Battle at Hummelshof

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Battle at Hummelshof
anonymous copper engraving, 1733
anonymous copper engraving, 1733
date July 18th jul. / July 29, 1702 greg.
place Hummelshof , Swedish Livonia
output russian victory
Parties to the conflict

Sweden 1650Sweden Sweden

Russia Tsarism 1699Tsarist Russia Russia

Commander

Sweden 1650Sweden Wolmar von Schlippenbach

Russia Tsarism 1699Tsarist Russia Boris Sheremetev

Troop strength
5700 men 10,000 men
losses

2500 dead and wounded
238 prisoners

400 dead,
400 wounded

The battle at Hummelshof (also known as the Battle of Sagnitz ) was a battle of the Great Northern War . It took place on July 18 . / July 29, 1702 greg. between the armies of the Swedish King Karl XII. and the army of Tsar of Russia Peter the Great instead. Hummelshof is located on the Kleiner Embach in what was then Swedish Livonia , now in Estonia . The Russian army was led by Field Marshal Sheremetev . Major General von Schlippenbach commanded the Swedish army .

prehistory

Battle at Hummelshof (Baltic Sea)
Battle at Hummelshof
Battle at Hummelshof
Location of the battlefield

Initially, King Charles XII. successfully defended the Swedish positions in the Baltic States until the end of 1700 (cf. Battle of Narva ). Instead of pursuing the defeated Russian army in order to destroy it completely and to force his opponent Tsar Peter I also to make peace, the king turned to his third opponent, the Saxon Elector and King in Poland, August the Strong . Karl considered the military development in the Baltic States to be of secondary importance. Since the main Swedish army was bound in Poland, far too few Swedish forces had to protect a large territory in Livonia. Because of the numerical superiority of the Russians, they succeeded less and less. Because the shift of the main Swedish power to the Polish theater of war increased the chances of Peter I to lead the war to a more favorable course and to conquer the desired access to the Baltic Sea for Russia. Tsar Peter used the time saved by the absence of the Swedish army to rearm and reorganize his army with enormous efforts.

When Charles XII. In the summer campaign of 1702 with the Swedish main army marched from Warsaw to Krakow , thereby exposing the Baltic theater of war, Peter I saw the opportunity again for an incursion into Livonia. From Pskov an army of 30,000 men crossed the Swedish-Russian border and reached Erastfer on July 16 . The Swedish headquarters of the Livonian army was located there until the Battle of Erastfer at the end of 1701. After the Swedish defeat in the battle, the Swedes moved their headquarters to Sagnitz.

The Russian army began to encircle General von Schlippenbach's army in their field camp at the Sagnitz estate . Since the area did not offer an advantageous defensive position, the Swedes withdrew over the Kleine Embach . On their retreat they destroyed all bridges over the river and occupied the bridge at Hummelshof. The summer of 1702 was hot and dry, which caused the river to dry out in places. The infantry and cavalry of the Russians were therefore able to cross the river in the river bed without any problems . This enabled the Russian troops to pursue and capture the Swedes.

Course of the battle

The Swedish possessions in the Baltic States

The attack began on the morning of July 19, 1702 at five o'clock. The Russians wanted to surround the Swedes first before the attack should take place. Von Schlippenbach recognized this fact and raised his army. The artillery was placed on a hill and fired at the approaching Russians. The Swedish cavalry quickly seized six Russian artillery pieces. The luck in the battle suddenly turned when the Swedish cavalry, similar to the battle of Erastfer, suddenly became disordered, which led to the chaotic retreat of the riders. Neither the command of the leader of the cavalry nor his aimed fire at the fleeing horsemen prevented them from destroying the orderly ranks of the Swedish infantry . Within a very short time all previous successes were lost again.

The Russian troops recaptured their guns and also captured those of the Swedes. The Swedish cavalry fled the battlefield and only gathered again in Pernau on the Baltic Sea . The Swedish infantry were now defenseless against the Russians. The infantrymen resisted fiercely and were almost all killed. Only a few managed to escape into the nearby woods. The commander of Schlippenbach left the battlefield under cover of a small returned cavalry group and also withdrew to Pernau.

The consequences

Russian spoils of war : Catherine I, second wife of Tsar Peter I and later Russian Empress

With the withdrawal of the Swedish troops, the flat land fell into the hands of the Russians. The town of Walk was burned down and its inhabitants deported to Pskov . They had to renounce their faith and join the Orthodox Church . Afterwards the Russians marched pillaging and pillaging through southern Swedish Livonia. Anything that could be carried away was brought to Russia. According to contemporary Swedish information, at least 20,000 horses were stolen.

The Russian general had the country ravaged by Tatars and Kalmyks , settlements destroyed and people abducted.

The Swedish king got the news of defeat and devastation after defeating the Saxon army in the battle of Klissow . However, he did not see it as important to leave some of his troops over from Schlippenbach. The campaign against Poland was more important to him.

The Russian troops also attacked Marienburg Castle. Its commander, Captain Wulf, bitterly defended the castle. When the Russians broke into the walls anyway, he blew it up. The Russians took the maid of the German preacher Glück with them from the city of Marienburg as spoils of war. This maid is the later second wife of the Russian Tsar Peter I and later Russian Empress Catherine I.

literature

  • Andreas Fryxell: History of Karl the Twelfth (= historical house library. Vol. 63, ZDB -ID 844999-5 ). Edited from Swedish by Anton von Etzel. Lorck, Leipzig 1860 (new edition. G. Senf's Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1865).
  • Not so Fryxell: Life story of Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden. Transferred from the Swedish original freely by Georg F. von Jenssen-Tusch. Volume 1. Vieweg, Braunschweig 1861.
  • Гуммельсгофъ. In: Военная энциклопедия. Volume 8: Гимры - Двигатели судовые. Т-во И. Д. Сытина, Санкт-Петербург 1912, pp. 536-537 .
  • Alexander von Richter: History of the German Baltic Sea provinces incorporated into the Russian Empire up to their union with the same. Part 2: The Baltic States as provinces of foreign empires. 1562-1721. Volume 2: History of Livonia and Estonia under Swedish rule. 1629-1721. Nicolai Kymmel's bookstore publisher, Riga 1858.

Individual evidence

  1. Micheal Clodfelter: Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500-2000, 2002, pp. 96f
  2. Micheal Clodfelter: Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Reference to Casualty and Other Figures, 1500-2000, 2002, pp. 96f
  3. Anders Fryxell: Life story of Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden. Volume 1. 1861, pp. 11-13 .
  4. Anders Fryxell: Life story of Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden. Volume 1. 1861, p. 13 .
  5. A. von Richter: History of the German Baltic provinces incorporated into the Russian Empire up to their unification with the same. Part 2. Volume 2. 1858.
  6. ^ Andreas Fryxell: History of Charles the Twelfth. 1860, p. 155 .