Everything about Johan Ban R totally explained
Johan Banér (
23 June 1596 –
10 May 1641) was a
Swedish Field Marshal in the
Thirty Years' War.
Johan Banér was born at
Djursholm Castle in
Uppland. As a four year old he was forced to witness how his father, the
Privy Councillour Gustaf Banér, and uncle,
Sten Axelsson Banér (also a Privy Councillour), were executed at the
Linköping Bloodbath in
1600. They were accused of high treason by King
Charles IX because of their support of King
Sigismund. And though it was the father of King
Gustavus Adolphus who had Banér's father executed the two men developed a strong friendship from an early age, mostly because Gustavus Adolphus reinstated the Banér family soon after his coronation.
Entering the
Swedish Army in
1615 when he participated in the Swedish siege of
Pskov during the
Ingrian War, Banér proved himself to be an exceptionally brave young man.
He served with distinction in the wars with
Russia and
Poland, and had reached the rank of
Colonel by the age of 25.
In
1630, Gustavus Adolphus landed in
Germany and as one of the king's chief subordinates, Banér served in the campaign of north Germany, and at the first
Battle of Breitenfeld he led the right wing of Swedish cavalry. He was present at the taking of
Augsburg and also
Munich, and rendered conspicuous service at the
Lech and at
Donauwörth.
At the unsuccessful assault on
Albrecht von Wallenstein's camp at the
Alte Veste, Banér received a wound, and soon afterwards, when Gustavus marched towards
Lützen, was left in command in the west, where he was opposed to 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. But the complete defeat of
Bernard of Saxe-Weimar in the first
Battle of Nördlingen stopped his victorious advance.
After this event the
peace of Prague placed the Swedish army in a very precarious position, but the victories won by the united forces of Banér,
Carl Gustaf Wrangel and
Lennart Torstenson at
Kyritz and
Wittstock (
October 4,
1636), restored the paramount influence of
Sweden in central Germany. However,the three combined armies were considerably inferior in force to those they defeated, and in
1637 Banér was completely unable to make headway against the enemy. Rescuing with great difficulty the beleaguered garrison of
Torgau, he retreated beyond the
Oder into
Pomerania.
In
1639, however, he again overran northern
Germany, defeated the
Saxons at
Chemnitz and invaded
Bohemia itself. The winter of
1640–
1641 Banér spent in the west. His last achievement was an audacious
coup de main on the
Danube. Breaking camp in mid-winter (a very rare event in the
17th century) he united with the
French under the
Comte de Guébriant and surprised
Regensburg, where the
Diet was sitting. Only the break-up of the ice prevented the capture of the place. Banér thereupon had to retreat to
Halberstadt. Here, on
10 May 1641, he died, after designating Torstenson as his successor. He was much beloved by his men, who bore his body with them on the field of
Wolfenbüttel. Banér was regarded as the best of Gustavus's generals, and tempting offers (which he refused) were made him by the emperor to induce him to enter his service. His son received the dignity of count.
Johan Banér lies buried at the
Riddarholmen Church in
Stockholm.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Johan Ban R'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://johan_ban__r.totallyexplained.com">Johan Banér Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
