Dictionary of Battles / From the Earliest Date to the Present Time

by Thomas Benfield Harbottle

Sempach (War of Sempach).

Fought July 9, 1386, between 6,000 Austrians, under Duke Leopold, and 1,500 Swiss Confederates. The Swiss gained a complete victory, the Austrians losing 1,500 killed and wounded, while only 120 Swiss fell. The battle is celebrated for the heroic action of Arnold von Winkelried, who broke the line of the Austrian spearmen at the cost of his life, and enabled his followers to penetrate their phalanx.