The Battle of Praga took place on October 25, 1705, near the town of
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
,
Poland
Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...
during the fifth year of the
Great Northern War
The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...
. The
Swedish army
The Swedish Army ( sv, svenska armén) is the land force of the Swedish Armed Forces.
History
Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1521, when the men of Dalarna chose 16 young able men as body guards for the insurgent nobleman Gustav Vas ...
of more than 270 men assisted by approximately 140 soldiers from the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...
under the command of
Valentin Dahldorf defeated a combined Polish–Saxon–Russian force of about 5,000 men under
Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki
Prince Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki ( lt, Mykolas Servacijus Višnioveckis; 13 May 1680 – 18 September 1744) was a Lithuanian nobleman, magnate, politician, diplomat, general, a successful military commander and the last male representative of ...
and
Aleksandr Menshikov
Prince Aleksander Danilovich Menshikov (russian: Алекса́ндр Дани́лович Ме́ншиков, Romanization of Russian, tr. ; – ) was a Russian statesman, whose official titles included Generalissimo, Prince of the Russian Em ...
.
Prelude
After the fruitless attack by
Otto Arnold von Paykull Otto Arnold von Paykull (c.1662 – 4 February 1707) was a Livonian Officer (armed forces), officer in the service of the Electorate of Saxony.
Early life
Otto Arnold von Paykull was born around 1662 in Swedish Livonia. He was a page at the Royal ...
to interrupt the coronation of king
Stanisław Leszczyński
Stanisław I Leszczyński (; lt, Stanislovas Leščinskis; french: Stanislas Leszczynski; 20 October 1677 – 23 February 1766), also Anglicized and Latinized as Stanislaus I, was twice King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, and at v ...
in the
battle of Warsaw, Polish
commander
Commander (commonly abbreviated as Cmdr.) is a common naval officer rank. Commander is also used as a rank or title in other formal organizations, including several police forces. In several countries this naval rank is termed frigate captain.
...
Wiśniowiecki and Russian commander Menshikov attempted to surprise the Swedish patrol guarding the bridge going over the
Vistula
The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland.
The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...
from
Praga
Praga is a district of Warsaw, Poland. It is on the east bank of the river Vistula. First mentioned in 1432, until 1791 it formed a separate town with its own city charter.
History
The historical Praga was a small settlement located at ...
to Warsaw in order to capture and destroy the bridge which would, otherwise, greatly assist to the Swedish
operation
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...
s in the area. Only the
Uppland
Uppland () is a historical province or ' on the eastern coast of Sweden, just north of Stockholm, the capital. It borders Södermanland, Västmanland and Gästrikland. It is also bounded by lake Mälaren and the Baltic Sea. On the small uninhab ...
and
Dalarna
Dalarna () is a '' landskap'' (historical province) in central Sweden. English exonyms for it are Dalecarlia () and the Dales.
Dalarna adjoins Härjedalen, Hälsingland, Gästrikland, Västmanland and Värmland
Värmland () also known a ...
regiments were stationed near Praga to protect the Polish Coronation in Warsaw, while the main army under
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of t ...
was at
Blonie.
Battle
A part of the
coalition
A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces.
Formation
According to ''A Gui ...
army managed to completely surprise and overwhelm a Polish force of about 140 men—friendly to Leszczyński and the Swedes—inside Praga while the rest attacked the 40 Swedish
infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine i ...
men patrolling the
bridgehead
In military strategy, a bridgehead (or bridge-head) is the strategically important area of ground around the end of a bridge or other place of possible crossing over a body of water which at time of conflict is sought to be defended or taken over ...
. These were, in turn, also surprised and the coalition forces managed to push out to the middle of the bridge before getting halted by twelve men of the patrol, guarding there. They could hold their defense until further Swedish reinforcements, alerted by the musket fire, from the Uppland
regiment
A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation.
In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...
of 20 men under
Dahldorf arrived, which forced the coalition forces back. However, at the same bridgehead the coalition forces were reinforced by the rest of their part having fought the Polish guard in Praga. They soon positioned all around the bridgehead and fired massive volleys and
cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
fire—six cannons which they had earlier captured from the Poles—against the vulnerable Swedes who retreated back over the bridge after having lost many men dead and wounded. The bridge was then open for their opponents to capture and destroy. Soon, however, further Swedish reinforcements of 210 men from the Uppland and Dalarna regiments (100 from Dal) grouped and counterattacked—with a cold steel charge—the superior coalition forces at the bridge, who were thrown back once again towards Praga and then forced to
retreat after the rest of the Dalarna Regiment under
Gustaf Henrik Siegroth
Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to:
*Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin
Art, entertainment, and media
*Primeval (film), ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film
*Gustav (film series), ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hu ...
arrived, who chased them out, inflicting great casualties.
Aftermath
In this action the Swedes and their Polish allies lost about 200 men.
The
Dalarna Regiment
The Dalarna Regiment ( sv, Dalregementet), designation I 13, is a Swedish Army infantry unit that traced its origins back to the 16th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the province of Dalarna
Dalarna () is a '' ...
, having an unofficial status as elite in the Swedish army, suffered 17 killed and 53 wounded alone.
[Pihlström, Anton & Westerlund, Carl (1906). pp. 147, 155.] The combined Polish–Saxon–Russian forces lost about 250 men.
About 270 Swedes and 140 Poles participated in the fighting before the arrival of the full Dala regiment in the ending, which could estimate the full force to somewhere between 1,000 and 1,500 men.
Additional Swedish units appeared soon, but they were too late to participate in the fighting.
References
Literature
*Grimberg & Uddgren, Carl & Hugo (1914). Svenska krigarbragder (in Swedish). Norstedt Förlag. Stockholm.
*Wimmer, Jan (1956). Wojsko Rzeczypospolitej w dobie wojny północnej: 1700–1717.
*Pihlström, Anton & Westerlund, Carl (1906). 1Kungl. dalregementets historia 3, Kungl. dalregementet under karolinska tiden 1682–1721.
*Defoe, Daniel (1720). The History of the Wars, of His Late Majesty Charles XII, King of Sweden.
{{coord missing, Poland
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1705 in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
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