TORSTENSON, LENNART

born Aug. 17, 1603, Forstena, Swed. died April 7, 1651, Stockholm Swedish field marshal and artillerist who transformed the use of field artillery, making it mobile to a previously unknown degree. He won important victories in the Thirty Years' War and in Sweden's war against Denmark (164345). The son of a Swedish officer, Torstenson became a page to King Gustav II Adolf in 1618 and fought under that monarch against Poland (162123) in Livonia. After studying warfare with Maurice of Nassau, prince of Orange, he returned to serve in 162629 under Gustav II Adolf in his Prussian campaigns. He was already an artillery specialist, and in 1629 he was made colonel of the first purely artillery regiment to be formed in any army. He commanded the field artillery when Gustav intervened in the Thirty Years' War in Germany in 1630. His distinguished service in Sweden's crucial victory over imperial forces at Breitenfeld in 1631 led to his promotion to general. Captured by the forces of the imperial general Albrecht Wenzel von Wallenstein in 1632, he was exchanged in 1633. In 1635 Torstenson became chief of staff under Sweden's commander in chief, Johan Banr, and in 1636 took part in Banr's brilliant victory at Wittstock, which reestablished Swedish supremacy in north and central Germany. Although his health was impaired, Torstenson assumed command of the Swedish forces in Germany after Banr's death (1641) and restored discipline to the mutinous and disorganized army. After gaining decisive victories at the second Battle of Breitenfeld and in Moravia, he was ordered by the chancellor, Count Axel Oxenstierna, to launch an attack on Denmark (1643) and conquered the Danish province of Jutland. Returning to the central European war theatre, Torstenson won a brilliant victory (1645) at Jankov by his ability to shift his guns quickly in the course of the battle. He retired from the command the following year for reasons of health and was made a count in 1647. In his last years he used his position in the Swedish state council (of which he had been made a member in 1641) to oppose the policies of Oxenstierna and gained the confidence of Queen Christina.