| Livonian campaign | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Polish–Swedish War (1617–1618) | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Swedish Empire  Duchy of Courland |
 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Nils Stiernsköld Georg Wolmar von Fahrensbach |
Krzysztof Radziwiłł Jan Siciński Georg Wolmar von Fahrensbach[a] | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
Jacob De la Gardie's Regiment |
Dünamünde garrison Riga garrison Pernau garrison | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 4,000 men | Hundreds of troops | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Atleast 60 killed | Unknown | ||||||||
The Livonian campaign (Swedish: Lilvländska fälttåget) was the main theatre of the Polish–Swedish War (1617–1618). While the main Swedish objective to capture Riga failed, the Swedes managed to occupy large parts of Livonia during the campaign.
Background
editIn 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
editSince 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
editSwedish forces
editFor 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
editThe 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
edit1617
edit
Three days after negotiations for a continued truce between Sweden and the Commonwealth had collapsed, the first Swedish squadron arrived off the Livonian coast on 19 June. Seeing this, Farensbach quickly surrendered Dünamünde to the Swedes. A larger fleet, under the command of Stiernsköld, reached Windau on 23 July and Dünamünde on 1 August. Thanks to the surprise attack and the lack of large Commonwealth forces in Livonia, the Swedish–Courland troops managed to capture Dünamünde, Neuemühle, Segewold, Kremon, Treiden, Riga's outer blockhouse fort, Pernau, and Salis. Only Riga, which was too strongly defended, remained in Commonwealth hands, as the Swedish–Courland forces did not dare to attack it.[3][7] The combined Swedish–Courland army, along with garrison units, consisted of around 4,000 men, which was insufficient to occupy Livonia.[3]
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Polish–Lithuanian Counteroffensive
editThe Commonwealth went on a counteroffensive in the fall of the same year. The Commonwealth had been waging a costly war with Russia for several years prior, in addition, it also had to repel attacks in the southwest from the Ottomans and Crimean Tatars.[3]
Since the Commonwealth prioritized the conflicts with Russia and the Ottomans and Tatars more than the Swedish one, they could not direct sizable forces to Livonia. Hetman Krzysztof Radziwiłł gathered up several hundreds of men and along with reinforcements from Riga, he reaptured Neuemühle, Segewold, Kremon, Treiden, and the blockhouse force outside of Riga. Next was Dünamünde, which was not captured by force, however, Fahrensbach decided to betray the Swedes and join the side of the Commonwealth, which allowed Radziwiłł to redirect all of his forces northwards.[3]
The Lithuanian troops arrived in Northern Livonia in late October, the Swedes greatly exaggerated their strength, putting it at 2–3,000 men in total. The-then governor of newly conquered Pernau, Nils Stiernsköld, claimed that there was about 3,000 soldiers in Lemsal, stationed halfway between Riga and Pernau, which according to him consisted of: four hussar banners, three reiter units, three cossack cavalry detachments, three units of dragoons, an unknown amount of infantry units, and artillery. As a result of these events, the Lithuanian army made camp in Wenden, Wolmar, Karkus, and Burtneck, while Radziwiłł himself went to Birze. Before he left the front, Radziwiłł concluded a truce of four weeks with the Swedes, which began on 16 December or 26 December (N.S). As a result of the truce, Christmas and new year passed quietly and without fighting on the front and Radziwiłł was able to go to the Sejm.[8]
1618
editExpedition to Estonia
editThree 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]
Aftermath
editNotes
edit- ^ Betrayed the Swedes after the Polish–Lithuanian counteroffensive
References
edit- ^ Balcerek 2024, p. 3.
- ^ a b Broomé, Bertil. "Wolmar Farensbach". sok.riksarkivet.se. National Archives of Sweden. Retrieved 2024-07-14.
- ^ a b c d e 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.
- ^ a b Essen 2020, p. 29.
- ^ Balcerek 2024, p. 5.
- ^ 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.