Siege of Kexholm

Siege of Kexholm

Part of: Great Northern War

date	July 8th to September 8th, 1710
place	Kexholm , today's Russia
output	Surrender of the Swedish occupation

Parties to the conflict
Sweden	Russia
Commander
Colonel Stjernschanz	Novel Bruce
Troop strength
400 men	three dragoons, two infantry regiments, two grenadier battalions
losses
k. A.	k. A.

The siege of Kexholm was a military intervention in the Great Northern War . After the conquest of Vyborg , the Russian Major General Bruce was sent to Kexholm with five regiments to bring this strategically important Swedish fortress, located on Lake Ladoga , into Russian possession. The siege began on July 8th and ended on September 8th, 1710 with the surrender of the Swedish garrison .

In advance

In his endeavor to finally secure the newly established “window to the west”, Saint Petersburg militarily, Tsar Peter I began a campaign in 1710 against the Swedish province of Ingermanland and the fortresses Vyborg and Kexholm there . After the victorious siege of Vyborg, the Tsar sent Major General Roman Bruce with five regiments of cavalry and infantry and two grenadier battalions to Kexholm to besiege and capture this Swedish fortress.

The tsar's troops were so decimated by the plague and other diseases that Peter I ordered the major general only to besiege the fortress and bombard it with artillery for the time being. A storm attack on the fortress should not be undertaken in order not to unnecessarily sacrifice troops.

The fortress

The old fortress of Korela

The city of Kexholm was the capital of the Swedish province of Kexholm County and an important trading hub. The city had been fortified since the 13th century and controlled trade towards the Baltic Sea region.

The fortress was built by the Swedes in 1585 on an island on the left bank in the Vuoksa River . The fortress has several small bastions and is structured like a redoubt . The main defenses face south.

A citadel with a strong stone wall was built on a smaller island . The stone wall is equipped with three smaller defense towers. The two islands are connected by a bridge.

Three other small islands were attached by lunettes . These are fortifications similar to a redoubt, but open at the rear. These defensive walls are designed for one-way defense, in this case to the south.

The siege

On July 8th, Major General Bruce's regiments reached the Vuoksi River . The next day the troops crossed the river and began to siege the city. On July 10th, the city was surrounded and the trenches were opened. On July 15th the light artillery pieces were also in position. On the same day a major was summoned to the fortress to demand the commandant's surrender. The major only responded with a derogatory remark, and so the Russians began firing artillery from a few smaller mortars at the fortress.

On July 20, a battalion of infantry from Olonetz joined the siege army and a redoubt opposite the fortress was taken.

On August 3, the landed Lieutenant Huk from Schlüsselburg with a fleet and brought heavy artillery and ammunition supplies to the besieging army. After the ships had been unloaded, the besiegers began to bombard the fortress with heavy artillery on August 7th. This bombardment lasted until September 2nd. During these bombardments , the Russians managed to occupy the fortified island to the west.

The surrender

On September 2, the fortress commander sent a drummer to the Russian camp with a message. He was willing to hand over the fortress if he was given eight days' grace; if he had not received any relief by then , he would accept the terms of the Russian general. In addition, in the event of a surrender, he demanded to be allowed to leave the fortress with his regiments “with upper and lower rifles, waving flags and playing with music”. This request was immediately rejected by Major General Bruce.

From September 2nd to September 7th, the negotiations for the handover of the fortress were dealt with by correspondence.

On September 8, the Russian regiments took up position in the city and the Swedish garrison left Kexholm, but without music. The Swedes also had to leave the flags behind. The Swedes had to hand over their weapons to the Russians. On direct orders from the Tsar, they were given old, almost unusable Russian rifles.

spoils of war

In the fortress the Russians captured six old Russian cannons , nine Swedish cannons, four grape cannons , nine falconets and a mortar from metal artillery . The Russians captured 36 cannons, 16 grape cannons, three mortars and 15 carriages of iron artillery . In addition, 180 poods (about 3000 kg) of powder and bullets for all guns. Furthermore, two Swedish flags with the king's coat of arms were captured.

The consequences

With the loss of the Kexholm Fortress, Sweden also lost its province of Kexholm County. Thus in 1709 and 1710 the three southernmost provinces in Finland (Ingermanland, Vyborg län and Kexholm län) were lost to the Russians. In the Peace of Nystad , Sweden got back parts of Vyborg County. Ingermanland and Kexholm län remained in Russian hands after 1721.

For the successful siege of the city, Roman Bruce was raised to the rank of lieutenant general. After Tsar Peter I received the letter about the takeover of the fortress on September 9th, a festival in honor of the victorious troops was held in Saint Petersburg on September 10th.

literature

• Hartwich-Ludwig-Christian Bacmeister: Contributions to the History of Peter the Great Volume 1, Riga (1774)
• Knut Lundblad, Georg Friedrich Jenssen-Tusch: History of Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden , Volume 2, Hamburg (1835)
• Benjamin Fürchtegott Balthasar von Bergmann: Peter the Great as Man and Regent Volume 3, Riga (1826)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c} Lundblad, p. 212
2. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Bacmeister §269 / 70, pp. 355–359
3. ↑ by Bergmann, p. 161