Landing at Humlebæk
Swedish King Karl XII. at the landing in Humlebæk, 1700
| date | July 24 jul. / 4th August 1700 greg. |
|---|---|
| place | Humlebæk , on the island of Zealand in Denmark |
| output | Swedish victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
|
|
|
| Troop strength | |
| 2500 men ( infantry ) Swedish-English-Dutch fleet |
400 men ( cavalry ) 400 men (infantry) 7 amusettes |
| losses | |
|
no more than three dead |
about 25 dead |
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 landing at Humlebæk on July 24th jul. / 4th August 1700 greg. marks the beginning of the Great Northern War . The Swedish King Charles XII. landed in the summer on the Danish island of Zealand with about 2500 men. The landing took place near Humlebæk . The Danish defense, which was built quickly, was commanded by Jens Rostgaard.
prehistory
After the death of the Swedish king Karl XI. saw the loser states of the Second Northern War come their chance to recapture the lost country. The rulers of Denmark-Norway , which wanted to regain supremacy in the western Baltic Sea, Poland-Lithuania , which reclaimed the lost province of Livonia , and Russia , which wanted to regain the lost northern provinces and sought direct access to the Baltic Sea with a port, allied themselves against the young Swedish monarch Karl XII.
After the Danish king, the Duchy of Schleswig-Holstein-Gottorf , which was officially neutral, but secretly supported Sweden, had attacked the king was forced from Sweden to act. In the Altona Treaty , in which the sovereignty of the duchy was guaranteed by the Danish crown, Sweden acted as a guarantee power and so Karl XII. rush to the aid of the Duke of Holstein.
Charles XII. decided to attack Denmark on their own soil. He had chosen the island of Zealand as his destination. With the help of a small ruse, in which he let part of the Swedish fleet cross several times in front of a supposed landing site, he lured most of the Danish troops towards Rungsted. He had Carl Magnus Stuart scout out the actual landing site .
Preparations for landing
Charles XII. made his army and navy ready for war. At the end of June 1700, he assembled all the troops in Skåne in the fortress Karlskrona as well as 19 ships of the line and around 100 landing craft. In total, the Swedish king gathered around 16,000 men and 38 ships of the line for the attack on Denmark off Karlskrona. The fleet sailed from Karlskrona towards Öresund on July 24th .
However, a Danish fleet of 40 ships blocked the western entrance to the sound, forcing the Swedish ships to sail across a different route, known as Flintrännan - what was known as the very shallow fairway at the time. On July 15, the Swedish ships passed the Flintrännan. Only five ships ran aground during the passage.
After this passage the Swedes united with an Anglo-Dutch fleet consisting of 28 ships. The overwhelming force forced the Danish fleet to retreat to Copenhagen .
During the first wave of landing, 2500 of the 4700 infantrymen on board were supposed to conquer the beach between Helsingför and Copenhagen north of Humlebæk under cover of the ship's cannons. The king gave command of the naval artillery to Admiral Cornelius Anckarstjerna. Unfavorable winds prevented a landing on August 3rd. Not until the following day were all ships in position.
The preparation of the Swedish Navy for the invasion could be watched closely from the towers and ramparts of the Danish capital Copenhagen.
A Danish flotilla of 12 ships weighed anchor to intercept the landing boats. The Swedish admiral Anckarstjerna had part of the waiting fleet placed in the wind against the attackers in order to shoot them. This did not happen, however, because the Anglo-Dutch ships wanted to approach the Danes from behind to prevent them from retreating. When the Danish commander realized this, he withdrew with his fleet.
By delaying the landing, the Danish defenders managed to man the beach and the entrenchments behind it. The Danish counter-defense consisted of 400 horsemen and around 400 defense farmers . They also had six amusettes (field guns) installed in their entrenchments. The commander of this small unit was Jens Rostgaard .
The landing
The entire landing operation was commanded by General Stuart, the naval artillery Admiral Cornelius Anckarstjerna and the Swedish King Charles XII. as well as the generals Arvid Horn and Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld the landing troops.
The signal to begin the landing was six cannon shots and red flags on the mizzen mast of the admiral's ship. The signals were given on the afternoon of August 4th between five and six o'clock.
At the head of the Swedish guards regiment, Major Nummers and his battalion were the first to jump into the water and hurry ashore. The Swedes 'artillery kept firing at the Danes' positions, but it was not made easy for the Swedes to reach the beach. The Danish cavalry saw a good opportunity to attack the Swedes as they slowly waded near the beach. The commander sent his riders with drawn sabers against the attackers. However, the Swedish infantrymen managed to keep their rifles dry and the attack was stopped with a well-aimed counter fire and the Danish cavalry fled back behind the entrenchments.
The Swedish battalion reached the beach and secured the left wing. Spurred on by the action of his bodyguards, the Swedish king, as commander of the right wing, jumped into the water and quickly reached the beach with his soldiers. The Danish infantrymen approached the attack on their left wing out of the entrenchments, but the targeted fire of the ship artillery quickly forced them to retreat again.
The fortified farmers and infantrymen fled to behind the walls of Copenhagen. After successfully conquering the beach, the Swedish king fell on his knees and said a prayer of thanks.
After the beach was completely in Swedish hands, the Swedish camp was cut off and fortified with fortifications. The boats that the invading forces had brought ashore sailed back to the fleet and also brought the Uppland and Kalmar regiments safely ashore. That same evening, the entire Swedish force landed on Zealand.
The consequences
On August 5th, the citizens of Copenhagen protested against Commander Schack's hesitant behavior and called for a counterattack. At that time the commandant had about 10,000 infantry and cavalry at his disposal. But he suspected that Charles XII. had already landed more than 15,000 men. A letter was also sent to the King of Denmark-Norway about the commandant's lack of conscientiousness. The greatest outrage arose when it was learned that the regiments sent out had been ordered back halfway and that Zealand was surrendered to the Swedes.
The Swedish fleet sailed back to Sweden on August 5th and then brought General Magnus Stenbock with other troops to Zealand. The Swedish armed forces grew to 10,000 infantrymen and 5,000 cavalrymen on August 6th.
On August 9th the King of Sweden issued a letter of protection in which all residents of Zealand were assured of the protection of their person and property. With this step he won the hearts of the people of Zeeland. They poured into the Swedish camp and there was brisk trade and a market that was more visited than the Copenhagen market. Several nobles went to the Swedish camp to intercede for the city of Copenhagen. They hoped to prevent the city from being bombed in order to protect the cultural treasures and old buildings from destruction.
During the siege, the Swedish king organized such large hunts that the troops could be supplied with the game they had killed. Against all recommendations, the king often rode unaccompanied and repeatedly rode so close to the fortress wall of Copenhagen that he could easily have been captured.
The Danish king saw that the threat to the capital Copenhagen from the Swedes was too great to make peace with Charles XII. aspired to. The Swedish king did not come as a conqueror, but as a mediator who demanded compliance with the Altona Treaty and the withdrawal from Holstein.
The negotiations took place at Schloss Traventhal . On August 18, the Peace of Traventhal between the Swedish King Karl XII. and the Danish King Friedrich IV. closed. Denmark thus left the alliance against Sweden.
Individual evidence
literature
- Knut Lundblad and Georg Friedrick von Jenssen-Tusch: History of Charles the Twelfth King of Sweden Volume 1, Hamburg (1835)
- Anders Fryxell: History of Charles the Twelfth Leipzig (1860)