Siege of Stralsund (1715)

Siege of Stralsund (1715)

Part of: Great Northern War

Depiction of the siege of 1715

date	July 12 - December 23, 1715
place	Hanseatic city of Stralsund , Swedish Pomerania
output	Surrender of the Swedish occupation

Parties to the conflict
Sweden	Prussia Denmark Saxony
Commander
Charles XII. Karl culvert	Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau Jobst von Scholten August von Wackerbarth
Troop strength
9,000 men	25,000 men 74 battalions infantry 118 squadrons of cavalry
losses
3,000-5,000 men	Figures for Saxony only : 302 dead (22 officers) 635 wounded (87 officers) (this figure includes the losses of Peenemünde and Groß Stresow )

The siege of Stralsund during the Pomeranian Campaign of 1715/1716 in the Great Northern War began on July 12, 1715 and ended with the surrender of the Swedish occupation of Stralsund fortress on December 23, 1715.

prehistory

After the siege of the fortress failed in the years 1711 to 1713, a 25,000-strong siege army moved in front of Stralsund in the summer of 1715 under the command of the Prussian general Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau . The army consisted of Danish , Saxon and Prussian troops. The Prussian troops were stationed in the center of the siege ring, the Saxons on the right wing and the Danes on the left wing. The Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm I and the Danish King Friedrich IV also moved into quarters in the respective General Staff camps .

Prince Leopold von Anhalt-Dessau's approach to conquering Stralsund involved the capture of the islands of Usedom and Rügen . During the first sieges, the fortress had been continuously supplied with supplies from the island of Rügen. The island of Usedom was important because the Swedish Navy was also able to provide supplies between Usedom and Rügen.

The fortress

The Stralsund city fortifications were among the largest fortifications and defenses in Northern Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1711, the commandant, General Karl Gustav Düker , set up an armed and fortified troop camp under the cannons of the fortress at the Frankentor. He occupied it with three infantry regiments. In addition, the Swedes had created a continuous line of entrenchment with reduten and bulwark entrenchments in front of the works that were already in place. This line reached in the west to a quagmire and in the east to the coast of Strelasund . The nature of the terrain around Stralsund favored an effective defense. Due to muds and flooded fields, individual entrenchments with a small crew could have better defenses than the crews of the line defense wall.

The garrison strength of the city was about 9,000 men at the beginning of the siege. After the lost battle at Stresow , another 2,000 or so men fled together with Karl XII. into the fortress.

The siege

The first step of the besiegers off Stralsund was the conquest of the island of Usedom. General Georg Abraham von Arnim carried out the order to occupy the island of Usedom. The Danish Navy supported the Saxon-Prussian land attack from the sea. The cities of Wolgast and Wollin were taken at the first attempt, as was Swineschanze , which was manned by only 250 Swedish soldiers. Charles XII. left the island after the ski jump at the mouth of the Swine River fell and embarked for Stralsund.

Only the Peenemünder Schanze at the western tip offered bitter resistance. Their siege and the assault on August 21st brought the island into the possession of the Allies. Since, as in the previous sieges, there was insufficient siege artillery available, trenches were dug along the siege line. The Swedish crew tried to hinder the work on these trenches with constant failures . On October 19, 1715, the trenches built by 3,650 workers were ready.

After the sea ​​battles in the Greifswalder Bodden , the Danish fleet succeeded at the end of September 1715 in locking the Swedish fleet into the Stralsund fortress port. This enabled siege guns to be transported from Stettin to Anklam by ship. The artillery was divided up on the subsequent overland route. The first part was placed under Saxon command and directed towards the Frankentor, the second part was centered on the left Danish wing.

Left hand in the picture Tribseer Tor (around 1855)

On November 2, 1715, the Tribseer Tor was bombarded with 24 cannons and 12 mortars. With 6600 Saxon and Prussian infantry and 2000 cavalrymen under the command of Count von Wackerbarth, the three Swedish regiments in front of the Frankentor were to be attacked on the night of November 4th to 5th, 1715. The siege ring around Stralsund bordered here directly on the Strelasund. In favorable weather conditions, the water depth here was only about three feet. The Prussian Colonel Köppen received the order with about 1,800 men to stab the Swedes in the back at this point. While the majority of the attacking army, commanded by General von Löben, walked across the dams directly towards the garrison, 1,800 men, standing up to their waist in the water and in the dark of night, waded past the Swedish defensive lines and attacked the defenders again Country. The Swedes were overwhelmed in the battle that followed. Part of the crew was able to escape into the fortress via the drawbridge. Six Prussians who chased the fleeing Swedes were trapped and captured. 200 more Swedish soldiers were able to escape into the city via Prahme , the remaining 450 Swedes were taken prisoner of war . In addition, 25 cannons and supplies were captured. The failure attempt by General Düker following the next day was repulsed with heavy losses by the Swedes.

During the siege, the island of Rügen was taken in November 1715 under the command of Prince Leopold I of Anhalt-Dessau. To this end, 18,600 men were withdrawn from the siege army in the direction of Ludwigsburg . There they were shipped and sent to Rügen on November 15, 1715. On the evening of the same day the first battalions were landed; they holed up near Gross-Stresow. In the battle that followed, the Allies proved their worth against the Swedish assault. Karl XII., Who had crossed from Stralsund in secret to Rügen, had to leave the battlefield beaten and wounded. He returned to Stralsund. As a result, the island was taken and the city was besieged from this side.

From November 22, 1715, the siege troops intensified the shelling of the city and set it on fire from December 3 by firing incendiary bombs . This was the preparation for the final storming of the fortress. On December 5th, under the fire of the artillery, three assault columns advanced towards the cover path of the fortress. The storm began after the artillery paused fire. The Swedish crews on the cover route were quickly thrown back. After several unsuccessful attempts to recapture the route, the troops withdrew to the fortress. The conquest and defense of the road cost the Allies 500 dead and wounded.

On December 16, 1715, work began on the breach batteries to finally take the fortress. Negotiations for the surrender of the fortress without a fight were made by Charles XII. declined. With the help of the breaches , half of the hornworks could be climbed. The drop in temperature and the freezing over of the flooded trenches also made it easier to storm the Hornwerke. On the afternoon of December 17, 1715, the major attack began. The Swedish troops fought continuously against the superior enemy, but were forced to evacuate the outer works with heavy losses and the capture of 200 men and the capture of 25 cannons. This attack cost the lives of 100 attackers, some of whom broke through the thin ice of the flooded trenches and drowned. Other onrushes were killed by fladdermines and sacks of powder.

On December 18, 1715, Charles XII. a failure with 1,800 soldiers. He sent an advance guard of 25 soldiers to the position of the Danish besiegers. The Swedish vanguard attacked surprisingly, and Charles XII, in the uniform of a common soldier, stormed into the breach with his corps. General Großdorf, who was in reserve, rushed to the aid of the disordered Danes with his 1,000 men, and together the Swedish troops were stopped and repulsed. This failure was the last military action of Charles XII. on German soil. 100 dead Swedes were left on the battlefield, 70 were captured.

Since any further resistance was unsuccessful, Karl XII. bring the Allies a request for a five-week armistice. The negotiator was turned away. The King of Sweden wanted to wait for the main Allied assault and command the final defense of the fortress himself, but his generals and ministers urged him to leave. On December 19, 1715, he boarded the last small frigate in port and returned to Sweden. This route was not easy either, because the Danish fleet was cruising off Stralsund and the port was frozen over. After a passage was cut into the ice, the king sailed through the Danish fleet at night. Disadvantaged by the wind, it was not possible for them to raise the frigate . When the frigate passed the coast of Rügen, it was hit by twelve cannons and a battery. The Danish gunners killed two sailors and splintered the mast boom. Charles XII. was not injured in this bombardment and reached the open sea. There he was picked up by two Swedish cruisers and taken to Skåne .

The surrender

Memorial plaque to the surrender

After Charles XII. Having left the city, the besiegers broke the first breach in the main wall of the fortress. The commander General Düker had permission from the Swedish king to hand over the fortress. On December 22, 1715, the handover negotiations were completed. The 6,000 strong garrison of the fortress was taken prisoner of war. According to the surrender agreement, the 1,000 soldiers from Sweden, including 117 officers, were given safe conduct home. The remaining soldiers were integrated into the armies of the victors. The ammunition, artillery and supplies of the fortress also remained with the besiegers.

The spoils of war were divided among the victorious powers. The Prussians received the largest share. The Danes and Saxons received comparatively little booty. Saxony was awarded six cannons, 36 flags, two standards, a pair of kettledrum, 333 firearms and other equipment. From the prisoners of war, Elector August the Strong received six regiments of cavalry and ten - severely decimated - regiments of infantry, a total of 1250 men, including two generals, 22 staff officers, 85 captains and 142 subaltern officers. Only 500 of the men were accepted into the Saxon regiments, the rest were released as veterans.

The consequences

The loss of the Stralsund fortress and the handover of the likewise besieged Hanseatic city of Wismar in April 1716 ended the Northern War on German soil.

In the Peace of Frederiksborg between Denmark and Sweden, concluded in 1720 , the Hanseatic city was again placed under Swedish administration.

literature

• Hermann Voges : The siege of Stralsund in 1715 , Stettin 1922.
• Samuel F. Seydel: News of Patriotic Fortresses and Fortress Wars , Posen (1819)
• Johannes Anton Larraß : History of the Royal Saxon 6th Infantry Regiment No. 105 and its prehistory 1701 to 1887. Print: HL Kayser, Strasbourg i. E. 1887.

Web links

• Literature about the siege of Stralsund (1715) in the state bibliography MV

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g h} Seydel p. 233
2. ↑ ^{a b c} Larrass, p. 32
3. ↑ Larrass, p. 30
4. ↑ Seydel, p. 235
5. ↑ ^{a b} Larrass p. 31
6. ↑ Seydel, pp. 236-238
7. ↑ Seydel p. 239
8. ↑ Seydel, p. 242
9. ↑ ^{a b c} Seydel, p. 243
10. ↑ ^{a b c} Seydel, p. 244.