Dohna plans his march over the lower Trebel. On January 1st, 1759, he succeeds in throwing his advanced guard across the Recknitz at Damgarten. Unfortunately, he fails to exploit his success and seems to have failed to maintain contact with Manteuffel. Consequently, the latter on his own initiative crosses the Peene at Stolpe and cautiously feels his way forward. Not until January 5th does he manage to make contact with Dohna's advance forces at Greifswald.

By January 6th, Dohna and Manteuffel have united. Lantinghausen opposes them with his army drawn up between Lake Kriimmenhagen and the sea. On January 9th he falls back on Stralsund.

Only the indecisiveness of the Prussians has made this possible. If Dohna had marched on Piitte or even Richtenberg, he would already by January 4th have cut Lantinghausen off from his base. In fact, Lantinghausen only on January 4th retreated from Grimmen.

January 17th and 2151: Demmin and Anklam fall into Prussian hands, the Swedes having failed to evacuate these places in time. This increases their losses for 1758-59 to 4,000 men and 60 guns.

Dohna's proposal to the King for a bombardment of Stralsund in order to force the garrison to move to Rtigen is turned down on humanitarian grounds. Apart from a sally that pushes through to Mohrdorf, the Swedes are for the time being pretty inactive.

April: The Prussians recapture Peenemiinde. Frederick orders the fortifications there as well as at Demmin and Anklam to be leveled rather than completed.

May: The Russians once again cross the Weichsel. Manteuffel (Dohna is sick) lifts the siege of Stralsund on May 15th. On May 18th, he sets off from Loitz for Stargard. General Kleist is left behind in Bartow with six battalions and seven squadrons to observe the Swedes.

The Swedish army refits itself. However, it can only muster 12,000 men. The Flotilla is increased by a further fourteen galleys in answer to Herzog von Bevern who manages to raise a mini-fleet of twelve converted merchant vessels.

August 13: Lantinghausen begins the advance. Although his is virtually unopposed, he does not reach Pasewalk until August . Kleist has already been ordered to join Frederick after the latter's defeat at Kunersdorf.

August 18: Lantinghausen detaches 3,000-4,000 men under General Versen to Usedom. After a hard fight on September 1st, Swinemunde and Wollin fall into his hands. Versen then leaves a small force under Lieutenant Colonel Pechlin to garrison them and marches back to Pasewalk.

Around this time a naval battle is fought between the opposing fleets, resulting in the total destruction of the Prussian vessels (four galiots, four galleys, and four barques). As in 1758, General Horn marches out of Stettin with 1,400 men and is giving the Swedes a hard time from Prenzlau.

September 30: The Russians withdraw across the Oder. Frederick dispatches General Manteuffel with nine battalions and ten squadrons to deal with the Swedes. This force contains two units worth mentioning: the Belling Hussars, who oppose the Swedes for the first time, and the Freikorps regiment of Hardt.

There is a general escalation of outpost encounters between General Hessenstein's force and the Stettin garrison. Hessenstein forces the Prussian outposts back across the Locknitz.

October 21: Prussian Major von Knobelsdorf, leading one battalion of Hardt's Freikorps and 100 hussars, raids Demmin. He succeeds in capturing the war chest together with some high-ranking officials. He manages to escape back to Malchin, but not without loss from the pursuing Swedes. This raid causes the Swedish staff to appeal directly to the King, who intervenes and orders a retreat. Thus the Swedish army falls back on Anklam with Belling and his light troops seeing them off.

November 6: The Swedes are back behind the Peene. The year closes down with no further action from either side. The Elector of Mecklenberg, Herzog von Schwerin, in fear of his troops being forced under the Prussian flag, makes a pact with Sweden whereby his army is quartered on Rtigen at his cost. The Swedes agree not to use his army for war purposes.

Sweden's Role in the Seven Years War A Brief Chronology 1756-1761

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