The Battle of

Hard Hard may refer to: * Hardness, resistance of physical materials to deformation or fracture * Hard water, water with high mineral content Arts and entertainment * ''Hard'' (TV series), a French TV series * Hard (band), a Hungarian hard rock supe ...

was the first large-scale battle in the

Swabian War The Swabian War of 1499 ( gsw, Schwoobechrieg (spelling depending on dialect), called or ("Swiss War") in Germany and ("War of the Engadin") in Austria) was the last major armed conflict between the Old Swiss Confederacy and the House of ...

, waged between the Imperials under the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I and the Swiss Confederates. The battle was fought on 20 February 1499, a cold and foggy day, between 10,000 Imperial troops, mostly from the Swabian Circles, and a smaller number of Swiss troops, often called

Reisläufer The Swiss mercenaries (german: Reisläufer) were a powerful infantry force constituted by professional soldiers originating from the cantons of the Old Swiss Confederacy. They were notable for their service in foreign armies, especially among ...

. The battle took place in the westernmost part of modern-day

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

, in the vicinity of the southeast corner of Lake Constance, roughly southwest of the town of

Bregenz Bregenz (; gsw, label= Vorarlbergian, Breagaz ) is the capital of Vorarlberg, the westernmost state of Austria. The city lies on the east and southeast shores of Lake Constance, the third-largest freshwater lake in Central Europe, between Switze ...

. The Imperial army had deployed its advance guard between the towns of

Lustenau Lustenau (; gsw, Luschnou) is a town in the westernmost Austrian state of Vorarlberg in the district of Dornbirn. It lies on the river Rhine, which forms the border with Switzerland. Lustenau is Vorarlberg's fourth largest town. Geography Lust ...

and Höchst, south of the lake town of

. On the morning of the battle the Imperial advance guard discovered the advanced guard of the invading Swiss army marching down the right bank of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

, attacked it, and caused it to recoil toward Hard. The surprised Imperials, alerted to the Swiss attack, hastily deployed themselves into battle order near the town of

Lauterach Lauterach is a town in the district of Bregenz in the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. Honorary consulates of Finland, and the United Kingdom are located in Lauterach. The Lauterach Transmitter is a 116 m tall broadcasting facility. Europea ...

and set up their artillery. The Swiss main body had meanwhile arrived in the area of battle, and skillfully deployed its attack columns so as to deny the Imperials the maximum benefit of their artillery superiority. Both armies were composed primarily of infantry, many of whom were armed with a very long spear called a ''spiess'' (

pike Pike, Pikes or The Pike may refer to: Fish * Blue pike or blue walleye, an extinct color morph of the yellow walleye ''Sander vitreus'' * Ctenoluciidae, the "pike characins", some species of which are commonly known as pikes * ''Esox'', genus of ...

), others with a

pole weapon A polearm or pole weapon is a close combat weapon in which the main fighting part of the weapon is fitted to the end of a long shaft, typically of wood, thereby extending the user's effective range and striking power. Polearms are predominantly ...

called a

halberd A halberd (also called halbard, halbert or Swiss voulge) is a two-handed pole weapon that came to prominent use during the 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries. The word ''halberd'' is cognate with the German word ''Hellebarde'', deriving from ...

. These would be deployed in very deep infantry combat columns. Smaller bodies of men would skirmish around these columns, firing with

crossbows A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fire ...

or primitive

muzzle-loading A muzzleloader is any firearm into which the projectile and the propellant charge is loaded from the muzzle of the gun (i.e., from the forward, open end of the gun's barrel). This is distinct from the modern (higher tech and harder to make) desig ...

firearms called the

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. Although the term ''arquebus'', derived from the Dutch word ''Haakbus ...

. The Imperial army had an

artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...

train and a small force of armoured knights, although it is not known whether these fought on horseback, or, as was often their custom, on foot amongst the infantry pike columns. The Swiss attack columns precipitously attacked the Imperial positions, staggered under the weight of the defensive fire from the Imperial artillery, but, propelled forward by their serious warfighting ethos, kept up the assault. Colliding with the Imperial infantry columns, the Swiss rapidly threw the Swabian forces into disorder, then rout. The Swabians were unable to mount a fighting withdrawal, and as a result, many fleeing troops were massacred by the Swiss, as was their custom. The Swabian soldiers were aware of this custom, and a panic ensued. Some Imperial troops fled to

, others attempted to board three nearby ships, which overturned in the chaos and sank, drowning many of the fleeing infantry and knights. Others sought hiding places where they could, and, ill-equipped to overnight in the prevailing terrible cold, died of exposure. Although the victorious Swiss performed at best a sloppy pursuit, focusing more on pillaging than on a systematic pursuit (another of their customs), by the end of the battle several thousand Swabian corpses nonetheless littered the battlefield, and were eventually buried in a mass grave outside the Chapel of Hard.

References

*Richards, John: ''Landsknecht Soldier 1486-1550'', Osprey Publishing 2002. . *SFwV SSGA:
500 Jahre Schlacht bei Hard
', 1999?. In German. URL last accessed 2006-09-12. {{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 1499 in Europe

Conflicts in 1499