Everything about Lennart Torstenson totally explained
Lennart Torstenson,
Count of
Ortala,
Baron of
Virestad (
17 August 1603 –
7 April 1651), was a
Swedish Field Marshal and
military engineer.
Early career
He was born at
Forstena in
Västergötland - he always wrote his name
Linnardt Torstenson. Parents were Märta Nilsdotter
Posse and Torsten Lennartson, Lord of Forstena, once commandant of
Älvsborg Fortress and supporter of king Sigismund. Young Lennart's parents fled to exile in the year of his birth, because the father had again confessed to be loyal to the deposed Sigismund. Lennart was taken to care of relatives - his father returned to Sweden only when Lennart was around twenty. His paternal uncle Anders Lennartsson was
Lord High Constable of Sweden and trusted by
duke Charles, but he fell at the
battle of Kirkholm in
1605.
At the age of fifteen he became one of the pages of the young King
Gustavus Adolphus and was allowed to observe Livonian war (such as conquest of Riga in 1621). When twenty, he made his grand tour, learning to know foreign countries. In January 1626 he was at the battle of Wallhof as ensign. And served during the
Prussian campaigns of
1628 -
1629. It is told that at one battle Gustavus Adolphus sent Torstenson with an order to one of the officers. On his way Torstenson noticed that the enemy had changed his dispositions and altered the Kings orders. On returning to Gustavus Adolphus the King had noticed the new development. When Torstenson told Gustavus Adolphus what he have done the King rose his hand but then changed his mind and said "Lennart, this could have cost you your life, but maybe you're better suited to be a general than a page at the royal court." Just a couple of years later, in 1629 Torstenson was put in charge of the Swedish
artillery, which under his guidance materially contributed to the victories of
Breitenfeld and
Lech. The same year he was taken prisoner at
Alte Veste and shut up for nearly a year at
Ingolstadt. Under
Johan Banér he rendered distinguished service at the
Battle of Wittstock and during the energetic defence of
Pomerania in
1637 -
1638, as well as at the
Battle of Chemnitz and in the raid into
Bohemia in
1639. Illness, contracted at his imprisonment, compelled him to return to Sweden in
1641, when he was made a member of the
Privy Council.
Generalissimo
The sudden death of Banér in May 1641 recalled Torstenson to
Germany as
generalissimo of the Swedish forces and
Governor General of
Pomerania. He was at the same time promoted to the rank of
Field Marshal. In
1642 he marched through
Brandenburg and
Silesia into
Moravia, taking all the principal fortresses on his way. On returning through
Saxony he well-nigh annihilated the imperialist army at the second
Battle of Breitenfeld on
October 23,
1642. In
1643 he invaded Moravia for the second time, but was suddenly recalled to invade
Denmark, when his rapid and unexpected intervention paralysed the Danish defence on the land side, though Torstenson's own position in
Jutland was for a time precarious owing to the skilful handling of the Danish fleet by
Christian IV of Denmark. In
1644 he led his army for the third time into the heart of Germany and routed the imperialists at the
battle of Jüterbog on
November 23. At the beginning of November
1645 he broke into Bohemia, and the victory of
Jankau on
February 24,
1645 laid open before him the road to
Vienna. Yet, though one end of the
Danube bridge actually fell into his hands, his exhausted army was unable to penetrate any further and, in December the same year, Torstenson, crippled by
gout, was forced to resign his command and return to Sweden. In
1647 he was created a
count. From
1648 to
1651 he ruled all the western provinces of Sweden, as
Governor-General. On his death at
Stockholm on
April 7,
1651 he was buried solemnly in the
Riddarholm Church, the Pantheon of Sweden. Torstenson was remarkable for the extraordinary and incalculable rapidity of his movements, though very frequently he'd to lead the army in a litter, as his bodily infirmities wouldn't permit him to mount his horse. He was also the most scientific
artillery officer and the best and most successful
engineer in the
Swedish army.
Family
Torstenson was married in
1633 to Baroness
Beata De la Gardie (1612–1680), daughter of the Privy Councillour
Johan De la Gardie. They had a son,
Anders Torstenson, who also served as a Privy Councillour and Governor-General.
In
1653, after Torstenson's death, Beata De la Gardie was married to
Per Brahe the Younger.
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