The battle of Aa (Swedish: Slaget vid Aa; Russian: Битва при Аа) occurred on 2 August 1656 during the early stages of the Russo-Swedish War of 1656–1658. An outnumbered Swedish force of 350–380 cavalry under the command of Generalmajor Streiff defeated a much larger Russian army of 3,500 men, killing their leader in the process.
| Battle of Aa | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658) | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Swedish Empire |
 Tsardom of Russia | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Streiff Aderkas Mengden (WIA) Stackelberg (WIA) |
Unknown † | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 350–380 cavalry | 3,500 men | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
6 killed 3 wounded |
Heavy 1 captured | ||||||||
Background
editDuring the early stages of the Russo-Swedish War of 1656–1658, Magnus De la Gardie ordered Generalmajor Streiff to focus his attention on Embach, Dorpat, and Aa, along with making sure that the Swedish retreat towards Riga was not cut off. Doing the first and last tasks were difficult, and De la Gardie did not send even a small force to northern Livonia.[2]
Streiff did not realize the necessity of gathering his men to march north and instead chose to go towards the Livonian mountain ranges in the middle of the province, in order to avoid being cut off from Marienburg and smaller fortress in the province.[2]
During Streiff's withdrawal, a division of the Russian army followed Streiff and pushed him further towards the west. From Mentzen, Streiff sent a reconnaissance force of 150 cavalry and 50 dragoons under Major Mengden and Colonel Leonard von Vietinghoff. The force encountered 300 Russian dragoons and cossacks, who were forced to retreat, suffering 40 killed and 2 captured.[2][3]
Battle
editStreiff continued marching towards Wolmar, but he was attacked at Aa on 2 August, 5–6 miles from Wolmar, by a Russian force of 3,500 men, who attacked the Swedish supply train and took a large part of it. In comparison, Streiff only had 350[2]–380[3] cavalry. Colonel Aderkas, commanding the Swedish vanguard, quickly forced the Russians back into a nearby pass.[2]
However, the Russians continued their attack four times, being forced back each time. Afterwards, Streiff finally arranged his men in battle formation on the open field and offered battle to the Russians, who accepted, forming a line opposite the Swedes. Using the narrow space to his advantage, Streiff immediately attacked the Russians, and after the first volley, the Russians were thrown into disorder and in the subsequent withdrawal through the pass, they suffered heavy casualties.[2] The Swedes lost some 6 killed in the fighting according to a report by Magnus De la Gardie.[3]
Aftermath
editAmong the Russian dead was their commander, who held the rank of Colonel along with being an old state councillor. Along with this, Nine Russian standards were captured, and one Lieutenant was taken captive by the Swedes in order to extract information from him. The Swedes also suffered some wounded, including Major Mengden, who was shot through his body, a quartermaster, and a certain Stackelberg, who was wounded in the head.[4]
References
edit- ^ Carlon 1903, pp. 52.
- ^ a b c d e f Carlon 1903, p. 51.
- ^ a b c Fagerlund 1979, p. 86.
- ^ Carlon 1903, pp. 51–52.
Works cited
edit- Fagerlund, Rainer (1979). Stade, Arne (ed.). Kriget på östfronten [The War on the Eastern Front] (in Swedish). Militärhistoriska förlaget. ISBN 9789185266098.
- Carlon, Manfred (1903). Ryska kriget 1656-1658 [The Russian War 1656–1658] (in Swedish). Centraltryckeriet.