Battle of Warsaw (1656)
| date | 28. bis the 30th July 1656 |
|---|---|
| place | Warsaw , in Poland |
| output | Victory of the Swedes and Brandenburgers |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| up to 18,000 men of which 9,500 men in Sweden 8,500 men from Brandenburg |
up to 80,000 men u. a .: 1,200 hussars approx. 13,000 aristocratic contingent 20,000 Crimean Tatars |
| losses | |
|
approx. 700 dead and wounded |
approx. 3,000 dead and wounded |
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The Battle of Warsaw was a battle fought from July 28-30, 1656 between the armies of Poland-Lithuania in league with the Crimean Khanate on one side and the Kingdom of Sweden in league with the Electorate of Brandenburg on the other .
It was one of the greatest battles during the Second Northern War and Swedish-Polish War from 1655 to 1660. In this battle, the outnumbered Swedish-Brandenburg armed forces triumphed over the much larger Polish-Crimean Tatar army.
The consequences of the victory on the further course of the war were minimal, but the Polish capital Warsaw was reoccupied and plundered by the Swedes and Brandenburgers.
prehistory
The Polish-Lithuanian forces, commanded by King John II Casimir , had a total of around 50,000 to 60,000 men, of which only 4,500 were infantry . The rest were cavalry . Shortly before the battle, about 20,000 horsemen of the khans of the Crimean Tatars, allied with Poland, arrived. The opposing armies of the Swedes and Brandenburgers, commanded by King Karl X. Gustav and Elector Friedrich Wilhelm , had only 18,000 men, but their infantry was superior to the Polish with a total of 6,400 men. After landing near Danzig , the army marched south, towards Warsaw. John II Casimir led his army across the Vistula and met the approaching Swedish-Brandenburg armed forces on the right bank of the river about 5 kilometers north of the suburb of Praga . He was so sure of his victory that he told the French ambassador that he had given the Tartars the Swedes for breakfast and that he wanted to put the electors in a hole where neither the sun nor the moon shone.
Johann II Casimir, copper engraving by Willem Hondius , 1649
Karl X. Gustav, copper engraving by Franz Mazot, around 1650
Friedrich Wilhelm, copper engraving by Pieter de Jode the Elder. J. , 1657
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Course of the battle
First day
On the first day the Swedes and Brandenburgers launched a conventional frontal attack, which was repulsed by the Poles. The space between the Białołęka Forest in the east and the Vistula in the west was too narrow for the battle line and prevented the Swedish and Brandenburg infantry from forming an effective line of fire with their muskets and pikes.
In addition, the Polish-Lithuanian troops had carried out excavation work in front of their positions, giving them a defensive position that was very difficult to attack.
Second day
On the second day, the king and Friedrich Wilhelm personally convinced themselves that a frontal attack on the Polish entrenchments was pointless. During this fact-finding mission they noticed a small hill next to the forest, known as the "Colline". At the highest point, it was high enough to see the Białołęka Forest. The hill was also an excellent location for setting up the cannons. Friedrich Wilhelm then had the hill occupied and the Polish entrenchments taken from there under artillery fire. The Polish cavalry attacked the hill continuously, but the Brandenburgers held out. During this time the Swedes, waiting in the protection of the forest, were attacked by the Tatars, who, however, did little with their arrows against the gunfire of the well-drilled Swedes. In a daring maneuver - the Brandenburg troops faced the enemy alone at this time - Karl Gustav led the Swedish troops around the Brandenburgers, which went unnoticed by the Polish-Lithuanian troops. So they suddenly appeared around 4 p.m. on the right flank of the Polish troops . This new situation made the fighting positions of the Poles untenable. A counter-attack by the Polish-Lithuanian cavalry was not strong enough to break through the Swedish lines. Finally, the uncoordinated attacks by the Poles grew weaker and faded away during the night, and part of the army was already on the run.
third day
On the third day, the Polish-Lithuanian troops were finally defeated. Field Marshal von Sparr began bombarding his artillery for hours and ordered an attack by the pikemen against the Polish-Lithuanian troops, who were already demoralized and disorganized at the time. Friedrich Wilhelm carried out a cavalry attack on the right flank of the Poles and broke deep into their lines. This breakthrough caused the dissolution of the Polish army. John II Casimir realized that the battle was lost for him, withdrew his infantry over the then only Vistula bridge and then set it on fire. On the Warsaw bank the remnants of the Polish infantry scattered to all winds, while the cavalry on the Praga bank withdrew north and south along the Vistula. Johann Kasimir fled to Lublin.
Swedes and Brandenburgers followed over a ship bridge and were able to move into Warsaw unhindered.
aftermath
The Battle of Warsaw was the first significant after the Thirty Years War and caused a sensation across Europe, especially because of the Swedish tactical maneuver. Since the king and elector had very different war goals, they parted ways shortly after the battle and a victory parade in the streets of Warsaw: Karl Gustav marched in the direction of Danzig against a newly formed Polish force on the lower Vistula, Friedrich Wilhelm had to cross the eastern border of Prussia Securing invaded Lithuanian and Tatar horsemen.
The defeat of the Polish king forced the latter to transfer sovereignty over the Duchy of Prussia to Brandenburg in exchange for a new alliance between Poland and Brandenburg against Sweden in the Treaty of Wehlau in 1657.
Course of development towards the sovereignty of Prussia
- January 17, 1656 Treaty of Königsberg
- June 23, 1656 Treaty of Marienburg
- June 28-30, 1656 Battle of Warsaw
- November 20, 1656 Treaty of Labiau
- September 19, 1657 Treaty of Wehlau
- November 6, 1657 Treaty of Bromberg
- May 3, 1660 Treaty of Oliva
See also
literature
- Johann Gustav Droysen : The Battle of Warsaw 1656 . Verlag S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1865 ( digitized version )
- Curt Jany: History of the Prussian Army - From the 15th Century to 1914 , Volume 1, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1967, pp. 120-130
- August Riese: The three-day battle near Warsaw July 28, 29 and 30, 1656: The cradle of Prussian strength and Prussian victories . Publisher Mälzer, Breslau 1870.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Gloger, Bruno: Friedrich Wilhelm. Elector of Brandenburg Berlin: New Life, 1986, p. 130.
- ^ Curt Jany: History of the Prussian Army - From the 15th Century to 1914, Volume 1, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1967, p. 130
- ^ Gloger, Bruno: Friedrich Wilhelm. Elector of Brandenburg Berlin: New Life, 1986, p. 130.
- ^ Gloger, Bruno: Friedrich Wilhelm. Elector of Brandenburg Berlin: New Life, 1986, p. 133.