and the Imperial Army. Aldringen and his men arrived first, thus allowing them to form their "death trap" at the Dessau Bridge, deploying the heavy artillery which they possessed. Due to Wallenstein's inexperience, Mansfeld was overly confident and underestimated his enemy as his army approached. Mansfeld was not aware that they were soon to face the most powerful and deceivingly large army along the river bank of the Elbe. On 25 April, the battle began and the troops of Aldringen held off Mansfeld and his troops as they attempted to push across the bridge and river. The Imperial army was soon in heavy force by the arrival of Wallenstein and troops. Mansfeld and his troops were completely overpowered. As soon as nearly half of Mansfeld's army was destroyed, the Danes retreated to Silesia. Mansfeld was able to rebuild his army with the help from John Ernest I, Duke of Saxe-Weimar and an army of 7,000, which gave him a similar sized army which he had lost half of at Dessau. His rally did not last long as he died outside a village in Sarajevo soon before his ally, Johann Ernst. The Danish Protestant army fell apart and retreated into Upper Silesia. Christian IV's army was defeated by the Count of Tilly in the Battle of Lutter, which left Tilly with the lands of Holstein, Jutland, and Schleswig. References Dessau Bridge 1626 in Europe Dessau Bridge History of Anhalt 1626 in the Holy Roman Empire Albrecht von Wallenstein Dessau Bridge