Johan Banér

Johan Banér
Johan Banér
	Field Marshal
Battles/wars	Ingrian War; Polish–Swedish War (1621–1625); Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629); Thirty Years' War
Other work	Privy Councillor

Johan Banér (23 June 1596 – 10 May 1641) was a Swedish field marshal in the Thirty Years' War.

Early life

Johan Banér was born at

Gustavus Adolphus who had Banér's father executed, the two men developed a strong friendship from an early age, mostly due to Gustavus Adolphus reinstating the Banér family shortly after his coronation.^{[citation needed}

]

Military career

Banér joined the Swedish Army in 1615, whereupon, during the Swedish siege of Pskov during the Ingrian War, he proved himself to be an exceptionally brave young man.^{[citation needed]}

He served with distinction in wars against Russia and Poland, and had reached the rank of colonel^[1] by the age of 25.^{[citation needed]}

In 1630, Gustavus Adolphus landed in

Swedish cavalry at the first Battle of Breitenfeld. He was present at the taking of Augsburg and Munich, and rendered conspicuous service at the Lech and at Donauwörth.^[1]

At the unsuccessful assault on

Lützen, was left in command in the west, where he opposed the imperial general Johann von Aldringen. Two years later, as Swedish field marshal, Banér, with 16,000 men, entered Bohemia and, combining with the Saxon army, marched on Prague. However, the complete defeat of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar in the first Battle of Nördlingen stopped his victorious advance.^[1]

After this event, the

Alexander Leslie at Wittstock (4 October 1636), restored the paramount influence of Sweden in central Germany.^[1] Banér, in his report to Queen Christina on the battle of Wittstock, stated the following: "[My soldiers] would have fallen into total disorder if Field-Marshal Leslie with the five brigades of foot which he had with him during the battle had not assisted us just in time and manfully attacked and turned 4 brigades of the enemy’s infantry away from us so that we could finally gain our breath".^[2]^[3]

However, the three combined armies were considerably inferior in force to those they had defeated, and in 1637 Banér was unable to make headway against the enemy. Rescuing with great difficulty the beleaguered garrison of Torgau, he retreated beyond the Oder into Pomerania.^[1]

In 1639, however, he again overran northern

Lennart Torstenson as his successor. He was much beloved by his men, who bore his body with them on the field of Wolfenbüttel.^[1] On the other hand, the enemies of Sweden rejoiced and a parody requiem hoping that he was burning in hell was even composed in Bohemia, which had been badly pillaged by Banér.^[4] He was buried at the Riddarholmen Church in Stockholm.^[5]

Assessment

Banér as a general achieved his best results during the reign of Queen Christina under the command of Axel Oxenstierna. Because it can be claimed there were different reasons for victory in the Swedish victory at Wittstock (as testified by his differing reports of 1636 and 1640) the battle of Chemnitz may well have been his finest hour. He reputedly declined tempting offers that were made to him by the emperor to induce him to enter his service.[1]

Family

In 1623, Banér married Catharina Elisabeth von

Baden-Durlach (1623-1661). He had children only with his first wife. His son from his first marriage, Gustaf Adam (1624-1681) received the dignity of Count Banér af Sortavala.^[1]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Chisholm 1911.
^ Steve Murdoch, Kathrin Zickermann and Adam Marks, ‘The Battle of Wittstock 1636: Conflicting Reports on a Swedish Victory in Germany’ in Northern Studies, 43 (2012), pp.71-109
^ Oxenstierna 1888, pp. 856–866.
^ ^a ^b Peter Englund, 'Ofredsår: Om den svenska stormakstiden och en man i dess mitt', Atlantis (1993)
^ Åstrand, Göran; Aunver, Kristjan (1999), 'Här vilar berömda svenskar: uppslagsbok och guide'. Bromma: Ordalaget. p. 20.

General and cited references

Oxenstierna, Axel (1888). Rikskansleren Axel Oxenstiernas Skrifter och Brefvexling. Vol. VI (Second Series, 13 vol. ed.). Stockholm. pp. 856–866.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)

Attribution

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Banér, Johan". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 3 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

External links

[FOOTNOTEChisholm1911-1] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h Chisholm 1911.

[2] Steve Murdoch, Kathrin Zickermann and Adam Marks, ‘The Battle of Wittstock 1636: Conflicting Reports on a Swedish Victory in Germany’ in Northern Studies, 43 (2012), pp.71-109

[FOOTNOTEOxenstierna1888856–866-3] Oxenstierna 1888, pp. 856–866.

[Englund-4] Peter Englund, 'Ofredsår: Om den svenska stormakstiden och en man i dess mitt', Atlantis (1993)

[5] Åstrand, Göran; Aunver, Kristjan (1999), 'Här vilar berömda svenskar: uppslagsbok och guide'. Bromma: Ordalaget. p. 20.

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