Battle of Jakobstadt

Battle of the Great Northern War
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Battle of Jakobstadt
Part of the Great Northern War

The Battle of Jakobstadt (engraving from the Johann Christoph Brotze's collection)
Date25 July 1704 (O.S.)
26 July 1704 (Swedish calendar)
5 August 1704 (N.S.)
Location
Jakobstadt, Duchy of Courland and Semigallia, (present day Jēkabpils, Latvia)
Result Swedish victory
Belligerents
Swedish Empire Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Tsardom of Russia
Commanders and leaders
Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt
Krzysztof Zawisza		 Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki
Grzegorz Antoni Ogiński
Strength

5,000:[1]

3,000 Swedish
2,000 Lithuanian

15,000:[1]

10,000 Polish
5,000 Russian
Casualties and losses

420:[2]

238 killed
181 wounded

3,000:[3]

2,300 killed
517 captured
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Great Northern War
Denmark and Holstein-Gottorp (1700)
Swedish Baltic dominions
Courland and Western Lithuania
Poland and Saxony
Russia and Eastern Lithuania
Sweden proper (including Finland)
Moldavia
Swedish German dominions
Mecklenburg and Holstein-Gottorp
Norway
Naval battles
Treaties
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Polish–Swedish War (1701–1706)

The Battle of Jakobstadt (Lithuanian: Jėkabpilio mūšis, Latvian: Kauja pie Jēkabpils, Swedish: Slaget vid Jakobstadt, Polish: Krzyżbork) was fought in the Great Northern War. It took place on 25 July 1704 (O.S.) / 26 July 1704 (Swedish calendar) / 5 August 1704 (N.S.) between a Swedish army under Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt and a combined Polish/Russian force under Great Hetman Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki at the town of Jēkabpils (German: Jakobstadt) in the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. The Swedes were victorious.[4][1]

Battle

Lewenhaupt divided his troops into two parts. The first formed by the Swedes and the second formed by the Lithuanians commanded by General Sapieha. The commander-in-chief of the Swedes did not intend for the Lithuanians to bear the brunt of the battle, only the Lithuanian cavalry could pursue the Russo-Poles after a hypothetical easy Swedish victory.

After disposing the troops, the Swedes marched on a broad front over the Russian lines. In the center, some battalions advanced too far and were repulsed.

Encouraged by the initial successes of the Swedes, Sapieha's son advanced with his Lithuanian contingent on the Russians. This interference with the order of the battle meant that the Russians gained the upper hand in this part of the battle and the Lithuanians already saw the battle as lost. They left the battlefield in a panic.

The Swedes retreated and reorganized, and launched a second attack in perfect battle order. This attack had the support of artillery, which quickly put the Poles to flight, leaving only the Russians on the battlefield. The sun was turning and it was facing the Russians, obstructing their sight of the enemy, and it was not possible for them to know where and with what force they were attacking the Swedes. Lewenhaupt managed with an iron fist to regain control of his troops and ordered a simultaneous salvo of all battalions on the Russian battle line. When the smoke of the powder cleared, the damage caused by the Swedish fire could be seen. The battlefield was covered by dead and wounded Russians. The remaining Russian troops retreated to their camp where they formed a circle with the food chariots, so that they could easily repel the cavalry attack and inflict considerable losses on the Swedish horsemen.

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b c Forces are usually set at 5,000-6,000 Swedes and Lithuanians and 15,000-17,000 Poles, Lithuanians and Russians. - Northern Wars, Oskar Sjöström[dead link]
  2. ^ 238 killed where of 57 Swedish. - Н. П. Волынский. Постепенное развитие русской регулярной конницы в эпоху Великого Петра. СПб. 1912.
  3. ^ 517 captured, where of 287 Russian. Some also drowned or wounded. - The Military History Of Charles Xii. King Of Sweden, Gustavus Adlerfeld (2011). pp 328
  4. ^ Kuvaja, Christer (2008). Karolinska krigare 1660–1721 (in Swedish). Helsingfors: Schildts Förlags AB. p. 164. ISBN 978-951-50-1823-6.

56°30′13″N 25°52′15″E / 56.50361°N 25.87083°E / 56.50361; 25.87083


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