Battle of Nordlingen (1634). The Battle of Nördlingen was fought in 1634 during the Thirty Years' War, on 27 August or 6 September. The Roman Catholic Imperial army, bolstered by 15,000 Spanish soldiers, won a crushing victory over the combined Protestant armies of Sweden and their German-Protestant allies. After the failure of the tercio system in the first Battle of Breitenfeld in 1631, the professional Spanish troops deployed at Nördlingen proved the tercio system could still contend with the deployment improvements devised by Maurice of Orange and Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in their respective troops. The Battle of Nördlingen was part of the Thirty Years' War, fought from 1618 to 1648. The chief belligerents were the Catholic Habsburg dynasties consisting of an Austrian and Spanish branch and their allies on one side. Opposed to them were the Protestant nations comprising the Dutch, Denmark, Sweden, various German principalities and later, Catholic France. After the Protestant victory at the Battle of Lützen two years before, the Swedes failed to follow up due to the death of their king, Gustavus Adolphus. As a result, the Imperial forces began to regain the initiative. In 1634 Protestant German and Swedish forces moved south and invaded Bavaria, threatening a major Habsburg ally. In response, the Austrian Habsburg commander, Ferdinand of Hungary advanced west from Bohemia threatening to cut across the supply lines of the Protestant armies. Consequently, the Protestant commanders quickly reversed course and headed north. They were aware that Spanish reinforcements under Ferdinand of Hungary's cousin, the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand of Austria, were en route from their dominions in Northern Italy. The Spanish army had marched through the Stelvio Pass trying to open a new Spanish Road, and take their Commander to his Governorship in the Spanish Low Countries. The Protestant commanders decided they could not ignore the threat of a union between the two enemy forces and combined their two largest armies near Augsburg on 12 July, which included the Swabian-Alsatian Army under Gustav Horn and the so-called Franconian Army under Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar. Both armies were named after their main operation area and belonged to the Heilbronn Alliance. These forces mostly consisted of German recruits. Among them were the Blue brigade and some Scottish allies with a few national Swedish/Finnish regiments and one national Swedish infantry brigade. The Protestants proved unable to prevent the fall of Regensburg to Ferdinand of Hungary and desperately pursued him westwards in an effort to prevent the merger of the two Habsburg armies. On 16 August the Cardinal-Infante crossed the Danube at Donauwörth. Despite their best efforts the Protestant armies were still behind when Ferdinand of Hungary set down to besiege the town of Nördlingen in Swabia and await the Cardinal-Infante, who arrived before the city on 2 September-three days before the Protestants. The cousins, Ferdinand, brother of the Spanish king and known as the Cardinal-Infante, and Ferdinand of Hungary, son of Ferdinand II, the Austrian Holy Roman Emperor, prepared for battle, ignoring the advice of more experienced generals such as Matthias Gallas. Most felt a full engagement against two of the most experienced Protestant commanders was reckless and unlikely to have positive results. However, the cousins were supported by Count Leganés, the Spanish deputy commander, who was confident in their superior numbers, including the reliable Spanish Infantry. Bernhard and Horn also prepared for battle. Bernhard felt that no matter the odds, an attempt must be made to relieve Nördlingen. Horn seems to have been reluctant given the state of the Protestant armies, which were short of supplies. Bernard underestimated the numerically superior enemy forces despite information obtained from a prisoner. The Spanish reinforcements numbered closer to 20,000 not 7,000. In addition, the Austrian and Spanish Imperialists possessed 13,000 cavalry. By contrast, the combined Protestant forces numbered 16,000 infantry and 9,000 horse. Also critical was the fact that the terrain features of the battlefield convinced the Protestant commanders to abandon the 3 pounder guns normally attached to each of their infantry brigades, which at previous battles had provided a crucial firepower advantage. The two Ferdinands drew up their armies between the Protestant forces and the town of Nördlingen, with the left wing anchored at the base of a hill. In the center, Catholic German infantry were placed in front with the Spanish behind them.