
Lennart Torstensson (17 August 1603-7 April 1651) was a Swedish Field Marshal who served in the Polish-Swedish Wars, the Thirty Years' War, and the Torstenson War.
Biography[]
Lennart Torstensson was born in Forstena, Vastergotland, Sweden in 1603. He became a page to King Gustavus Adolphus at the age of fifteen and served in the Livonian War, as well as the Prussian campaigns of 1628-1629. In 1629, he was the assigned to command the Swedish artillery; he played a major role in the Swedish victories at the First Battle of Breitenfeld and the Battle of Rain before being captured at the Battle of the Alte Veste. He was imprisoned for a year before his release, and he commanded the Swedish left at the Battle of Wittstock and distinguished himself in Pomerania and Bohemia. In 1641, he succeeded Johan Baner as Generalissimo of the Swedish forces and Governor General of Pomerania, while also being promoted to Field Marshal. He crushed the Imperial army at the Second Battle of Breitenfeld in 1642, as well as at the Battle of Juterbog in 1644 and the Battle of Jankau in 1645; he also defeated the Danes in the Torstenson War. He was forced to resign his command after falling ill with gout, and he became a count in 1647, governed Sweden's western provinces from 1648 to 1651, and died in 1651.