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The Battle of Warksow was a battle that took place on the Baltic Sea island of Rügen on during the Swedish-Brandenburg War. In the battle Swedish forces defeated an allied army composed mainly of Danes supported by a smaller contingent of Brandenburg troops. The Swedes were able to muster some 3,500 men for the battle〔 including 2,000 cavalry.〔(Historiska upplysningar om Svenska och Norska arméernas regementer och kårer, Harold Oscar Prytz. p.174 )〕 The allied Danes and Brandenburg troops had about 4,670 men, including a few hundred Brandenburg soldiers and 1,770 cavalry, as well as 16 cannon. 170 Swedes lost their lives in the battle and subsequent pursuit.〔 The Danish/Brandenburg side lost 400 killed〔 and more than 3,600 captured. After the battle and in the days that followed, the entire allied force were captured or forced to follow the Swedish flag. == Background == In 1675, the Kingdom of Sweden, which, at that time, was recognized as a major military power, declared war against Brandenburg-Prussia, following pressure by the French king, Louis XIV, because Brandenburg-Prussia was at war with France (in the Dutch War). After a Swedish army had been defeated in the Battle of Fehrbellin in 1675 in Brandenburg, Sweden went onto the defensive in the next phase of the war. Suddenly its possessions in northern Germany (Swedish Pomerania) were threatened by the alliance of Denmark and Brandenburg-Prussia. In 1677 the Swedish fleet was almost completely destroyed in the Battle of Køgebucht (Køgebucht in Copenhagen) by the Danish fleet under command of Admiral Niels Juel. For Swedish Rügen this defeat meant that the island possession was now cut off from all assistance from Sweden, as the Danes exercised naval supremacy of the Baltic Sea. After winning the battle the King of Denmark, Christian V, decided to capture the island of Rügen as a necessary prerequisite to the allies conquering the fort of Stralsund on the opposite mainland shore. According to internal agreements between Brandenburg-Prussia and Denmark, the island of Rügen would be given to Denmark after the peace treaty with Sweden. On 17 September 1677 Danish troops under the overall command of the Danish king landed on the eastern coast of the island near Prorer Wiek. The roughly 4,200 man〔Curt Jany: ''Geschichte der Preußischen Armee. Vom 15. Jahrhundert bis 1914.'' Vol. 1, Biblio Verlag, Osnabrück 1967, p. 257〕 strong Danish force met no resistance, however, because the Swedish general, Otto Wilhelm von Königsmarck, had not suspected a Danish invasion at that time and most of his troops had therefore moved into the besieged town of Stralsund. Thus, the Danes were able to entrench themselves, unchallenged, in the wooded hills in front of the village. After the Danes had provided further support to the Brandenburg cavalry regiment of Colonel Hülsen (2,110 troopers) in October,〔 they advanced on the Swedish troops that had meanwhile transferred to Rügen, and had taken up positions near Bergen. The Swedes were beaten in the ensuing Battle of Bergen and withdrew to Altefähr and into the Prosnitzer Schanze. Shortly thereafter the Swedes under Königsmarck also had to leave Altefähr and march all troops to Stralsund. Only the Prosnitzer Schanze (Neue Fährschanze) remained in Swedish hands. Due to ongoing looting and devastation by Swedish, Danish and Brandenburg troops, the island in the meantime been completely plundered, so that the deployed troops there could no longer be supplied. On 21 October the Danish king returned to Denmark. Part of the Brandenburg troops were withdrawn from the island, leaving only 970 men from Brandenburg-Prussia on the island.〔 The Danish-Brandenburg troops were now under the command of Major General von Rumohr and Colonel Wilhelm Friedrich von Hülsen. These two had instructions not to engage with the Swedes until the arrival of further reinforcements. However, any reinforcement from the Danish army, weakened by disease, came to nothing. So the Swedish commander, Field Marshal Otto Wilhelm von Konigsmark, viewed that it was a good time to recapture the island and transferred his 3,500 strong〔 force in January 1678 from Brandshagen to the island. The Swedish chose to land at Neufährschanze which was still in Swedish hands. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Battle of Warksow」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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