Crossing of the Daugava

Crossing of the Daugava

Infobox Military Conflict
conflict=Crossing of Daugava/Düna


caption=Swedish Army crossing the Düna
partof=the Great Northern War
date=July 9 1701
place=Riga, Livonia
result=Decisive Swedish victory
combatant1=
combatant2=
commander1=Charles XII
commander2=August II
Adam Heinrich von Steinau
strength1=7,000 in the first wave of attack
strength2=Poles 10,000
Saxons 9,000
casualties1=100 KIA - 400 wounded
casualties2=2,000 KIA|

The Crossing of the Daugava on July 9 1701 was a Swedish push into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth after the Swedes' victory at the Narva in late 1700. The Swedish king Charles XII was in hot pursuit of his cousin King Augustus II the Strong of Poland and Saxony. The battle turned out to be a great Swedish triumph, the crossing was easily made, and enemy troops were quickly broken and scattered by retreat.

The battle started on the morning of the 9th. The Saxon/Polish army numbered approximately 19,000 men, under the command of the Saxon Generalfeldmarschall Adam Heinrich von Steinau. In the first attack wave about 7,000 Swedes crossed the Düna (Daugava), supported by a number of heavily armed ships, which under cover of smoke had managed to sail up the river. The Swedes launched a surprise attack on the Polish and Saxon forces camped on the opposite bank of Düna (Daugava) in the Spilve meadows. As the smoke slowly cleared away, the Saxons become aware what was going on and immediately launched a counterattack. The Swedish force, under the personal command of the king, would not retreat. After a brief stalemate, the Swedes managed to form up and initiate a second attack. After two hours the battle was won. The Swedish army successfully crossed the river, and the Saxons were in retreat.

During the battle, small barges armed with cannons were used, thus combining land and sea forces as well as deception (smoke) to achieve a stunning victory, carefully planned and very well executed.

After the battle, Courland fell to Sweden, and Charles XII and his army marched into Bauska, where the army stayed until August 11.

Trivia

In preparation for his attack on Riga, King Charles XII ordered the first bridge across the Daugava, which was made of anchored and interconnected by ropes boats. After the Swedish victory, the city was left with the structure. In 1705, the bridge, which had been lodged for the winter in Vējzaķsalas Bay, was washed away by the high spring waters. Later, the floating bridge was restored, but in 1710, it was destroyed again by the Russian army when it besieged Riga. [http://www.riga.lv/EN/Channels/About_Riga/History_of_Riga/Stories/Udeni/Daugava.htm Riga municipality portal] ]

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Crossing of the Düna — Part of the Great Northern War Swedish Army crossing the Düna …   Wikipedia

  • Crossing pylon — A crossing pylon is an electricity pylon for a crossing of an overhead line crossing over a body of water, or a valley.In order to allow ships passing underneath, crossing pylons across wide rivers and sea straits are frequently taller than… …   Wikipedia

  • Trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks — Ships on the Dnieper, by Nicholas Roerich. The trade route from the Varangians to the Greeks (Russian: Путь «из варяг в греки», Put iz varyag v greki, Swedish: Vägen från varjagerna till grekerna, Greek: Εμπορική Οδός Βαράγγων Ελλήνων) w …   Wikipedia

  • Operation Barbarossa — Part of the Eastern Front of World War II …   Wikipedia

  • Adam Heinrich von Steinau — Adam Heinrich Graf [German title|Graf] von Steinau (died 1712) was a Saxon Polish Generalfeldmarschall. Steinau served in the Bavarian contingent in the 1685 1688 campaign in Ottoman Hungary against the Ottoman Empire. He then participated in the …   Wikipedia

  • Otto Arnold von Paykull — Not to be confused with Johann Patkul (1660 1707). Otto Arnold von Paykull (b. ca 1662 in Swedish Livonia – d. February 4, 1707 in Stockholm, Sweden), was a Livonian officer in service of the Electorate of Saxony. He was born around 1662 in… …   Wikipedia

  • Cable Bridge (Riga) — The Cable Bridge ( lv. Vanšu tilts) in Riga is a cable stayed bridge that crosses the Daugava river in Riga, the capital of Latvia. It is one of five bridges crossing Daugava in Riga; it is 595 meters long, it was built during the Soviet period… …   Wikipedia

  • Polish–Swedish wars — The Polish–Swedish Wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden, in the wider meaning to the series of wars in which both Sweden and Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth participated between 1563 and 1721, in the… …   Wikipedia

  • Daugavpils Ghetto — Jews in the Daugavpils ghetto, probably in August, 1941 Also known as Dvinsk ghetto, the Citadel, Ghetto Dünaburg Lo …   Wikipedia

  • Dmowski's Line — (Polish: Linia Dmowskiego) was a proposed border of Poland after World War I. It was proposed by the Polish delegation at the Paris Peace Conference of 1919 and it was named after Roman Dmowski, Polish foreign minister. Poland wanted to get Upper …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”