The Peasant War in Germany

While this reform of the empire was still being debated in Heilbronn, the author of the
Declaration of the Twelve Articles, Hans Berlin, was already on his way to meet Truchsess,
to  negotiate  in  the  name  of  the  honourables,  the  middle-class  and  the  citizenry  on  the
surrender  of  the  city.  Reactionary  movements  within  the  city  supported  this  betrayal,  and
Wendel Hipler was obliged to flee, as were the peasants. He went to Weinsberg where be
attempted  to  assemble  the  remnants  of  the  Wuerttemberg  peasants  and  those  few  of  the
Gaildorf  troops  which  could  be  mobilised.  The  approach  of  the  Elector  Palatine  and  of
Truchsess, however, drove him out of there and he was compelled to go to Wuerzburg to
cause the Gay Bright Troop to resume operations. In the meantime, the armies of the Union
and  the  Elector  subdued  the  Neckar  region,  compelled  the  peasants  to  take  a  new  oath,
burned many villages, and stabbed or hanged all fleeing peasants that fell into their hands.
To avenge the execution of Helfenstein, Weinsberg was burned.
The  troops  that  were  assembled  in  front  of  Wuerzburg  had  in  the  meantime  besieged
Frauenberg.  On  May  15,  before  a  gap  was  made  by  their  fusillade,  they  bravely  but
unsuccessfully  attempted  to  storm  the  fortress.  Four  hundred  of  the  best  men,  mostly  of
Florian Geyser’s host, remained in the ditches, dead or wounded. Two days later, May 17,
Wendel  Hipler  appeared  and  ordered  a  military  council.  He  proposed  to  leave  at
Frauenberg only 4,000 men and to place the main force, about 20,000 men, in a camp at
Krautheim on the Jaxt, before the very eyes of Truchsess, so that all reinforcements might
be assembled there. The plan was excellent. Only by keeping the masses together, and by a
numerical  superiority,  could  one  hope  to  defeat  the  army  of  the  princes  which  now
numbered  about  13,000  men.  The  demoralisation  and  discouragement  of  the  peasants,
however, had gone too far to make any energetic action possible. Goetz von Berlichingen,
who soon afterwards openly appeared as a traitor, may have helped to hold the troop back.
Thus Hipler’s plan was never put into action; the troops were divided as ever, and only on
May 23 did the Gay Bright Troop start action after the Franconians had promised to follow
quickly. On May 26, the detachments of the Margrave of Anspach, located in Wuerzburg,
were called, due to the word that the Margrave had opened hostilities against the peasants.
The  rest  of  the  besieging  army,  with  Florian  Geyser’s  Black  Troop,  took  position  at
Heidingsfeld not far from Wuerzburg.
The Gay Bright Troop arrived on May 24 in Krautheim in a condition far from good.
Many peasants learned that in their absence their villages had taken the oath at Truchsess’
behest,  and  this  they  used  as  a  pretext  to  go  home.  The  troops  moved  further  to
Neckarsulm,  and  on  May  28  started  negotiations  with  Truchsess.  At  the  same  time
messengers were sent to the peasants of Franconia, Alsace and Black Forest–Hegau, with
the demand to hurry reinforcements. From Neckarsulm Goetz marched towards Oehringen.
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The  troops  melted  from  day  to  day.  Goetz  von  Berlichingen  also  disappeared  during  the
march.  He  rode  home,  having  previously  negotiated  with  Truchsess  through  his  old
brother-in-arms, Dietrich Spaet, concerning his going over to the other side. In Oehringen,
a false rumour of the enemy approaching threw the helpless and discouraged mass into a
panic.  The  troop  was  rapidly  disintegrating,  and  it  was  with  difficulty  that  Metzler  and
Wendel  Hipler  succeeded  in  keeping  together  about  2,000  men,  whom  they  again  led
towards Krautheim. In the meantime, the Franconian army, 5,000 strong, had come, but in
consequence  of  a  side  march  over  Loewenstein  towards  Oehringen,  ordered  by  Goetz
apparently  with  treacherous  intentions,  it  missed  the  Gay  Troop  and  moved  towards
Neckarsulm.  This  small  town,  defended  by  a  detachment  of  the  Gay  Bright  Troop,  was
besieged  by  Truchsess.  The  Franconians  arrived  at  night  and  saw  the  fires  of  the  Union
army, but their leaders had not the courage to brave an attack. They retreated to Krautheim,
where  they  at  last  found  the  remainder  of  the  Gay  Bright  Troop.  Receiving  no  aid,
Neckarsulm  surrendered  on  the  29th  to  the  Union  troops.  Truchsess  immediately  ordered
13  peasants  executed,  and  went  to  meet  the  troop,  burning,  pillaging  and  murdering  all
along the way through the valleys of Neckar, Kocher and Jaxt. Heaps of ruins and bodies of
peasants hanging on trees marked his march.
At  Krautheim  the  Union  army  met  the  peasants  who,  forced  by  a  flank  movement  of
Truchsess,  had  withdrawn  towards  Koenigshofen  on  the  Tauber.  Here  they  took  their
position, 8,000 in number, with 32 cannon. Truchsess approached them, hidden behind hills
and  forests.  He  sent  out  columns  to  envelop  them,  and  on  June  2,  he  attacked  them  with
such  a  superiority  of  forces  and  energy  that  in  spite  of  the  stubborn  resistance  of  several
columns  lasting  into  the  night,  they  were  defeated  and  dispersed.  As  everywhere,  the
horsemen of the Union, “the peasants’ death,” were mainly instrumental in annihilating the
insurgent army, throwing themselves on the peasants, who were shaken by artillery gun fire
and  lance  attacks,  disrupting  their  ranks  completely,  and  killing  individual  fighters.  The
kind of warfare conducted by Truchsess and his horsemen is manifested in the fate of 300
Koenigshof  middle-class  men  united  with  the  peasant  army.  During  the  battle,  all  but
fifteen were killed, and of these remaining fifteen, four were subsequently decapitated.
Having  thus  completed  his  victory  over  the  peasants  of  Odenwald,  the  Neckar  valley
and  lower  Franconia,  Truchsess  subdued  the  entire  region  by  means  of  punitive
expeditions,  burning  entire  villages  and  causing  numberless  executions.  From  there  he
moved towards Wuerzburg. On his way he learned that the second Franconian troops under
the command of Florian Geyer and Gregor von Burg-Bernsheim was stationed at Sulzdorf.
He immediately moved against them.
Florian Geyer, who, after the unsuccessful attempt at storming Frauenberg, had devoted
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