Siege of Nöteborg

Siege of Nöteborg

Part of: Great Northern War

The assault of the Russian troops on the fortress Nöteborg, painting by Alexander von Kotzebue ; in the middle Tsar Peter I.

date	October 7-22, 1702
place	Today's Schluesselburg , Leningrad Oblast
output	Russian victory

Parties to the conflict
Sweden	Russia
Commander
Gustav Wilhelm von Schlippenbach	Boris Sheremetev
Troop strength
450 men and 128 guns	14,000 men
losses
250 dead 156 sick and wounded	509 dead 928 wounded

During the siege of Nöteborg in the Great Northern War , Russian troops captured the Swedish fortress of Nöteborg on the Neva in Swedish-Ingermanland from October 7 to 22, 1702 .

prehistory

Russian forays into the Swedish heartland from 1700 to 1704

Charles XII. After the victory in the Battle of Narva at the end of November 1700, his main army had moved south to fight August II . The Russian army was at the time no serious opponent more. By shifting the main Swedish power to the Polish theater of war, however, the Russian chances of leading the war to a more favorable course and of conquering the desired access to the Baltic Sea for Russia increased. The Russian army took advantage of the withdrawal of the Swedish army and let the remaining Russian forces resume their activities in the Swedish Baltic provinces after the disaster of Narva. The Russian Army High Command used the time saved by the absence of the Swedish army to rearm and reorganize the army with great effort.

The battle of Hummelshof , which was victorious for Russia, and the Battle of Erastfer eliminated the Swedish-Livonian army as a power factor in the Baltic States. This enabled the Russian military in the north to create the territorial conditions for gaining access to the Baltic Sea. The main Swedish armed forces were in the interior of Poland, in the area of Krakow . The King Karl XII. broke a leg at exactly this time. As a result of this injury, it was not possible for him to take part in military ventures.

After the victorious campaign in Livonia, Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev led the Russian army northwards towards Lake Ladoga and Newaumland , since there the Baltic Sea reached the furthest into Russian territory and appeared suitable for the construction of a port. This area was secured by the Swedish forts of Nöteborg and Kexholm and a small navy on Lake Ladoga, which had hitherto prevented all Russian advances. This crossed again and again on the Russian bank and landed several times to plunder on the Russian side. When they were threatened, the ships retreated under the cannons of the forts.

This situation forced the Tsar to build a shipyard near the city of Olonetz . A small fleet was put together there within a very short time. This was quickly superior to the Swedish Navy in Lake Ladoga, and in the summer of 1702 the Russians defeated the Swedish fleet . They sailed down the Neva and lay under the cannons of the Wiborg fortress .

After the success on Lake Ladoga, the Russians concentrated their troops near the Nöteborg fortress and planned to capture it. It was the largest of the three fortresses along the Neva. Located on an island in the middle of the Neva, exactly where it drains from Lake Ladoga. As a result, she ruled not only the river, but also the lake. The island was shaped like a hazelnut, which is why the Russians called it Schanzwerk Oreska at the time. It kept this name even after it was captured, and the province was named as well.

The commandant was Lieutenant Colonel Gustav Wilhelm von Schlippenbach, the brother of Lieutenant General Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach , and the garrison consisted of 400 men.

Beginning of the siege

Siege of the Shlisselburg Fortress (Nöteborg), October 11, 1702

At the end of September, the crew of Nöteborg faced the 14,000-strong army under the command of Field Marshal Sheremetev . The Tsar was also present at the important company. Soon the fortress was enclosed on all sides and the commanding officer asked for reinforcements from Abraham Kronhjort , the commander in chief in Finland. The reinforcements sent were repulsed by the Russians, only 50 men made it into the fort, including the young Major Lejon.

After the unsuccessful attempt at breakthrough, Sheremetev asked the commandant of Schlippenbach to hand over the fortress. This refused. After several days of bombardment of the fortress, three breaches were shot in the fortress wall. A fire that broke out within the walls was extinguished. On October 12th, the Russians attempted the first attack. The few remaining defenders (174 combatable Swedes) were distributed to the endangered points of the defensive walls under the orders of Major Lejon and Major Charpentier. The Russian attack lasted five hours and was successfully repulsed at all points of attack.

A second wave of attacks followed immediately with fresh troops, but this advance too was repulsed. A third attack that lasted until three in the afternoon was also unsuccessful. The fourth attack was to be led by Menshikov . The crew, reduced to 20 officers, wondered what to do next. Everyone except Major Lejon was certain that a fourth attack could not be survived and were in favor of negotiating a free withdrawal from the fortress. Lejon proposed that the attack should be awaited and that the powder magazines should be blown up after the Russians had penetrated the fortress and the fortress should be reduced to rubble. Lejon was certain that a destroyed fortress would be of no use to the Russians and that the invasion of Finland would stall.

The council of war decided against Lejon's proposal and the commandant initiated the surrender of the fortress. The Tsar approved the immediate withdrawal of the Swedes. The remaining 83 combatants and 156 sick and wounded defenders marched out of the fortress with full equipment and withdrew to Swedish territory.

The consequences

Shlisselburg Fortress today

Despite self-sacrificing defense of the fortress, von Schlippenbach in Narva was accused and arrested by the Ingermanland Governor General Rudolph Horn for having surrendered the fortress and not blowing it up as recommended by Major Lejon.

The Russians captured large stocks of ammunition and powder in the fortress, as well as 1,117 muskets and 128 heavy artillery pieces. But the space itself was more important. The fortress controlled access to Lake Ladoga, the Gulf of Finland and Ingermanland via the Neva . For this reason, the Tsar left the fortress in Schlüsselburg rename.

After taking the city, Peter I distributed high rewards and numerous promotions to the participating soldiers and officers. On his return to Moscow, the Tsar celebrated the victories he had won over the Swedes with a solemn triumphal procession. Alexander Danilowitsch Menshikov was appointed commander of the fortress .

literature

• Not so Fryxell: Life story of Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden. Volume 1 - Second Chapter, Friedrich Vieweg and Son, Braunschweig 1861.

Individual evidence

This article is based on the book above. The events are precisely related in the Second Chapter.

1. ^ Johann Friedrich Hartknoch: Contributions to the history of Peter the Great, first volume, 1774, p. 76
2. ↑ ^{a b} Fryxell (1861), Section 1, Chapter Two, p. 17
3. ↑ Fryxell (1861), Section 1, Chapter Two, p. 16.
4. ↑ Fryxell (1861), Section 1, Chapter Two, p. 18.