Polish–Swedish War (1626–1629)
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Polish–Swedish War | |||||||||
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Part of the Thirty Years War | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Swedish Empire |
Poland-Lithuania Holy Roman Empire | ||||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
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Strength | |||||||||
47,880 troops[citation needed] | 49,480 troops[citation needed] | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
5,680 killed[citation needed] | 4,080 killed[citation needed] |
The Polish–Swedish War of 1626–1629 was the fourth stage (after
Course
1626
The first encounter of the war took place near
In May 1626 King Gustavus Adolphus launched his invasion of
The Polish hetman (historical army rank equivalent to field marshal) Stanisław Koniecpolski quickly came to his king's aid with a force of 4,200 light cavalry, 1,000 dragoons, and 1,000 infantry. In early November the king handed him command of the army. With further reinforcements Koniecpolski soon had 10,000 men to match the 20,000 Swedish troops in Prussia. Engaging in a war of maneuver - small mobile units striking at the enemy's lines of communication - Hetman Koniecpolski managed to halt any further Swedish advances, even forcing the Swedes onto the defensive.
In the meantime, the
1627
Hetman Koniecpolski recaptured the town of Puck on 2 April 1627. The Swedes planned to strike at Koniecpolski from two directions — Oxenstierna from direction of the Vistula and Johann Streiff von Lauenstein and Maximilian Teuffel from Swedish-held Pomerania. The flooding of the Vistula disrupted their plans and allowed Koniecpolski to intercept the enemy units coming from neighboring Pomerania. In mid-April, Koniecpolski (with 2,150 hussars, 3,290 cossack cavalry, 2,515 western infantry, 1,620 Polish infantry, 1,265 dragoons and 2,000 Ukrainian Cossacks) surrounded a Swedish force inside the town of Czarne (Hammerstein).Three days later the Swedes surrendered, leaving behind their banners and standards. Many of the Swedish troops, who were predominantly newly raised German mercenaries, changed sides to the Commonwealth. This victory also convinced George William, Elector of Brandenburg, to declare his support for King Sigismund III.
During the night of May 22 to 23, King Gustavus Adolphus was lightly wounded while attempting a night-crossing of the River Vistula in a boat near (
Stanislaw Koniecpolski decided to take the war to the seas and gathered a small
Over the winter, Koniecpolski recognised the need to reform the Polish army, especially to strengthen the firepower of his infantry and artillery to match the Swedish units. The Swedes, for their part, learned from the Poles how to best employ their cavalry by using more aggressive tactics.
1628
In 1628 the Polish forces, lacking funding, were forced to stop their offensive and switch to defense. Swedish forces captured the towns of Nowy and
1629
On 2 February, while King Gustavus Adolphus was wintering in Sweden and Hetman Koniecpolski was away in Warsaw, the Polish forces were badly defeated at the Battle of Górzno, where a Swedish force under Field Marshal Herman Wrangel encountered a Polish army under Stanisław Potocki.[6]: 111 The Poles suffered 700 dead and wounded plus 600 captured; the Swedes lost only 30 dead and 60 wounded. Hearing of the defeat, the Polish Sejm was persuaded to increase funds for the army and accepted military aid from the
The Swedish king returned to Polish Prussia with substantial reinforcements in May, and marched south towards
Outcome
The Polish victory at Honigfeld was not followed up by
The Treaty of Altmark was eventually revised in the Commonwealth's favour in 1635 (
See also
- List of wars involving Poland – Chronological list of wars involving Poland
- List of wars involving Sweden
- Polish–Swedish War– History of military conflicts between the nations
References
- ^ Hulsenboom, Paul (February 23, 2024). "Diplomats as Poets, Poets as Diplomats. Poetic Gifts and Literary Reflections on the Dutch Mediations between Poland-Lithuania and Sweden in the First Half of the Seventeenth Century". Legatio: The Journal for Renaissance and Early Modern Diplomatic Studies (3): 63.
- ISBN 9189315634.
- ^ Swedish-Polish War, 1620-1629
- ISBN 83-05-11452-X.
- ^ Życie i myśl (in Polish). Pax. 1987. p. 167.
- ISBN 9780582064294
- ^ Ulf Sundber (1997). "Stilleståndet i Altmark 1629". svenskakrig/freder. Archived from the original on January 6, 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2019.
External links
- Swedish-Polish War, 1620-1629
- On GUSTAF II ADOLF and Poland: [1], [2], [3]