Battle of Latarnia

Battle of Latarnia/Weichselsmünde
	Part of the Polish-Swedish War (1626–1629) and the Prussian campaign (1626–1629)
	; Fortress at Latarnia
Date	15 July 1628
Location	Latarnia, near Gdańsk
Result	Swedish victory
Belligerents
Swedish Empire	Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ; Danzig
Commanders and leaders
Gustavus Adolphus ; Patrick Hume †	Unknown
Units involved
Alexander von Essen’s Finnish infantry regiment ; Swedish Army ; Eight cavalry companies	Commonwealth navy
Strength
Around 1,000 men ; 25 artillery	12–15 warships
Casualties and losses
12 killed	3 warships sunk ; Majority of the fleet damaged

The Battle of Latarnia^[a] or Weichselsmünde^[b] was a surprise attack by Swedish artillery on a Polish fleet stationed outside Danzig at Weichselsmünde in 1628.

Background

On May 15, 1628, Gustavus Adolphus returned to Pillau with reinforcements for the Swedish army, at this point around 12,000 men were in Gustavus' army. He goes to Danziger Haupt, where he awaits Axel Oxenstierna, one of his top advisors. Gustavus wants to invade Lithuania, but Axel advises him not to, stating: "där kommer hans majestät avsides i världen." which roughly translates to: "There his majesty would get secluded from the world."^[2]

Battle

On July 15, Gustavus decided on a surprise attack on Danzig, and Gustavus himself led a force of 25 leather cannons, which had excellent mobility.^[3] He brought it over a swamp that the Poles deemed impossible to cross.^[2]^[4]^[3] After this, a 6-hour-long battle between the Swedish Army and the Commonwealth fleet began. The Commonwealth fleet suffered heavy casualties, with most ships being heavily damaged and 3 of the Commonwealth's ships being destroyed, including the admiral ship.^[4]^[2]^[5] However, the rest of the fleet managed to retreat back into Danzig, and heavy rain would prevent the fleet from suffering further damage.^[4]^[2] The Swedes lost 12 soldiers, along with a company commander by the name of Patrick Hume.^[6]

Aftermath

Through this action, Gustavus had hoped to force Danzig into signing a treaty of neutrality, but this didn't happen.^[4]

Notes

^ Polish: Bitwa pod Latarnią
^ Swedish: Slaget vid Weichselsmünde

References

^ Generalstaben, Sweden. Armén (1936). "Sveriges krig, 1611-1632".
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Sundberg, Ulf (1998). Svenska krig 1521-1814 [Swedish wars 1521-1814] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Hjalmarson & Högberg. p. 216. ISBN 9789189080140.
^ ^a ^b Thaler, Peter (2020-02-28). Protestant Resistance in Counterreformation Austria. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-76742-1.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Essen, Michael (2020). The Lion from the North: The Swedish Army During the Thirty Years' War. Helion & Company. pp. 38–56. ISBN 9781804511060.
^ Ålund, Otto Wilhelm (1894). "77 (Gustaf II Adolf. Ett trehundraårsminne)". runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-03-26.
^ "Weichselmünde 1628 – Gustavus Adolphus Rex Sueciae". 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2024-03-26.

[2] Polish: Bitwa pod Latarnią

[3] Swedish: Slaget vid Weichselsmünde

[1] Generalstaben, Sweden. Armén (1936). "Sveriges krig, 1611-1632".

[:1-4] Sundberg, Ulf (1998). Svenska krig 1521-1814 [Swedish wars 1521-1814] (in Swedish) (2nd ed.). Stockholm: Hjalmarson & Högberg. p. 216. ISBN 9789189080140.

[:2-5] Thaler, Peter (2020-02-28). Protestant Resistance in Counterreformation Austria. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-000-76742-1.

[:0-6] Essen, Michael (2020). The Lion from the North: The Swedish Army During the Thirty Years' War. Helion & Company. pp. 38–56. ISBN 9781804511060.

[7] Ålund, Otto Wilhelm (1894). "77 (Gustaf II Adolf. Ett trehundraårsminne)". runeberg.org (in Swedish). Retrieved 2024-03-26.

[8] "Weichselmünde 1628 – Gustavus Adolphus Rex Sueciae". 2018-06-28. Retrieved 2024-03-26.

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