Invasion of Rügen (1678)
| date | September 22, 1678 to September 24, 1678 |
|---|---|
| place | to reprimand |
| output | Victory of Brandenburg and Denmark, renewed conquest of Rügen |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
Supreme Command: |
Supreme Command:
Landing Corps War fleet: Transport fleet:
|
| Troop strength | |
| 2,700 men including:
|
approx. 9,000 men including:
|
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Northern War (1674–1679)
Rathenow - Nauen - Fehrbellin - Wismar - Wolgast 1675 - Wolgast 1676 - Bornholm - Öland - Peenemünder Schanze - Stettin (1676/77) - Køgebucht - Bergen - Warksow - Rügen (1678) - Stralsund (1678) - Greifswald - Tilsit - Splitter - Telschi - Porta Westfalica
The invasion of Rügen from September 22 to 24, 1678 was a military operation in the Swedish-Brandenburg War or the Scandinavian War , which ended in the capture of the Swedish-ruled island of Rügen by the Allies Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark .
The operation was a prelude to the long-planned siege of Stralsund that followed shortly thereafter .
prehistory
The first invasion of Rügen in this war took place on September 17, 1677, in which the landing Danes succeeded in driving the Swedes from the entire island after the battle near Bergen . Soon afterwards, the Swedes, under the command of Field Marshal Otto Wilhelm von Königsmarck, started an attempt at reconquest, which the Swedes succeeded in after the victorious Battle of Warksow on January 18, 1678.
Despite this Swedish victory, the island was not permanently secured, as the Danes in particular made several incursions on Rügen during the summer.
The possession of the island of Rügen was strategically important for both warring parties, as the owner of the island also ensured the supply of the most important Swedish fortress in Swedish Pomerania , namely Stralsund on the mainland shore. The possession of the island was a basic requirement for the successful conquest of the Swedish-owned fortress Stralsund by the allied Brandenburgers and Danes.
Invasion of Rügen
Denmark provided a total of 27 warships for the invasion, which had the task of covering the landing. In addition, the Brandenburgers provided a total of 10 warships. 7 of them were rented ships from Raule (107 cannons and 435 crew members) and 3 ships were provided by the elector himself.
A Brandenburg army had been ready in Western Pomerania since mid-July 1678. However, the beginning was delayed by the late arrival of the Brandenburg ship squadron under Benjamin Raule , which did not arrive until August. In addition, the Brandenburgers needed a lot of time to put together the transport vehicles.
The transport fleet consisted of 210 larger and 140 smaller vehicles.
The Danish General Admiral Lieutenant Nils Juel took command of the navy . The transport fleet was commanded by Admiral General Cornelis Tromp . Field Marshal Derfflinger was in command of the Brandenburg Landing Corps. The Brandenburg landing corps had a strength of 1,440 cuirassiers, 300 dragoons and 5,500 infantry, a total of 7,240 men. The landing corps had field artillery : 4 6-pounders, 14 3- pounders , 76 men on duty . The strength of the Danish landing corps was 1,800 men.
This fleet was collected at the Stubber Bank in the Greifswalder Bodden . The plan of operations provided for the Danes to land in the north of the island and the Brandenburgers in the south of the island in order to achieve a fragmentation of the limited Swedish forces.
The Brandenburg fleet under the command of Elector Friedrich Wilhelm lifted anchor on September 22nd. In order to keep the Swedes in the dark about the place of landing for as long as possible, it was planned to have the fleet turned towards Palmer Ort and from there to change the course in a northeasterly direction towards Putbus and to go ashore there.
When the fleet reached Palmer Ort, however, the wind turned northeast. The planned maneuver was no longer feasible. In addition, the Swedes had guns posted on Zudar (southernmost peninsula of Rügen) that opened fire on the invasion fleet. In this critical situation a cannonball struck right next to the elector. Otherwise the damage was minor. Since the wind direction did not change, the fleet was brought out of range of the Swedish guns with great difficulty and anchored to wait for better wind.
The Danes, under the command of Admiral Nils Juel , managed to land at Cape Arkona near the fishing village of Vitt on September 22nd . A small Swedish crowd on site tried to counter the landing, but was pushed back over the Schaabe . In this little skirmish, the Danes lost 57 dead and 52 wounded. The Swedes' losses were higher. The Danes then holed up at the entrance to the narrow Schaabe spit . When the Swedish Field Marshal Königsmarck heard of the Danish landing, he ordered the immediate withdrawal of his troops, now in a hopeless situation, to Altefähr .
The elector, impatient because of the Danish landing, ordered to land at the next best point, as he feared, according to his information (he knew nothing about the Swedish retreat), that the Swedes would attack the Danes in a concentrated manner. The Brandenburgers went ashore near Neukamp on September 23, 1678. There was a Swedish hill with 8 guns and cavalry, which unsuccessfully shot at the landing troops. When the growing number of Brandenburgers in turn brought cannons into position and shot the hill on their part, the Swedes withdrew.
The landing forces were brought completely ashore in two hours. In addition to the Elector, the Brandenburg Field Marshal Derfflinger was also there.
The infantry that went ashore immediately began, as previously practiced, to set up Spanish horsemen to protect against an expected attack. The Swede Königsmarck that from Zudar had rushed retreated when he in full the Brandenburg army battle saw erected. In the subsequent pursuit of the Swedes by the Brandenburg cavalry, 200 Swedish prisoners were made. Derfflinger and his cavalry took up the pursuit of the Swedes on the morning of September 24th. In the meantime they had reached Altefähr, where there was utter confusion as everyone wanted to go to Stralsund. The Brandenburgers used this opportunity and stormed the jumps. It was possible to make over 700 prisoners and to take possession of 250 war horses and all cannons. Königsmarck managed to escape with great difficulty, but many overcrowded boats sank during the crossing.
The Brandenburgers conquered the important Neufährschanze with similar ease . The crew of this hill consisted for the most part of the Danish and Brandenburg prisoners of war made in January as a result of the lost battle of Warksow, who revolted against the orders of the Swedish officers and handed the hill over to the Brandenburgers without a fight. The island was again in the possession of the Allies.
Consequences of the invasion
The conquest of the island also sealed the military fate of the Swedish fortress Stralsund , which was besieged by Brandenburg troops. While the Danish troops remained on the island, the Brandenburgers were returned to the mainland to take part in the siege of Stralsund. The Allies captured the fortress after a heavy bombardment , as a result of which half of the city went up in flames, until October 22, 1678.
As agreed, the island became the property of the Danes, who held it until the peace agreement. After the Peace of Saint-Germain on June 29, 1679, the island returned to Swedish ownership. The island itself was economically ruined due to the many fighting and the large number of foreign troops, so that the Danish occupation had to be supplied by the Danish motherland until the end of the war.
Culture of remembrance
To commemorate the multiple landings on Rügen, the Prussian King Friedrich Wilhelm IV commissioned the erection of two 15 meter high Prussian columns at the respective landing sites in 1854 and 1855 . The monument near Neukamp, which shows the Great Elector Friedrich Wilhelm , was inaugurated on October 15, 1854. These pillars were also intended to demonstrate Prussia's claim to power over the southern Baltic region.
See also
literature
- Maren Lorenz : The wheel of violence. Military and civilian population in Northern Germany after the Thirty Years War (1650–1700). Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2007, ISBN 978-3-412-11606-4 .
- Otto Wendler : History of Rügen from the earliest times to the present. F. Becker, Bergen et al. 1895.
- Curt Jany : History of the Prussian Army. From the 15th century to 1914. Volume 1: From the beginnings to 1740. 2nd, supplemented edition, reprint. Biblio-Verlag, Osnabrück 1967, pp. 258-261.
Web links
- Battle summary in the Theatrum Europaeum , Volume 11
- Page 1160 urn : nbn: de: bvb: 384-uba000246-1341-9 (PDF; 263 kB)
- Page 1161 urn : nbn: de: bvb: 384-uba000246-1345-2 (PDF; 251 kB)