Battle of Wesenberg (1708)
| date | August 5th jul. / August 16, 1708 greg. |
|---|---|
| place | Rakvere , today's Estonia |
| output | russian victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
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|
|
| Troop strength | |
| 1500 men | 3000–3300 men |
| losses | |
|
704–916 dead and 244 prisoners (Russian information) |
16 dead and 53 wounded (Russian information) |
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
In the battle near Wesenberg on August 5th, July / August 16, 1708 greg. During the Great Northern War , a Russian contingent led by Fyodor Matwejewitsch Apraxin defeated a Swedish division near Wesenberg west of Narva in what was then Swedish Estonia .
prehistory
 
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In 1708 the Swedish High Command planned to regain Ingrianland , which had been lost in 1703, from the Russians. The main attack was to be carried out by the Finnish army under Georg Lybecker . The Swedish forces in Swedish Estonia and Swedish Livonia were very limited, so their tasks were to cover the provinces and tie up Russian contingents in Dorpat and Narva. In July 1708, a cavalry regiment and an infantry regiment were moved from Reval to Wesenberg to protect Estonia from Russian raids from Narva. The infantry regiment was under the command of Hans Henrik von Liewen . In August 1708 he went back to Reval. Heinrich Johann von Schlippenbach became the regiment's commander . The cavalry regiment was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Joachim Fredrik von Liewen . In the summer of 1708 the regiment numbered 600 men. This resulted in a total strength of 1500 men in front of Wesenberg.
On August 9, a Russian scouting party destroyed a Swedish mounted patrol near Wesenberg and captured six Swedes. The prisoners told of the two regiments near Wesenberg. The Russian commander, Admiral General Fyodor Apraxin, decided to attack these two regiments. His corps consisted of a dragoon regiment under Colonel Vasily Monastjrew with a total of 1000 dragoons, 300 dragoons of Bauer - Division , 500 Cossacks under Bekhmetew and three infantry battalions from the Narva garrison . In total there were 3,000 to 3,300 men.
Course of battle
Apraxin's troops left Narva on August 26, 1708 on their way west. On the same day, Russians destroyed a small Swedish fortification on the Sem River , which had been held by two infantry cohorts with a total of 150 men and 40 cavalrymen. Prisoners disclosed more information about the Swedish troop strength at Wesenberg. Apraxin decided to move further west. His vanguard consisted of 500 Cossacks under Bekhmetev, followed by Apraxin's dragoons and finally the infantry. When the Russian vanguard reached the Swedish camp at Vinna about two miles from Wesenberg, they found the Swedes already in combat formation and ready to fight. Bekhmetev decided to retreat to wait for the main force of the Russian troops. The Swedes followed him, but Apraxin's Dragoons reached the battlefield a mile west of Wesenberg in time and attacked the Swedes who were chasing Bekhmetev.
These threw back the Russian attack, so that Apraxin withdrew to wait for the following Russian infantry. When this reached the battlefield , the Russians formed a battle line and attacked the Swedes again. Apraxin wrote that the two battle lines approached within 45 meters. The Swedes only fired a volley and then withdrew. The Swedish cavalry also withdrew with minor losses. However, the route of retreat of the Swedish infantry was cut off by the Russian cavalry. As a result, the Swedish infantry were completely wiped out by the Russians. According to Apraxin himself, 244 Swedes are said to have been captured, including Heinrich Johan von Schlippenbach. 916 Swedes are said to have fallen; according to other sources, 704 men. Apraxin puts the Russian losses at only 16 dead and 53 wounded. The loss figures for the Swedish side are probably exaggerated.
consequences
After the Swedish contingent was annihilated, Apraxin and his troops were able to move east again in the direction of Lybecker's Finnish army, which at the same time crossed the Neva and moved west. At the same time there was no longer any effective relief for Lybecker's Finnish army by binding important Russian contingents from Swedish Estonia. Lybecker and his army were isolated in enemy territory and had to bear the brunt of the operations alone .
literature
- AZ Myshlaevsky (ed.): Collection of military and historical materials. Fifth volume. The Ingermanland and Finnish theater of war in the Great Northern War in the years 1708–1714. SPb. 1893.
- Johann Friedrich Hartknoch: Contributions to the history of Peter the Great, first volume, 1774, p. 208 f.
Remarks
- ↑ Swedish information on the losses was not available when the article was written and would be necessary to relativize the loss information.