The Battle of Warksow was a
battle
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...
that took place on the
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and ...
island of
Rügen
Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania.
The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...
on 8 January (O.S.)/18 January(N.S.)1678 during the
Swedish-Brandenburg War. In the battle Swedish forces defeated an allied army composed mainly of Danes supported by a smaller contingent of Brandenburg and Hesse-Cassel troops.
The Swedes were able to muster some 3,500 men for the battle,
including 2,000 cavalry.
[Historiska upplysningar om Svenska och Norska arméernas regementer och kårer, Harold Oscar Prytz. p.174](_blank)
/ref> The allied Danish and Brandenburg troops amounted to about 4,670 men, including a few hundred Brandenburg and Hesse-Cassel soldiers and 1,770 cavalry, as well as 16 cannon.
170 Swedes lost their lives in the battle and subsequent pursuit. The Danish/Brandenburg side lost 400 killed and more than 3,600 captured. After the battle and in the days that followed, the entire allied force were captured or forced to follow the Swedish flag.
Background
In 1675, the Kingdom of Sweden, which, at that time, was recognized as a major military power, declared war against Brandenburg-Prussia, following pressure by the French king, Louis XIV
, house = Bourbon
, father = Louis XIII
, mother = Anne of Austria
, birth_date =
, birth_place = Château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Saint-Germain-en-Laye, France
, death_date =
, death_place = Palace of Ver ...
, because Brandenburg-Prussia was at war with France (in the Dutch War). After a Swedish army had been defeated in the Battle of Fehrbellin in 1675 in Brandenburg, Sweden went onto the defensive in the next phase of the war. Suddenly its possessions in northern Germany (Swedish Pomerania
Swedish Pomerania ( sv, Svenska Pommern; german: Schwedisch-Pommern) was a dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held ...
) were threatened by the alliance of Denmark and Brandenburg-Prussia.
In 1677 the Swedish fleet was almost completely destroyed in the Battle of Køge Bay by the Danish fleet under command of Admiral Niels Juel
Niels Juel (8 May 1629 – 8 April 1697) was a Danish admiral and a naval hero. He served as supreme command of the Dano-Norwegian Navy during the late 17th century and oversaw development of the Danish-Norwegian Navy.
Background
Niels Juel ...
. For Swedish Rügen this defeat meant that the island possession was now cut off from all assistance from Sweden, as the Danes exercised naval supremacy of the Baltic Sea.
After winning the battle the King of Denmark, Christian V, decided to capture the island of Rügen as a necessary prerequisite to the allies conquering the fort of Stralsund on the opposite mainland shore. According to internal agreements between Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark, the island of Rügen would be given to Denmark after the peace treaty with Sweden.
On 17 September 1677 Danish troops under the overall command of the Danish king landed on the eastern coast of the island near Prorer Wiek
The Prorer Wiek is a bay on Germany's Baltic Sea coast off the bar of Schmale Heide that runs between the peninsula of Jasmund and the Granitz, the region southeast of Binz on the island of Rügen. The resort of Prora lies on the shore of the bay ...
. The roughly 4,200 man[Curt Jany: ''Geschichte der Preußischen Armee. Vom 15. Jahrhundert bis 1914.'' Vol. 1, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1967, p. 257] strong Danish force met no resistance, however, because the Swedish general, Otto Wilhelm von Königsmarck, had not suspected a Danish invasion at that time and most of his troops had therefore moved into the besieged town of Stralsund.
Thus, the Danes were able to entrench themselves, unchallenged, in the wooded hills in front of the village. After the Danes had provided further support to the Brandenburg cavalry regiment of Colonel Hülsen (2,110 troopers) in October, they advanced on the Swedish troops that had meanwhile transferred to Rügen, and had taken up positions near Bergen
Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula o ...
. The Swedes were beaten in the ensuing Battle of Bergen and withdrew to Altefähr
Altefähr is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany.
Transport
* Altefähr railway station is served by local services between Rostock, Stralsund and Sassnitz
Sassnitz (, before 1993 in german: ...
and into the Prosnitzer Schanze. Shortly thereafter the Swedes under Königsmarck also had to leave Altefähr and march all troops to Stralsund. Only the Prosnitzer Schanze (Neue Fährschanze) remained in Swedish hands.
Due to ongoing looting and devastation by Swedish, Danish and Brandenburg troops, the island in the meantime been completely plundered, so that the deployed troops there could no longer be supplied. On 21 October the Danish king returned to Denmark. Part of the Brandenburg troops were withdrawn from the island, leaving only 970 men from Brandenburg-Prussia on the island.
The Danish-Brandenburg troops were now under the command of Major General von Rumohr and Colonel Wilhelm Friedrich von Hülsen. These two had instructions not to engage with the Swedes until the arrival of further reinforcements. However, any reinforcement from the Danish army, weakened by disease, came to nothing. So the Swedish commander, Field Marshal Otto Wilhelm von Konigsmark, viewed that it was a good time to recapture the island and transferred his 3,500 strong force in January 1678 from Brandshagen to the island. The Swedish chose to land at Neufährschanze which was still in Swedish hands.
Course of the battle
Against orders, the allied Danish and Brandenburg force under Major General von Rumohr gave battle. At 9 in the morning the battle began with an exchange of artillery on the road between Poseritz
Poseritz is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern (MV; ; nds, Mäkelborg-Vörpommern), also known by its anglicized name Mecklenburg–Western Pomerania, is a state in the north-ea ...
and Gustow
Gustow is a municipality in the Vorpommern-Rügen district, in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe aft ...
at Warksow Manor.
When Detlef von Rumohr was felled by an artillery shell, confusion arose in the ranks of the allies. In response, the Swedish general, Konigsmark attacked with his troops. The attack was launched by the Swedish right wing against the Brandenburg cavalry. They managed to disperse the Swedish cavalry, but were in turn thrown back, once the Swedish cavalry had reorganised and been reinforced by reserves.
The Brandenburg troops rallied again, but received no effective support from the Danes, with the result that they were thrown back by superior numbers again. Swedish forces then attacked the Danish flank and rear. Demoralized, they were routed and put to flight in all directions. The Swedes succeeded in capturing almost the entire Danish infantry.Runeberg Page 636
/ref> After four hours of battle, the Swedish victory was assured.
Result of the battle
The next day, the Swedes occupied Bergen, pursued their fleeing enemy towards Jasmund and Wittow
Wittow is the northernmost peninsula of the island of Rügen. Wittow was a separate island until the High Middle Ages, but since then has been connected to the Jasmund peninsula of Rügen by the Schaabe spit. Wittow is most famous for Cape Ark ...
and captured there the last remnants of the allies. The captured soldiers were integrated into the Swedish army and used on Rügen. So Rügen became Swedish again for a short while. However, the Danish and Brandenburg allies quickly recovered from this setback. In the course of the summer 1678 the Danes raided Rügen several times. In addition, the Danes and Brandenburgians were planning a new expedition to recapture Rügen. The invasion of Rügen began on 23 September 1678, when Brandenburg troops again landed on the island of Rügen; within two days they had recaptured it. The prisoners pressed into Swedish service from the Battle of Warksow handed over the fort of Neuefähr without a fight to Brandenburg's invasion forces.
See also
* Wars and battles involving Prussia
References
Literature
* Curt Jany: ''Geschichte der Preußischen Armee. Vom 15. Jahrhundert bis 1914.'' Band 1, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1967, pp. 256–257
*
External links
Rügen under the Swedish sceptre
in the '' Nordisk familjebok'' (1876–1926)
Summary of the battle
in the Theatrum Europaeum
''Theatrum Europaeum'' was a journal on the history of the German-speaking lands by Matthäus Merian, published between 1633 and 1738 in 21 quarto volumes.
Edition overview
References
External links
* Theatrum Europaeum' - online copy at ...
, Vol. 11 (pdf file; 250 kB)
Warksow
Northern Wars
History of Pomerania
Military history of Germany
Military history of Prussia
Wars involving Denmark
Rügen
1678 in Sweden
Conflicts in 1678
Battles involving Sweden
Battles involving Denmark
Battles involving Brandenburg-Prussia
Scanian War
1678 in the Holy Roman Empire
Battles in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania
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