Battle of Stadtlohn The Battle of Stadtlohn was fought on August 6 , 1623 between the armies of Christian of Brunswick and of the Catholic League during the Thirty Years ' War . The League ' s forces were led by Johann Tserclaes , Count of Tilly . Campaign . A year after his defeat at the Battle of Fleurus , Christian of Brunswick found himself in command of an army of 15 , 000 , freshly recruited and rested from winter quarters in the United Provinces . He reopened his campaign in the summer of 1623 by marching into the Lower Saxon Circle . With no support forthcoming from other Protestant princes , or even from Christian ' s recent ally Ernst von Mansfeld , Christian now found himself in a precarious military position with little possibility of reinforcement . To add to this , Tilly had received word of Christian ' s movements and was now moving to confront him . The second half of July 1623 thus became a period of retreat for Christian ' s forces , as Tilly ' s troops had marched across the Saxon border on July 13 . Christian reportedly marched across the Weser River on July 27 and the Ems River a few days later , with the Count of Tilly ' s more disciplined troops steadily gaining ground . When Christian left Greven ( north of Münster ) , on August 4 , Tilly was only half an hour behind . Christian ' s rearguard managed to ward off an engagement for two more days , holding the bridges first over the Vechte ( at Metelen ) and then over the Dinkel ( at Heek ) . Tilly ' s army continued to pursue Christian ' s . His vanguard , commanded by Johann Jakob , Count of Bronckhorst and Anholt , engaged Christian ' s rearguard , commanded by Colonel Styrum , near Heek on the morning of August 6 . The Battle . On the afternoon of August 6 , Christian was forced to turn and fight just outside the village of Stadtlohn in Westphalia , a little over five miles short of the Dutch border . Taking position on a hill , Christian ' s forces withstood lengthy bombardment before an attack by Tilly ' s cavalry engulfed Christian ' s right flank , leading his own cavalry to break and rout . On this sight , the infantrymen also attempted to flee . Tilly ' s forces swept upon their retreating enemies , killing some 6 , 000 and capturing 4 , 000 more as prisoners of war . Among the losses were 50 of Christian ' s highest - ranking officers , and all of his artillery and ammunition . Christian himself escaped , together with 2 , 000 cavalrymen . Tilly ' s army suffered 1 , 000 casualties . A thousand of the prisoners of war enlisted in Tilly ' s army , but most deserted when they found standards of discipline higher than they had become used to in Christian ' s army . The captured artillery pieces were displayed on the marketplace in Coesfeld , and some of the enemy wounded were conveyed to Münster for treatment . It was reported that many of those fleeing who managed to evade their enemies , fell victim to the ill - will of the peasantry . Impact . With news of the outcome reaching Frederick V of the Palatinate , the king was forced to sign an armistice with Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II , thus ending the ' Palatine Phase ' of the Thirty Years ' War . Peace would be short - lived and in 1624 England , France , the United Provinces of the Netherlands , Sweden , Denmark , Savoy , Venice , and Brandenburg would join in an Anti - Habsburg alliance to fight against Spain and the Holy Roman Emperor . This was the last major battle and campaign that Christian of Brunswick would undertake and participate in . He would attempt to embark on one more campaign in 1626 before succumbing to an illness on June 16 , 1626 , at the age of 26 in Wolfenbüttel . References . region