Battle of Stadtlohn - Campaign

Campaign

A year after his defeat at the Battle of Fleurus, Christian of Brunswick found himself in command of an army of 15,000, freshly recruited and rested from winter quarters in the United Provinces. He reopened his campaign in the summer of 1623 by marching into the Lower Saxon Circle. With no support forthcoming from other Protestant princes, or even from Christian's recent ally Ernst von Mansfeld, Christian now found himself in a precarious military position with little possibility of reinforcement. To add to this, Tilly had received word of Christian's movements and was now moving to confront him. The second half of July 1623 thus became a period of retreat for Christian's forces, as Tilly's troops had marched across the Saxon border on July 13. Christian reportedly marched across the Weser River on July 27 and the Ems River a few days later, with the Count of Tilly's more disciplined troops steadily gaining ground.

When Christian left Greven (north of Münster), on August 4, Tilly was only half an hour behind. Christian's rearguard managed to ward off an engagement for two more days, holding the bridges first over the Vechte (at Metelen) and then over the Dinkel (at Heek). Tilly's army continued to pursue Christian's. His vanguard, commanded by the Count of Johann Jakob, Count of Bronckhorst and Anholt, engaged Christian's rearguard, commanded by Colonel Styrum, near Heek on the morning of August 6.