Blockade of Eger

This article is about the 1647-1648 blockade. For other sieges, see Siege of Eger.

Blockade of Eger
Part of the Thirty Years' War
Engraving of Eger by Matthias Merian
Date 25 October 1647 – 6 April 1648 Location Eger (modern-day Cheb), Bohemia Result Swedish victory Territorial changes Imperials fail to capture Eger
Belligerents
Swedish Empire	Holy Roman Empire Bavaria
Commanders and leaders
Johann von Koppy Hans Christoff von Königsmarck Carl Gustaf Wrangel	Jan van der Croon Jobst Friedrich Count Götz
Units involved
Eger Garrison	Cürassier-Regiment Schmidt van der Croon's Dragoons Pucchiem Regiment de Mers Regiment Waldsassen Garrison Tachau Garrison
Strength
1,200	Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Blockade of Eger was an attempt to blockade the Swedish garrison of Eger conducted by Jan van der Croon. The blockade would be broken by a Swedish relief force under Hans Christoff von Königsmarck.

Background

In July of 1647, a Swedish army under the command of Carl Gustaf Wrangel captured the Bohemian town of Eger (now Cheb). Around a month later an Imperial army skirmished with Swedish troops at Triebl. Following the campaign Ferdinand III ordered Jan van der Croon, Governor of Plzeň, to recapture the Swedish occupied town of Eger.

Blockade

On 25 October, the blockade would begin when Croon recaptured the Königswarter (now Lázně Kynžvart) redoubt outside Eger. In order to win it back by starvation, but he was not able to completely seal off the town until the onset of winter.

Croon's army included his own regiment, the depleted regiments of Puchheim and de Mers, companies withdrawn from Tachau, Bavarian cavalry from Waldsassen, the Cürassier-Regiment Schmidt under Jobst Friedrich Count Götz, and some artillery.

Wrangel marched north-east to capture the Imperial in the Upper Palatinate in an attempt to relieve Eger. Wrangel was unable to break though to Eger. The Eger garrison was staring and close to surrendering, but Croon was unaware of another Swedish relief force under Hans Christoff von Königsmarck, who was in Halberstadt. In late March of 1648, Königsmarck arrived with a strong force of cavalry to relieve the town. Königsmarck broke through Croon’s blockade between Wunsiedel and Waldsassen and, on 6 April Königsmarck brought 300 wagonloads of provisions and 100 head of cattle into the starving town.

Aftermath

Following the siege, Croon reinforced Loket and Falknov (now Sokolov) against possible Swedish attacks, Königsmarck conquered Falknov in June 1648 after several days of shelling. However, he found Loket too strongly fortified and withdrew from there. Shortly after Königsmarck took Croon's defenses he moved east and attacked Prague. The Peace of Westphalia at the end of October ended the fighting in Bohemia. The Battle of Prague would end up being the last battle of the Thirty Years' War.

References

Sources

• Wilson, Peter H. (2009). Europe's Tragedy: A History of the Thirty Years War. Allen Lane. ISBN 978-0-7139-9592-3.
• Höfer, Ernst (1998). Das Ende des Dreißigjährigen Krieges. Strategie und Kriegsbild (in German). Cologne/Weimar/Vienna: Böhlau. ISBN 978-3-412-04297-4.
• Warlich, Bernd (2012). "Croon, Jan Freiherr van der". Der Dreißigjährige Krieg in Selbstzeugnissen, Chroniken und Berichten (in German). Retrieved 2022-03-14.
• Haanen, Emile (2000). "Jan van der Croon" (PDF). De Maasgouw: Tijdschrift voor Limburgse Geschiedenis en Oudheidkunde (in Dutch). 119: 243–256. Retrieved 2022-03-14.