Source:
Christina, Queen of Sweden, pages 46 to 48, by Francis William Bain, 1890; original at the University of Connecticut Library
The account:
In order to explain the allusions in these letters it is necessary to take up the history of the war in Germany which we left at the victory of Wittstock. In the interval, Baner's genius had regained for Sweden all the prestige lost at Nordlingen, and established his claim to be considered one of the first generals of the age. We have seen the allusions of Christina to the struggle for Brisach; this place, reputed impregnable, had been seized by Bernard of Weimar, entirely to the satisfaction of France, in whose interests he was acting. It was the design of the Duke to establish himself as an independent chief in Germany, after the fashion of Wallenstein; he had even began to negotiate his marriage with the Princess of Hesse, the celebrated Amalia Elizabeth, when he suddenly died, in 1639. This left the Imperialist forces opposed to him free to join those engaged with Baner; and France seized the opportunity to gain possession of Brisach, and take Bernard's army into her pay.
The difficulty Baner found in conducting a campaign with vastly inferior forces was increased by the want of money and his own ill health. Owing to the state of the finances, Oxenstiern had to write to him that the war must pay itself; nor could the Government listen to his repeated demands for furlough. "Baner on a sick-bed is worth more than any other man on horseback;" "Sweden requires John Baner's services, and John Baner must serve." We cannot enter into the details of his operations, but at his death, in 1641, Christina's forebodings only proved too well grounded. Just as after Lutzen, so after the death of the "second Gustavus" at Halberstadt, the Swedish cause seemed falling to pieces; mutiny again arose in the army; the officers refused to obey a Swedish general any longer, and sent home a deputation with their demands; some even began to treat with the enemy. The distress was terrible; troopers and soldiers bartered their horses and accoutrements for provisions. The desperate condition of affairs is well shown in an extract from a letter written by General Wrangel to his son: "Mind that ye lay hands upon somewhat, as the rest do; he that takes it has it."
It seemed, indeed, as if at this moment nothing could save the cause. But it was the fortune of Sweden to possess in this hour of need, yet another general trained in the school of Gustavus Adolphus; she found in Leonard Torstenson a man worthy to redeem the loss of Baner; "his equal in genius, his superior in energy: mastering by the greatness of his soul a body wasted by captivity and disease." The extraordinary pace at which he flew about from place to place, even when unable from sickness to mount a horse, gained him among the soldiers the nickname of "Blixten", "the Lightning." Arriving from Sweden in the autumn with fresh troops and money, he infused a new spirit into the army, and, though so ill that at times he had to be carried in a litter, succeeded in closing a brilliant campaign with the decisive victory of Leipzic (October 23, 1642).
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