Siege of Stralsund (1715)

King of Prussia Frederick William I , offended by the violent actions of King Charles XII of Sweden against the Prussian army, occupying Pomerania as a sequestered region, declared war on Sweden. Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau at the head of the Prussian-Danish-Saxon army, consisting of 74 squadrons and 118 battalions (totaling about 36 thousand people), approached Stralsund, in which Charles XII himself was locked. The Prussian and Danish kings were personally with their troops, General Wackerbarth commanded the Saxon corps (18 squadrons and 8 battalions).

Until mid-October 1715, the city was besieged due to a lack of siege artillery. However, with the capture of the island of Usedom (August 1) and the Penemundian trench (August 21), the road from Stettin to Stralsund became free, and the Danish admiral Shested managed to defeat the Swedish fleet twice (August 8 and September 24). The siege weapons finally arrived at the army and the trenches were laid on October 19.

General Wackerbarth controlled the attack from the southeast direction, the Danish General Scholten acted from the opposite. Trench work was carried out in turn by the Prussian, Danish and Saxon troops. By November 2, the 2nd parallel was completed, and its batteries, armed with 34 large guns and 12 mortars, opened fire.

On the night of November 4-5, Generals Wackerbarth and Finkenstein, passing with a part of the detachment along the shallow sea shore, took possession of the fortifications at the Franken Gate, protected by three regiments. The 24 guns taken in them were immediately sent to the city, and the fortifications were connected to the trenches so that Charles XII, who was absent at that moment in the city, could not take them back. Now the siege work could be continued with more energy, although the adverse weather, the upcoming winter and the brilliant courage of the Swedish garrison greatly hindered them in this. The capture of the island of Rügen , undertaken on November 15 and 17 by the Duke Leopold with a part of the siege army, also influenced the successful course of the siege. By December 5, the trenches were dug so close to the defensive rampart that it was possible to take an attack on the counter-escarp . General Wackerbarth had an attack so successfully that the counterscarp was taken at three outgoing corners.

In the following days, the Swedes left all the fortifications in front of the Tribseer Gate and other external creeds, seeing the impossibility of holding them further. On December 17, ponds froze around the city. General Wackerbarth drew up a plan for the attack on the tenal and the miner , which the same evening were occupied by the Prussian and Saxon troops. Charles XII, who was shortly before the attack in the miner, attacked him from the side of the city on December 18 and knocked out the Danes who were there, but the Prussian reserve forced him to retreat and convinced Stralsund of the inevitability of the fall.

The king left the city and with extreme danger to life in a small boat went to sea, reaching the Swedish ship, which delivered it to Sweden. Before that, he allowed General Duker to surrender or defend the fortress to the last. Duker preferred the first option and on December 21 signed the surrender. The Swedish national army, which left about 1100 people, was allowed to leave the fortress and go to Sweden. All mercenary troops were identified by prisoners of war and distributed among the allies.

• Encyclopedia of Military and Naval Sciences / Compiled under the general editorship of Lieutenant General G. A. Leer , Honored Professor of the Nikolaev Academy of the General Staff . - SPb. : printing house V. Bezobrazova and Co. °. - T. 7.
• Military encyclopedic lexicon (in 14 volumes). The second revised edition under the general guidance of M. I. Bogdanovich. St. Petersburg, 1852-1858. Volume 12