Siege of Tartu (1704)
Siege of Dorpat (Tartu)
| date | June 4th-13th July 1704 |
|---|---|
| place | Dorpat (Tartu), Swedish Livonia |
| output | Russian victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 5,000 men | 21,000 men |
| losses | |
|
810 dead and wounded |
317 dead, |
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 Tartu (Dorpat) was a military intervention in the Great Northern War . It took place in June and July 1704. The city of Tartu (German: Dorpat , Russian Дерпт , Derpt ) was occupied by Swedish troops . On July 13th they had to give in to the siege, which fell into Russian hands.
prehistory
In previous years, Russian and Swedish sea flotillas fought for supremacy on Lake Peipus. With the victory in the battle on the Embach in May 1704, Russia gained undivided naval control over Lake Peipus. A supply of his troops in Swedish Livonia could now be guaranteed. Dorpat was now unprotected from the seaside.
The Swedes were weakened more and more by the victories already achieved by the Russian army . With the capture of Dorpat and Narva, Tsar Peter I wanted to gain supremacy in Swedish Livonia . The fortress was commanded by Colonel Carl Gustaf Skytte and defended by 4-5,000 men. The armament consisted of 84 cannons, 18 mortars, 6 howitzers and 16 small movable cannons. The Russian army was led by Field Marshal Sheremetev .
Siege of Dorpat
On the evening of July 4, 1704, Field Marshal Sheremetev's vanguard reached Dorpat. The place was poorly guarded and poorly fortified. The Swedish city commander had the houses in the suburbs burned down in order to provide as little cover as possible for the attackers.
The siege was started with five regiments of dragoons , a total of 4975 men, and six infantry regiments with 5702 men. In addition, the artillery consisted of 55 cannons and 159 artillery soldiers. The total strength of the Russian corps was estimated at about 21,000 men.
The bombing of the city began on June 10th. On July 3, the tsar turned up in the Sheremetev camp as a surprise; he was concerned about the slow progress of the siege. When he let the Field Marshal inaugurate his plans, he criticized Sheremetev for planning and carrying out the plan. The fire was aimed at the strongest points of the fortress wall. The weak points in the river had been ignored by him. The Russian artillery was realigned and began shelling the fortifications near the shore on July 7th.
The assault on the fortress began on the night of July 12-13. In the run-up to the attack, the city was massively bombed. Russian infantrymen poured through the holes blasted in the wall. Despite the hopelessness of the fight, the Swedes surrendered only after a 10-hour bitter fight.
The commander personally entered into surrender negotiations with the Russian high command. He obtained the free withdrawal of the soldiers and all Swedish families and their belongings. The officers received their swords back immediately after the surrender and arranged for an orderly withdrawal from the fortress. There are reports that some Russian units, despite Russian pledges of security, plundered Swedish civilians and stripped them to the skin.
consequences
The storming of the fortress cost around 300, according to other sources, up to 800 Russian infantrymen. The Swedes recorded roughly the same number of casualties. This was a major defeat for the Swedes. They were already outnumbered by the Russians in every battle and lost a significant proportion of their available forces in the region.
By taking the fortified position on the Embach , the Russian armed forces had gained an important point of great strategic importance. Through the Embachstrom and the Peipussee in direct connection with Pleskau and the hinterland, it also formed the base for further ventures to the north and south. The place also formed the first major city on Livonian soil that came into Russian possession.
The tsar immediately moved on towards Narva in order to bring this city under his control. In 1708 the Tsar had the fortress in Dorpat razed and the remains of the city burned so that it could not fall into Swedish hands.
It was only after the end of the Northern War that Peter I had the city and castle rebuilt at great expense.
literature
- KF Reiche: Story of Tsar Peter the Great. Edited by Kollmann, Leipzig 1841.
- Hoffmann: Peter the Great as a military reformer and general. Frankfurt am Main 2010.
Individual evidence
- ^ Johann Friedrich Hartknoch: Contributions to the history of Peter the Great, first volume, 1774, p. 110.
- ^ Johann Friedrich Hartknoch: Contributions to the history of Peter the Great, first volume, 1774, p. 110.
- ↑ Hoffmann chap. 5, p. 74
- ↑ Lundblad, p. 313
- ↑ Reiche p. 91
- ↑ by F. Bienemann: The catastrophe of the city of Dorpat during the Northern War, Reval 1902, p. 11f.