The Battle
Frederick's brother, Leopold of Austria, led a large army consisting of a number of knights to crush the rebellious confederates, planning a surprise attack from south via Lake Aegeri and the Morgarten pass and counting on a complete victory over the rebellious peasants. The chronicle of Johannes von Winterthur over the battle puts the Austrian forces at 20,000 though that number is certainly inflated. Another account states that there were 9,000 men in the Austrian army, while Delbrück holds that the Austrian army was only 2,000-3,000 but mostly knights.
The Confederates of Schwyz — supported by the Confederates of Uri, who feared for their autonomy, but not supported by the Confederates of Unterwalden — expected the army in the west near the village of Arth, where they had erected fortifications. The size of the Confederate army is also disputed, with some chronicles placing it at 1,500, while others state that it was 3,000-4,000. Even if the Confederate army outnumbered the Habsburgs, they were an untrained militia against a force of well equipped and trained knights. A historically plausible legend tells of the Knight of Huenenberg who shot an arrow into the camp of the Confederates with the attached message that the Austrians would advance through Morgarten on November 15 and that the Swiss rabble should return to their homes.
The Confederates prepared a road-block and an ambush at a point between Lake Aegeri and Morgarten pass where the small path led between the steep slope and a swamp. When the men attacked from above with rocks, logs and halberds, the knights had no room to defend themselves and suffered a crushing defeat, while the foot soldiers in the rear fled back to the city of Zug. About 1,500 Habsburg soldiers were killed in the attack. A chronicler described the Confederates, unfamiliar with the customs of battles between knights, as brutally butchering everything that moved and everyone unable to flee. He records that some of the infantry would rather drown themselves in the lake than face the brutality of the Swiss. This founded the reputation of the Confederates as barbaric, yet fierce and respectable fighters.
Read more about this topic: Battle Of Morgarten
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