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Battle of Nauen

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Skirmish at Nauen
Part of Swedish-Brandenburg War
Date27 [O.S. 1675] 6
Location
Nauen in Brandenburg
Result Brandenburgian victory
Belligerents
Naval Ensign of Sweden.svg Swedish Empire Flagge Brandenburg 17.GIF Brandenburg-Prussia
Commanders and leaders
FM Wolmar Wrangel FM Georg von Derfflinger
Strength
unknown number in the rearguard unknown number in the vanguard
Casualties and losses
200 killed outside Nauen,

(from 25 to 27 June (Greg.) total losses of about 600 killed and wounded and 600 captured)[1]
60 killed[2]

The Skirmish at Nauen (German: Gefecht bei Nauen or Duell vor Nauen), took place on 27 [O.S. 1675] 6 near the town of Nauen between the vanguard of the Brandenburg-Prussian army and Swedish rearguard units during the Swedish-Brandenburg War.

The engagement ended with the capture of the town of Nauen by Brandenburg-Prussia. The decisive military victory in favour of Brandenburg, however, took place at the Battle of Fehrbellin on the following day.

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German language

German language

German, or more precisely High German, is a West Germanic language mainly spoken in Western Europe and Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official or co-official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, and the Italian province of South Tyrol. It is also a co-official language of Luxembourg and Belgium, as well as a recognized national language in Namibia. Outside Germany, it is also spoken by German communities in France (Bas-Rhin), Czech Republic, Poland, Slovakia, and Hungary (Sopron).

Old Style and New Style dates

Old Style and New Style dates

Old Style (O.S.) and New Style (N.S.) indicate dating systems before and after a calendar change, respectively. Usually, this is the change from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar as enacted in various European countries between 1582 and 1923.

Nauen

Nauen

Nauen is a small town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is chiefly known for Nauen Transmitter Station, the world's oldest preserved radio transmitting installation.

Brandenburg-Prussia

Brandenburg-Prussia

Brandenburg-Prussia is the historiographic denomination for the early modern realm of the Brandenburgian Hohenzollerns between 1618 and 1701. Based in the Electorate of Brandenburg, the main branch of the Hohenzollern intermarried with the branch ruling the Duchy of Prussia, and secured succession upon the latter's extinction in the male line in 1618. Another consequence of the intermarriage was the incorporation of the lower Rhenish principalities of Cleves, Mark and Ravensberg after the Treaty of Xanten in 1614.

Battle of Fehrbellin

Battle of Fehrbellin

The Battle of Fehrbellin was fought on June 18, 1675, between Swedish and Brandenburg-Prussian troops. The Swedes, under Count Waldemar von Wrangel, had invaded and occupied parts of Brandenburg from their possessions in Pomerania, but were repelled by the forces of Frederick William, the Great Elector, under his Feldmarschall Georg von Derfflinger near the town of Fehrbellin. Along with the Battle of Warsaw (1656), Fehrbellin was crucial in establishing the prestige of Frederick William and Brandenburg-Prussia's army.

Background to the engagement

In December 1674 a Swedish army from Swedish Pomerania invaded the undefended March of Brandenburg and triggered the Swedish-Brandenburg War. However it was not until June 1675 that the Brandenburg army marched from Franconia, where it had been fighting the French as part of the Reichsarmee during the Franco-Dutch War, and returned home to liberate the occupied state.

A Brandenburg soldier and shawm piper of Electress Dorothea's Own Infantry Regiment, ca. 1675
A Brandenburg soldier and shawm piper of Electress Dorothea's Own Infantry Regiment, ca. 1675

The operational objective of the Swedes under Field Marshal Wrangel was to set out from Havelberg to cross the Elbe in order to gain the left bank of the river, to join forces with Hanoverian troops and advance on Magdeburg. The Swedish field marshal dispatched a spearhead under the command of Colonel Wangelin to Rathenow, in order to secure the line of the river. The situation suddenly changed when the Brandenburg army succeed in recapturing this strategically important location at the Battle of Rathenow. This coup, which completely surprised the Swedes, meant that it was no longer possible for them to cross the Elbe at Havelberg.

After receiving news of the loss of Rathenow, the Swedish lieutenant general, Wolmar Wrangel, issued marching orders for the army to move through Nauen to capture the crossing of the Rhin near Fehrbellin. When the Elector learned of this, he took up their immediate pursuit.

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Swedish Pomerania

Swedish Pomerania

Swedish Pomerania was a dominion under the Swedish Crown from 1630 to 1815 on what is now the Baltic coast of Germany and Poland. Following the Polish War and the Thirty Years' War, Sweden held extensive control over the lands on the southern Baltic coast, including Pomerania and parts of Livonia and Prussia.

Franconia

Franconia

Franconia is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect.

Franco-Dutch War

Franco-Dutch War

The Franco-Dutch War, also known as the Dutch War, was fought between France and the Dutch Republic, supported by its allies the Holy Roman Empire, Spain, Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark-Norway. In its early stages, France was allied with Münster and Cologne, as well as England. The 1672 to 1674 Third Anglo-Dutch War and 1675 to 1679 Scanian War are considered related conflicts.

Shawm

Shawm

The shawm is a conical bore, double-reed woodwind instrument made in Europe from the 12th century to the present day. It achieved its peak of popularity during the medieval and Renaissance periods, after which it was gradually eclipsed by the oboe family of descendant instruments in classical music. It is likely to have come to Western Europe from the Eastern Mediterranean around the time of the Crusades. Double-reed instruments similar to the shawm were long present in Southern Europe and the East, for instance the ancient Greek, and later Byzantine, aulos, the Persian sorna, and the Armenian duduk.

Havelberg

Havelberg

Havelberg is a town in the district of Stendal, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is situated on the Havel, and part of the town is built on an island in the centre of the river. The two parts were incorporated as a town in 1875. It has a population of 6,436 (2020).

Elbe

Elbe

The Elbe is one of the major rivers of Central Europe. It rises in the Giant Mountains of the northern Czech Republic before traversing much of Bohemia, then Germany and flowing into the North Sea at Cuxhaven, 110 kilometres northwest of Hamburg. Its total length is 1,094 km (680 mi).

Magdeburg

Magdeburg

Magdeburg is the capital of the German state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is situated at the Elbe river.

Rathenow

Rathenow

Rathenow is a town in the district of Havelland in Brandenburg, Germany, with a population of 26,433 (2007).

Battle of Rathenow

Battle of Rathenow

The Battle of Rathenow was the first engagement between the forces of Brandenburg-Prussia and Sweden in the Swedish-Brandenburg War.

Nauen

Nauen

Nauen is a small town in the Havelland district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It is chiefly known for Nauen Transmitter Station, the world's oldest preserved radio transmitting installation.

Rhin

Rhin

The Rhin is a 133.3-kilometre (82.8 mi) long river in Brandenburg, Germany, right tributary to the river Havel. It flows through the city Neuruppin and several lakes. A few kilometres downstream from Rhinow it flows into the Havel, about 20 kilometres (12 mi) upstream from where the Havel meets the Elbe.

Skirmish at Nauen

Brandenburg captain and lieutenant of Electress Dorothea's Own Infantry Regiment, ca. 1675
Brandenburg captain and lieutenant of Electress Dorothea's Own Infantry Regiment, ca. 1675

In the meantime, a 1,200 strong Brandenburg advance guard[3] under Lieutenant Colonel Sydow had ridden at the gallop to a position covering Nauen. The lakeland in front of the town was only passable over a narrow causeway, so the Swedes had thrown up protective fieldworks, including several cannon, at a good defensive point. In spite of that, they offered no resistance when they saw a large number of enemy horsemen advancing on them. Instead, they tipped their cannon into the nearby lake and beat a hasty retreat. The fleeing soldiers were pursued by Brandenburg cavalry to the edge of the town of Nauen, suffering heavy losses.

The largest element of the Swedish contingent withdrew behind a stream beyond the town. A smaller element, a battalion of musketeers, occupied Nauen, meeting the advancing Brandenburgers with a fierce fire from their muskets and cannon. Nevertheless, even before they were reinforced by cannon and more dragoons in front of the town, 200 Brandenburg troopers succeeded in driving back a Swedish rearguard of 1,000 cuirassiers.[4] In response, the Swedes rapidly surrendered the town of Nauen to Brandenburg and fled. During this further retreat, the pursuing Brandenburg cavalry inflicted further casualties on the Swedes.

Despite that, the Brandenburg cavalry could not capture the crossing over the stream behind the town. At the end of the bridge, the Swedes had erected a defensive position with several cannon. The fire from these guns forced the Brandenburgers to pull back with losses. Meanwhile, behind the Swedish fortification, the main Swedish army had deployed in order of battle. A division under Field Marshal Derfflinger succeeded, however, in repairing the bridge that had been damaged by enemy fire and in setting up three cannon that were able to destroy the Swedish guns at the fieldworks. Nevertheless, the enemy was in a good position, as before, so that a frontal assault would have been too fraught with risk. In addition, the Brandenburg troops were exhausted by their forced march. So the order was issued to pull back into and behind the town of Nauen and to pitch camp for the night.

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Causeway

Causeway

A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Track in the Somerset Levels, England, which dates from the Neolithic age. Timber causeways may also be described as both boardwalks and bridges.

Battalion

Battalion

A battalion is a military unit, typically consisting of 300 to 1,000 soldiers commanded by a lieutenant colonel, and subdivided into a number of companies. In some countries, battalions are exclusively infantry, while in others battalions are unit-level organizations.

Musketeer

Musketeer

A musketeer was a type of soldier equipped with a musket. Musketeers were an important part of early modern warfare, particularly in Europe, as they normally comprised the majority of their infantry. The musketeer was a precursor to the rifleman. Muskets were replaced by rifles as the almost universal firearm for modern armies during the period 1850 to 1860. The traditional designation of "musketeer" for an infantry private survived in the Imperial German Army until World War I.

Musket

Musket

A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually disappeared as the use of heavy armour declined, but musket continued as the generic term for smoothbore long guns until the mid-19th century. In turn, this style of musket was retired in the 19th century when rifled muskets using the Minié ball became common. The development of breech-loading firearms using self-contained cartridges and the first reliable repeating rifles produced by Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1860 also led to their demise. By the time that repeating rifles became common, they were known as simply "rifles", ending the era of the musket.

Dragoon

Dragoon

Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat with swords and firearms from horseback. While their use goes back to the late 16th century, dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the 17th and early 18th centuries; they provided greater mobility than regular infantry but were far less expensive than cavalry.

Rearguard

Rearguard

A rearguard is a part of a military force that protects it from attack from the rear, either during an advance or withdrawal. The term can also be used to describe forces protecting lines, such as communication lines, behind an army. Even more generally, a rearguard action may refer idiomatically to an attempt at preventing something though it is likely too late to be prevented; this idiomatic meaning may apply in either a military- or in a non-military, perhaps-figurative context.

Cuirassier

Cuirassier

Cuirassiers were cavalry equipped with a cuirass, sword, and pistols. Cuirassiers first appeared in mid-to-late 16th century Europe as a result of armoured cavalry, such as men-at-arms and demi-lancers, discarding their lances and adopting the use of pistols as their primary weapon. In the later part of the 17th century the cuirassier lost his limb armour and subsequently wore only the cuirass, and sometimes a helmet. By this time, the sword or sabre had become his primary weapon, with pistols relegated to a secondary function.

Georg von Derfflinger

Georg von Derfflinger

Georg von Derfflinger was a field marshal in the army of Brandenburg-Prussia during and after the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648).

Result and impact on the Battle of Fehrbellin

By the evening of 27 [O.S. 1675] 6 the two armies faced one another at close proximity. The Brandenburg side expected to open battle the next morning in front of the gates of Nauen. The Swedes however used the cover of night to withdraw towards Fehrbellin. The Elector and his army broke camp the next day at 5:30 a.m. in order to continue the pursuit.

The Swedes lost 200 men killed in fighting in and around Nauen.

"My little angel, we are dutifully pursuing the men of Sweden. They crossed the passes by Nauen this morning, but had to leave behind 200 of their rearguard dead; on the other side we have razed all the bridges near Fer-Berlin and occupied all the remaining passes, so that they cannot escape again from the land."

Source: "Battle of Nauen", Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, (2023, March 5th), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nauen.

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References
  1. ^ Frank Bauer: Fehrbellin 1675 - Brandenburg-Preußens Aufstieg zur Großmacht, Potsdam 1998, page 112
  2. ^ Frank Bauer: Fehrbellin 1675 - Brandenburg-Preußens Aufstieg zur Großmacht, Potsdam 1998, page 112
  3. ^ Frank Bauer: Fehrbellin 1675 - Brandenburg-Preußens Aufstieg zur Großmacht, Potsdam 1998, page 110
  4. ^ Frank Bauer: Fehrbellin 1675 - Brandenburg-Preußens Aufstieg zur Großmacht, Potsdam, 1998, page 111
Literature
  • Curt Jany: Geschichte der Preußischen Armee – Vom 15. Jahrhundert bis 1914. Bd. 1, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1967.
  • Alois Straka:Schlacht bei Fehrbellin, 18. Juni 1675. Rat der Stadt, Fehrbellin 1987.
  • Frank Bauer: Fehrbellin 1675 – Brandenburg-Preußens Aufstieg zur Großmacht. Potsdam 1998, ISBN 3-921655-86-2.

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