Siege of Stettin (1659)
| Siege of Stettin | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Northern War of 1655–1660 | |||||||||
 1696 copper engraving by Erik Dahlbergh depicting the siege from a birds eye view | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Swedish Empire |
 Austria  Brandenburg  Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Paul Würtz Carl Gustaf Wrangel Gustav Adolf Horn von Schwerin |
Jean-Louis de Souches Friedrich zu Dohna | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
Stettin garrison City militia |
Three infantry regiments Two cavalry regiments | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
2,770–2,771 men[a] 36 guns 4 mortars | 6,500–7,000 men | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Heavy |
150–200 killed 100–130 captured Several guns destroyed | ||||||||
The siege of Stettin (Swedish: belägringen av Stettin; German: belagerung von Stettin) occurred from 19 September to 5 November during the Second Northern War. In the middle of September, an Austrian/Imperial army of 5,000 men under the command of Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches crossed the Oder and Reglitz rivers to besiege the city as part of an Allied offensive into Swedish Pomerania. In support of these, Brandenburgian reinforcements in the form of three infantry and two cavalry regiments, in total 1,500–2,000 men under the command of Friedrich zu Dohna. Additionally, a Polish force was also present during the siege.
The Allied forces quickly besieged the city, being forced to do so after their request for its capitulation was refused. On 7 October, they captured a redoubt on the nearby Oberwiek mountain, and by the middle of the month they were only some 30 or 80 paces from the Passauer bastion and the curtain going to the Holy Spirit bastion. On 20 October, after the Allies had received heavier siege artillery, they created 13 new batteries and began a new bombardment of the city after yet another request to surrender was rejected. The city burghers soon became discouraged, requesting reinforcements from Carl Gustaf Wrangel. These were granted, and on 1 November, the Swedes sortied with a force of 870–970 men. The Swedes caught the Austrians by surprise, killing and capturing hundreds along with disabling a few cannons. They also destroyed a majority of the Brandenburgian artillery.
On 5 November, Wrangel departed from the city, and the Allies soon did the same, abandoning their positions. The Austrians and Brandenburgians withdrew to Greifenhagen and Löcknitz respectively, and later withdrew completely from Pomerania, securing Sweden's dominion over it.
Background
[edit]In August, the anti-Swedish coalition began an offensive into Swedish Pomerania with 14,000[1] or 17,000[2] men. They quickly captured Greifenhagen, Wildenbruch, and Damm. However, Carl Gustaf Wrangel landed in Pomerania with 2,000 men in October. With these forces, he relieved Greifswald and Wolgast, dispersed any troops resisting them and captured Swinemünde. The elector of Brandenburg, Frederick William, became cautious of the Swedish threat and thus retreated to Demmin. Here, he joined forces with General Otto Christoph von Sparr and captured Demmin after a month-long siege on 7 September.[3][4]
Prelude
[edit]
In mid-September, General Jean-Louis Raduit de Souches crossed Reglitz and the Oder river before continuing towards Stettin with 5,000 men.[5] Stettin's fortifications were generally in good condition at the start of the siege. The star redoubt and older fortifications in the southwest were not to be manned. Additionally, in order to counter a besieger taking position at Oberwiek Mountain and to strengthen the southwestern front, Paul Würtz, the commander of the garrison, constructed a redoubt at the mountain's northeastern's tip.[4]
According to Swedish roll calls, the garrison consisted of 2,770[6] or 2,771[5] men. However, many of these were ill, and thus only some 2,600 were in condition to fight. Additionally, the Swedes had artillery consisting of 36 cannons and 4 mortars.[7][6] Stettin also had a city militia of 11 companies, but would generally only assist in guarding the ramparts. A fire brigade consisting of citizens had also been created due to instructions from Würtz. The city also had around a month's worth of ammunition in storage.[6]
Siege
[edit]
On 12 September, a certain von Schwerin reported that Imperial troops had begun marching from their camp at Damm to Würtz, and when he received confirmation that these troops where heading towards Stettin, he razed nearby villages to make a siege more difficult. On 16 September, Austrian cavalry arrived south of the city and shut off the roads heading into Stettin. On 19 September, Souches himself approached with the main force. He establiished a camp at the star redoubt and the old fortifications. The morning after, Brandenburgian reinforcements in the form of 1,500[8]–2,000[8][9] men under Friedrich zu Dohna arrived.[8] These reinforcements consisted of two cavalry and three infantry regiments.[9] Other sources claim there was also a Polish presence during the siege.[10]
Stettin was soon issued a capitulation request, which was quickly refused. The loyalty of the burgher's surprised de Souche, who believed they would see the Brandenburgians as liberators. Despite lacking in heavy artillery, he was forced to besiege the city. In the following month, the allies began creating the siege works despite the Swedish bombardment and continuous sorties. On 29 September, the allied batteries began opening fire, though not causing much damage. The Austrians captured the redoubt on Oberwiek Mountain on 7 October, and by mid-October their trenches were only some 30 to 80 paces from the Passauer bastion and the curtain going from it to the Holy Spirit bastion.[11]
On 18 October, during night time, the Swedes launched a powerful sortie through Fruporten against the foremost siege works, managing to destroy it after fierce fighting. The Allied success on the southwestern front worried the Swedes slightly, but they had not yet completely blocked the waterways into the city.[11]
On 20 October, the Allies created 13 batteries with newly arrived heavy siege artillery,[12][13] and after another failed request for capitulation, they began bombarding Stettin. The bombardment quickly damaged parts of the city, but any fires were quickly quelled due to the fire brigade. In late-October, the Austrians managed to take control over two points in the wall infront of Passauer bastion after fierce fighting. At the captured points at Passauer, de Souches established multiple breach batteries, thus making the situation critical on this front for the Swedes. The garrison had also suffered significant reduction in strength from combat and disease.[13]
Already in early-October, the burghers had become discouraged after the loss of the Oberwiek Mountain bastion and the bombardment. They believed the city needed reinforcements.[12][14] Würtz initially tried to calm them, but was eventually inclined to allow a delegation to be sent to Carl Gustaf Wrangel in Stralsund. On 25 October, the delegation returned with news that reinforcements would be sent to the city. Despite this, the burghers requested yet another delegation to be sent to Wrangel when the Austrians broke through the main fortifications on the southwestern front. Würtz once more tried to calm them since he was aware of the allies' heavy losses, but allowed another delegation to be sent.[14]
Reinforcements and major sortie
[edit]On 27 October, Wrangel was finally able to send reinforcements to the city. This was in the form of a squadron from Västgöra-Dal Regiment. Already on 31 October, 150[15]–160[9][16] men from the squadron had arrived. Würtz took advantage of the morale boost brought by the reinforcements, and began preparing for a major sortie, or as Würtz put it: "I judged it best to strike something significant against the enemy, the sooner the better.". The trenches infront of the Passauer bastion along with the batteries there would be the main target, planning it to take place on St. Martin's day. Würtz gathered a force of 600–700 infantry and 130 cavalry for the sortie, along with some artillery personnel, 40 volunteers, and 100 peasants.[17]
Soon before sunrise, he ordered two small units to position themselves on either side of the Passauer bastion. The main force (with an infantry unit commanded by von Schwerin) advanced under the command of Würtz and moved along a moat towards the ravelin between the King's and Passauer bastions. The attack was then launched at around 11:30AM. The Austrian troops were taken by surprise, either being killed or captured. The Swedes then advanced towards the Austrian camp, buying time for the canons and works to be destroyed. After the Austrians regrouped, the Swedes were soon forced to withdraw back into Stettin. The Swedes only managed to destroy a few cannons,[18][15] but also killed 150[15]–200[16] and captured 100[16]–130[15] men while only suffering minimal casualties.[15] During the sortie, the Swedes also destroyed the majority of the Brandenburgian artillery.[9]
Attacks on Curow and Nieder-Zahlen
[edit]For some time, Würtz was aware of large supplies stored at Nieder-Zahden and Curow, and planned to either capture or destroy them. He soon gained more information of these supplies from the prisoners taken during the sortie, and he decided to act on 2 November. However, von Schwerin, who had been delegated the mission, was not able to gather the necessary amount of boats and the attack was delayed until the following day. On the night of 3 November, von Schwerin and a couple hundred infantry went onboard circa thirty rowing boats towards Curow, while Captain Gustav Adolf Horn took the remaining troops towards Nieder-Zahlen. Once he arrived at Curow, von Schwerin attacked the redoubt built to protect the supplies, capturing its entire garrison. The supply depot had some 300 large flour barrles and multiple merchant goods. The Swedes proceeded to smash and destroy most of the barrles, but managed to load a few onto the boats before rowing away.[19]
Once Horn arrived at Nieder-Zahlen, he spotted 11 boats along the shore loaded with gunpowder, fuses, grenades, and basic goods. Additionally, there was a long column of horse-drawn wagons to bring these goods back to the Austrian camp. Here, there was yet another redoubt created to defend the goods, but Horn soon snuck onto land and attacked it, unarming its garrison. He then destroyed several hundred barrles of flour and loaded the remaining cargo on his boats before leaving. Both Schwerin's and Horn's force arrived back to Stettin on 3 November.[20]
Aftermath
[edit]Carl Gustaf Wrangel would depart from Stettin on 5 November, promising the burghers continued reinforcements along with recompensation for damages. In the evening, the Austrians and Brandenburgians abandoned their positions and raised the siege. The Austrians departed to Greifenhagen and the Brandenburgians to Löcknitz. Wrangel speculated that this was due to the besieging infantry having been "ruined" by heavy losses and thus unusable. Other speculations was that the Austrians had lost their morale due to the reinforcements or simply because of Wrangel's presence in Stettin.[16] Later, they withdrew completely out of Pomerania,[9] securing Sweden's dominion over the province.[16]
Notes
[edit]- ^ From the official roll calls, though many were sick thus reducing the number to 2,600
References
[edit]- ^ Englund 2000, p. 711.
- ^ von Essen 2023, p. 379.
- ^ von Essen 2023, pp. 379–380.
- ^ a b Barkman, Lundkvist & Tersmeden 1966, p. 409.
- ^ a b von Essen 2023, p. 380.
- ^ a b c Barkman, Lundkvist & Tersmeden 1966, p. 412.
- ^ von Essen 2023, pp. 380–381.
- ^ a b c Barkman, Lundkvist & Tersmeden 1966, pp. 413–414.
- ^ a b c d e von Essen 2023, p. 381.
- ^ Hildebrand, Bror Emil (1860). "37 (Minnespenningar öfver enskilda svenska män och qvinnor)". runeberg.org (in Swedish). Stockholm: Kongl. Witterhets Historie och Antiqvitets Akademiens Förlag. Retrieved 2025-04-09.
- ^ a b Barkman, Lundkvist & Tersmeden 1966, p. 414.
- ^ a b Englund 2000, p. 714.
- ^ a b Barkman, Lundkvist & Tersmeden 1966, p. 415.
- ^ a b Barkman, Lundkvist & Tersmeden 1966, p. 416.
- ^ a b c d e Barkman, Lundkvist & Tersmeden 1966, p. 417.
- ^ a b c d e Englund 2000, p. 715.
- ^ Barkman, Lundkvist & Tersmeden 1966, pp. 416–417.
- ^ Isacson 2015, p. 94.
- ^ Barkman, Lundkvist & Tersmeden 1966, p. 418.
- ^ Barkman, Lundkvist & Tersmeden 1966, pp. 418–419.
Works cited
[edit]- von Essen, Michael Fredholm (2023). The Danish Wars, 1657-1660. Charles X's Wars. Vol. 3. Helion & Company. ISBN 9781915113603.
- Englund, Peter (2000). Den oövervinnerlige: om den svenska stormaktstiden och en man i dess mitt [The invincible: about the era of Swedish great power and a man in its midst] (in Swedish). Atlantis. ISBN 9789174869996.
- Barkman, Bertil C:son; Lundkvist, Sven; Tersmeden, Lars (1966). Kungl. Svea livgardes historia: 1632(1611)-1660 [History of the Royal Swedish Life Guards: 1632(1611)-1660] (in Swedish). Vol. 3:2. Stockholm: Stift. för Svea livgardes historia.
- Isacson, Claes-Göran [in Swedish] (2015). Karl X Gustavs krig: Fälttågen i Polen, Tyskland, Baltikum, Danmark och Sverige 1655-1660 [Wars of Charles X Gustav: The campaigns in Poland, Germany, the Baltics, Denmark and Sweden 1655-1660] (in Swedish). Historiska Media. ISBN 9789175450117.
- Hildebrand, Bengt (1956). "Johan (Johann) Faltzburg, von". sok.riksarkivet.se. National Archives of Sweden.