Battle of Schwetzin

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Battle of Schwetzin
Part of: Thirteen Years War
date September 17, 1462
place Schwetzin / Zarnowitz , Pomerellen
output Victory of the Polish Army
Parties to the conflict

POL Przemysł II 1295 COA.svg Kingdom of Poland Prussian Confederation
Unknow escutcheon-de.svg

Insignia Germany Order Teutonic.svg Teutonic Order State Hzm. Pomerania
Pommernwappen.jpg

Commander

Piotr Dunin
Matthias Hain
Johann Maydenburg
Paweł Jasieński
Captain Lucas

Fritz von Raveneck
Kaspar von Nostitz
Kaspar von Warnsdorf
Fritz von Hohennest
Stefan von Schönaich
Erich II. (Pomerania)

Troop strength
about 2,000 men approx. 2,700 men
losses

at least 100 dead,
150 seriously injured, most of whom did not survive

over 1000 dead
600 prisoners, including 70 knights

The Battle of Schwetzin ( in Polish Bitwa pod Świecinem ) was fought on September 17, 1462 in the Prussian Order between the places Schwetzin and Zarnowitz , northwest of Danzig , east of Lake Zarnowitz . Therefore it is also referred to in various sources as the Battle of Zarnowitz or the Battle of the Putziger Winkel . It is considered the last turning point of the Thirteen Years' War .

Strategic starting position

After the Prussian Confederation and its protecting power ( Kingdom of Poland ) suffered major failures at the beginning of the Thirteen Years' War, there was later a change in strategy: King Casimir IV handed over the supreme command of the Polish army to the experienced military leader Piotr Dunin , who was then burgrave in Cracow and Was the king's court marshal . From then on, the ineffective aristocratic contingent was no longer used in favor of professional soldiers. This was only possible thanks to the new taxes that were levied especially for this in Poland and in the alliance cities. The German Teutonic Knights , meanwhile financially exhausted and unable to establish large mercenary armies or already recruited to pay, but still seemed to gain the upper hand. From then on, both sides fought with much smaller but professional mercenary armies: the Poles liked to hire Czech veterans of the Hussite Wars , while the Teutonic Order primarily recruited in Silesia and Northern Germany.

In mid-1462, the allies controlled only the Vistula River with Danzig , the Warmia with Elbing and Frauenburg , half of Kulmerland , South Pomerania and Neidenburg . With a relatively small force, Dunin made a surprise attack on Frauenburg, which was besieged by the Teutonic Order .

On 9/10 In September 1462 Dunin advanced from Danzig against Putzig and Lauenburg . His troops of originally around 1,100 soldiers (600 armored infantry and horsemen, 400 crossbowmen and 112 heavily armored lancers) grew thanks to reinforcements (including 400 mercenaries on foot, 300 horsemen and 200 citizens' militia) from Danzig and Dirschau to around 2,000 men. He was also expecting another 500 mounted mercenaries from Thorn.

Polish soldiers 1447–1492, depiction of the history painter Jan Matejko (before 1893)

The forces of the Teutonic Order numbered around 2,700 men, led by Fritz von Raveneck and Kaspar von Nostitz , drawn from surrounding fortresses, including around 1,300 armed farmers from the area for any auxiliary work. The core of the armed force, however, was formed by around 1,000 horsemen (over 200 of them heavily armored knights) and 400 foot servants, plus servants. Therefore, the arithmetical superiority of the order's troops of around 700 men was illusory, since the farmers and charcoal burners cannot be compared with the professional soldiers in terms of fighting power. In addition, another 600 mounted men were expected under the Pomeranian Duke Erich II von Stolp .

Course of the battle

Piotr Dunin and his men first reached the later battle site. From here he could march both to Putzig in the east and towards Lauenburg further in the south-west. Today one can no longer say with certainty whether the bad weather mentioned in all the sources forced him to stop, whether he wanted to wait here for reinforcements from Thorn or whether he specifically chose this place for the future battle. Ultimately, the troops of the Teutonic Order had already been expected and on September 16 a reinforced wagon castle in the style of the Hussites was built on the lake shore not far from the village of Schwetzin . The Polish order of battle was based on the wagon castle on the right wing. Around 400 lightly armed footmen and militia under the Danzig captain Lucas and a few light cavalry were to remain in the wagon castle as reserves. Around 400 crossbowmen formed the quasi-hidden left wing in the forest somewhat away from the bank. More riflemen hid in the reeds. In the middle, in front of the wagon castle, Dunin placed his infantry, in front of it the light riders and on his forehead his 112 heavily armored knights.

The Teutonic Order initially believed that it was in a great superiority, as they had not noticed the arrival of the Danzig reinforcements in the Polish camp. Fritz von Raveneck therefore wanted to wipe out the enemy down to the last man before he could connect with the reinforcements from Thorn. He therefore ordered the peasants to block all escape routes by chopping wood, while the Polish camp was to be surrounded on three sides. Kaspar von Nostitz, one of the order captains, therefore sounded full-bodied that anyone who sets a foot should become the serf of the Polish king. However, since it was later noticed that the Poles were actually more numerous than originally assumed, a frontal attack was abandoned and they began to fortify themselves in the camp so as not to risk anything. However, it was too late to change the originally intended, simple order of battle. So the heavy knights stood in rows, followed by light sticks (riders), armored infantry, light infantry and peasants who were supposed to take care of the fragmented remains of the opposing army and storm the opposing camp.

Hussite chariot (replica); several cars clamped together formed a battle camp, the so-called "Wagenburg".

However, Dunin was able to prevent the knights of the order from building their own wagon castle within sight of the Polish by attacking his 112 heavy lancers, led by Paweł Jasieński . On top of that, the order soldiers could no longer set up the guns they were carrying. Although the heavy orderly cavalry that was supposed to intercept the Polish attack outnumbered it, it was able to stop the Polish attack, but wavered for a while and threatened to break in. Therefore Fritz von Raveneck personally led the rest of the riders to the frontal attack. They were followed by foot troops from both sides and met without anyone gaining the upper hand. After a three-hour dance, a break of several hours was called out to Dlugosz at noon so that everyone could recover and the wounds could be treated. It goes without saying that the list was also corrected. The Polish tank knights decided to retreat when the break was over. The knights of the order pursued them, cheered on by their captain Raveneck. But the Poles in retreat led their pursuers straight to the crossbowmen hidden in the forest, who greeted them at close range with a hail of deadly bolts. This second surprise was perfect. Around 75% of the order riders fell, including Fritz von Raveneck, who collected the survivors of the first volleys and wanted to have them re-attacked.

Panic then broke out among the Order's troops. Many soldiers and farmers tried to flee, above all Kaspar von Nostitz. With the rest of the Order's cavalry, he tried to sneak past the marshy bank, where all other escape routes were blocked. However, most of them got stuck in the swamp and drowned. After Dlugosz, the Polish knight Paweł Jasieński skilfully blew up individual piles of satellites by throwing his shield first on their lances with full force. He also led the attack on the camp of the Knights of the Order, which at first stood bravely under the command of Captain Schönaich. Piotr Dunin could no longer lead the last attack himself, as he was injured in the beginning on his arm and later on his leg by a bombshell . In the end, when the Polish infantry seemed to be getting tired, the Danzig captain Lucas and his troops left the wagon castle and finally routed the enemy infantry. However, as they could not really escape because of their own wooden barn, a bloody slaughter began.

Fortified wagon castle, ca.1480

When the battle was already over, the troops of the Duke of Pomerania, Erich II von Stolp , reached the battlefield . But when he saw that the troops of the Teutonic Order allied with him had suffered a catastrophic defeat, he immediately retreated, pursued by the Polish cavalry. In the battle the Danzig councilor Johann Meydenburg (or Magdeburg) fell, while Matthias Hain (in other sources "Matthias Hagen") later succumbed to his injuries. The then famous knight, Hector Chodorowski, fell on the Polish side. Piotr Dunin recovered from his wounds, unlike most of the seriously injured in this battle. Overall, the losses of the allies were comparatively small, those of the Teutonic Order were quite high - except for the escaped Kaspar von Nostitz. About 250 knights of the order died in battle, along with at least 750 other fighters, 600 were captured, including 70 knights. The corpse of Fritz von Raveneck was first brought to Putzig and later buried in the Zarnowitz monastery . Other dead were buried on the battlefield.

Memorial to the memory of the Battle of Schwetzin not far from today's village Świecino.

The victorious Poles and Danzigers captured around 200 wagons with all kinds of supplies and armaments as well as 15 guns with accessories in the opposing camp. They took 100 cars with them to Danzig. What they couldn't take with them was destroyed. The Thorner reinforcements, which were led by Captain Wojciech Górski , could not join Dunin's troops until September 20th.

Long term effects

The badly damaged Captain Dunin had not made the most of the victory. Because instead of moving past the towns and fortresses of the knights of the order to Danzig, he could have taken them with ease or even without a fight, since their teams had been lost in the battle. Nevertheless, in view of these total losses, the Teutonic Order was no longer able to actively fight west of the Vistula. There was a lack of officers, men, and financial resources. Duke Erich II of Pomerania changed sides again, took part in the Peace of Thorn and received two Polish fiefs in return : Lauenburg and Bütow .

literature

  • Marcin Bielski, Joachim Bielski, Kronika Polska , Sanok 1856
  • Marian Biskup, Druga faza wojny trzynastoletniej (1462-1466). [Second phase of the Thirteen Years' War 1462-1466] , in: Gerard Labuda (ed.), Historia Pomorza. [History of Pomerania] , Wydawnictwo Poznańskie, Poznań 1972, - Description of the Battle of Schwetzin: p. 738
  • Świecino , in: Tadeusz Bolduan, Nowy bedeker kaszubski , Gdańsk 1997
  • The city of Dantzig historical description edited by Reinhold Curicke and Georg Reinhold Curicke
  • JS Verlag / JG Gruber, General Encyclopedia of Arts and Science ... AG , Leipzig 1836, p. 402
  • K. Górski, Pomorze w dobie wojny trzynastoletniej. [Pomerania during the Thirteen Years' War] , Poznań 1932 - description and three maps of the Battle of Schwetzin
  • Stanisław Herbst Wojna Trzynastoletnia - O bitwie pod Świecinem. [The Thirteen Years War - About the Battle of Schwetzin] , Przegląd Historyczno-Wojskowy, vol. 7: 1934/1935, issue 2, pp. 309–311, reprint in: Stanisław Herbst, Potrzeba historii, czyli o polskim stylu życia. Wybór pism. Państwowy Instytut Wydawniczy, Warszawa 1978
  • Janusz Paprocki, "Herby rycerstwa polskiego", Kraków 1858, p. 806
  • Hans Prutz : History of the Neustadt district in West Prussia . Danzig 1872, pp. 68-76 .
  • Janusz Sikorski, Zarys historii wojskowości powszechnej do końca wieku XIX. [Universal history of military operations till 1900] , Wojskowy Instytut Historyczny, Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, Warszawa 1972. - Description of the battle near Schwetzin, pp. 287–288.
  • Janusz Sikorski (ed.), Wiesław Majewski, Tadeusz Marian Nowak, Jerzy Teodorczyk, Polskie tradycje wojskowe. Tradycje walk obronnych z najazdami Niemców, Krzyżaków, Szwedów, Turków i Tatarów X-XVII w. [Polish military traditions. Tradition of defense struggles with the invasions of the Germans, Teutonic Knights, Swedes, Turks and Tartars in 10th-17th centuries] . Wojskowy Instytut Historyczny, Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, Warszawa 1990. - description of the battle of Świecino: p. 127, map of the battle of Świecino: p. 114
  • Świecino , in: Róża Ostrowska, Izabela Trojanowska, Bedeker Kaszubski , Wydawnictwo Morskie, Gdańsk 1974
  • Johannes Voigt, History of Prussia: From the oldest times to the fall of the rule of the Teutonic Order , Königsberg 1838, p. 630 ff.
  • Bernard Wapowski, Mikołaj Malinowski, Dzieje Królestwa Polskego i Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego od roku 1380 , Vol. 3, pp. 462-464.

Contemporary chronicles

Source editions

Scientific literature

Bibliographies

  • Wolfgang Sonthofen: The German Order. Weltbild, Augsburg 1995, ISBN 3-89350-713-2 .
  • William Urban: Teutonic Knights: A Military History. Greenhill Books, London 2003, XIII + 290 pp., ISBN 1-85367-535-0 review .
  • Matthias Weber (ed.): Prussia in East Central Europe. Oldenbourg-Verlag, Koblenz 2003, ISBN 3-486-56718-7 .
  • Dieter Zimmerling: The German order of knights. Econ, Munich 1998, ISBN 3-430-19959-X .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. According to Wapowski / Malinowski (p. 467) that was only the number of dead knights, since the common ones were not necessarily included.
  2. ^ Wapowski / Malinowski, p. 467
  3. ^ Bielski, p. 782
  4. ^ Grautoff, p. 700
  5. Publication / Gruber, p. 402
  6. Koehler, p. 146