By Alistair Sharman
General Manteuffel opens the year with a plan to throw the Swedes back into Stralsund. To this purpose he dispatches a strong force to march along the Oder Islands with the object of reaching Wolgast by the 2195 of January and falling on the rear of the Swedish outposts at Anklam. On January 20th, Manteuffel, leading a separate force, crosses the Peene at Stolpe. This far-flung maneuver combined with a lack of surprise enables Lantinghausen to rally on Greifswald. Manteuffel falls back on Anklam. January 28: Lantinghausen attacks Anklam, causing heavy casualties to the Prussians including General Manteuffel, who is taken prisoner. The Prussians withdraw behind the Peene. The Swedes go into winter quarters. August arrives finding the Swedes once again on the offensive with a strength of twenty battalions and thirty-eight squadrons. Opposing this is General Stutterheim with ten battalions and ten squadrons. By mid-August, the Swedish advanced forces reach Voltsdorf. General Ehrenschwaadt puts on a show in front of Anklam and Stolpe that causes Stutterheim to strengthen this wing, while Lantinghausen slips out of Voltsdorf, crosses the Trebel, detaches a force against Demmin, and moves through Dargun on Malchin. On the 20th, the Swedes cross the Tollensee near Schmarsow. Stutterheim, acting on reports from Belling, evacuates the garrison at Anklam to Ueckermunde and Ferdinandshof, unites his corps at Spantekow, and falls back over Kavelpass on Pasewalk. The Swedish army creeps forward fending off numerous skirmish attacks from the Prussian light troops. On September 3`d, Ehrenwardt takes Pasewalk after a stiff fight. Lantinghausen takes Prenzlau on November 5th and fortifies it with earthworks. The Prussians retire behind the Ucker Lakes as Lantinghausen approaches Ropersdorf on September 9th The Swedish offensive now runs out of steam. Lantinghausen with between 12,000 and 13,000 men stands around Prenzlau with his right extending seven miles south of that place, while a further 3,000 to 4,000 troops under Ehrenswardt are stationed in Pasewalk to protect the left flank of the main army and observe the lower Ucker. Towards the end of September, Prinz Eugen of WUrttemberg arrives on the scene to take over command. He brings with him one battalion and some guns as reinforcements. In addition, General Werner arrives from Kolberg with five battalions and eight squadrons. Meanwhile, Bevern and Stutterheim have hatched a plan for October 3`d. Stutterheim is to attack the enemy at Prenzlau while General Werner is to cross the lower Ucker and seize FerdinandshoŁ Prince Eugen disposes his forces in accordance with the plan for October 3`d. The outcome, however, takes another path due to another course of events .. . The Russian army driven forward by St. Petersburg recrosses the Oder and dispatches a force to raid Berlin in conjunction with an Austrian detachment under Lascy. On October 3, the Russian corps under General Totleben arrives before the gates of Berlin. Shortly before dawn of the same day, a courier enters Eugen's camp informing him of the dangerous situation. Eugene immediately breaks camp and sets forth for Berlin leaving Belling with his hussars and two battalions of Hardt's Freikorps to cover his march from the Swedes. Lantinghausen, who at first was unaware of Engen's arrival, has also planned an attack on the same day. However, he eventually learns of Eugene's presence and cancels the planned offensive. Meanwhile, Werber, with the Northern column, is unaware of the situation and sets off from Locknitz according to plan. Unfortunately, his march is spotted early on by a Swedish detachment, which happens by chance to be in the area. Werner, realizing the game is up, decides to attack Pasewalk in the hope that this is the next best thing to do considering the fact that it is impossible to continue his original march in secrecy. His very energetic attack with a slightly larger infantry force is unable to make headway. However, Lantinghausen, who is unaware of Eugen's absence, falls back to Prenzlau with Belling following his right flank and dispatching Knobelsdorf to fall on his rear. Despite this, Lantinghausen halts in a position some two hours south of Pasewalk. October 9: Werner unites with Belling at Prenzlau. The combined force consists of some 2,000 foot and 1,500-1,600 horse. The task to force the 15,000 or so Swedes to retreat was no easy one but it was eventually managed ... Lantinghausen has already learned on October 5th of the reason for Eugen's withdrawal, but is content to stay put and pull faces. It would have been without question an easy task for him to push Belling aside, but he never did it. In Berlin, the allies have pulled out on hearing of Frederick's march and gone their separate ways: the Russians over the Oder, the Austrians back to the Elbe. Prinz Eugen, however, is needed in Saxony. Werner and Belling, with only themselves to count on, divide their roles. Belling constantly dances about in front of the Swedes, while Werner, on October 12th, sets off for Demmin, where he contents himself with a demonstration, and moves on to Rostock, where he extracts a large war contribution and 2,000 horses. He also collects provisions for a large army. All this is carried out so cleverly thus exaggerating the size of his force. As on October 19th he gives the impression that he intends to force the crossing at Triebsees, he receives the news that his ploy has worked and the Swedes are on their way back, at which point he retires back across the Peene. After the departure of Werner, Belling has moved round the Swedish right flank and harassed them as far as possible in the front, flank, and rear. On October 160, Lantinghausen begins his retreat, October 27th seeing the Swedes back again on their side of the Peene. About this time, General Werner is called to Eastern Pomerania, leaving only Belling to mount guard along the Peene and Trebel. The oncoming of winter ushering in the usual cessation of hostilities is only once interrupted by a Swedish raid on November 12th on Mecklenberg which ends rather unfavorably for them. After the return of Eugen and his corps toward the end of December, a temporary truce pact is drawn up in Mecklenberg lasting until March 27th, 1761. Sweden's Role in the Seven Years War A Brief Chronology 1756-1761
1757 1758 1759 1760 1761 Large Maps of Locales (extremely slow: 544K) Jumbo Maps of Locales (monstrously slow: 974K) Back to Seven Years War Asso. Journal Vol. XII No. 4 Table of Contents Back to Seven Years War Asso. Journal List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 2002 by James J. Mitchell This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. |