Siege of Dorsten

Siege of the city of Dorsten

Part of: Thirty Years War ( Hessian War )

The city ​​of Dorsten in 1641 by Matthäus Merian

date	July 16, 1641 to September 19, 1641
place	Dorsten
Casus Belli	As compensation for the cession of Upper Hesse from Hessen-Kassel to Hessen-Darmstadt , Gustav Adolf had promised the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel parts of the bishopric of Münster and Vest Recklinghausen . On February 9, 1633, Dorsten in the Electorate of Cologne was occupied by the people of Hesse-Kassel.
output	Victory of the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
consequences	Withdrawal of the troops of Hessen-Kassel from the fortress Dorsten; Relocation of the Hessian War to the areas of Kurköln on the left bank of the Rhine and the neutral Duchy of Jülich
Peace treaty	Signing of the surrender document on September 18, 1641 in Dorsten

Parties to the conflict
Hessen-Kassel	Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation
Commander
Commander in Chief Johann von Geyso , City Commander Emmanuel Kotz , Colonel Carl von Rabenhaupt (1st relief), Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein (2nd relief, no longer involved in the fight)	Melchior Count von Hatzfeldt , Alexander II. Von Velen
Troop strength
2,000 men (infantry, cavalry, artillery), 250 men Hessian 1st relief army from Haltern, 2nd relief army with u. a. 3000 Swedish cuirassiers withdrew from Wolfenbüttel (no longer involved in the fight)	20,000 men (12 regiments of infantry, 10 regiments of cavalry, 30 heavy artillery)
losses
1,350 men killed or wounded	unknown

The Siege of Dorsten is a military conflict during the Thirty Years' War . The opponents were the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel and the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation ; the conflict took place from July 16 to September 19, 1641.

After a decision by the Vienna Court Court, Hessen-Kassel had to cede Upper Hesse with the University of Marburg to Hessen-Darmstadt . For this considerable loss, King Gustav Adolf of Sweden promised the State of Hesse-Kassel a. a. Territories of the Münster Hochstift and Vest Recklinghausen in the Electorate of Cologne during a victory in the Thirty Years War.

On February 9, 1633, Hesse-Kassel conquered the city of Dorsten without resistance from the Electorate of Cologne and vestiges, and in the following years, the Hessian Colonel Dalwig and Johann Adriansch made it the strongest fortress in the region. As early as 1636, under the leadership of Johann von Götz, an attempt was made to recapture Dorsten, but this failed.

Siege of Dorsten 1641

On July 16, 1641, a second siege of the city of Dorsten began by the Imperial Field Marshal Count Melchior von Hatzfeldt and the Imperial Feldzeugmeister Alexander II von Velen with a total of 20,000 soldiers. This attack was started because the Hessian Lieutenant General Kaspar Graf von Eberstein had previously been withdrawn with part of the troops for the siege of Wolfenbüttel . While the main power of the imperial troops also fought in Wolfenbüttel , Hatzfeld positioned his troops south of Dorsten and Velen in the north. The imperial artillery, initially with 14 cannons, was located northeast in the Sand Mountains, which was later reinforced by Kurköln up to 30. In a letter from the Imperial Guard General Freiherr von Wendt dated July 16 to the Mayor and Council of the City of Recklinghausen , he requested a delivery of 3000 pounds of bread, 16 tons of beer, four slaughtered cattle , 15 sacks of oats and some "kitchen items" to feed the soldiers in front of Dorsten ". The glory Lembeck also had to provide food. In addition, at the beginning of August 1641, Hatzfeld had four half cartoons and two fire mortars brought in from Kaiserswerth . The soldiers were divided into twelve regiments of infantry and ten cavalry regiments, who built extensive siege works around the city.

The Hessians defended themselves under the leadership of Oberkommandant Johann von Geyso and Commander Emmanuel Kotz with 2,000 soldiers, 400 of whom had previously been brought in from Kalkar . Other relief troops requested by the Hessen-Kassel regent Amalie Elisabeth were either very small (250 men under Colonel Carl von Rabenhaupt from Haltern or Borken ) or came too late (troops under the leadership of Ernst Albrecht von Eberstein from Wolfenbüttel).

On August 25, a first breach was made west of the Lippetor with 2000 cannonballs, so that the last protective weir was destroyed. After the breach became bigger and bigger due to further bombardment and the planning for the attack with initially 2000 musketeers and 1500 cuirassiers started, the Hessian commanders accepted the surrender conditions of Field Marshal von Hatzfeld on September 18.

The siege ended on September 19th. The people of Hessen-Kassel received safe withdrawal for their remaining crew of 650 men plus administrative officials and families. The Theatrum Europaeum reports that the city of Dorsten was “ruined” by the siege.

With this defeat, Hessen-Kassel lost the most important fortress on the Lower Rhine on the right bank of the Rhine and subsequently directed the Hessian War, together with the French and Saxon-Weimarians, to the left bank of the Archbishopric of Cologne under Ferdinand of Bavaria and to the neutral Duchy of Jülich under Wolfgang Wilhelm .

literature

• Basement: The fortification and siege of Dorstens in 1641 , Vestische Zeitschrift Vol. 1, pp. 71–85 (1891)
• Julius Evelt : History of the city of Dorsten , third section p. 96-102 in Westfälische Zeitschrift Volume 26, p. 63-176 (1866)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Manfred Wolf: The 17th Century . In: Wilhelm Kohl (Ed.): Westfälische Geschichte , Vol. 1, 1983, p. 559.
2. ^ Julius Evelt: History of the city of Dorsten . In: Westfälische Zeitschrift 26, 1866, p. 96
3. ^ Franz Schneider: City and Vest Recklinghausen during the Thirty Years' War . In: Westfälische Zeitschrift 22, 1862, pp. 147–223, there p. 205.
4. ↑ Ingrid Sönnert: The glory Lembeck during the Spanish-Dutch and the Thirty Years War . In: Vestische Zeitschrift 97/98, 1998/1999, pp. 7–35, there p. 34.
5. ^ Günther Engelbert: The Hessian War on the Lower Rhine (1st part) . In: Annalen des Historisches Verein für den Niederrhein, issue 161, 1959, pp. 65–113.