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 2 miles (3.2 km) 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]
| Battle of Bruderholz | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Swabian War | |||||||
 Swiss forces (right) attack the Swabians (left, with the saltire) at the Bruderholz. In the background the city of Basel, which was neutral in the Swabian War. | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Old Swiss Confederacy |
 Swabian League | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 800[1] | 2,000[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 1[1] | 80[1] | ||||||
  Location within Switzerland  Battle of Bruderholz (Canton of Basel-Land) | |||||||
References
edit- ^ a b c d e f 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.
- ^ Tucker, Spencer C. (2009-12-23). A Global Chronology of Conflict [6 volumes]: From the Ancient World to the Modern Middle East. Bloomsbury Academic. ISBN 978-1-85109-667-1.
- ^ Forum 1499: "Wie sich ein züg samlet am Bruderholz und wie dieselben veriagt wurdend und ettlich erstochen" Archived 2007-07-16 at the Wayback Machine; URL last accessed 2006-09-12.
- ^ Scheck, P.: Der Schwabenkrieg 1499 Archived 2012-02-04 at the Wayback Machine; Municipal Archives of Schaffhausen, 1999. In German. URL last accessed 2006-09-12.
- ^ Naylor, Francis Hare (1809). The History of the Helvetic Republics. J. Mawman. pp. 447–448.
External links
editBruderholz in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
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