Battle of Landskrona
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Battle of Landskrona was fought between Denmark and Sweden on ''Ylleshed'' moor, outside the town of
Landskrona Landskrona (old da, Landskrone) is a town in Scania, Sweden. Located on the shores of the Öresund, it occupies a natural port, which has lent the town at first military and subsequent commercial significance. Ferries operate from Landskrona t ...
, in the province of
Scania Scania, also known by its native name of Skåne (, ), is the southernmost of the historical provinces of Sweden, provinces (''landskap'') of Sweden. Located in the south tip of the geographical region of Götaland, the province is roughly conte ...
in what is now southern
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...
on July 14, 1677.


Prelude

On July 12 the Swedish army of 10,000 men had been reinforced with 4,000 peasants from
Småland Småland () is a historical province () in southern Sweden. Småland borders Blekinge, Scania, Halland, Västergötland, Östergötland and the island Öland in the Baltic Sea. The name Småland literally means ''Small Lands''. The Latinized fo ...
and left its camp near Klippan to march south. The Swedes planned to attack the Danish army that had been weakened by losses at
Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...
before reinforcements could arrive from Germany and Austria via Landskrona. The Danes however, had already returned to Landskrona and camped on the hills west of the town.


The battle

Early in the morning of July 14, Charles XI formed his army into four columns and started advancing towards the Danes. But as soon as the Swedes got the enemy camp in sight they noticed that it was empty. This caused some confusion among the Swedish generals. Most of them assumed that Christian V had retreated to Landskrona and that the Swedes should abort the operation. However Charles was determined to deliver battle and kept his army marching towards the Danish camp. During the night Christian had moved his army down from the hills and lined it up behind an earth wall with the intention of ambushing the Swedes on the moor. The Swedish General
Ascheberg Ascheberg () is a municipality in the district of Coesfeld in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. The neighbouring cities, towns and municipalities of Ascheberg are (clockwise, starting in the North) the city Münster, the town Drenste ...
spotted the Danish troops behind the wall. The Swedish army paused for about one hour and at nine o'clock formed itself into two lines at the north-east end of the moor. Although his generals advised against it, Christian decided to leave his favorable position behind the wall and attack the Swedes. The two armies started advancing towards each other and were soon separated only by a small valley. The artillery exchanged fire but none of the sides were willing to attack across the dale. Finally Charles XI and his guard on the right wing charged down the slope and up the other side. They were immediately surrounded and almost taken prisoner, but saved by the Household cavalry. The rest of the Swedish right wing followed and the battle began. After less than one hour the Danish left wing was routed and the Danish artillery was in Swedish hands. On the Danish right Christian V out-flanked the Swedes and when Field Marshal
Simon Grundel-Helmfelt Baron Simon Grundel-Helmfelt (1617–1677) was a Swedish field marshal and governor.Alf ÅbergSimon Grundel-Helmfelt Riksarkivet.se, retrieved 28 August 2013 Helmfelt is most notable for his overwhelming victory at the Battle of Lund despite b ...
was killed the Swedish left wing was scattered. However, backed up by the 4,000 peasants, the Swedes managed to escape and reorganize their left wing. In the center the Danes took the initiative when General Russenstein attacked soon after both flanks were engaged. But as his left flank was unprotected it took a lot of beating and the Danish center slowly started dissolving. As the Swedish cavalry that had pursued the Danish left wing returned to the battle, the reorganized Swedish left wing was ready for action. And since Christian V was unable to overpower the left flank of the Swedish center, he left the field at 16:00. By 18:00 all Danish troops had quit the field and the Swedes retired to the former Danish camp.


Aftermath

Reasons for the Danish defeat are said to be rivalry between Danish generals and that the Danish units had been mixed up during the night. The Danes also failed to exploit their success on the right wing, which gave the Swedes time to reorganize their units. Though unquestionably a Swedish victory the battle had little influence on the outcome of the war. As long as the Danes were victorious at sea and held the fortified town of Landskrona they could easily bring reinforcements to Scania. The Swedish army now counted 7,000 men, but this was not enough to take Landskrona. After a couple of skirmishes around
Kristianstad Kristianstad (, ; older spelling from Danish language, Danish ''Christianstad'') is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Kristianstad Municipality, Scania County, Sweden with 40,145 inhabitants in 2016. During the last 15 years, it has ...
, the main part of the Swedish army marched back north to Sweden proper to find winter quarters, while Christian V shipped some of his troops back to
Zealand Zealand ( da, Sjælland ) at 7,031 km2 is the largest and most populous island in Denmark proper (thus excluding Greenland and Disko Island, which are larger in size). Zealand had a population of 2,319,705 on 1 January 2020. It is the 1 ...
.


See also

*
Scanian War The Scanian War ( da, Skånske Krig, , sv, Skånska kriget, german: Schonischer Krieg) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, ...
*
History of Scania The history of the province of Scania was for many hundred years, up until the 18th century, marked by the struggle between the two Scandinavian kingdoms of Denmark and Sweden over the hegemony in the Baltic area. Viking age It was previously ...


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Landskrona 1677 1677 in Europe Conflicts in 1677 1677 in Sweden Battles involving Sweden Battles involving Denmark Scanian War 17th century in Skåne County