The Battle of Salis took place during the

Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611) The Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611) was a continuation of struggle between History of Sweden (1523–1611), Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over control of Duchy of Livonia, Livonia and Estonia, as well as the dispute over th ...

during the night of March 23–24, 1609. After the capture of

Pärnu Pärnu () is the fourth largest city in Estonia. Situated in southwest Estonia, Pärnu is located south of the Estonian capital, Tallinn, and west of Estonia's second largest city, Tartu. The city sits off the coast of Pärnu Bay, an inlet o ...

Jan Karol Chodkiewicz Jan Karol Chodkiewicz ( lt, Jonas Karolis Chodkevičius, be, Ян Караль Хадкевіч ; 1561 – 24 September 1621) was a military commander of the Grand Ducal Lithuanian Army, who was from 1601 Field Hetman of Lithuania, and from ...

, commander of the

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

n army, moved towards

Riga Riga (; lv, Rīga , liv, Rīgõ) is the capital and largest city of Latvia and is home to 605,802 inhabitants which is a third of Latvia's population. The city lies on the Gulf of Riga at the mouth of the Daugava river where it meets the Ba ...

, which was besieged by the Swedes under the command of . Along the way, Chodkiewicz saw a chance to destroy the Swedish squadron based in the

Salis The Salaca () is a river in northern Latvia. It flows from Lake Burtnieks in Vidzeme, 90 km, to the Gulf of Riga. The river flows through three towns, Mazsalaca, Staicele and Salacgrīva. The riverbanks feature Devonian red sandstone cli ...

port which blocked

. The dominant presence of the Swedes in the Baltic region gave the Lithuanian army the upper hand, as von Mansfeld and the Swedish army did not expect the possibility of an attack in such a heavily Swedish-occupied region. Chodkiewicz's army consisted of two ships obtained in Pärnu, filled with Samogitian infantry and armed with cannons brought in from the

Pärnu Castle Pärnu Castle () was a castle in Pärnu, in nowadays Estonia. Also currently called "The Red Tower," it was built in the 15th century originally as a prison. It is the last defensive tower remaining of the Hanseactic town "New-Pärnu." In the 17 ...

. The squadron was additionally reinforced by a few hastily armed merchant ships (probably five) purchased from the English and Dutch, and a couple of boats and

bateau A bateau or batteau is a shallow-draft, flat-bottomed boat which was used extensively across North America, especially in the colonial period and in the fur trade. It was traditionally pointed at both ends but came in a wide variety of sizes. Th ...

x. To assist in managing vessel traffic, Chodkiewicz hired a few sailors, mainly

Livonians The Livonians, or Livs ( Livonian: ''līvlizt''; Estonian: ''liivlased''; Latvian: ''līvi'', ''lībieši''), are a Balto-Finnic people indigenous to northern and northwestern Latvia. Livonians historically spoke Livonian, a Uralic language c ...

. On the night of March 23, Chodkiewicz's army (consisting of Samogitians, Livonians, and probably some bribed members of the Swedish infantry) surprise-attacked the

Swedish Fleet The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels of ...

. Using the favourable winds blowing inland, Chodkiewicz sent several (probably four)

fire ship A fire ship or fireship, used in the days of wooden rowed or sailing ships, was a ship filled with combustibles, or gunpowder deliberately set on fire and steered (or, when possible, allowed to drift) into an enemy fleet, in order to destroy sh ...

s (their first use in the Baltic in modern times) into the port, setting several ships on fire and pushing them in the direction of the Swedish warships anchored in formation. Unprepared for the attack, the Swedish attempted to save their ships by cutting their anchor ropes and to flee. Despite this, two Swedish ships were burned and soon sank. Retreating from the port, the Swedish unit came under fire by the Samogitian ships waiting at the

roadstead A roadstead (or ''roads'' – the earlier form) is a body of water sheltered from rip currents, spring tides, or ocean swell where ships can lie reasonably safely at anchor without dragging or snatching.United States Army technical manual, TM 5- ...

. The Swedish squadron did not attempt to engage in an artillery fight and immediately escaped to the waters of the

Gulf of Riga The Gulf of Riga, Bay of Riga, or Gulf of Livonia ( lv, Rīgas līcis, et, Liivi laht) is a bay of the Baltic Sea between Latvia and Estonia. The island of Saaremaa (Estonia) partially separates it from the rest of the Baltic Sea. The main con ...

. Samogitian units, slower than the Swedish ships, did not attempt to pursue them. The entire port of Salis, together with stocks of weapons, ammunition and food, fell into the hands of the Samogitians. The victory of Pärnu and Salis had a direct impact on the further course of the war and contributed to halting the Swedish assault on Riga.

References

* Jerzy Pertek, "Polacy na morzach i oceanach. Tom I", Poznań 1981, . * Leszek Podhorodecki, "Rapier i koncerz", Warszawa 1985, {{ISBN, 83-05-11452-X, str, 110-111. * Edmund Kosiarz, "Wojny na Bałtyku X-XIX w.", Wydawnictwo Morskie, Gdańsk 1978. * Adam Naruszewicz, "Historya J.K. Chodkiewicza, Wojewody Wileńskiego, Hetmana Wielkiego W. Ks. Lit.", Breitkopf & Härtel, Lipsk 1837. Salis 1609

1609 in Europe 17th century in Latvia Salis, Battle of