| Siege of Stralsund | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theFranco-Swedish War | |||||||||
 Prise de Stralsund, byHippolyte Lecomte | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 French Empire Spain Kingdom of Holland |  Sweden | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Édouard MortierGuillaume BruneJean de Kindelan | Gustav IV AdolfHans Henric von Essen | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 40,000 | 15,000 500 guns | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 998 killed, wounded or captured | Unknown | ||||||||
Thesiege of Stralsund lasted from 24 July to 24 August, 1807, and saw troops from theFirst French Empire twice attempt to capture the port city fromLieutenant GeneralHans Henric von Essen's 15,000-man Swedish garrison. Early that year,MarshalÉdouard Adolphe Casimir Joseph Mortier blockaded the city for two months before he was called elsewhere. In his absence, the Swedes drove back the inferior blockading force. After Mortier returned and pushed Essen's troops back in turn, the two sides quickly concluded an armistice. The truce was later repudiated by KingGustav IV Adolf of Sweden, and MarshalGuillaume Marie Anne Brune then led 40,000 French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch soldiers against the fortress. Fearfully outnumbered, the Swedes abandoned theBaltic Sea port ofStralsund to the Franco-Allies in the action during theWar of the Fourth Coalition, part of theNapoleonic Wars. As a consequence, Sweden also lost the nearby island ofRügen.
Sweden was established inStralsund since theBattle of Stralsund (1628),[1] and in the rest of theDuchy of Pomerania since theTreaty of Stettin (1630).[2] By thePeace of Westphalia (1648) and theTreaty of Stettin (1653), the duchy was partitioned into aSwedish part, including Stralsund, and aBrandenburg-Prussian part.[3] After minor losses in theTreaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679),[4] Swedish Pomerania was reduced to the area north of thePeene river withGreifswald, Stralsund andRügen in theTreaty of Stockholm in 1720.[5]
WhenNapoleon Bonaparte started to expand eastwards in theNapoleonic Wars, theSwedish Empire initially maintained a neutral stance. In 1805, Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden entered theWar of the Third Coalition on the anti-French side, primarily to strip Napoleon's allyDenmark ofNorway. His Norwegian ambitions were thwarted by several military and diplomatic setbacks.[6]
Stralsund, a port inSwedish Pomerania, was defended by theSwedish governor Hans von Essen.[7] On 28 January,[8] French forces commanded by Marshal Mortier crossed thePeene River in an attempt to impose a blockade on Stralsund. To the east,General of DivisionCharles Louis Dieudonné Grandjean's division crossed the Peene atAnklam, driving back the Swedish outposts. To the west, General of Division Pierre Louis Dupas' division crossed the stream unopposed nearDemmin. On the 29th, Mortier's two divisions appeared before the port and on 30 January began the blockade.[9]
For the next two months, the two sides fought a number of skirmishes as the French strengthened their lines of investment. Without control of the island ofRügen, the French were unable to interrupt Stralsund's sea communications and were harassed by Swedish gunboats. During the blockade, one French cavalry and three infantry regiments were taken from Mortier to fight against the Russians in Poland and replaced by troops from theKingdom of Holland.[9]
On 29 March, Mortier received orders to leave Grandjean's division to maintain the blockade and march to assist in thesiege of Kolberg inBrandenburg-Prussian Pomerania.[7] After Mortier left,Essen drove Grandjean's outnumbered troops from their lines. Grandjean fell back to Anklam where he was attacked again on 3 April and forced to retreat southeast to the fortress ofStettin on theOder, arriving there on the 7th. Mortier retraced his steps and by 13 April had assembled 12,000 to 13,000 men at Stettin, about the same number as Essen. In very wet weather, Mortier began pressing Essen back to Anklam.[10] On 16 April, Mortier defeated the Swedes in theBattle of Belling.[11] The next day, Essen retreated to the north bank of the Peene.[10]
Beginning on 18 April, the French and Swedish forces arranged the truce of Schlatkow.[8] Anxious to employ Mortier's men against the Russians and Prussians, Napoleon had authorized the marshal to make a truce with the Swedes. For their part, the Swedes were upset that England had given them very little support. By the 29th, the terms were worked out. The Swedes were to stay on the north side of the Peene. They handed over the islands ofUsedom andWolin at the mouth of the Oder and promised not to help the Prussians at the sieges ofKolberg (Kolobrzeg) orDanzig.[12]
King Gustav IV Adolf landed in Stralsund on 12 May, and denounced the truce on 3 July.[8] By this time, theTreaties of Tilsit had just deprived Sweden of all her allies butGreat Britain.[6] King Gustav IV Adolf however viewed Napoleon as the "monster of the apocalypse" and was unwilling to compromise on his anti-French policies.[13]
On 24 July, French MarshalGuillaume Brune attacked the Swedish positions on thePeene river[8] and reoccupied the investing lines around Stralsund. Reinforced by troops from the failed siege of Kolberg, Brune massed a total of 40,000 men. His French troops included General of DivisionJean Boudet's 7-battalion French infantry division of 7,773 infantry and 200 artillerymen and General of DivisionGabriel Jean Joseph Molitor's 8-battalion French infantry division of 8,712 infantry and 205 gunners. The Dutch contingent had General of DivisionJean-Baptiste Dumonceau's 11-battalion infantry division of 9,924 foot soldiers and 570 gunners, General of DivisionHenri Gatien Bertrand's 6-battalion infantry division of 3,932 infantry and 159 artillerymen, and General of Division Carteret's 5-squadron cavalry brigade of 1,112 troopers.[14]
Brune's Spanish allies included GeneralPedro Caro, 3rd Marquis of la Romana's 14 infantry battalions and 12 cavalry squadrons. This corps totalled 9,763 infantry, 2,340 cavalry, 324 gunners, and 104 sappers. General of Division Domenico Pino led aKingdom of Italy division consisting of eight battalions, eight squadrons, two foot artillery batteries, and one horse artillery battery. TheGrand Duchy of Baden contributed six battalions, one squadron, and one foot artillery battery. The small German states were represented by theGrand Duchy of Würzburg, two battalions,Duchy of Berg, two battalions, andDuchy of Nassau, three battalions.[14]
The 15,000 Swedish defenders included three Finnish battalions, PommeranianLandwehr garrison troops, one battalion of the King's Household Infantry Regiment and one battalion of theEngelbrechten Infantry Regiment. There were 500 cannons in the fortress. Subordinate to Essen were Lieutenant General Armfelt, General-Major Vegesack, and General-Major Peyron.[14] Gustav IV Adolf left the town on 20 August.[8] Deciding that resistance was useless, the Swedes spiked the cannon and burned the gun carriages. They evacuated the port and transported the powder and shot to Rügen. During the second siege, the Franco-Allies lost 38 officers and 960 soldiers killed, wounded, missing, or died of illness. Swedish losses are unknown.[14] Stralsund and Rügen were surrendered to France in the course of an armistice.[7] Stralsund was handed over to the French on 24 August and Rügen on 7 September 1807.[8]
On 25 August,General of Brigade François Nicolas Fririon and naval Captain Peytes de Montcabrié attacked the fortified island ofDänholm near Rügen. The 1,200-man and two-gun force comprised one battalion of the 30th Line Infantry Regiment, artillery, sappers, pontonniers, miners, and sailors of the Imperial Guard. The successful operation cost the French 15 killed and 26 wounded.[15] The 600[16] to 800[17] Swedish defenders lost between 26[18] and 125[19] men in dead and wounded, while between 300[18] and 517 were captured. Eight fortress guns and six field pieces also fell into French hands.[20]
After Sweden was driven out of northern Germany in 1807, she became subject to attacks fromDenmark-Norway and theRussian Empire in 1808. Military mismanagement and lack of support led to Gustav IV Adolf being arrested on 13 March 1809 in the course of an insurrection. He was deposed in May and he and his family were expelled in December after Sweden lost a third of its realm in theTreaty of Fredrikshamn.[6]
French occupation ofStralsund was temporarily interrupted when aPrussianfreikorps underFerdinand von Schill seized the city in May 1809, but after a few days it was recaptured in theBattle of Stralsund.[7] When theNapoleonic Wars were concluded by theCongress of Vienna in 1815, Stralsund along with all ofSwedish Pomerania became part of thePrussianProvince of Pomerania.
Media related toSiege of Stralsund (1807) at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Battle of Friedland | Napoleonic Wars Siege of Stralsund (1807) | Succeeded by Battle of Copenhagen (1807) |