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The Crossing of the Düna (also known as Battle of Daugava or Battle of Spilves) took place 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 ...
on July 19, 1701 near the city of
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
, present-day Latvia. The Swedish king
Charles XII 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 ...
was in hot pursuit of king
Augustus II the Strong Augustus II the Strong (12 May 1670 – 1 February 1733), was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1697 to 1706 and from 1709 until his death in 1733. He belonged to the Albertine branch of the H ...
of the
Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...
and
Saxony Saxony, officially the Free State of Saxony, is a landlocked state of Germany, bordering the states of Brandenburg, Saxony-Anhalt, Thuringia, and Bavaria, as well as the countries of Poland and the Czech Republic. Its capital is Dresden, and ...
. The crossing was easily made, and the coalition troops were quickly broken and retreated.


Prelude

During the first year of fighting in the Great Northern War, Charles XII of Sweden had delivered two crushing defeats on his enemies. In July 1700, he forced Frederick IV of Denmark-Norway out of the coalition against Sweden, after a brief landing on Humlebæk. He then settled to aid the besieged
Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...
(which at the time belonged to the
Swedish Empire The Swedish Empire or the Great Power era () was the period in Swedish history spanning much of the 17th and early 18th centuries during which Sweden became a European great power that exercised territorial control over much of the Baltic regi ...
). On his arrival, late November, he managed to decisively defeat the Russians despite being heavily outnumbered, in the Battle of Narva, which led to an end of the Russian campaign for the year. Charles then turned his attention against the south and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth to deal with his last opponent—August the Strong—before going into Russia.Sundberg (2010), p. 206 The combined Saxon–Russian army of totally 29,000 men had entrenched themselves across the 600 meter wide Düna River under the command of Adam Heinrich von Steinau. Orders were sent from the Swedish king to the
governor-general Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...
of
Livonia Livonia, known in earlier records as Livland, is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia. By the end of the 13th century, the name was extende ...
, Erik Dahlbergh, in preparations for the crossing before the arrival of the Swedish main army. Dahlbergh was ordered to obtain around 200 landing boats of different sizes and was also instructed to build a bridge in order to transfer the
cavalry Historically, cavalry (from the French word ''cavalerie'', itself derived from ''cheval'' meaning "horse") are groups of soldiers or warriors who Horses in warfare, fight mounted on horseback. Until the 20th century, cavalry were the most mob ...
across the river. The operation was supposed to be done in strict confidentiality to ensure a surprise attack on the enemies. The Swedish army of 14,000 men arrived at
Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...
on July 17, and already by the time, preparations for the attack were completed. However, bad weather ruined the Swedish plans to attack instantly, and the assault had to be postponed. A Swedish cavalry regiment was left to threaten Kokenhusen, effectively forcing Steinau to split his forces, so the bulk of his army stayed across Riga. The allied army was initially under the command of Saxon general Otto Arnold von Paykull and Ferdinand Kettler of
Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...
, who were both ensured of an easy victory. In their confidence, they prioritized their numbers, advantageous position, redoubts and Saxon courage in superiority over the Swedes. Prior to the battle, Kettler pronounced: "''even a superior force of three hundred thousand Swedes, would still not be enough, to successfully achieve any progress with the crossing''". The Saxon army was, however, deployed a distance away from the beach, to allow a few Swedish regiments to land, before it planned to massively strike with its full capacity to drive the Swedes back and capture the Swedish king (who was expected to be among the first to land.


Battle

left, Swedish floating battery, similar used at Düna During the evening of July 18, a little more than 6,000 Swedish infantry and 535 cavalry (among them the Drabant Corps) started to embark their landing boats in silence (there were about 195 boats of different structures and sizes, including four floating batteries with 10 cannons each and a
corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the sloo ...
with 16 cannons). Swedish guns from Riga had continually bombarded the allied entrenchments across the river the same day and would continue doing so throughout the night and landing. After all the troops were embarked, the Swedes first torched some small boats and pushed them into the river, forming a
smoke screen A smoke screen is smoke released to mask the movement or location of military units such as infantry, tanks, aircraft, or ships. Smoke screens are commonly deployed either by a canister (such as a grenade) or generated by a vehicle (such as ...
;Tucker, S.C., 2010, A Global Chronology of Conflict, Vol. Two, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, LLC, then, at four o'clock in the morning of the 19th, the attack began. Halfway across the river, after passing the cover afforded by the island of Fossenholm, the Swedes were discovered and fired at. The four Swedish floating batteries returned fire, and after half an hour, the Swedes reached the beach and were immediately thrown into fight against Saxon patrols. When about 3,000 Swedish troops were ashore, the Saxons launched their first major assault, with 3,500 men. However, the Swedish force under the personal command of the king himself, would not retreat and the attack was beaten back. The Swedes then sequentially stormed and took the nearby Garras redoubt which seized them ground of at least 200 paces inland, where they managed to establish a good foothold, covering the ongoing construction of the floating bridge. After a brief stalemate, the Swedes formed up to repulse a second attack made by the Saxon general Otto Arnold von Paykull who strictly intended to drive them back before the arrival of further Swedish reinforcements. This attack, as the previous one, was repulsed. By this time the Saxon general Adam Heinrich von Steinau returned from Kokenhusen with large reinforcements and gained the command. He ordered a third assault on the Swedish stand, which at this time had almost every man ready from the landing. Since the Swedish left flank was protected by the river, Steinau gathered his cavalry in an attempt to attack the Swedish right which was rather unprotected. The attack had some success at first, but was subsequently beaten off after an ongoing attack in the rear by the Swedish cavalry. At seven o'clock in the morning, Saxon commander Heinrich von Steinau went for a
council of war A council of war However, bad weather prevented final constructions of the bridge which denied the crossing of the Swedish cavalry and so August II slipped away with his army. The Swedes lost 100 men dead and another 400 wounded.Ullgren (2008), p. 80-82 The allied forces lost about 1,300 dead and wounded and another 700 captured. 36 artillery pieces and four standards and banners had also been conquered by the Swedes. A unit of around 400 Russian soldiers, that became surrounded on the island of Lucavsala, refused to surrender and was later almost completely annihilated by the Swedes, while also taking casualties. A monument to commemorate them was built at the location in 1891 and later restored in 2003.


Aftermath

Swedish bombardment of Dünamünde, 1701 After the battle Charles laid siege and took
Mitau Jelgava () is a state city in central Latvia. It is located about southwest of Riga. It is the largest town in the Semigallia region of Latvia. Jelgava was the capital of the united Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (1578–1795) and was the ad ...
(where he gained 8,000 muskets and 9,000 pistols) and then stormed the Cobron redoubt, where 400 Russians were stationed, only after a massacre the redoubt was taken with as few as twenty Russians still alive. Charles later laid siege to Dünamunde and shortly after started persecuting the retreating forces who had initially been 20,000 men strong during the fighting. The 10,000 strong Russian force under Anikita Ivanovich Repnin retreated towards Russia after having scarcely been participating in the main battle. The Saxons retreated to neutral
Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...
and thus left all of
Courland Courland is one of the Historical Latvian Lands in western Latvia. Courland's largest city is Liepāja, which is the third largest city in Latvia. The regions of Semigallia and Selonia are sometimes considered as part of Courland as they were ...
open for Charles who seized the initiative and took Kokenhusen.Kuvaja (2008), p. 148-153Svensson (2001), p. 61-62 In preparation for the crossing, king Charles XII had ordered to build the first bridge across the
Daugava River The Daugava ( ), also known as the Western Dvina or the Väina River, is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. The Daugava rises close to the source of ...
, which was made of anchored and interconnected by ropes and boats. After the Swedish victory, the city was left with the structure. In 1705, the bridge, which had been lodged for the winter in Vējzaķsalas Bay, was washed away by the high spring waters. Later, the floating bridge was restored, but in 1710, it was again destroyed by the Russian army during the siege of Riga. During the battle, small barges armed with cannons were used, thus combining land and sea forces as well as
deception Deception is the act of convincing of one or many recipients of untrue information. The person creating the deception knows it to be false while the receiver of the information does not. It is often done for personal gain or advantage. Tort of ...
(smoke) to achieve a stunning victory, carefully planned and very well executed. Participants included Otto Arnold von Paykull.


Gallery

File:Karl XII går över Düna SP191.jpg, link=, Charles XII crosses the Düna. Engraving by Johan Lithen File:Charles XII's crossing of the Düna.jpg, link=, On the night of July 9, 1701, Charles XII crossed the Düna River north of Riga with his army and defeated a Saxon and Russian army under Steinau, who was encamped south of the river. File:Övergången av Düna 9 juli 1701 (cropped, full).jpg, link=, The crossing of the Düna 9 July 1701 File:Kokneses pils uzspridzināšana 1701. gada 25. jūlijā.jpg, link=, The fortress Koknese Castle at Düna east of Friedrichstadt was captured on 14 July 1701 by the Swedes after the Saxon crew blew up the fortress and fled File:Daugavas kauja pie Rīgas starp sakšiem un zviedriem.jpg, Battle between the Swedes and the entrenched Saxons on the Daugava near Riga in 1701. On the right - the island of Lucavsala


See also

* Charles XII invasion of Poland * Civil war in Poland (1704-1706)


Sources


References


Bibliography

*Olle Larsson, (2009) Lund, Historiska Media. * *Peter Ullgren, (2008) Stockholm, Prisma. *Ericson, (2011) Stockholm, Norstedts. *Anders Fryxell, (1861) *Gary Dean Peterson, ''Warrior Kings of Sweden: The Rise of an Empire in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries'' (2007). McFarland. *Ulf Sundberg, (2010) Svenskt Militärhistoriskt Bibliotek. *Kuvaja, Christer, , Schildts Förlags AB, Helsinki 2008 *Alex, Svensson, , Svenskt Militärhistoriskt Bibliotek, Stockholm 2001 {{DEFAULTSORT:Crossing of the Duna Düna Conflicts in 1701 1701 in Europe Düna Düna Düna Düna 18th century in Latvia Duna, Crossing of the