. He had learned the art of war under the cruel and pitiless
Spanish general Alva in the Netherlands, of which country he was a
native, and had afterwards fought against them in Bavaria, in Bohemia,
and the Palatinate, and had served in Hungary against the Turks.

Until he met Gustavus at Breitenfeld he had never known a reverse. A
bigoted Catholic, he had never hesitated at any act of cruelty which
might benefit the cause for which he fought, or strike terror into the
Protestants; and the singularity of his costume and the ugliness of his
appearance heightened the terror which his deeds inspired among them.
When not in armour his costume was modelled upon that of the Duke of
Alva, consisting of a slashed doublet of green silk, with an enormously
wide-brimmed and high conical hat adorned with a large red ostrich
feather. In his girdle he carried a long dagger and a Toledo sword of
immense length. His personal bravery was famous, and never did he
fight more gallantly than when he led his veterans to the attack of the
Swedes.

For twenty minutes a furious hand to hand conflict raged, and the result
was still uncertain when a shot from a falconet struck Tilly on the
knee and shattered the bone, and the old general fell insensible to
the ground. He was carried off the field, and his troops, now without a
leader, gave way, the movement being hastened by two bodies of Swedish
horse, who, eager for action, swam their horses across the river and
threatened to cut off the retreat. By this time evening was at hand. The
Swedes had secured the passage of the river, but the Imperialist army
still held its intrenched position in the wood behind the Lech. Gustavus
brought the rest of his army across and halted for the night.

The Imperialist position was tremendously strong, being unassailable on
the right and covered in the front by the marshy ground. It could
still have been defended with every prospect of success by a determined
general, but the two best Imperialist commanders were hors de combat,
and Maximilian of Bavaria, the nominal generalissimo, had no military
experience. The army, too, was disheartened by the first success of the
Swedes and by the loss of the general whom they regarded as well nigh
invincible.

Tilly had now recovered his senses, but was suffering intense agony from
his wound, and on being consulted by Maximilian he advised him to fall
back, as the destruction of his army would leave the whole country ope