Battle in Nyasvish
Town hall in Nieswitz
| date | March 13, 1706 |
|---|---|
| place | Nyasvish , today's Belarus |
| output | Swedish victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| 500 dragoons | 1,125 Cossacks |
| losses | |
|
50 injured |
520 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 battle in Njaswisch (also called battle in Nieśwież or battle in Niezwitz ) was a small skirmish in the Great Northern War . It took place on March 13, 1706 in the city of Nyasvish and ended with a victory for the Swedish dragoons under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Johan Reinhold von Trautvetter . As a result, on May 5, the occupation of the Nyasvish fortress surrendered to the Swedes.
In advance
 
| |
The Swedish King Charles XII. waged a war of dethroning from the elected Polish king August II from 1701 . He tried everything in his power to depose the king and replace him with Stanislaus I. Leszczyński , who was loyal to Sweden . After the battle of Fraustadt , in which the Russian-Saxon army was defeated, August II split up his army and sent one part to Grodno and marched with the other part to Krakow . After the news of the defeat at Fraustadt in Grodno arrived, the Russian commander Olgivy decided to break out to Kiev with the remaining 10,000 combat-capable men. They escaped the Swedish persecutors and were able to save themselves across the border.
As a first target, bases of the Cossacks fighting on the Russian side were located and attacked by the pursuing Swedes. One of these supply and supply bases was Nyasvish. From here parts of the Cossack army had set out to attack the main army of the Swedish king.
Campaign of Charles XII. Late 1705 to late 1706
The battle
Colonel Trautvetter rode directly towards the city with 500 dragoons from the Meijerfeldt cavalry regiment. The about 1000 men strong crew of Nyasvish were completely taken by surprise by the attack and tried to find refuge in the fortress of Nyasvish. However, this was not granted to them by the Saxon and Polish-Lithuanian fortress troops. The Cossacks decided to close the city gates of Nyasvish and use the city wall as cover.
Trautvetter dismounted 300 of his dragoons and divided them into three battalions. They were looking for a suitable way over the city wall. When they had overcome the wall, the first thing they did was to take the city gate and let the other 200 horsemen ride into the city.
The Cossacks withdrew to the marketplace of Nyasvish and tried to defend it. After less than half an hour of street fighting, the first Cossacks surrendered. The colonel had ordered both the musket attack and the attack with the sword, so that the Cossacks were chased and killed by the Swedish horsemen through the streets of the city. About 500 Cossacks fled to the nearby monastery, where they were not within reach of the lieutenant colonel, and he had to be content with taking the city. Most of the Cossacks took shelter in the houses around the market square. From these they began to bombard the Swedes in cover. Surprised by this tactic, the Swedes withdrew briefly. The lieutenant colonel ordered the houses to be set on fire. Around 500–600 Cossacks burned in the houses; those who jumped out the windows or left the houses voluntarily went into captivity, around 180 Cossacks.
The losses and spoils of war
Over 500 Cossacks, including their commander Colonel Mikhail Mikhailovsky, died as the houses burned down. The Swedes had no deaths to complain about, but about 50 wounded. The lieutenant colonel sent them along with the prisoners to the main army of Charles XII. The Swedes captured four cannons, four banners and four pairs of kettledrons.
The consequences
Lieutenant Colonel Trautvetter did not stay long in Nyasvish. He left a small crew behind to wait for the main army and to move up later. He rode on with the bulk of his regiment towards Lachowicze, he was told that almost 2,000 Cossacks were gathered there to attack the Swedes. The Cossacks had already withdrawn to the fortress of Lachowicze and set fire to part of the city, so that Trautvetter began the siege of Lachowicze .
The occupation of the fortress surrendered on May 5th. King Charles XII. informed the commandant through his adjutant general Rosenstierna that he had to hand over the fortress. When the commander refused, the king threatened to hang the entire crew after the conquest. After an hour of reflection, the commandant surrendered the fortress without a fight, and the crew, about 200 men, went into captivity. 17 metal and 4 iron pieces were captured, which were melted down. The fortress was one of the most beautiful in Poland at that time. It had been equipped with four bulwarks and had enough space inside. The fortress was razed and blown up on the king's orders.
literature
- Gustaf Adlerfelt : Life of Carl the Twelfth, King of Sweden , 2nd part, Frankfurt and Leipzig 1741
- Knut Lundblad: History of Charles the Twelfth King of Sweden , Volume 1, Hamburg 1835