Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
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The Siege of Riga
In the summer of 1655, the Kingdom of Sweden is embroiled in a life and death struggle with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth!
The Swedish King Charles X.
... invaded the Polish-Lithuanian aristocratic republic with an army of 50,000 men in order to secure the Swedish holdings in the Baltic Sea.
Only 7,500 Swedish soldiers remained in the kingdom's Baltic provinces, who are also spread across various garrisons.
"When two people quarrel, the third one is happy," thinks another neighbor of the arguing empires, namely the Russian Tsar Aleksej Mikhailowitsch (Aleksej I.)
In the same summer, the Russian tsar invaded Estonia, Ingermanland and Kexholm with an army led by him personally, 25,000 strong.
At first she is doing well!
The Russians conquer the Swedish fortresses of Dünaburg in July and Kokenhusen (Koknese) Castle in August without much resistance.
The far inferior Swedes are left with only retreat, although they do not simply run away, but instead give the Russians constant combat.
On August 21, 1655 the Russian army appeared in front of the Riga fortress.
The city is defended by 2,000 horsemen and dragoons, 1,800 infantrymen and a number of voluntary citizens, but altogether hardly 5,000 men.
The Swedish commander of the city, Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie ...
... tries despite his small number of men and against the advice of his generals to defend the extensive and not yet completed external works.
The following night, however, they were destroyed in a Russian assault and the Swedish troops had to withdraw to the actual city.
The Russian army takes position on the Daugava and begins siege work in two places:
The fortress-like Riga Castle ...
... is besieged with seven regiments, and the city side to the river Daugava ...:
The Russians, who are inexperienced in the siege war, make serious mistakes:
At this point the Russian army failed to seize the mouth of the Dunes, which would have cut off Riga from the sea.
The siege work is taking place without a general plan. The trenches are being dug in a clumsy manner, and the bombardment is uncoordinated.
As a result, the Russian cannons cause great damage in the city, but the fortifications remain intact.
However, the Russian artillery bombardment has had a major impact on the morale of the citizens. Defectors and prisoners tell the Russians that the citizens demanded that the city be surrendered to the tsar, while the military strongly opposed it and were waiting for reinforcements.
On September 12th, the Swedish garrison actually received a reinforcement of 1,400 soldiers!
Thereupon Tsar Aleksey calls a council of war ...
... during which the possibility of an immediate capture of the fortress by storming as well as the advisability of a further siege was discussed.
Most generals express doubts that a storming would lead to success, since the fortifications of Riga have remained practically undamaged.
At the same time, rumors were circulating in the Russian camps that a plague epidemic had broken out in Riga (apparently a ruse set in motion by the Swedes!), Which led to great unrest among the Russian soldiers and spoke against a continuation of the siege.
On October 6, 1655, the siege was broken off and the Russian army marched off.
According to Swedish information, the Russian army is said to have lost 14,000 men, there are no Russian figures.
Despite the military failure at Riga, Moscow felt that the Baltic campaign of 1656 was a success. Documents testify to the Tsar's triumphant entry into Polotsk, Smolensk and Moscow...:
The conquest of almost the entire course of the Daugava, including Daugava and Kokenhusen, opened up an important connection line to the Baltic States for Russia
Because a little later Dorpat fell into Russian hands in October 1656 ...:
In the following year, Russian troops again invaded Livonia and conquered other areas. In 1658 the tsar and the Swedish king signed a three-year armistice agreement.
In the summer of 1655, the Kingdom of Sweden is embroiled in a life and death struggle with the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth!
The Swedish King Charles X.
... invaded the Polish-Lithuanian aristocratic republic with an army of 50,000 men in order to secure the Swedish holdings in the Baltic Sea.
Only 7,500 Swedish soldiers remained in the kingdom's Baltic provinces, who are also spread across various garrisons.
"When two people quarrel, the third one is happy," thinks another neighbor of the arguing empires, namely the Russian Tsar Aleksej Mikhailowitsch (Aleksej I.)
In the same summer, the Russian tsar invaded Estonia, Ingermanland and Kexholm with an army led by him personally, 25,000 strong.
At first she is doing well!
The Russians conquer the Swedish fortresses of Dünaburg in July and Kokenhusen (Koknese) Castle in August without much resistance.
The far inferior Swedes are left with only retreat, although they do not simply run away, but instead give the Russians constant combat.
On August 21, 1655 the Russian army appeared in front of the Riga fortress.
The city is defended by 2,000 horsemen and dragoons, 1,800 infantrymen and a number of voluntary citizens, but altogether hardly 5,000 men.
The Swedish commander of the city, Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie ...
... tries despite his small number of men and against the advice of his generals to defend the extensive and not yet completed external works.
The following night, however, they were destroyed in a Russian assault and the Swedish troops had to withdraw to the actual city.
The Russian army takes position on the Daugava and begins siege work in two places:
The fortress-like Riga Castle ...
... is besieged with seven regiments, and the city side to the river Daugava ...:
The Russians, who are inexperienced in the siege war, make serious mistakes:
At this point the Russian army failed to seize the mouth of the Dunes, which would have cut off Riga from the sea.
The siege work is taking place without a general plan. The trenches are being dug in a clumsy manner, and the bombardment is uncoordinated.
As a result, the Russian cannons cause great damage in the city, but the fortifications remain intact.
However, the Russian artillery bombardment has had a major impact on the morale of the citizens. Defectors and prisoners tell the Russians that the citizens demanded that the city be surrendered to the tsar, while the military strongly opposed it and were waiting for reinforcements.
On September 12th, the Swedish garrison actually received a reinforcement of 1,400 soldiers!
Thereupon Tsar Aleksey calls a council of war ...
... during which the possibility of an immediate capture of the fortress by storming as well as the advisability of a further siege was discussed.
Most generals express doubts that a storming would lead to success, since the fortifications of Riga have remained practically undamaged.
At the same time, rumors were circulating in the Russian camps that a plague epidemic had broken out in Riga (apparently a ruse set in motion by the Swedes!), Which led to great unrest among the Russian soldiers and spoke against a continuation of the siege.
On October 6, 1655, the siege was broken off and the Russian army marched off.
According to Swedish information, the Russian army is said to have lost 14,000 men, there are no Russian figures.
Despite the military failure at Riga, Moscow felt that the Baltic campaign of 1656 was a success. Documents testify to the Tsar's triumphant entry into Polotsk, Smolensk and Moscow...:
The conquest of almost the entire course of the Daugava, including Daugava and Kokenhusen, opened up an important connection line to the Baltic States for Russia
Because a little later Dorpat fell into Russian hands in October 1656 ...:
In the following year, Russian troops again invaded Livonia and conquered other areas. In 1658 the tsar and the Swedish king signed a three-year armistice agreement.
