Battle of Bruderholz explained

Conflict:Battle of Bruderholz
Partof:Swabian War
Date:22 March 1499
Place:Near Basel, Switzerland
Coordinates:47.5075°N 7.5947°W
Map Type:Switzerland#Canton of Basel-Land
Result:Swiss victory
Combatant1: Old Swiss Confederacy
Combatant2: Swabian League
Strength1:800[1]
Strength2:2,000
Casualties1:1
Casualties2:80

The Battle of Bruderholz took place on 22 March 1499[2] in the Swabian War between Swabian troops and forces of the Old Swiss Confederacy. The Swabians had raided several Swiss villages and were on their way back when they met troops from Lucerne, Solothurn, and Bern, who also came back from a raid in the Alsace.[3] Anticipating the likely route of the Swabian troops, the Swiss soldiers concealed themselves in the woods at Bruderholz hill, near Basel.[1] When the three times more numerous[4] Swabians passed the woods, the Swiss attacked. The Swabian infantry quickly broke and fled the battlefield. The cavalry fought a delaying action allowing the infantry to escape before retreating also. Some of the fleeing soldiers ran approximately 2miles to the Rhine river before swimming across to continue their retreat. Others fled to Basel but were refused entry. The Confederation lost only a single soldier while the Swabians lost about 80 men.[1] The leader of the Confederacy's troops was from the House of Bubenberg.[5]

Notes and References

  1. Winkler, Albert (2020). "The Swiss in the Swabian War of 1499: An Analysis of the Swiss Military at the End of the Fifteenth Century," Swiss American Historical Society Review, vol. 56 (2020), no. 3, pp. 55-141.
  2. Book: Tucker, Spencer C. . A Global Chronology of Conflict [6 volumes]

    From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East ]

    . 2009-12-23 . Bloomsbury Academic . 978-1-85109-667-1 . en.
  3. Forum 1499: "Wie sich ein züg samlet am Bruderholz und wie dieselben veriagt wurdend und ettlich erstochen" ; URL last accessed 2006-09-12.
  4. Scheck, P.: Der Schwabenkrieg 1499 ; Municipal Archives of Schaffhausen, 1999. In German. URL last accessed 2006-09-12.
  5. Book: Naylor, Francis Hare . The History of the Helvetic Republics . 1809 . J. Mawman . 447–448 . en.