Battle of Lund The Battle of Lund , part of the Scanian War , was fought on December 4 , 1676 , in an area north of the city of Lund in Scania in southern Sweden , between the invading Danish army and the army of Charles XI of Sweden . The Danish had an army of about 12 , 300 under the personal command of 31 - year - old King Christian V of Denmark , aided by General Carl von Arensdorff . The Swedish army , which numbered about 8 , 000 , was commanded by Field Marshal Simon Grundel - Helmfelt and the 21 - year - old Swedish king Charles XI . Events leading up to the battle . After the Swedish defeat at the Battle of Fehrbellin and a number of Danish triumphs at sea , the Swedish military was occupied retaining their tenuous hold on dominions in Brandenburg and Pomerania . The Danes saw this as an opportunity to regain control over the Scanian lands , which had fallen to Sweden with the 1658 Treaty of Roskilde . The Danes invaded via Helsingborg in late June 1676 with an army of 14 , 000 men , where they found themselves supported by the local peasantry . This made it impossible for the outnumbered Swedish troops to effectively defend the recently acquired province . In one months time , only the fortified town of Malmö remained under Swedish control . In August , a Danish detachment tried to advance north , but Swedish King Charles XI had prepared a new army in the province of Småland , and the Danish advance was halted at the Battle of Halmstad . The Swedes had gathered 14 , 000 men by October , of which three - fourths were mounted , and felt confident enough to march south . They slowly fought their way in an attempt to break the siege of Malmö . Swedish supply lines were thin due to frequent interceptions by local peasants under the command of Danish officers . In early November , the Danish king and his army had taken post at Lund , south of the Kävlinge River . The Danes controlled all the river crossings , and the Swedish army was forced to camp on the north side . For one month this situation endured , but snow arrived in late November , and the river surface began to freeze . On the morning of December 3 , the Swedish General of Fortifications Erik Dahlberg reported to the king that the ice would hold their weight . The Danes assumed that the Swedes had gone into winter camp and that they would not attack until spring . Battle . Before daybreak the Swedish army broke camp and made preparations to cross the river . Under the cover of a moonless night , between 04 : 00 and 05 : 30 , the entire Swedish force successfully crossed the river and reached the southern bank without alarming the Danes . The Swedish planned to attack the sleeping Danish camp with cavalry from the southeast . Reconnaissance patrols reported that the ground between the two armies was unsuitable for mounted troops , so King Charles XI and his generals gathered to discuss the new situation . Most advisers pointed out that it would be foolish to attack by foot as the Danish army possessed much more infantry and the Swedish main strength lay in its cavalry . Additionally , the Swedes would likely lose the element of surprise during the long march towards the Danish camp . The king was eager to attack at once , but was swayed by his advisers . He ordered the troops to advance towards the hills just outside the north wall of Lund , to seize a tactical advantage . The hills would mean better terrain for the cavalry and the town itself would cover the Swedish southern flank . By then Danes had woken , and soon recognised the Swedish intentions . The Danes quickly broke camp and started to race the Swedes for control of the hills . The first skirmish was between the Swedish right wing and the Danish left wing , and ended in a draw . However , the hills were secured under Swedish control , and the Danes were pushed to the east . The main battle began at 09 : 00 , at sunrise . The front now stretched one kilometer from north to south , with the Danes to the east and the Swedes to the west . The Danish army was supported by 56 cannon of various calibers , while the Swedes brought only 8 six - pounders and four three - pounders . Once the fighting commenced , Charles XI personally led a flanking maneuver to overwhelm the Danish left flank . During the fighting , the Danish commander Carl von Arensdorff was badly wounded , and the entire left wing was forced to retreat at 10 : 00 , severely crippling the Danish army . The Charles XI and Field Marshal Simon Grundel Helmfelt used their cavalry to pursue fleeing Danish troops , and cut down any who lagged behind . The pursuit continued eight kilometers , right up to the river . Some officers at the Danish camp attempted to ward off the Swedes , but many Danes were forced onto the ice . The ice did not hold , and a great number of the remaining Danish left wing drowned . While the Danish left wing fled and the right wing pushed the Swedes back until the Swedish left wing scattered . With the absence of Danish King Christian V and with General Arenstorff wounded , Friedrich von Arensdorff , the general ' s brother , had assumed command of the Danish army . The Danish front was now facing south and the Swedish forces found themselves under constant attack with their backs against the town wall . The situation for the Swedes was desperate , as there had been no sign of the king , the Household cavalry , or the Field Marshal for hours . The Swedes were also greatly outnumbered , with approximately 1 , 400 infantry and 2 , 500 cavalry , as the Danes approximately counted 4 , 500 infantry and 2 , 100 cavalry . Instead of forcing the attack , Friedrich von Arensdorff ordered the army to regroup at noon , halting the battle . At the river , the Swedish king was contemplating his next move . Available intelligence from the town was scarce , and suggested that the whole Danish army was on the run . Although he was tempted to rout the fleeing Danish cavalry all the way to Landskrona , he instead opted to return to Lund to his army . The battle at Lund renewed , and the Swedes were forced back once more . At sunset ( about 15 : 00 ) the Swedish king returned from the north with his cavalry , combined with some cavalry units from the scattered Swedish left wing . He decided to try to circle the Danish army to the west to join the remains of the Swedish center . Danish commander Arensdorff made the decision to halt the offensive on the Swedish center and instead tend to the enemy cavalry in the northwest . Charles XI , two generals , and three guards broke through the Danish lines to join the diminished Swedish center . While Arensdorff was still attacking the cavalry in the north , the return of the Swedish king inspired the exhausted troops , who attacked the Danish forces in the back . Though the Danes still outnumbered the Swedes , by approximately 4 , 500 to 4 , 000 , Arensdorff had lost the initiative and after half an hour his army disintegrated . Charles XI wanted to clear the field of Danish soldiers . The remaining Danish cavalry quickly disappeared into the night . Although Danish General Siegwert von Bibow protected the infantry retreat , many of the Danish were massacred until Field Marshal Helmfelt ordered that the killing should stop and the surrendering Danish and Dutch soldiers should be spared . At 17 : 00 a cease fire was sounded . Aftermath . Although the bodies were counted the next day , the original notes have been lost and the exact death toll is unknown . Contemporary Swedish sources indicate between 8 , 300 and 9 , 000 were killed , excluding the Danish that drowned and soldiers that died from their wounds over the following weeks . One contemporary Danish source talks about a total of 9 , 300 dead . The Dutch marines were exceptionally unfortunate ; according to various sources , only a few dozen out of the 1 , 300 survived . The Battle of Lund severely crippled both armies , and is one of the bloodiest battles in history , when taking into consideration the casualties in comparison to the total number of combatants . The Swedish victory is often attributed to the composition of their army , as it contained far fewer mercenaries than the Danish army . The Swedish mix of cavalry and infantry made it possible for the Swedes to mount swift counterattacks as soon as a friendly infantry unit buckled . The Danish still used the caracole tactic , undermining the speed and agility of their cavalry . The victory at Lund boosted the morale of the Swedish army . Charles XI was criticized for getting carried away by his success on the right flank , but the battle made him popular with his troops . The remaining Danish forces were forced to retreat to the fortress of Landskrona . Reinforced by their Austrian and German allies , they would once again meet the Swedish army at the Battle of Landskrona .