Battle of the White Hill, 8 November 1620
Battle in the Thirty Years War that effectively ended the Bohemian phase of the war. The Bohemian army, led by Prince Christian of Anhalt-Bernberg, and numbering some 15,000, was camped on the White Hill, near Prague, and was not expecting an Imperial attack. The Imperial army, commanded by the Comte de Bucquoy, with Maximiliam of Bavaria and Tilly also present, numbered 20,000. The commanders of the army were determined to fight, and amongst them the more aggressive attitude prevailed. An initial attack was repulsed, and the long delay while the Imperial generals decided what to do convinced Christian of Anhalt that no attack was coming, and so he was surprised by the Imperial attack, and his army was soon in full retreat, despite his best efforts to rally them. Frederick, elector Palatine, the protestant king of Bohemia, fled back to his German lands, and Prague was occupied by the Imperial forces.
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The Thirty Years War , C.V.Wedgewood. Despite its age (first published in 1938), this is still one of the best english language narratives of this most complex of wars, tracing the intricate dance of diplomacy and combat that involved all of Europe in the fate of Germany.
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How to cite this article: Rickard, J. (1 December 2000), Battle of the White Hill, 8 November 1620, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_whitehill.html
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