Draft:Bremen-Verden campaign (1657)
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| Bremen-Verden campaign | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Dano-Swedish War (1657–1658) | |||||||||
 Map of Bremen-Verden from 1655 by Frederik de Wit | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Swedish Empire |
 Denmark–Norway | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Charles X Gustav Carl Gustaf Wrangel Rutger von Ascheberg Adolph William Johann von Waldeck-Landau |
Anders Bille Jacob von Wancken | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
Bremenvörde garrison Stade garrison Harburg garrison |
| ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
On paper
|
Invasion force
| ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Placeholder | Heavy | ||||||||
The Bremen-Verden campaign was initiated by Denmark at the start of the Dano-Swedish War of 1657–1658. It failed after the Swedes, rapidly coming from the Commonwealth, pushed the Danish troops out in the Autumn. The Danish king, Frederick III, not expecting the Swedes to invade Jutland, failed to make proper defenses in the south, compromising his forces in Bremen and eventually forcing a withdrawal.
Background
[edit]After the Danish declaration of war against Sweden, Frederick III did not explain his strategy tom his generals, and they were somehwat unsure of which objectives to accomplish when the Danish army went into action in 1657. Despite no strategic plan being preserving in the archives, one can assume that Frederick intended Germany to be the main theatre of the war, because he had appointed Axel Urup in February 1657 as commander in Scania, with Anders Bille being in Holstein preparing the Danish army for its campaign. However, it took until 30 April for Frederick to give Bille overall command there, suggesting that the king planned to lead the army into Bremen personally.[1]
The Danish army in Holstein, called the Holstein army, consisted of some 13,000 men, which around half consisted of cavalry. A major share of the army was native Danes, mostly from Jutland, while the remainder were enlisted units from the continent. In comparison, the Danish army in Scania was smaller, consisting of around 8,000 men. The difference in numbers is explained by Frederick's focus on Bremen. He didn't have any objectives or plans in the Swedish mainland, the Danes were also aware of the difficulty in moving overland from Scania into the core provinces of Sweden.[1]
Campaign
[edit]The first offensive was carried out on the continent, directly against Bremen. A reason for this could possibly be that Frederick had personal links to the Duchy, as he had previously ruled Bremen as Prince Archbishop Frederick II, until Swedish forces expelled his forces in 1647, and the Duchy was ceded to Sweden in the Peace of Westphalia in 1648.[2]
For that, or other reasons, Anders Bille, on 26 June, led an army of an estimated 5,500 well-equipped but inexperienced men taken from the Holstein army over the Elbe River in an attack on Bremen. This invasion was supposed to occur on 23 June, but bad weather had delayed the crossing by three days. The governor of Glückstadt, Major General Jacob von Wancken, carried out a diversion against Bützfleth, next to Stade and a bastion at Schwinge.[2]
The diversion allowed for units taken from Lübbe's Black Regiment to cross unoppossed further to the north, east of modern-day Belum, north of Neuhaus, at the confluence of the Rivers Elbe and Oste. The Black Regiment quickly captured the bastion at Belem, and Bille along with other senior officers accompanied the advance guard. Another similar diversion took place further to the east, consisting of a fake crossing from Blankenese to Wedel. Because of the fake crossing, the Swedes believed that the main Danish force would cross further east, letting Bille's forces cross mostly unoppossed to the west of Stade.[2]
The Swedish army in Bremen-Verden was impressive on paper, consisting of around 2,800 cavalry, 50 dragoons, and 6,700 infantry. However, most of these were still in the process of recruitment, and most units were significantly understrengthed, aside from a few that were ready for operations. The infantry that was available was divided among the fortress in Bremen and bastions, with the strongest force being stationed at Stade under the command of Colonel Rutger von Ascheberg, while another, smaller force was stationed at Harburg under the command of Duke Adolph William of Saxe-Weimar and Johann von Waldeck-Landau. Other, weaker units were deployed on the western border of the City of Bremen (independent of the Duchy).[2]
In late February of 1657, Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Wrangel had inspected the fortifications and ordered for the garrisons to be reinforced and to prepare defenses. Noting that Denmark was preparing for war, he had handed over command to Major General Joachim von Volckmar, before returning to Pomerania where he reinforced defenses aswell.[3]
Bille did not bring the entire Holstein army into Bremen-Verden. He had left Major General Hans Rantzau with a strong corps of cavalry at the border with Mecklenburg. Bille's invasion force consisted of Buchwald's cavalry squadron, Hadersleben and Hvass' cavalry regiments, most of the Jutland Regiment of Foot and the nobles' battalion, along with Lübbe's Black Regiment of Foot, amounting to some 2,200 cavalry and between 2,800 to 3,300 infantry and dragoons. Later on, Sten Bille's cavalry Regiment and Kjeld Lange's Regiment of Foot joined the Danish invasion force.[4]
However, not everything proceeded smoothly, before the crossing, Lübbe's Black Regiment mutinied, since their colonel was abscent, leading them to not be paid. However, even if the invasion force was smaller than the Swedish army in Bremen, with most of the Swedish units understrengthed and spread out among multiple garrisons, Bille was able to achieve local superiority where he went.[5]
The Danes assumed that the Swedes could be dealt with by reducing three strongpoints, these being the bastions at Lehe, Bremervörde castle, and the capital of the Duchy, Stade. However, due to the fortification and defense of Stade, it was too strong to be accessible for the time being, and the Danes lacked sufficient artillery and infantry to besiege Bremervörde. The heavy artillery, along with gunpowder and shot were stored in Glückstadt, but the commander of it, Wancken, refused to give these supplies to Bille without authorization from King Frederick. Bille had previously requested these supplies through the administrative channels, but no reply had been given to the army, and without royal authoritization, nothing could be done.[6]
Additionally, it turned out that some Swedes were not in the fortifications. Bille received reports that Duke Adolph William and around 1,500 cavalry and dragoons were deployed at Horneburg, southeast of Stade. However, when Bille led his forces towards Horneburg, William quickly withdrew towards Stade, where Bille tried to raid his camp. However, the Danes were spotted by Swedish patrols, but as William retreated further, into Stade itself, Bille at least received the satisfaction of seeing the Swedish cavalry abandoning the open country.[6]
Afterwards, Bille marched on Bremervörde. In Stade, Major General Volckmar estimated Bille's army to be larger than it actually was, and thus refused to move out. As a result of Volckmark's refusal, the Danes were able to move around freely in the Duchy. Even though Stade remained in Swedish hands, the countryside of the Duchy quickly fell into Danish control.[7]
As for Bremervörde, Bille was forced to wait for the aformentioned artillery supplies from Glückstadt, where Wancken still awaited permission from the king. However, the king had gone away with the Danish fleet, and was unavailable to give instructions. King Frederick boarded the flahship Trefoldighet on 3 July, in an attempt to capture Charles X Gustav, as a report from the Prussian diplomat Ewald von Kleist claimed that Charles planned to sail back to Sweden based on letters that hd been intercepted from the Swedish Council of the Realm, urging the Swedish king to come home to Sweden in order to defend against the Danish invasion.[8]
To make Bille's situation worse, Wancken wrote to him on 9 July informing him that his written request for supplies had to be refused on formal grounds, since a noun in it had been misspelled, which changed the meaning slihtly. At this point, ignoring the bureaucracy, Bille instead took what he needed, with the right attached to his high office. On 11 July, this resulted in the delivery of four 18-pounder and four 12-pounder cannons, along with a few mortars. Using these against Bremervörde, he forced its capitulation a week later.[9][10]
Some days earlier, Lieutenant Colonel Eiler Holck had captured the bastions situated at Lehe, and he enjoyed naval superiorty. Both Lützen's Elbe squadron and Rosten's Weser squadron, amounting to six ships together, assisted in the capture. Out of the Danish objectives in the Duchy, only its capital, Stade, remained in Swedish control. Danish cavalry moved across the countryside of the Duchy without meeting significant resistance. Aside from Stade, Swedish garrisons remained in only a couple of small strongholds, mainly Burg and Schwinge. At this point, the situation appeared favourable for the Danes, Bille even managed to capture Schwinge on 24 July, along with repelling a relief force sent from Stade. However, then news of Charles X Gustav's advance towards Holstein from Pomerania arrived.[9]
Aftermath
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ^ Significantly understrengthed
References
[edit]- ^ a b Essen 2023, p. 140.
- ^ a b c d Essen 2023, p. 142.
- ^ Essen 2023, p. 142–143.
- ^ Essen 2023, p. 143.
- ^ Essen 2023, p. 143–144.
- ^ a b Essen 2023, p. 144.
- ^ Essen 2023, p. 144–145.
- ^ Essen 2023, p. 145.
- ^ a b Essen 2023, p. 146.
- ^ Worthington, David (2010-01-01). British and Irish Emigrants and Exiles in Europe: 1603 - 1688. BRILL. p. 175. ISBN 978-90-04-18008-6.
Works cited
[edit]- Isacsson, Claes-Göran (2015). Karl X Gustavs krig: Fälttågen i Polen, Tyskland, Baltikum, Danmark och Sverige 1655-1660 [Wars of Charles X Gustav: The campaigns in Poland, Germany, the Baltics, Denmark and Sweden 1655-1660] (in Swedish). Historiska Media. ISBN 9789175450117.
- Essen, Michael Fredholm von (2023). Charles X's Wars: Volume 3 - The Danish Wars, 1657-1660. Helion & Company. ISBN 9781915113603.