The Battle of Stäket was a minor battle during the
Great Northern War
In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...
. A probing
Russia
Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...
n force, circumventing
Vaxholm Castle, attempted to pass through
Baggensstäket, a very narrow passage in the
Stockholm archipelago
The Stockholm Archipelago () is the largest archipelago in Sweden, and the second-largest archipelago in the Baltic Sea (the largest being the Archipelago Sea across the Baltic in Finland). Part of the archipelago has been designated as a Rams ...
. After a counterattack by
Södermanlands regemente the Russian force were defeated and departed.
Prelude
After the death of
Charles XII of Sweden
Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII () or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 Old Style and New Style dates, O.S.), was King of Sweden from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of the House of ...
at
Fredriksten
Fredriksten is a fortress in the city of Halden in Norway.
History
This Fortresses was constructed by Denmark-Norway in the 17th century as a replacement for the border fortress at Bohus, which had been lost when the province of Bohuslän was ...
in 1718, the Swedish armies had pulled back from all fronts. Surrounded by hostiles, it was clear that a peace treaty would not be forthcoming without large territorial losses. An attempt was made to play the adversaries against each other, but Russia forced the issue by building and equipping a large
Baltic
Baltic may refer to:
Peoples and languages
*Baltic languages, a subfamily of Indo-European languages, including Lithuanian, Latvian and extinct Old Prussian
*Balts (or Baltic peoples), ethnic groups speaking the Baltic languages and/or originatin ...
fleet with orders to pillage and harass the eastern Swedish seaboard. On 11 July 1719 the fleet was spotted off the Swedish coast. The Swedish navy was shattered after the long war, but still offered some resistance. The Russian fleet on its side did not commit to a battle, but proceeded burning cities (like
Norrköping
Norrköping ( , ) is a city in the province of Östergötland in eastern Sweden and the seat of Norrköping Municipality, Östergötland County, about 160 km southwest of the national capital Stockholm, 40 km east of county seat Lin ...
) and farmsteads.
Admiral
Fyodor Matveyevich Apraksin had already investigated
Baggensstäket, "the backdoor to Stockholm" as a way to reach the capital city without passing the fortress at
Vaxholm. The Russian's interest was noticed. Under the supervision of the colonel of fortifications
Baltzar von Dahlheim boulder-filled boats were towed into the very narrow strait, where they were sunk in the shallowest and narrowest parts to render it impassable. A small
redoubt
A redoubt (historically redout) is a Fortification, fort or fort system usually consisting of an enclosed defensive emplacement outside a larger fort, usually relying on Earthworks (engineering), earthworks, although some are constructed of ston ...
with three cannon and 400 men guarded the channel, while four
galley
A galley is a type of ship optimised for propulsion by oars. Galleys were historically used for naval warfare, warfare, Maritime transport, trade, and piracy mostly in the seas surrounding Europe. It developed in the Mediterranean world during ...
s were anchored in the
Lännersta sound beyond.
Probably in order to apply more pressure on Sweden in the peace negotiations, Apraxin decided to attempt an attack on Stockholm. On 10 August, Russian units were spotted around
Gålö,
Muskö, and
Ornö, about 20 kilometers from Baggenstäket. If they could pass through Baggenstäket it would be possible to reach the capital while completely out of reach of the cannon of Vaxholm.
Battle
On the morning of 13 August, generaladjutant
Filip von Tessin returned from a scouting mission to Baggenstäket to report that Russian galleys had been spotted at the entrance to the passage. The closest large Swedish army unit, the 800-man
Södermanlands regemente, was alerted and under its commander
Rutger Fuchs force marched 19 kilometers to meet the enemy. Lieutenant-colonel
Johan von Essen was sent ahead with a force to protect the arrival of the rest of the regiment. After a rapid march through rocky and densely forested terrain under a hot summer sun, von Essen reached Baggenstäket before 7pm without encountering any fire. However the Russians by then had disembarked their forces, on both sides of the channel's eastern entrance. Continuing their rapid march, von Essen's unit suddenly came under fire from the fields around Skogsö gård. Its position was very exposed and the unit took losses; von Essen himself was wounded.
At 8 pm, Fuchs' battalion arrived and received news of von Essen's situation. To his right von Essen had a marsh, which forced Fuchs to pass von Essen on his left, a difficult move through snarled and hilly terrain as darkness was falling. The Russians heard Fuchs' approach and opened fire. Fuch's battalion responded and caused losses to the tightly grouped Russians, but was soon also in danger of being outflanked, on its left. Fuchs' started to withdraw into the woods and the Russians did not pursue. After two hours of confused fighting the battle was over, and the Russian soldiers retreated into their landing craft.
Aftermath
Apraksin's probe had been repulsed and the immediate threat to Stockholm had been averted. Due to unfavorable winds, Apraksin's fleet was forced to remain in
Baggensfjärden the next day, but eventually left before the arrival of an English fleet commanded by
Admiral
Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...
John Norris and the
Karlskrona
Karlskrona (, , ) is a locality and the seat of Karlskrona Municipality, Blekinge County, Sweden with a population of 66,675 in 2018. It is also the capital of Blekinge County. Karlskrona is known as Sweden's only baroque city and is host to ...
squadron.
Rutger Fuchs was acclaimed as a hero and "saviour of Stockholm" after the action and was promoted to
Major General and made
friherre. However, the Russian fleet was untouched and would continue to harass the eastern coast of Sweden the next year until it suffered heavy losses in the
battle of Ledsund.
See also
*
Hamn (museum)
References
* ''Svenska Slagfält'', 2003, (Wahlström & Widstrand).
* ''The Action at Stäket, 1719 per Russian Regimental Archive'', 2014, by Boris Megorsky https://www.academia.edu/9864999/The_Action_at_Stäket_1719_per_Russian_Regimental_Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Staket
Conflicts in 1719
1719 in Europe
Stäket
1719 in Sweden
Staket
Staket
Military history of Stockholm
18th century in Stockholm County