Livonian campaign (1617–1618)
| Livonian campaign | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Polish–Swedish War (1617–1618) | |||||||||
 Map of Livonia from the 17th century | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Swedish Empire  Duchy of Courland |
 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Nils Stiernsköld Georg Wolmar von Fahrensbach |
Krzysztof Radziwiłł Jan Siciński | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 4,000 men | Hundreds of troops | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Atleast 60 killed | Unknown | ||||||||
Livonian campaign was the main theatre of the Polish–Swedish War (1617–1618). While the main Swedish objective to capture Riga failed.The Swedes only managed to capture Pärnu, which they had for the next two years.
Background
[edit]In 1616, Wolmar Fahrensbach, the governor over Courland, began secret talks with the Swedish Government. Due to these talks, he managed to ally Courland with Sweden against the Commonwealth.[1]
The talks were mostly caused by Fahrensbach not receiving the rank of commander over the fortress of Dünamünde, which caused him to take offense at the Commonwealth. He had also initated a conflict with the city of Riga.[2] The situation in Sweden was different. Sweden had lost control of Älvsborg, which was a strategic fortress situated on the Kattegat during the Kalmar War. Sweden was forced to pay one million riksdaler to get the fortress back, which was a lot of money. The Swedish Chancellor, Axel Oxenstierna, convinced the king to take advantage of the situation in Courland.[3]
Prelude
[edit]Since the Swedish state had little money, and foreign subsidies being unavailable at the time, Gustavus Adolphus chose to invade Livonia in order to save money for the upkeep of his army.[4]
Swedish plan and preparations
[edit]Swedish forces
[edit]For the invasion, Gustavus chose Nils Stiernsköld as the commander. Gustavus' reforms in the Swedish army had barely begun, and thus only enlisted troops would be utilized for the invasion. Few men were available in Sweden, so Stiernsköld accordingly sailed to the Dutch Republic, where he enlisted a regiment of 1,200 men divided into six companies of infantry. The Dutch Regiment, along with Jacob De la Gardie's Regiment (Fältherrens regemente) and three independent companies, which were already in Sweden, would form the expeditionary force. In total, it consisted of around 3,700 men at most, all infantry.[5]
Swedish plan
[edit]The Swedish invasion plan was modest and depended on treachery. During the aformentioned talks, Fahrensbach promised to surrender Dünamünde to the Swedes.[2][6] Dünamünde was close to the key city in Livonia, Riga, which had some 30,000 inhabitants, around double the population of Stockholm. Riga was also the second most important port in the Commonwealth and thus played a key role in the trade with Muscovy, with Sweden hoped it could control.[7]
Campaign
[edit]Swedish attack on the Livonians in 1617
On June 19, 1617, the Swedish squadron stood at the Dynegont roadstead, which was enough for Colonel Wolmar Farensbach, commanding its small crew, to capitulate two days later. On June 23, another Swedish landing captured Ventspils, while the fleet blocked the port of Riga. In August, the Swedes attacked Pamawa, which capitulated after three days of fighting. Four days later (August 18), Salis fell into Swedish hands. Thus, within two months, the Swedes captured a long strip of the coast in Livonia, except for Riga.[8]
Polish counterattack in 1617
Only then did the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth begin preparations to fight on the new front. Wolmar Farensbach returned, and in exchange for a promise to forgive the betrayal, he returned to the Polish side. Field Hetman Krzysztof II Radziwiłł, son of Janusz, took command of the small Lithuanian army. The new Lithuanian commander showed great organizational talent, as well as speed and decisiveness in action. He introduced some innovations in the army, using Thanks to his energy, the Lithuanians quite quickly regained all the lost fortresses except Pärnu. After this success, Radziwiłł entered Courland with his army, previously subordinate to Prince Wilhelm Kettler, who by betraying Poland provoked the entire action of Gustav Adolf. The Lithuanian Hetman wanted to annex the duchy he had taken over to the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, Sigismund III did not agree to this and handed Courland over to Frederick Kettler, faithful to Poland.In December 1617, Radziwiłł, angry with the king, returned to Lithuania, and Jan Siciński took command of the army. [8]
1618
[edit]Expedition to Estonia
[edit]Three days after the end of a previously signed ceasefire, Jan Siciński on 25 January, led his army from Fellin northwards towards the Swedish defenses, which were well-prepared. He first marched towards Weissenstein with three hussar banners and three dragoon units, which had its origins in 1265, when it was founded by the Teutonic Order. However, it had been reinforced with bastions in the sixteenth century and was considered the most modern fortress in the region. Due to the muddy ground and recent reinforcements to the garrison, the fortress became impregnable. Siciński and Russow did not manage to reach the castle, instead stopping at Allenküll, which was around 10 kilometers away from Weissentstein, where the troops plundered and robbed.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ Balcerek 2024, p. 3.
- ^ a b Broomé, Bertil. "Wolmar Farensbach". sok.riksarkivet.se. National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ Balcerek 2024, p. 4.
- ^ Essen 2020, p. 27.
- ^ Essen 2020, p. 27–29.
- ^ Roberts, Michael (2014-07-10). Gustavas Adolphus. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-317-89575-6.
- ^ Essen 2020, p. 29.
- ^ a b Podhorodecki, Leszek (1985). Rapier i koncerz: z dziejów wojen polsko-szwedzkich. Warszawa: "Książka i Wiedza". p. 122. ISBN 978-83-05-11452-3.
- ^ Balcerek 2024, p. 9.
Works cited
[edit]- Essen, Michael Fredholm von (2020). The Lion from the North: The Swedish Army During the Thirty Years' War. Helion & Company. pp. 27–32. ISBN 9781804511060.
- Sundberg, Ulf (2010). Sveriges krig 1448-1630 [Sweden's wars 1448-1630] (in Swedish). Svenskt militärhistoriskt bibliotek. pp. 304–305. ISBN 9789185789627.
- Sundberg, Ulf (1998). Svenska krig 1521-1814 [Swedish wars 1521-1814] (in Swedish). Stockholm: Hjalmarson & Högberg. pp. 108–109. ISBN 9789189080140.
- Balcerek, Mariusz (2024). "Before Gustavus Adolphus captured Riga: Jan Siciński's expedition to Estonia in 1618. A political and military case study". www.tandfonline.com. Routledge. pp. 3–17.
Notes
[edit]- ^ the Swedes turned out to be still too weak to be able to take over the whole of Inflanty.