User:Gvssy/Polish-Swedish War (1563–1568): Difference between revisions

Polish-Swedish War
Part of the Northern Seven Years' War
Date 1563–1568[a] Location Estonia Result Swedish victory Territorial changes Status quo ante bellum
Belligerents
Sweden	Polish–Lithuanian union Livonian nobility Duchy of Courland Estonian rebels Denmark–Norway Lübeck
Commanders and leaders
Eric XIV Svante Sture Åke Bengtsson Färla [sv] Henrik Klasson Horn Håkan Olsson   Torsten Henriksson	Sigismund II Augustus Konrad von Oldenbokum  † Henrik Dücker Kuntz von Ende  † Alexander Polobentski Gotthard Kettler
Units involved
Pernau garrison Reval garrison Karkus garrison	Leal garrison Lode garrison Hapsal garrison
Strength
1563 450 men 2 companies and 3 banners 1564 893 men[b] End of the year 2,400 men 900 cavalry 1565 2,467 men 907 cavalry	1563 800 Poles and Tatars 2 companies 4 banners 1564 Unknown 1565 200 men at Pernau Reinforcements 1,017 men 27 knights 6 banners of cavalry
Casualties and losses
1563 Neglible 1564 200 defected 1565 100 killed	1563 Neglible 1564 Unknown 1565 Heavy

The Polish-Swedish War (1563–1568), also called the First Polish War (Swedish: Första Polska Kriget)^[1][2][3] was a war primarily in the Baltic waged during the larger Northern Seven Years' War between Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian union, the Duchy of Courland, parts of the Livonian nobility, and Estonian rebels^[4] from 1563 to 1568 The war ultimately ended when John III became the King of Sweden,^[1][2] and the war resulted in a Swedish victory.^[5]

Livonian Order

Map showing the territory held by the Teutonic & Livonian Order in 1422

Around 1560, after the collapse of the Livonian Order from their defeat at the Battle of Ērģeme, its old territories were divided between Sweden, Denmark, Russia, and Poland.^[1][6][7] With these powers also fighting over the farmlands and commerce surrounding the Baltic sea.^[6] The Russians managed to conquer large areas of Estonia in 1558 which also included Narva, and this is said to have begun the power vacuum that lasted for more than thirty years.^[8][1]

Ösel and Wiek would fall into Danish rule, and Reval, Harrien, Wierland, and Järven fell under Swedish rule in 1561.^[1] Dorprat, Wesenberg, and Fellin would also quickly fall into Russian rule with the rest of the Livonian Order's territory becoming Polish.^[1]

Disputed icons

Tre Kronor symbol

Danish Coat of Arms

Denmark and Sweden have had a long and shared history of fighting and disagreements, but they also shared similiar experiences. During the Kalmar Union's existance, the three Nordic nations of Denmark, Sweden, and Norway had been ruled, atleast in theory, by one monarch.^[9] The Union had been dissolved and reinstated numerous times from 1389 to 1523, when Gustav Vasa's rebellion ended it definitevly.

Denmark had a tough time stopping the Swedish defection, and the end of the Kalmar Union let to strong feelings of mistrust and hate between Swedes and Danes.^[9]

The adoption of the Three Crowns into the Danish cosat of arms and the Danish lions into the Swedish coat of arms was seen as the primary reason for the war by both Eric and Frederick, with everything else not counting.^[9]

Battle of Bornholm (1563)

The Battle of Bornholm in 1563

Jakob Bagge

Admiral Jakob Bagge (1502-77)

In early 1563, 20 years after the Dacke War, the Swedish admiral Jakob Bagge was a 60 year old veteran. Eric XIV gave him a mission to provoke the Danes near Gotland or Bornholm and get them to attack the Swedish fleet so Eric was able to declare war on Denmark stating that he was acting in self defense.^[10] In order to provoke them, Bagge ordered the crew on the Swedish ships not to strike the top sail on their ships which was a normal practice to show respect.^[10]

The action was, for Bagge, hopefully going to be insulting enough for the Danes to attack. If everything went how Eric had planned, all of Europe would hear how Danish ships attacked the "poor Swedish ships who were just on the way to transport a wife for their king"^[10]

On 30 May, the Swedes set sail for Bornholm, they could have avoided the island entirely, as they were going to Rostock, but instead, they went as close as possible to Hammershus fortress and the harbor in Rönne. When they came in hearing distance, they fired two shots, which signalled that the ships were Swedish.^[10] In Hammershus, the Lübeckian chief Schweder Kettingk and his men were stationed there, however, in Rönne's harbour, there were several Danish warships.^[10] The harbor had been created as a temporary base for the Danish navy. King Frederick had previously given out an order saying that the Danish navy was to patrol the Baltic Sea and visit all Swedish ships that were encountered. If they found cargo ships with food or war material the cargo was to be confiscated.^[10]

The Danes held deep mistrust for the Swedes, and when the Danes first heard the two shots from the Swedish ships, three Danish warships were dispatched to meet the Swedes, one of these being the flagship Herkules with the admiral Jacob Brockenhuus onboard.^[10]

On the Swedish flagship, there weren't only Swedes, there was also a Hessian delagation, of which none knew of the true Swedish intentions.^[10] The atmosphere onboard was lively, with music playing. The crew's attention was not directed towards the three Danish warships that were quickly approaching. After the Danish ships had come closer, three shots were fired, signalling that the ships were Danish, after this signal, the events that followed are disputed.

According to Danish sources, the Danes fired three blanks to warn the Swedes of their presence and to allow the crew onboard to show their good will. After which they fired a live round which penetrated the sail of the Elefanten.^[10]

According to Swedish sources, the Danes only fired 2 blank rounds, with the third one being a live round which gave Bagge a reason to fire back at the Danes.^[10]

On the stern of the Elefanten, the "blood flag" was raised, which signalled the other ships that the sea battle was to begin.^[10][11] The Swedes did not spare any of their gunpowder, the hole in the Elefanten's sail was compensated for in the ensuing battle, which lasted several hours.^[10][12][13] Almost immediately, a Swedish cannonball hit the mainmast of the Herkules, which fell down and landed in the middle of the firing line for the men onboard, while the Danes were removing the mast, the Swedes continued shooting at the ship, causing heavy casualties.^[10] The Danes, who were aware of the possibility that fighting would break out, were taken by surprise by the Swedes.^[10]

The small group of three Danish ships that had sailed from Rönne were only intended to control the waters and make sure the Swedes respected their neighbours, and not for a large sea battle. It's likely that the Danes wanted to go onboard the Swedish ships to make sure everything was as it was supposed to be.^[10] The remaining Danish ships in Rönne did not come to help Admiral Jacob Brockenhuus, instead, they stayed at a safe distance and did not participate in the battle.^[10] As a result of their inferior numbers, the Danes suffered a crushing defeat, and when Brockenhuus, realizing that the remaining Danish ships would be destroyed, surrendered to the Swedes.^[10][13][12]

After the battle, and the Danes had been lured into his trap, Jacob Bagges mission was completed. As a consequence of the trap, Frederick and the Danish fleet were seen as the aggressor, and when the war broke out, Eric hoped that the entire world would "pour sympathy" for him.^[10]

On 9 August, Denmark and Lübeck declared war on Sweden,^[14][1] and on 5 October Denmark and Poland signed an alliance pact, although the Poles never sent an official declaration of war to the Swedes.^[1] When the war began, Svante Sture was the governor of Swedish Estonia^[15][16] and Charles de Mornay held command of the Swedish troops there.^[1] However, Mornay was needed in Sweden and instead command was handed over to Åke Bengtsson Färla.^[17][1] Åke had received strict orders from Eric to conquer the Danish holdings in Estonia if war broke out previously.^[18]

In the start of the Swedish campaign, it went as expected, mainly due to the Swedes being more numerous in men than the Danes.^[19] Åke then managed to successfully besiege and capture both Leal and Hapsal with around 450 men^[20] in Western Estonia in August.^{[19][17][1][21]} The capture of the two cities granted the Swedes control over almost all of Wiek.^[19] However, the success of the Swedes was quickly reduced, as both the Polish–Lithuanian Union and the Duchy of Courland intervened. In September, while the Swedes were besieging Lode, Gotthard Kettler along with four banners of cavalry, two companies of foot soldiers, and 800 Poles and Tatars^[20] attacked the Swedish besieging force, which consisted of around 2 banners and 3 companies of foot soldiers.^[20] After a while, the intevention force managed to chase the Swedes away on 30 September.^[19][1] Åke probably did not dare to meet Gotthard in open battle as the German cavalry in his forces refused to obey the king's orders.^[20]

Before the Swedes managed to organize a resistance, Poles and Germans under Danish service managed to recapture Leal from the Swedes.^[21][19] The defense of Leal was handed over to a number of nobles from Wiek by Gotthard, they had previously fled to Ösel during the initial Swedish offensive but had been recalled by Gotthard.^[21] Due to the Swedish force being so numerous, it was quickly able to repair the damage it sustained and they quickly recaptured Leal.^[19][1][21] As a consequence of the Swedes capturing Hapsal and Leal, the Danish Empire had been reduced to the sea.^[1]

Eric XIV saw the conflict with the Poles at the time with indifference and attempted to organize a truce, which failed. In October, Henrik Klasson Horn is assigned as the new commander in Estonia,^[21][1][22] he received 500,000 marks in funds and was ordered to keep a force of 6,000 soldiers and 1,000 cavalry in Estonia, which he never managed to get.^[1][21] Luckily for the Swedes, neither the Danes or the Poles prioritized the Baltic theatre. The Polish king dismissed all of his German cavalry in late 1563 and the Poles limited themselves to a careful offensive against the isolated Swedish fortress of Karkus.^[1][21] Eric had large ambitions for Horn, he was ordered to capture numerous castles belonging to the Diocese of Riga, the remaining fortresses under Duke John, and Ösel along with the surrounding islands.^[1][22][23]

In the start of 1564, it is clear to the Swedes that the war against Denmark–Norway required all of the available recources in the country, and Horn's missions were therefore reduced.^[23][1] He was now assigned to march against Ösel or alternatively against the castles arond Riga and then concentrate the Swedish forces on a defence of the Swedish holdings.^[1][23] The troops that were considered to not be needed in Estonia were also to be sent back to Sweden to fight against the Danes.^[1][23] The Swedish fortresses in Estonia had the following amount of defenders:^[1][23]

• Weissenstein: 220 men
• Karkus: 145 men
• Pernau: 275 men
• Leal: 28 men
• Hapsal: 225 men

Henrik Klasson Horn would begin the Swedish campaigning of the year by moving against Lode in the beginning of the year, and despite his lack of artillery and no Poles or Tatars intervening, he succeeded in taking it.^[1][21][23] During the siege, the lieutenant of Klaus Kursell, Henrik Dücker, defected to the Poles and joined Kaspar Oldenbokum, under whose command he brought around 200 horsemen.^[21] As a result of his conquest of the city, Horn had effectively ousted the Danes from the Estonian mainland.^[23] After he had taken Lode, Horn turned to Ösel, however, the weakness of the ice hindered him from crossing over to the island.^[1][23][21] Simultaneously, a message from Ösel claimed that Sweden and Denmark had begun peace negotiations, which Horn believed and on 19 February a truce for 2 months between the Swedes and Danes was established.^[1][23] The truce was later extended to 1 October 1564 to May 1565.^[1]

In the ending months of the war, Henrik Klasson Horn commanded around 2,400 men and around 900 cavalry.^[23]

At the beginning of the year, Swedish forces in Estonia consisted of around 2,467 soldiers and 907 cavalry according to a muster carried out in January.^[1] Other than the Poles, the Swedes were now faced with another dangerous enemy, Kaspar von Oldenbokum had assembled an army of mercenaries, who wanted to drive out the Swedes from Estonia and create a new Order, under Poland.^[1][24][25]

In the end of April, Kaspar von Oldenbokum and his mercenaries perform a coup the Swedish fortress of Pernau.^[1][24][25] Oldenbokum and his men organize a party at one of Pernau's council members, Klas Zinte, who they knew had a key to the city gates hanging in his bedroom at night.^[1][25] When Zinte, who had become very drunk, had gone to sleep, a mercenary snuck into his room and stolen the key.^[1][24][26] Under the cover of night, the city gate was opened and Oldenbokums and the rest of his men rushed into the city.^[1][24] The Swedish part of the garrison, around 100 men, were all slaughtered.^[1][24][25] Only a single mercenary is killed, who was the knight Kuntz von Ende, who had previously been in Swedish service.^[1][25] Pernaus fortress, under the command of Håkan Olsson, capitulates on 9 June, despite the stores being full and its walls intact.^[1][25] Henrik Klasson Horn tried on many occasions to assist Pernau, but decided that his forces were too weak to engage in open battle with Oldenbokums forces.^[1][25] Pernau falling into Polish control would mean that the land behind it would be open for Polish raids.^[1]

Almost simultaneously as Pernau was attacked, a force under Alexander Polobentski went to attack Karkus. The city was assaulted on the 8 and 13 May, but the defenders under the leadership of Torsten Henriksson repelled all of the attacks.^[1][25]

With Pernau being taken by Oldenbokum, a smaller force from the city march towards Reval, and after a while they established a camp near Töwesbrücken, around four miles from Reval.^[1] At this time, Horn would receive reinforcements consisting of around one Fähnlein of knights and a banner of Finnish cavalry.^[1][25] However, no battle developed, as the mercenaries pull back to avoid fighting with the Swedes.^[1][25] Under this time, Oldenbokum had received large reinforcements and marched off towards Reval with around 1,017 men, 27 knights, and 6 banners of cavalry.^[1] Oldenbokum arrived infront of Reval on 11 August and established a camp outside the city in a forest in Obermühlenberg to begin a siege of the city.^[1][23] Two days later, when Oldenbokum was having a party in his camp, Horn decides to commit to a sortie with three Fähnleins and 800 knights. This would come to be known as the Battle of Obermühlenberg,^[25] during the fighting, Oldenbokum was forced to pull back, and after the Swedes had followed his forces he was killed.^[1][25]

With Oldenbokums death, his forces collapsed, parts of the remaining forces however remain in control of Pernau and they would later hand it over to Polish troops.^[1]

After his victory, Horn did not dare to try to recapture Pernau, however, the victory allowed him to attack the weakest point in Danish Estonia: The island of Dagö.^[25] While the neighbouring island of Ösel was well defended by troops and burghers, Ösel was badly defended in comparison. Without much fighting, the Swedes were able to occupy the island, parts of Horn's forces were to stay on the island and defend it on Eric's behalf. Moreover, the loss of Dagö would not be the only Danish loss in the year.^[25]

According to the alliance treaty between Denmark and Poland, Pernau was to be given to Denmark if the Poles were able to recapture it from the Swedes. Despite the Pernau being in the control of pro-Polish mercenaries, the new lords of the city refused to hand either the city or the castle over to the Danes.^[23] This refusal increased the mistrust between Denmark and its eastern allies.^[23] Three weeks before Christmas, Horn marches out of Reval and cleanses the countryside from raiders, he also initiates a siege of Pernau. Despite him having no artillery, he decides to try to starve the city.^[1]