The Storm of Kokenhusen by the Russian Army under Tsar

Alexei Mikhailovich Aleksey Mikhaylovich ( rus, Алексе́й Миха́йлович, p=ɐlʲɪkˈsʲej mʲɪˈxajləvʲɪtɕ; – ) was the Tsar of Russia from 1645 until his death in 1676. While finding success in foreign affairs, his reign saw several wars ...

was one of the first events of the

Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658) The Russo-Swedish War of 1656–1658 was fought by Russia and Sweden as a theater of the Second Northern War. It took place during a pause in the contemporary Russo-Polish War (1654–1667) as a consequence of the Truce of Vilna. Despite i ...

, a theater of the

Second Northern War The Second Northern War (1655–60), (also First or Little Northern War) was fought between Sweden and its adversaries the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (1655–60), the Tsardom of Russia (Russo-Swedish War (1656–1658), 1656–58), Brande ...

. On 14 August 1656 Russian troops stormed and captured the well-fortified town of

Kokenhusen Koknese () is a town in Aizkraukle Municipality in the Vidzeme region of Latvia, on the right bank of the Daugava River. It has a population of nearly 3,000. According to the provisions of the 2021 Latvian administrative reform, Koknese gained c ...

(Koknese) in

Swedish Livonia Swedish Livonia ( sv, Svenska Livland) was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1629 until 1721. The territory, which constituted the southern part of modern Estonia (including the island of Ösel ceded by Denmark after the Treaty of Brömse ...

(present-day

Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...

) According to the Tsar, this town “was very strong, had a deep moat, like a small brother of the

Kremlin The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...

's moat, and its fortress is like a son of

Smolensk Smolensk ( rus, Смоленск, p=smɐˈlʲensk, a=smolensk_ru.ogg) is a city and the administrative center of Smolensk Oblast, Russia, located on the Dnieper River, west-southwest of Moscow. First mentioned in 863, it is one of the oldest c ...

's fortress”. Tsar also gave city new name, "Tsarevich-Dmitriev" (russian: Царевич-Дмитриев) in honor of his infant son,

Tsarevich Dmitry Alexeyevich of Russia Tsarevich Dmitry Alexeyevich (russian: Дмитрий Алексеевич; 22 August 1648 – 6 October 1649) was the first son and heir of Tsar Alexis of Russia and Maria Miloslavskaya, brother of Tsarevich Alexei Alexeyevich of Russia, Tsa ...

, who had died in 1649. This new name didn't last since in 1681 city was returned to

. Андрей Поспелов
Российский военно-морской флот
Litres, 2019, , After capturing Kokenhusen, Russia gained control of the

Daugava River , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic Se ...

and the way to

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 ...

was opened.

References

Koknese Second Northern War

Conflicts in 1656 1656 in Europe 17th century in Latvia Swedish Livonia {{military-history-stub