Battle of Fraustadt
Battle of Fraustadt | |||||||
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Part of Great Northern War | |||||||
Battallie bei Fraustad – Johann Christian Marchand | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Swedish Empire |
Saxony Tsardom of Russia | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld | Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
9,400:[1] 5,700 cavalry, (no artillery) |
20,000:[2] 4,000 cavalry, 32 artillery pieces | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1,500:[3] 1,077 wounded |
15,000:[4] 7,300–7,900 captured |
The Battle of Fraustadt was fought on 2 February 1706 (
Background
After
However, August II was not defeated and the Russians had an interest in supporting him. The Russo-Saxon strategic plan was for a Saxon army under Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg to break into Poland to join a larger cavalry force led by August II himself and then with the main Russian force, which was in Livonia, defeat the Swedish main army. In western Poland, however, there was a Swedish army corps under Rehnskiöld, which either had to be bypassed or fought by Schulenburg before the unification could take place.
In early March 1705, the Russian field marshal
Deployment
The Saxon army had not chosen its position carefully; Schulenburg had been maneuvered into a position chosen by the Swedes. Rehnskiöld withdrew his forces from Schlawa to Fraustadt. Rehnskiöld later stated in his journals, (in Swedish) “Så resolverade jag att draga mig till Fraustadt tillbaka i den tanken att locka till mig fienden efter mig utur sin fördel, inbillandes honom att jag ville alldeles draga mig av” roughly translated as ”Thus I resolved to withdraw to Fraustadt with the thought to lure the enemy to me away from his advantageous position, deceiving him into thinking I was in full retreat”.
The Saxons, superior in numbers regarding infantry (9,000 Saxons and 6,300 Russians), but with less cavalry (4,000 Saxons) than the Swedes, took a strong defensive position behind lines of
The battle
On the left flank, the
On the Saxon left flank, facing Rehnskiöld's infantry, the Russians were deployed with their uniforms inside-out so they would look more like Saxons with their red colors instead of the Russian-standard green. This was however an order from Schulenburg who questioned their battle skills to reveal the weakness of the flank.[10] The Swedish infantry assaulted the Saxon-Russian line frontally, under heavy cannon and musket fire. Upon discovering that the left wing of the enemy line was held by the Russian troops, Rhenskiöld directed his infantry to assault their positions, which were also being attacked from the rear by colonel von Krassow's cavalry. The Russian infantry were quickly surrounded and dispersed.
The Saxon middle had its flank and rear exposed, and its regiments buckled and broke formation in short order under the pressure along its left flank. The Saxon right flank initially held, inflicting some damage to the Swedish infantry until the cavalry in the frozen swamp attacked their rear. The Saxon-Russian army fell apart and the main body fled to the south through Fraustadt. The Swedish cavalry, previously bogged down in the swamp, raced ahead on the open terrain, and met the fleeing Saxons and Russians on the far outskirts of the town. Trapped by Swedish cavalry to their front and infantry to their rear, the defeated Saxon-Russian forces surrendered en masse.
Casualties and losses
In the end 7,377 Saxons and Russians had been killed and over 7,300 taken prisoner where of 2,000 of them were wounded. The Swedes suffered some 400 killed, (amongst them, commander of the Kronoberg Regiment, colonel Gabriel Lilliehöök) and 1,000 wounded. Schulenburg managed to escape, despite having suffered a bullet wound to his hip.[10] 71 banners, the whole Saxon artillery, 11,000 rapiers and equally as many muskets had also been captured. Rehnskiöld executed about 500 Russian prisoners; it is debated whether he did this in retaliation for Russian atrocities in Courland[11]: 699 or because he believed their inside-out coats were an attempt to be recognized as Saxons, who were given better terms in captivity. Hiding your own identity and claiming to be something else was frowned upon at the time, and sometimes considered reason enough to be denied quarter.[4]
Analysis
The Swedish success in the battle was mainly due to Rehnskiöld effectively neutralising the Saxon infantry, who were superior in number at the start of the battle,
Aftermath
The captured Russians (some 500) were, according to some historians, executed by an order from Rehnskiöld, although involvement of the latter has been disputed.[13] The authors further quotes Lieutenant Colonel Nils Gyllenstierna of the Norra Skånska cavalry regiment about the fate of the Russian infantry, (in Swedish) “på några 100 när massakrerat, emedan vi inte i begynnelsen kunde giva kvarter, eftersom vår vänstra flygel ännu stod i full eld” roughly translated as “all but a few hundred were massacred, as initially quarters could not be given, since our left flank was still in full assault”.
From Alexander Magnus Dahlberg's (Dragoon at Buchwalds dragoonregiment) diary:
"Ett ännu som mig underligit förekom vil jag här anföra, nemligen at ingen af de 6000:de ryssar som voro saxerne tilhielp gafs någon pardon, utan blefvo alla masacrerade; de voro alla munderade i hvita råckar med rödt foder, hvaraf några under flyckten som fådt så lång tid, vändt om råckarna och det röda fodret ut, fingo pardon i mening at de voro saxar, men sedan general Renschiöld fick veta at de voro ryssar, lät han föra dem för fronten, och befalte at skiuta dem för hufvudet, som var rätt ett ymkeligt spectacel."
Roughly translated to:
"Something which I found strange I’d like to here mention, is that none of the 6,000 Russians who were the Saxons help were given any mercy, but were instead all massacred; They were all dressed in white coats with red lining, with some during the retreat having turned their coats inside out to resemble Saxons in hope of mercy, but after General Renschiöld learned they were Russians, he had them taken to the front to be shot in the head, which was quite a wretched spectacle."
The road to Saxony was open for King
See also
References
- ISBN 91-46-21087-3.
- ISBN 978-91-85507-90-0.
- ^ Беспалов А. В. (Alexander V. Bespalov) Русский вспомогательный корпус на службе Саксонии в эпоху Великой Северной войны // Северная Европа: проблемы истории. Вып.5. М., 2005. С. 245.
- ^ ISBN 978-91-85507-90-0.
- ^ Cathal J. Nolan, Wars of the Age of Louis XIV (2008) pp 128-139, 186, 233-235.
- ^ Liljegren, Bengt (2000). Karl XII: en biografi. Lund: Historiska media. Libris 7776628. ISBN 91-88930-99-8 (inb.), p. 156-160.
- ^ Kuvaja, Christer (2008). Karolinska krigare 1660–1721. Stockholm: Schildts Förlags AB. ISBN 978-951-50-1823-6
- ^ Sjöström, Oskar; Nilsson, Bengt (2008). Fraustadt 1706: ett fält färgat rött. Lund: Historiska media. Libris 10741767. ISBN 978-91-85507-90-0 (inb.), p. 70.
- ^ Sjöström, Oskar; Nilsson, Bengt (2008). Fraustadt 1706: ett fält färgat rött. Lund: Historiska media. Libris 10741767. ISBN 978-91-85507-90-0 (inb.), p. 72.
- ^ a b Slaget vid Fraustadt, Youtube
- ISBN 9781851096671
- ^ "Battle of Fraustadt, 13 February 1706". www.historyofwar.org. Retrieved 2021-12-26.
- ISBN 91-46-21087-3