Siege of Brno
| Siege of Brno | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Thirty Years' War | |||||||
The siege of Brno by Swedish and Transylvanian troops | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
|
Sweden Transylvania | Holy Roman Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Lennart Torstensson Arvid Wittenberg Sigismund II Rákóczi |
Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches Martin Středa | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| c. 28,000 soldiers in total (including reinforcements led by Sigismund II Rákóczi) | c. 426 soldiers, plus c. 1,000 armed men from local militia | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| c. 8,000 killed, wounded, deserted, died of disease | c. 250 dead | ||||||
The siege of Brno, which occurred from 3 May to 23 August 1645, was the second Swedish siege of the city of Brno in the last years of the Thirty Years' War. The Brno garrison, consisting of 500 soldiers and about 1,000 Brno residents, successfully defended the city against about 28,000 soldiers of General Lennart Torstensson. The success of the defenders was the starting point of a brilliant career for their commander, Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches, in the service of the Habsburgs; the siege kept the Swedish army occupied for several months. This Austrian victory ultimately contributed to Brno becoming the metropolis of Moravia, at the expense of the conquered Olomouc.