THE BATTLE AT SEMPACH, IN 1386

BY JOHANNES VON MÜLLER.

JOHN VON MÜLLER was born in 1752, at Schaffhausen, in Switzerland, and died in 1808. The first volume of his History of the Swiss Confederacy, from which the following account of the battle of Sempach has been translated, appeared in 1780. This battle was fought on the ninth of July, 1386, between the confederated Swiss on the one side, and Austria on the other; Austria making an obstinate effort to maintain her power in Switzerland See History of the Swiss Confederacy, Vol. ii. p. 431.

THE Duke, [of Austria,] leaving the Stein, at Baden, crossed the Rüss, and marched through the free bailiwicks, to Argan, and thence through Sursee, toward Sempach. This little town is situated about three leagues' distance from Lucerne, at the head of a lake of two leagues in length, bordered with fertile and picturesque meadows. Above the meadows, lay cornfields; and above these, rose a wood. This wood was occupied by the troops of the confederates.

On the ninth of July, they saw the enemy, a numerous force, well mounted, and in complete armor. The vassals were drawn up under their respective barons; the people of each town under their avoyer; and the companies of every noble of the different countries, each under the banner of its country. The Landsknechts, vassals, and mercenaries, served as infantry. There were no fieldpieces; though some heavy blunderbusses were slowly advancing, to be used in the siege of Sempach. There were seen the lords of Argan, the bailiffs of Austria, authors of the war; Hermann Grimm of Grunenberg, from whom Rotenburg had been wrested; Thuring and John of Hallwyl, zealous, above others, for the house of Austria, in peace and war. There were the Gesslers, cherishing an inborn hatred against Switzerland; Egloff and Ulrich of

Ems, the first, the noblest knight in the wars of his time, Kraft of Lichtenstein, with many distinguished lords from Inner Austria, under the banner of the arch-duchy, which was borne by the Lord Henry of Escheloh; Rudolph, Count of Sulz; Count John of Furstenberg; Montfaucon of Mumpelgard, and many lords of Upper Burgundy. Above all the army, shone Duke Leopold of Austria, himself, now in the thirty-fifth year of his age, and in the pride of manly beauty. Magnanimous, full of courage and heroic fire, and adorned with the laurels of many a victory, he burned with revenge, and thirsted for battle.

It was the time of the harvest; the Duke's people were reaping the corn; the nobles galloping up to the walls [of Sempach] to taunt the burghers, with a firm resolution to beat the Swiss peasants with their own knightly force, unaided by the infantry. When the Duke espied the enemy in the upland, he forgot (if, indeed, he had ever known) that cavalry can attack with more effect upon an ascent, than on a declivity; and he believed it necessary to dispense with cavalry, although the nobles, encumbered with their heavy armor, were ill adapted to act on foot. Welldrilled cavalry has often, by a violent and rapid shock, turned the flank of bodies of foot, broken and beaten them; but never has heavy-armed infantry withstood an attack of infantry made from higher ground. The Duke commanded the nobles to form in the closest order; and to this strong phalanx he gave an impenetrable and terrible front by the lances, which were of such length, that even those of the fourth line reached the front. This arrangement was almost the same as that which his grandfather had employed, successfully, against Bavarian cavalry, in the battle at the Hasenbühel. Lord John of Ochsenstein, under the Duke himself, had command of this phalanx; while Reinhard of Wehingen, a man well skilled in the affairs of peace and war, and high in favor of the Duke, commanded the shooters. A body of fourteen hundred men, commanded by Frederick of Zollern, the black Count, and John of Oberkirch, knight, and composing, usually, the van, was on this day placed, by the Duke, in the rear; for he was anxious that the field

should be clear before the infuriated nobles, whom he commanded in person. In thus assuming a defensive position, he was taking, with superior numbers, a course more befitting the inferior force; but probably he was led to fight on foot, by an opinion of the knights and nobles of that age, that he who is victorious in any struggle, by superiority of equipments or by stratagem, leaves the fairest prize of valor undecided. They considered such advantage dishonorable; and Leopold himself was rather an ornament of a gallant chivalry, through his noble virtues, than a great general, through his extensive knowledge of the art of war.

When John of Hasenberg, baron, a gray-haired warrior, who had seen the enemy's position and order, warned the exasperated nobility, that "vanity leads to no good end, and that it would be well to send word to Hans of Bonstetten, that he should hasten to join them," they considered his sage counsel to be ignoble. So, when

others made timely propositions to the Duke himself, and warned him, “ that battle-fields are the native soil of unforeseen emergencies; that it was befitting a prince, to watch for the general safety, and themselves, to fight for the common cause; and that it would be vastly more ruinous to the army to lose its head, than some of its members," he replied, at first, with a smile, but, at length, impatiently, Shall Leopold look on, from a distance, and see his knights die for him? Here, in my country, for my people, with you, will I conquer or perish."

The confederates stood on the wood-covered declivity. So long as the knights were mounted, they believed it difficult to resist their shock in the plain, and safer to expect the attack in their position, which they believed to be advantageous. If they were victorious, they hoped that the victory, by the encouragement it would afford the nation, would prove decisive of the whole war; death they considered as a path to undying glory, and as an incentive to others, to avenge their loss upon the enemy. When the knights had dismounted, the confederates marched from out the wood down into the plain; for they feared some stratagem, or sudden manœuvre, of the

more numerous force, in the country sheltered by the wood. They stood in narrow files, with short weapons, (four hundred men of Lucerne, nine hundred from the three forest districts, and about a hundred from Glarn, Zug, Gersan, Entlibuch, and Rotenburg,) under their respective banners, commanded by the avoyer of the town of Lucerne, and under the landamman of each valley. Some bore the halberds, with which their ancestors had fought at Morgarten, [December 6, 1315;] some had small boards, fastened to their left arms, instead of shields. To experienced warriors, their courage was apparent. They knelt down, and prayed to God, according to their ancient custom. The nobles closed their helmets; the Duke created knights. The sun stood high; the day was sultry.

The Swiss, after their prayer, ran, at full speed, across the field, against the enemy, with loud and animating war cry, and in the hope to break through the hostile ranks, and then to fight right and left, as they best might. But they were received by the range of shields, as by a wall, and by the projecting lances, as by a forest of iron thorns. The main body of the men of Lucerne fought with impatient fury, and strove to break a passage between the lances, up to those who held them. On the other hand, the enemy, with a fearful clang, moved on in wide-extended lines, intending to form a crescent, by which they thought to turn the flank of the Swiss. At this period, the municipal banner of Lucerne appeared, for some time, in peril, because Petermann of Gundoldingen, knight, avoyer of Lucerne, had fallen, severely wounded, and Henry of Moos, late avoyer, and Stephen of Sillinen, lord of Šillinen, and Kussnacht, his brother-in-law, had perished, with many other brave men. Then Antony of Port, a native of Milan, but residing at Flüelen, in the country of Uri, cried, with a loud voice, "Strike at the shafts, for they are hollow." This, the foremost rank did, with great and powerful exertions; and some shafts were shivered, but were immediately replaced by those behind. Antony of Port fell. The hostile lines, from the nature of their arms, and from their want of practice, were too unwieldy

to form a crescent, but, in every other respect, they stood unbroken and firm. Sixty Swiss had already been slain. They feared the sudden effect of some unperceived movement by the van-guard from the rear, or of some surprise by the troops of Bonstetten.

This moment of delay and indecision was terminated by a man from the country of Unterwalden, Arnold Strutthan of Winkelried, knight. He said to his companions, "I'll make a lane for you;" leaped from out the ranks, called, with a loud voice, "take care of my wife and children; faithful, dear confederates, remember my race;" rushed upon the enemy, grasped some lances with his hands, buried them in his breast, and being a very tall and strong man, he pressed them with him to the ground, as he sank down. Instantly, his companions threw themselves over his body; and all the hosts of the confederates, in succession, pressed on with their utmost force. The lines of the astonished enemy pressed one upon another, to receive them; whereby, through fear, haste, horror, and heat, many lords, wounded in their armor, were suffocated; while large bands, hastening from the forest, strengthened the forces of the Swiss.

First, fell Frederick, the bastard of Brandis, a strong man, an implacable foe; himself, singly, as terrible as twenty ordinary men. Near him, fell Friesshard, called the tall, who had vaunted, that he, alone, would stand against the confederates. The fortune of the day turned. The servants of the nobles, who were stationed near the baggage, when they saw this, mounted, to save their lives by flight. In the mean time, the chief banner of Austria, in the hand of lord Henry of Eschenloh, sunk, and Ulrich of Ottenburg fell upon the banner of Tyrol. The former was saved by Ulrich of Aarburg, knight; he held it aloft, and resisted bravely, yet in vain, for he fell, wounded, and crying, with his last breath, Retta, Austria, Retta.'* Duke Leopold now broke through the press, and received the banner from his dying hand; once more it appeared, floating above the hosts, in the hand of the Prince, and steeped in blood. But many a

* Save! Austria, save!