--His Assassination.--Ferdinand's Son Elected as his
Successor.--Death of Ferdinand.--Close of the War.--Abdication of
Christina.--Charles Gustavus.--Preparations for War.--Death Of Ferdinand
III.--Leopold Elected Emperor.--Hostilities Renewed.--Death of Charles
Gustavus.--Diet Convened.--Invasion of the Turks.
The battle of Lutzen was fought on the 16th of November, 1632. It is
generally estimated that the imperial troops were forty thousand, while
there were but twenty-seven thousand in the Swedish army. Gustavus was
then thirty-eight years of age. A plain stone still marks the spot where
he fell. A few poplars surround it, and it has become a shrine visited
by strangers from all parts of the world. Traces of his blood are still
shown in the town-house of Lutzen, where his body was transported from
the fatal field. The buff waistcoat he wore in the engagement, pierced
by the bullet which took his life, is preserved as a trophy in the
arsenal at Vienna.
Both as a monarch and a man, this illustrious sovereign stands in the
highest ranks. He possessed the peculiar power of winning the ardent
attachment of all who approached him. Every soldier in the army was
devoted to him, for he shared all their toils and perils.
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