Gustav’s basic infantry unit was the company composed of 51 soldiers. Eight companies formed a squadron and this was Gustav’s primary tactical unit. A cavalry squadron contained 175 men instead of the 408 for infantry. Two squadrons made up a field regiment which was the unit used to maneuver troops in the field. Regiments were often combined into brigades both for movement in battle and for marches.
Infantrymen were armed with either a pike or a musket. The pike was made lighter and reduced from 18 feet to 9. Body armor was lightened from breastplate, shield, arm and leg armor to a harness and helmet. The matchlock was of the best quality, lighter and less prone to misfire than others used in Europe. Musket weight was reduced from 14 pounds to 10. The Swedish musketeers did not have to use the fork to support their weapons. Some units were armed with the more advanced wheel locks. With the improved weapons and drill, the rate of fire in battle was increased to four times per hour, three times that of the enemy. The warrior king arranged his soldiers in platoons according to weapon and these were deployed in lines after the Dutch fashion, but not so deep. Whereas a Dutch battle order might be ten ranks with battalions stacked one behind the other, Gustav kept his to no more than six. He wanted a maximum number of troops to be engaged in the battle, not two or three files at the rear contributing nothing. He also used the pike not only as a defensive weapon, but as an offensive device to exploit an opening in the enemy line. To create the hole, Gustav used his musketeers.
Where Maurice’s intention was to produce a continuous rolling fire, Gustav wanted a shattering single volley, a blast that would blow the opening for his pikemen to exploit. To this end he placed his platoons of musketeers together and had them fire as a unit. While they were reloading, the pikemen charged, covering their reloading and possibly carrying the battle. But if they were repelled the musketeers would be ready to fire another volley.
These new weapons and new tactics required first class discipline to be successful and in this Gustav spared no effort. The use of these weapons and maneuvering in the field were practiced incessantly. The standards of discipline were codified in the Articles of War of 1621 written by Gustav himself and revised by Oxenstierna. The Swedish army was perhaps the best trained army in the world at that time.
Likewise, the cavalry underwent extensive and continual training. And here again Gustav had his own tactics; the emasculated horse maneuvers of the day were discarded. The king had learned from his cousin’s Polish mounted troops. Swedish cavalry was still armed with pistol or carbine, but also with the sword. They would not merely approach the enemy, fire and retire. No, they would charge using the sword and weight of the horse to effect. Like the pikemen Gustav expected his horse to attack through an opening in the enemy line and to create this hole he attached musketeers to the cavalry. The shoulder arms firing a single salvo would create a gap and the cavalry would charge, covering the musketeers’ reload. Again training and discipline were essential.
Artillery certainly did not escape the king’s attention for he was himself an excellent gunner. Gradually he standardized the size of guns and shot by weight of the projectile fired: twenty-four pounder, twelve and six. He was aided in this as Sweden had the iron and copper to manufacture its own armaments and do so less expensively than buying them abroad. Sweden was probably alone among European states in this ability.
Mounted guns of the early seventeenth century were used mostly in siege work. If used on an open battlefield, they were placed where they were expected to do the most good in the fighting, but relocation was generally not an option. Often the battle would move out of their range or they might just as likely be overrun.
After much experimenting under Gustav’s direct supervision, the Swedes came up with the regimental piece. This was a three pounder, light enough to be pulled by one horse or moved by two men. With this mobility it could be used right at the front, adding immeasurably to the musketeer’s firepower. They had a higher rate of fire than the musket and with the introduction of canister ball and grapeshot for close range, these pieces became decisive on many a battlefield. Regimental pieces were assigned to both infantry and cavalry units. For his German campaign Gustav took with him one piece for every 100 men, a weapon unavailable to the enemy.
Finally, king and chancellor had to provide for quartering this new standing army when not on campaign. Soldiers were placed with farmers. The soldiers were expected to work as farmhands in return for their board and keep. The farmer also got to deduct the soldier’s pay from his obligations to the crown. Officers were given farms of their own and the taxes were subtracted from the owner’s pay. Thus, a national standing army was ready for the king’s call.
As Gustav moved from campaign to campaign, his army would grow far beyond what could be supplied from Sweden’s 1.5 million population. Mercenaries had to be used to make up the difference. However, the Swedish conscript regiments would always remain the central core of his army. They were well trained and dependable. There was a trust and bond between these troops and their commander acquired only by leaders who share their soldiers’ circumstances, their hardships and dangers, commanders who lead from the front. In order to bring mercenaries up to something approaching this standard, hired professionals were required to submit to the same articles of war and the same extensive training. They were led by Swedish officers and NCOs.
Drawing on all his talents and multiple skills, Gustav Adolf, with the help of his brilliant chancellor, had created the strongest, most efficient army his country had ever possessed. Its capabilities and his were about to be tested.
14. Gustav Extends Swedish Power in Livonia and Prussia
On August 17, 1621, Gustav Adolf disembarked from his rebuilt navy at Pernau, Livonia, with an army of his own design. It had been 16 years since his father’s expedition that ended in the disastrous Battle of Kirkholm. Had Oxenstierna’s and his king’s reforms made a difference? The new Swedish army was about to receive its baptism of fire.
Put on the back burner by both Sweden and Poland while they were occupied in Russia, the conflict in Livonia had smoldered for a decade. It had become increasingly active as the countries withdrew from the eastern conflict. Sigismund, while still tied down in Muscovy, tried to destabilize Sweden’s position in the Baltics through propaganda and intrigues. Having extracted himself from conflicts with Denmark and Russia, Gustav wanted nothing more than peace in the region and tried to negotiate with his cousin, but to no avail.
Meanwhile, there was unrest among the nobility of the Duchy of Kurland deep in Polish Baltic territory. Problems grew until Duke William was forced to flee the country. He took refuge in Sweden. At the same time one of the nobles, Wohmar von Farensbach, proposed turning over the island fort of Dünamünde to Gustav if he would send a force of occupation. The fort guarded the mouth of the Düna River and was across from Riga. An expeditionary army was sent to the fort which was duly surrendered to the Swedish general Nils Stiensköld. He was in an excellent position to also take Riga. He did move on Pernau and captured that important port, but there his ambitions died. By the end of 1618 the Truce of Tolsburg was signed with Poland calling for a stabilized situation until November 1620. Gustav pushed for a longer cessation of the conflict even offering to return Pernau, but was rebuffed. Sigismund’s schemes and intrigues continued.
At the time of the expiration of the truce, the Polish king was grappling with Turkey in a war for Christendom. A Polish army had been crushed at the Battle of Cecora in Moldavia where the king’s brilliant general Zódlkiewski was killed. Now he had 45,000 Poles, Lithuanians and Ukrainian Cossacks defending a five square mile fortified camp at Chocim against a force of Turks twice that size. With his cousin thus occupied, Gustav took the opportunity to increase his bargaining position.
In July 1621 he landed a force at Dünamünde, then disembarked his main army at Pernau in early August. His force consisted of 14,700 foot and 3,150 horse arriving on 106 transports covered by 25 galleons, 3 pinnaces, 7 galleys
and 7 light warships. By August 29 the army was outside Riga to begin the attack. With Gustav were his brother Karl Filip, Jackob de la Gardie and Gustav Horn. Though not a pitched battle, this would be the first test of his new army.
Riga had been the target of Swedish aggression before, but this time the threat seemed ominous though the taking of such a city would not be a trivial matter. Riga was one of the old Hanseatic League trade centers and was still independent though it recognized Sigismund as protector.
Gustav reconnoitered the city himself on August 11 and was fired on from one of the towers. He found Riga to be well defended. The city was built on a peninsula, surrounded by an 18 foot thick medieval wall with some twenty towers. A water filled moat ran around the sides not protected by the Düna River. Supplies of food and ammunition were plentiful. The garrison was made up of 300 Polish regulars and a 3,700 man citizen army. On the 12th Gustav sent a letter to the city council offering to negotiate a settlement. The council replied that they would not consider any terms without Sigismund’s permission. And if attacked they would defend themselves with all means available. So the line was drawn and a siege inevitable.
Gustav’s army began entrenchments on the 13th under fire. Riga sent infantry and cavalry units to attack the besiegers, but the Swedes drove them back. By the 16th heavy artillery was in place and the bombardment of the city begun. The Swedish kartoger (42 pounders) and half kartoger (24 pounders) threw their heavy projectiles against the walls and towers. Mortars tossed incendiary shells over the walls into the city itself. Fires raged, but the city fought back valiantly conducting repairs to the towers and walls by night.
By the 18th Ebbenholm and Riga’s other defenses across the river were taken and the following day her flotilla was cleared from the Düna. On the 20th trench works on the land side of the city were completed and Riga was cut off from the outside world. Duke Johan took Riedricksholm across the river and on the 23rd Dahlen Castle on an island in the Düna fell, completing the city’s isolation.
Gustav now turned his guns against the main towers of the city, the Jakobbastion, Sandtower and Nyportbastion on the land side, and fired at the Marstallbastion and Redtower on the river side from Ebbenholm across the Düna. Riga returned fire with cannon mounted on the walls and in the city. Musket fire was exchanged between the walls and the entrenchments producing heavy casualties on both sides. In Riga the city council building was destroyed by fire. Gradually despair began to spread within the city walls.
By the 29th artillery in the Jakobbastion had been neutralized and the gate at the Sandtower destroyed. The Swedes tried a surprise night attack on the Marstallbastion from across the river, but it failed with heavy losses. Some of the Swedish guns had cracked and blown up due to the heavy firing, killing men of the gun crews. Attempts to attack from the land side by filling in the moat and using small boats also failed.
On August 30 Field Hetman Krzyszto II Radziwill arrived with 1,500 Lithuanian troops and three guns. He joined the small partisan force outside the city that had been harassing the Swedes. New hope sprung inside the city. The combined army attacked, but could make no headway against the Swedish trench works and guns. Gustav was prepared. Like Julias Caesar at Alesia, he had built a defensive perimeter of trenches facing outward ringing the siege trenches.
Radziwill pulled back and camped that night. On the 31st Swedish gunfire was leveled on Radziwill’s camp and he withdrew, leaving the city to fend for itself. The high hopes and jubilation inside the city were dashed.
On September 1 the Swedes were able to drain the moat. Now, trenches, tunnels and breastworks could be built right to the wall. The defenders dug tunnels to intercept the besieger’s tunnels and planted mines under their trenches just as the Swedes were planting mines in their tunnels under the city’s walls and towers. Some of these tunnels intersected and miners fought with shovels and picks beneath the earth.
Herman Wrangel took his Mansfeldt Regiment across the moat and seized the first city fortifications to be taken by the Swedes, but a well placed mine caused heavy casualties. Over the next several days artillery fire was concentrated on Jakobbastion, Nyportbastion and Sandtower followed by repeated attempts to storm the fortifications. Though none were successful and heavy casualties were suffered, the defenses were wearing down.
Gustav had several mines placed under the city walls and many assault bridges readied for deployment. On the 12th he sent a last letter urging the defenders to negotiate before the final attack. The city accepted the invitation and on September 15, 1621, Riga surrendered to Sweden. Gustav’s new army had passed its first test.
Gustav led his victorious troops into Kurland where he took the capital of Mitau before Radziwill could reinforce it. By year’s end Gustav had taken Wolmar. Radziwill remained just clear of the Swedish armies, waiting for Sigismund to send reinforcements.
Riga was a port city of 30,000 people, three times the size of Stockholm. It was prosperous, the main trade center for goods flowing west out of Russia and Lithuania. It would become the greatest city in the Swedish Empire.
By the terms of the surrender, the city was to send representatives to the Riksdag and its citizens had the right of appeal to the Swedish Supreme Court. Still, in peace negotiations with Sigismund, Gustav offered to give up all his Livonian positions in exchange for a long term truce (50 to 60 years) or a permanent peace treaty. But Sigismund harbored ambitions of obtaining the Swedish throne and now he had Livonian territory to recover from his cousin as well. What’s more, the Swedish army suffered terribly during the winter of 1622, losing half its number to disease and starvation. Finally, in October 1622 Gustav accepted a two year truce leaving Riga and Pernau in his hands. Gustav had returned to Stockholm leaving Karl Filip in Livonia to oversee the new Swedish territories. Karl Filip would die there of typhus the next year along with half his army.
Just as things were quieting in Livonia, Denmark began agitating for better treatment from Sweden. Christian IV complained the provisions of the Peace of Knäred were not being adhered to by the Swedes. In particular, Sweden was extending the free trade provision and exemption of the Sound Toll to its new ports of Riga and Pernau. At the same time, Sweden had imposed a sales tax on some commodities being exported to Denmark.
In May 1624 the parties met at Sjöaryd for two months of tough negotiations. Christian more than met his match in Alex Oxenstierna and his king backed by the Swedish navy. The Danish fleet was in a state of disrepair and Christian did not have the money to hire the usual mercenary army. He was forced to back down on all points. The Agreement of Sjöaryd was a humiliating defeat for Christian. It, in effect, recognized Sweden’s equality with Denmark as a naval and military power. It marked the shift of Baltic sea supremacy from Denmark to Sweden.
As the truce of 1622 with Poland neared expiration Oxenstierna met with Polish envoys at Daler to work out an extension. Sigismund’s terms were unreasonable, negotiations were broken off and both countries readied for war.
In 1624 rumors circulated that Sigismund was about to try to recover his Swedish throne. A mercenary army was rumored to be gathering at Danzig to board a new Polish fleet being constructed there. Poland was to attack Estonia and Finland while the Swedes at the Polish court would return and spark a revolt in Sweden itself. Gustav began a mobilization effort in Sweden then sent a fleet to Danzig to investigate. All the rumors proved to be false except for the new fleet that Sigismund was building, but the scare was serious enough to convince Gustav he needed to settle things with his cousin once and for all.
In June 1625 Johan Banér landed in Livonia with 12,000 troops and marched on Kokenhúsen. The town surrendered, but not the fort. Banér laid siege. In July Gustav arrived at the mouth of the Düna with another 8,000 men and marched to join Banér. Kokenhausen Fortress surrendered on the 15th. The Swedes advanced through Livonia taking towns and castles. Dorpar fell to Jakob de la Gardie and Gustav Horn. Birze surrendered to Svante Banér following a six day siege. During
the summer Marienburg and Neuhausen were conquered.
Radziwill could respond only by raiding Czadosy and other border towns. He captured a couple of Swedish emissaries, Johan Adler and Arvid Horn, which only caused more problems for Sigismund. With all of Livonia under Swedish control, the army went into winter quarters. The campaign season had been very successful although Gustav Horn had been wounded. The Swedish army was better prepared for winter than in previous Livonian campaigns and would have been quite comfortable except for harassment by Polish Cossack patrols.
However, on Christmas 1625 disease broke out in the Swedish camp. Gustav wrote Oxenstierna that the soldiers were dying off like dogs. Gustav, watching his army disappear right from under him, decided to do something while he still had soldiers to fight. The only Polish army in the vicinity that could threaten him come spring was a 6,000 man force under Johan Stanislaus at Wallhof fifty miles away, south of the Düna.
The Swedish king, now 31 years old, assembled 1,000 musketeers, 6 guns and 2,100 cavalrymen, and set out for Wallhof. Most of the horse were Finnish dragoons called Hakkapällites from their battle cry, “Hakka pälle” meaning “strike to the head.” In a forced march over difficult winter terrain, the small army covered the fifty miles in 36 hours, arriving the morning of January 17, 1626.
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