Siege of Wismar (1711)
| date | August 17, 1711 to January 19, 1712 |
|---|---|
| place | Wismar |
| output | Danish retreat |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
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|
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| Troop strength | |
| 3000 men | 6000 men |
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 Wismar from 1711 to 1712 occurred during the Great Northern War , when a Danish army blocked a large area of the Swedish fortress of Wismar in the Pomeranian campaign of 1711/1712 . The first state of siege began on August 17, 1711 and ended with the withdrawal of the Danish corps under Lieutenant General Jørgen Rantzau on January 19, 1712. Wismar was again besieged by a Danish corps from July 14, 1712 to November 7, 1712, also unsuccessfully.
course
In the year of the campaign in 1711, the main Danish army marched via Holstein to Wismar. At that time it consisted of 13,000 infantry and 11,000 cavalry. There, on August 17, 1711, a 6,000-strong Danish containment corps under Lieutenant General Hans Christoph von Schönfeldt left them behind and marched on to Stralsund to besiege the fortress there together with a Russian-Saxon army. The corps consisted of two infantry battalions and 28 cavalry squadrons . The Swedish garrison consisted of up to 5,000 men, divided into a dragoon regiment and four infantry regiments, and was led by the Swedish general Martin Simon Schoultz von Ascheraden . The Danish division was in poor condition and sank to only 4,000 men due to desertion and disease. Lieutenant General Rantzau weakened his forces by sending another 1,000 men to Rostock and Lübeck for forage operations . As a result, this small corps was unable to effectively block the fortress . A Danish warship blocked access to the Baltic Sea from the seaside . On October 1st, Lieutenant General Jørgen Rantzau took over command of the containment troops and replaced the unsuccessful Schönfeldt. At that time the troops consisted almost entirely of cavalry.
On December 5, 1711, the defender of the fortress, Major General Martin Schultz von Ascheraden, attacked the Danish camp near Lübow with his available forces. This attack was fatal for the Swedes. The Danes rallied faster than expected, and the retreat of the fortress garrison degenerated into irregular flight. Only the Bassewitz dragoons and 87 infantrymen escaped the battle near Lübow into the city, the way back was cut off for the rest. 478 dead and over 2000 prisoners were the loss of the crew, which with the remaining 450 teams fit for service could not even occupy the most important fortifications . However, since the Danes only had cavalry, the fortress could not be taken.
A bombardment of Wismar, which lasted from December 29th to January 2nd, had no effect either. It could not continue due to a lack of ammunition. There was also a lack of infantry to storm the breaches in the fortress. In addition, the fortress received reinforcements these days from the Swedish Croneberg regiment , which was brought in by sea , with a total of 2000 men. When the Danish army marched back south of Wismar to Holstein on January 19, 1712 after abandoning the siege of Stralsund , to set up winter quarters there, the Rantzausche Corps joined them.
Wismar was again surrounded by Rantzau's troops on July 14, 1712, but with even less success than the previous year. The Swedish dragoons were able to ride in and out of the blocked fortress. Before Magnus Stenbock's approaching army , Rantzau and his small corps went back to Holstein on November 7th.
literature
- Georg Tessin : Wismars Swedish Regiments in the Northern War , in: Yearbook of the Association for Mecklenburg History and Archeology, Volume 101 (1937), pp. 101–156 ( digitized version ) , Vol. 102 (1938), pp. 201–252