtelline (see Chapter 1). The latter led eventually to the Rhine, and the
Lower Palatinate straddled and controlled an important section of this
river, so that a pre-emptive occupation by Spain would secure the route
in advance of the resumption of their war with the Dutch. Hence the
Spanish did not intend withdraw completely, but the force they had left
behind was mainly required to secure the territory, particularly in view
of the continuing resistance at Frankenthal.^30 This limited the assistance
they were able to provide to Tilly in 1622, although some of their units
returning from Bohemia also joined him.
Had Mansfeld, Christian of Brunswick and Georg of Baden-Durlach
been able to bring their armies together, had the quality and equip-
ment of their forces matched their numbers, and had they been well
commanded, they might have been more than a match for Tilly’s
League army, but none of these requirements was met. Mansfeld was
a better recruiter and organiser than a field commander, Christian,
although well provided with native wit and raw courage, was a young
romantic rather than a trained officer, and Georg had studied mili-
tary theory but had no practical experience.^31 Tilly, on the other hand,
was the ultimate professional and one of the most successful generals
of the age, his army was well equipped, and it had a battle-hardened
core from the Bohemian campaign. Christian’s army was in north-
ern Germany while Georg of Baden-Durlach and Mansfeld were in the
south, although separately, and it was evident to Tilly that he had
to find, fight and defeat them individually before they could join up
against him.
Encouraged by the emergence of his new supporters, Friedrich himself
accompanied Mansfeld, who moved his army west into the Palatinate
early in 1622, crossing the Rhine and encountering Tilly with a smaller
force but in a strong defensive position at Wiesloch, ten miles south
of Heidelberg. Mansfeld withdrew, hoping that Georg of Baden-Durlach
would soon join him, but Tilly followed, attacking from the rear on
27 April as Mansfeld’s troops crossed a small river. The subsequent
fighting was indecisive, although the League army suffered considerable
losses, while Tilly himself was wounded and narrowly escaped capture.^32
Both sides then retired to a safe distance, where Tilly was reinforced by
Córdoba but his opponents’ strength was increased much more by the
arrival of Georg and his Baden army. The Palatine side then unwisely
sacrificed their numerical superiority as Mansfeld split off to besiege
a small Spanish-held town, giving Tilly the chance to attack Georg at
Wimpfen, near Heilbronn, on 6 May. The resulting battle was fiercely
fought and long drawn out, but the outcome was a decisive victory for