Battle of Lund - Battle

Battle

Before daybreak the Swedish army broke camp and made preparations to cross the river under the cover of a moonless night. Between 4:00 and 5:30 in the morning, the entire Swedish force had successfully crossed the river and reached the south bank. The Danes had not been alarmed.

According to the initial plan the Swedes should attack the sleeping Danish camp with cavalry in the south-east, but reconnaissance patrols reported that the ground between the two armies was unsuitable for mounted troops. Charles and his generals gathered to discuss the new situation. Most advisors pointed out that the Danish army possessed much more infantry, and it would be foolish to attack by foot. The long march towards the Danish camps would certainly alarm them and the Swedes would lose the surprise element. The Swedish main strength lay in its cavalry.

The king was eager to attack at once, but was swayed by his advisors. He ordered the troops to advance towards the hills just outside the north wall of Lund, to seize a tactical advantage. It would mean better terrain for the cavalry, and the town itself would cover the Swedish south flank. However, the Danes had woken, and soon recognised the Swedish intentions. The Danes quickly broke camp and started to race the Swedes for control of the hills.

The first skirmish for the hills was between the Swedish right wing and the Danish left wing, and ended in a tie. However, it secured the hills under Swedish control, and pushed the Danes to the east.

It was nine o'clock in the morning and the sun had just risen when the real battle began. The front now stretched one kilometer from North to South, with the Danes to the east and the Swedes to the west. The Danish army was supported by 56 guns of various calibers, while the Swedes only brought eight six-pounders and four three-pounders.

Once the fighting commenced, Charles XI personally led a flanking maneuver to overwhelm the Danish left flank. During the fighting, the Danish commander Carl von Arensdorff was badly wounded, and the entire left wing was forced to retreat the battle at 10:00, severely crippling the Danish army. The Swedish king and the Field Marshal Helmfelt used their cavalry to pursue fleeing Danish troops, and cut down any who lagged behind. The terrible chase continued eight kilometers, right up to the river. Some officers at the Danish camp attempted to ward off the Swedes, but many Danes were forced onto the ice for safety. However, the ice did not hold, and a great number of the remaining Danish left wing drowned.

However, while the Danish left wing fled, the right wing pushed the Swedes back, and further back, until the Swedish left was also scattered. With the absence of Danish King Christian V and with General Arenstorff wounded, Friedrich von Arensdorff, the general's brother, had assumed command of the Danish army. The Danish front was now facing south and the Swedish forces found themselves under constant attack and with their back against the town wall. As the battle commenced, the situation for the Swedes was getting more and more desperate, and there was no sign of the king, the Household cavalry or the Field Marshal for hours. The Swedes were also greatly outnumbered, as the Danes approximately counted 4,500 infantry and 2,100 cavalry, and the Swedes 1,400 infantry and 2,500 cavalry. Instead of forcing another attack, Friedrich von Arensdorff ordered the army to regroup at noon, halting the battle shortly.

At the river, the Swedish king was contemplating his next move. Available intelligence from the town was scarce, and suggested that the whole Danish army was on the run. Although he was tempted to rout the fleeing Danish cavalry all the way to Landskrona, he instead opted to return to Lund to his army.

The battle at Lund renewed, and the Swedes were forced back once more. However, at sunset (about 15:00) the Swedish king returned from the north with his cavalry, combined with some cavalry units from the scattered Swedish left wing. He decided to try to circle the Danish army to the west to join the remains of the Swedish center. Danish commander Arensdorff made the decision to halt the offensive on the Swedish center and instead tend to the enemy cavalry in the northwest. As chance would have it, the two forces lined up in a similar manner as at the outset of the battle six hours earlier.

Charles XI, two of his generals and three of his guards managed to break through the Danish lines and join the diminished Swedish center. While Arensdorff was still attacking the cavalry in the north, the return of the Swedish king inspired the exhausted troops to attack the Danish forces in the back. Though the Danes still outnumbered the Swedes, by approximately 4,500 to 4,000, Arensdorff had lost the initiative and after just half an hour his army had disintegrated.

Charles XI wanted to clear the field of Danish soldiers. The remaining Danish cavalry quickly disappeared into the night. Although Danish General Bibow bravely protected the infantry retreat, many of the Danish were massacred until Field Marshal Helmfelt ordered that the killing should stop and that Danish and Dutch soldiers that surrendered should be spared. At 17.00 in the evening cease fire was sounded.