Battle of the Daugava

Battle of the Daugava

Part of: Great Northern War

Charles XII crosses the Düna, painting by Johann Philip Lemke

date	July 8 (July) / July 19 (greg.) 1701
place	Krämershof north of Riga
output	Victory of the Swedes

Parties to the conflict
Sweden	Saxony Russia Courland
Commander
Charles XII.	Adam Heinrich Graf von Steinau General Otto Arnold von Paykull Anikita Iwanowitsch Repnin Ferdinand Kettler
Troop strength
14,000 men, 7,000 of them involved	29,000 men, 13,000 of them involved
losses
100 dead 400 wounded	1,300 dead and wounded 700 prisoners

The Battle of the Daugava on July 8 (July) / July 19 (greg.) 1701 in the Great Northern War ended with a victory for the Swedish army under Charles XII. about the Saxon - Polish Crown Army . The site of the battle was on the Daugava River ( Latvian Daugava ), which flows into the Baltic Sea near Riga .

prehistory

The Swedish possessions in the Baltic States

During the first year of the war, the Swedish war opponents suffered two decisive defeats: Denmark was forced to withdraw from the war by landing at Humlebæk , and the Russian army was defeated at Narva at the end of 1700 . The main Swedish army, led by King Charles XII. Wintered in Tartu in Swedish Livonia and continued the campaign in the summer of 1701 with the goal of Poland-Lithuania . The combined Saxon-Russian Army, under the command of Adam Heinrich von Steinau , numbered 29,000 men, including 10,000 Russians, and was buried along the 600-meter-wide Daugava river, waiting for the Swedes to arrive.

The Saxon troops had fortified the right bank of the Daugava to prevent the Swedes from crossing over. The fortifications were particularly heavily occupied between Riga and Kockenhusen . Adam Heinrich Graf von Steinau was in command of the Saxon and Russian troops .

On July 17, 1701, King Charles XII. with its main army of 14,000 men, Riga . A detachment was sent to Kockenhusen to split the Saxon army. The Saxon commander-in-chief, Count von Steinau, was, as hoped, deceived and expected the transition at Kockenhusen. He withdrew to Kockenhusen with his part of the army. General Otto von Paykull and Ferdinand Kettler von Kurland were sent to Riga.

On July 18, 1701, the weather was still stormy and rainy, so that the generals advised the king against crossing over the following day. After the weather improved in the evening, the army of Charles XII began. to cross the river in small boats at dawn on July 19, 1701. At four in the morning, some boats that had previously been loaded with dung and straw were set on fire and steered towards the opposite bank of the river. When the boats were halfway through, the artillery began to fire on both sides of the Daugava. Since the fires that were kindled caused thick clouds of smoke on the river, the boats that followed were protected from direct fire by the Saxon artillery. So the first wave of attacks by the Swedes, 7,000 infantry and 600 horsemen, after three quarters of an hour rowing at Krämershof , a quarter of a mile below Riga, landed on the other bank of the river.

Course of the battle

Swedish troops cross the Daugava

The guard riders were the first to reach the right bank of the Daugava. Even before the landing contingent could arrange itself, Otto Arnold von Paykull started the attack. The Swedes had set up Spanish riders in the most endangered places . These slowed down the attack. The Swedish cavalry finally repulsed the attack by the Saxons. The Swedish infantry now also intervened in the battle, so that the Saxon troops finally fell back. The Russian auxiliaries also withdrew from the action.

Bombing of the fortress Dünamünde by royal Swedish troops in 1701

During the retreat, Field Marshal Steinau rearranged the Saxon troops. He ordered an immediate counterattack. The Duke of Courland gathered his cavalry and attacked the left wing of the Swedes with them. Again the Swedish cavalry was able to repel the attack.

In the meantime, the Swedish troops on the southern bank of the Daugava were reinforced by newly landed infantry regiments. Against this, Steinau and Paykull led their troops to the third attack, whereby both commanders were wounded. The superiority of the Swedes was now evident and at seven o'clock the battle was over. The Saxons withdrew in the direction of Daugavpils and the Kobron ski jump. After a short skirmish, the hill was abandoned and blown up. 400 Russians were holed up on a small island in the Dunes near the ski jump. Colonel Helmersen with a unit of 500 men was to attack the island. The Russians refused to give up and all but 20 men were killed. The Swedes, too, had suffered heavy losses; two thirds of the Swedish infantrymen and their commander Colonel Helmersen fell. At ten o'clock the last battle for the Swedes was won.

consequences

Battle of the Daugava

The Swedes captured about 700 men, plus almost the entire Saxon artillery stationed outside of Dünamünde . The Saxon army had been excellently equipped, so the Swedes fell into the hands of large quantities of supplies, provisions and ammunition stores.

The victory turned out to be momentous. The fear of the Swedish king and his troops grew with every victory. The Russians fled the theater of war, and the Saxons did not dare to stop in their retreat until they had reached Prussian soil. The 10,000-strong Russian Auxiliary Corps under Anikita Ivanovich Repnin withdrew to Russia after hardly being used in battle.

Kurland was at the mercy of the Swedes without protection. The capital, Mitau , was taken without significant resistance. It contained large quantities of essential war goods, including 8,000 muskets, 9,000 pistols, 12,000 yards of cloth and almost 800 complete uniforms. The whole country was occupied by Swedish troops. Kockenhusen was taken and at the end of 1701 the fortress of Dünamünde was taken. In March 1702, the main Swedish army went with Charles XII. to Poland and continued the war there against August II for the next few years.

literature

• Not so Fryxell: Life story of Charles the Twelfth, King of Sweden. Volume 1, Friedrich Vieweg and Son, Braunschweig 1861.
• Andreas Fryxell, Anton von Etzel: History of Karl the Twelfth. G. Senf's Buchhandlung, Leipzig 1865.

Web links

Commons : Battle of the Daugava  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Olle Larsson, Stormaktens sista krig (2009) Lund, Historiska Media. ISBN 978-91-85873-59-3 , pp. 108-111
2. ↑ Olle Larsson, Stormaktens sista krig (2009) Lund, Historiska Media. ISBN 978-91-85873-59-3 , pp. 108-111
3. ↑ Chorographic delineation of the Glükligen Descente over the Daugava, sambt the Victorieusen Bataille of His Royal Mayestet from South Carl XII. (contemporary representation of the transition over the Daugava)