Battle of the Embach

Battle of the Embach

Part of: Great Northern War

Embach River at the confluence with Lake Peipus with the Swedish flotilla

date	April 26th July / May 7th 1704 greg.
place	on the Embach near Lake Peipus , Swedish Livonia
output	russian victory

Parties to the conflict
Russian Empire	Sweden
Commander
Nicolas von Werden	Carl Gustav Loschem von Hertzfeld
Troop strength
7317 men with 18 cannons in 100 unarmed boats	250 soldiers and 320 sailors in 13 ships with 98 cannons
losses
58 dead 162 wounded	190 dead 142 prisoners 13 ships

The battle on the Embach occurred on April 26th ^July. / May 7th 1704 ^greg. between a division of the newly established Russian Navy and a sea flotilla of the Swedish Navy during the Great Northern War on a tributary river of Lake Peipus . As a result, the Russian division succeeded in completely destroying the Swedish flotilla , thereby securing naval supremacy on Lake Peipus for Russia and securing further land operations for the conquest of Swedish Livonia by Russia.

prehistory

Russian forays into the Swedish heartland from 1700 to 1704

The Russian campaigns to conquer Livonia had so far been in vain. To date, the Swedish province has been able to effectively protect the Swedish commander, Löschern von Herzfeld, from being accessed by Russian units. The control of Lake Peipus was therefore of great importance for both warring parties for a decision in the fight for Livonia. At the beginning of the war, Sweden had no naval forces on Lake Peipus and began setting up a flotilla in the spring of 1701. The Swedish Admiralty College dispatched Vice Admiral Gideon from Numers to Dorpat in July with the task of leading the local activities. In the summer of 1702 the flotilla was under the command of Carl Gustav Loschem von Hertzfeld . The yacht Vivat was sunk by Russian forces in 1702 and rebuilt at a shipyard on the Embach River towards the end of the year . In May 1704 the flotilla had 13 ships:

• Victoria (6 cannons),
• Numers (4 cannons),
• Sergeant (14 cannons),
• Horn (4 cannons),
• Carlscrona (12 cannons),
• Stromfeld (5 cannons),
• Carl XII / Carolus (12 cannons),
• Narva (8 cannons),
• Schlippenbach (4 cannons),
• Elephant (6 cannons),
• Ulrica (10 cannons),
• Skytte (8 cannons),
• Vivat (6 cannons).

These war boats were equipped with a total of 98 guns, an average of seven cannons per boat. The Russian tactics of war relied on gaining naval supremacy on Lake Peipus from the Swedes before new military expeditions to Livonia were to be undertaken. During the winter months a number of vessels were built and made ready to sail on the eastern shores of the lake. When spring came, the skerries under the command of Sheremetyev left on the orders of Peter I Pskov and rowed to the western bank over the Embach upstream. They intended to enclose the Swedish ships that were anchored further upriver under Dorpat's protection by building a blockade at the river mouth. This should prevent any Swedish actions on Lake Peipus in the future. The Russian corps consisted of 7,317 men with 18 cannons in 100 unarmed boats.

course

Swedish brigantine Ulrica

The Swedish flotilla under extinguishers also left Dorpat and sailed down the river to Lake Peipus to undertake its own offensive operations on the lake.

According to the relevant literature, the Russians who had already reached the Embach learned about the Swedish plan in advance and took appropriate precautions. At a narrow point of the river, the Russians, under the command of Nicolas von Werden, built a barrier so that it was completely impassable for boats. Behind it were the Russian rowing boats. The many troops on board occupied the high embankments on both sides of the river and erected gun batteries that were supposed to fire on the Swedish ships. The Swedish commander had his flotilla hoist anchor at dawn and sail downstream. The Swedes had learned about the Russian barrier through farmers, but nevertheless confidently continued on their course. Loosening ordered his boats to accelerate their journey so that they could still meet the Russians in the open water. The Swedish boats could only sail one behind the other on the narrow river, so they had to recognize by the barrier that a breakthrough was hopeless. In addition, a very strong gunfire started from the embankments.

The Swedes had only 250 soldiers and 320 sailors and were clearly inferior to the Russians in terms of infantry. A retreat against the current was not possible, so that several hundred Swedes left their ships and waded to the shore, gathered there and fought their way through the Russian lines on foot and finally escaped to Dorpat with losses. All of the Swedish ships in the flotilla fell into Russian hands. The Swedish commander Löschern blew himself up and his flagship , the yacht “Carolus”, when it threatened to be seized by a Russian boarding party .

consequences

The action lasted three hours. The Russians captured 12 ships, 86 cannons and captured 142 men. Over 190 Swedes fell, 240 managed to return to Dorpat. According to Russian information, 58 Russians died in the battle with 162 wounded. The Russian detachment stayed at the battle site for the next few days and then withdrew to Pskov with the trophies on May 20. As a result, Russia won undivided naval control over Lake Peipus through this action . A supply of his troops in Livonia could now be guaranteed. Dorpat was now unprotected from the seaside. From then on, the Russian forces concentrated on the siege of Dorpat , which fell into the hands of the Russians on July 13th.

literature

• Robert K. Massie: Peter the Great: His Life and World, New York, 1980
• Edward J. Phillips: The Founding of Russia's Navy: Peter the Great and the Azov Fleet, 1688-1714, 1995
• Anders Fryxell: Life story of Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden, Volume 2, 1861
• Rickard, J (July 30, 2007), Battle of Lake Peipus, May 17, 1704, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_lake_peipus_1704.html

See also

• List of ship losses in the Great Northern War

Remarks

1. ↑ In the records of the course of events, the representations in the sources given contradict each other. It remains unclear who of the two parties initially took the initiative. Ultimately, it is also possible that both sides planned their own offensive actions independently of each other, which only overlapped in time and ultimately favored the Russian side, as they were able to leave the open water on the lake with their unarmed boats before the Swedes arrived .
2. ↑ Allegedly they found out about their plan through an open drinking session of the Swedes on the eve of their departure from Dorpat.
3. ↑ The documented events assume that the Swedish commander apparently had no exact information about the number and whereabouts of the Russian department. There is no further information on this in the sources given in the bibliography.