Battle of Jüterbog The Battle of Jüterbog was fought in Jüterbog on November 23 , 1644 , between Sweden and the Holy Roman Empire , resulting in a Swedish victory . Background . Field Marshal Lennart Torstenson had unexpectedly marched into Jutland in September 1643 ( see Torstenson War ) . While engaged in operations there , an Imperial army under the command of Count Matthias Gallas ventured north towards Jutland to trap the Swedish army there and destroy it . The Emperor had received requests from Denmark for help , as well as assurance that the Swedish forces were wore down and therefore a fairly easy target . However , since Torstenson thought of Gallas ' approaching army of about 15 , 000 men as a threat to the important Swedish strongholds on the German Baltic coast , he turned his army around and headed south to engage the enemy . Gallas had his troops build and stay behind abatises and entrenchments south of the river Eider in Holstein in an attempt to trap the Swedish forces on Jutland . This tactic failed , as Torstenson ' s troops outmanoeuvred the enemy by overthrowing a few Imperial positions and pose a threat both to Gallas ' back , and Imperial areas further south . The Imperial army began to move south . During the summer of 1644 , Torstenson ' s forces tried to engage the retreating enemy , and in late September , they had once more caught up with the Imperial army . Gallas responded by ordering his troops to build strong defensive positions and await wished - for reinforcement . The Imperial halting - place , south of Magdeburg , was soon surrounded by the Swedish , who cut off all supplies for Gallas ' men . Eventually , the Imperial side ran out of bread and they started to lose people to sickness and starvation . As huge numbers of people and animals died , Gallas saw no other solution but to abandon many of the sick , most of his artillery as well as the baggage , and search protection for his troops in Magdeburg itself . The pattern repeated itself when the Swedish forces managed to enclose the city and cut off the supply . One night , the Imperial cavalry made an attempt to break out . The Battle . The Imperial cavalry were caught close to the town of Jüterbog . They were almost wiped out . Out of an initial force of 4 , 000 soldiers , only a couple of hundred are said to have managed to get away . The Swedish also captured 3 , 500 horses . Aftermath . It would take a while for the Imperial forces in Magdeburg to succeed with a breakaway . Before they did , they had to turn to eating both cats and dogs as their situation grew more desperate . Many of them deserted . Most of the soldiers who aimed to switch sides and join the Swedish forces were judged to be too weak and were therefore ignored by the Swedish . After getting some help from drift ice that ruined Swedish bridges on river Elbe , Gallas commanded his troops to make a desperate effort to break out of the Swedish encirclement . They managed to escape to Bohemia in the south east . Out of 12 , 000 Imperial soldiers that constituted Gallas ' army in the summer of 1644 , about 2 , 000 men survived . As a result of the severe fiasco the campaign turned out to be , and the tactical mistakes he made , Gallas was relieved from his duty as Imperial commander .