Siege of Poznan (1704)
Poznan around 1618
| date | October 14 to November 2, 1704 |
|---|---|
| place | Poznan today's Poland |
| output | Victory of the Swedes |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
|
|
| Troop strength | |
| 6000 men | 34,000 men |
| losses | |
|
11 dead and 28 wounded |
Not specified |
1st phase: Swedish dominance (1700–1709)
Riga I • Jungfernhof • Varja • Pühhajoggi • Narva • Pechora • Düna • Rauge • Erastfer • Hummelshof • Embach • Tartu • Narva II • Wesenberg I • Wesenberg II
Arkhangelsk • Lake Ladoga • Nöteborg • Nyenschanz • Neva • Systerbäck • Petersburg • Vyborg I • Porvoo • Neva II • Koporje II • Kolkanpää
Vilnius • Salads • Jacobstadt • Walled Courtyard • Mitau • Grodno I • Olkieniki • Nyaswisch • Klezk • Ljachavichy
Klissow • Pułtusk • Thorn • Lemberg • Warsaw • Posen • Punitz • Tillendorf • Rakowitz • Praga • Fraustadt • Kalisch
Grodno II • Golovchin • Moljatitschi • Rajowka • Lesnaja • Desna • Baturyn • Koniecpol • Weprik • Opischnja • Krasnokutsk • Sokolki • Poltava I • Poltava II
2nd phase: Sweden on the defensive (1710–1721)
Riga II • Vyborg II • Pernau • Kexholm • Reval • Hogland • Pälkäne • Storkyro • Nyslott • Hanko
Helsingborg • Køge Bay • Gulf of Bothnia • Frederikshald I • Dynekilen Fjord • Gothenburg I • Strömstad • Trondheim • Frederikshald II • Marstrand • Ösel • Gothenburg II • Södra Stäket • Grönham • Sundsvall
Elbing • Wismar I • Lübow • Stralsund I • Greifswalder Bodden I • Stade • Rügen • Gadebusch • Altona • Tönning II • Stettin • Fehmarn • Wismar II • Stralsund II • Jasmund • Peenemünde • Greifswalder Bodden II • Stresow
The siege of Poznan in the Great Northern War began on October 14th and ended with the withdrawal of the Saxon besiegers on November 2nd, 1704.
prehistory
 
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The city of Poznan was conquered by the Swedes in 1703. The Swedes left a garrison of several hundred men in the city. At the beginning of 1704 large parts of the Swedish army were stationed in Poznan, which then led a campaign against the Saxons and Russians in Poland. The King of Sweden wanted to depose the Elector of Saxony as King of Poland and replace it with his own candidate. The Swedish army marched in the direction of Lemberg to take the city and force the Saxons to an open field battle. The soldiers required for this were withdrawn from Poland and Livonia. This left Warsaw and Poznan without any defense worth mentioning.
In the summer the Swedish General Maierfeld camped with 400 foot soldiers, two guns and cavalry at the gates of Posen and defeated General von Schulenberg's troops. This wanted to attack the Swedes at the gates of Posen and march into the city. The Saxons suffered around 600 dead and wounded in the battle and the Swedes around 300 dead and wounded.
After the Saxons successfully invaded Warsaw and August the Strong had re-established his claim to the throne, they turned back to Posen to take this fortified city. The siege army of the Saxons was led by General Brandt and the Russian corps by Johann Reinhold von Patkul . The city of Poznan was defended by the Swedish army under the command of General Marderfeldt.
The siege
At the beginning of the siege there were 6,000 Swedes in the city. After the Saxon General Brandt had united with the Russian corps under Patkul, about 34,000 men marched towards Posen. The Saxons and Russians artillery was positioned on the hills near the city and began continuous fire. The Russians concentrated their bombardment on the castle and the Wroclaw Gate. They managed to blow up a first breach in the city wall . But every gap in the wall was closed at night by the Swedes with earth and stones, so that the infantry could not attack.
On October 25, 1704, the Russians also managed to break a breach in the second city wall. On the 27th, the besiegers began to bombard the Wronker Gate, and the following day a breach 30 paces wide had been made. By October 31, the breach was 80 paces wide and the second wall collapsed. The Swedes sent several artillery pieces to the Wronker Tor to repel a storm. The guns were loaded with grapeshot to cause massive damage to the enemy infantry.
The besiegers used incendiary projectiles and set the city on fire. All residents were equipped with hooks and water to extinguish the flames. The city's Jews had been assigned the task of putting out the bullets. The German residents of Poznan were armed and had to defend the city in the event of a storm. During the siege, Johann Patkul wrote a letter to the commandant in which he called for the city to surrender . The messenger of the letter returned to General Patkul with no reply. Because the commander did not see him as a negotiating partner, Patkul had fallen out of favor in Sweden and could therefore not make such demands.
After the city had been besieged for three weeks, food began to run out. The commander ordered 300 horses of the Swedish cavalry to be slaughtered. The news of the approach of the Swedish king from Lemberg and the withdrawal of August the Strong from Warsaw unsettled the besiegers. On October 2, 1704, the orderly retreat began . This took place in the night and the Swedes left the city in the morning to pursue the Saxons.
consequences
There is no information about losses on the Saxon-Russian side. But the losses suffered by the Swedes were also low and are said to have amounted to 11 dead and 28 wounded. During the three-week siege, the Allied artillery fired 9,715 projectiles into the city.
The Saxon army fled home. On the way to Saxony, they united with the von Schulenberg army. The Russian corps also withdrew. This was pursued by the Swedish units and embroiled in minor skirmishes. On November 6th, King Charles XII met. in Poznan.
literature
- Emil Oehlschlaeger (1866): Posen brief history and description of the city of Posen, Ed. Merzbach, Posen
- Ersch and Gruber (1840): General Encyclopedia of Sciences and Arts, Ed. FABrockhaus, Leipzig
- Kazimierz Jarochowski: Zdobywcy i okupanci staropolskiego Poznania. Wydawnictwo Miejskie, Poznań 2007.