Battle of Weichselsmünde
| Battle of Weichselsmünde | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Polish-Swedish War (1626–1629) and Prussian campaign (1626–1629) | |||||||
 Fortress at Weichselsmünde | |||||||
| |||||||
| 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[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 12 killed |
3 warships sunk 7 ships heavily damaged | ||||||
The Battle of Weichselsmünde was a surprise attack by Swedish artillery on a Polish fleet stationed outside Danzig at Weichselsmünde in 1628.
Background[edit]
In May 15, 1628, Gustavus Adolphus returned to Pillau with reinforcements for the Swedish army, at this point around 12,000 men are in Gustavus' army. He goes to Danziger Haupt, where he awaits Axel Oxenstierna, one of his top advisors. Gustavus wanted 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[edit]
On July 15, Gustavus decided on a surprise attack on Danzig, and Gustavus himself leads 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 Commonwealths fleet began. The Commonwealth fleet suffered heavy casualties, with most ships being heavily damaged and 3 of the Commonwealths 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[edit]
Through this action, Gustavus had hoped to force Danzig into signing a treaty of neutrality, but this didn't happen.[4]
References[edit]
- ^ 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.