During infighting: 30 German cavalry killed 1,500 Scottish infantry killed 70 Scottish infantry deserted to Russia 1 Scottish nobleman wounded Unknown wounded
Unknown
The siege of Wesenberg (Rakvere, Rakovor) was an abortive Swedish siege of the Russian-held town of Wesenberg in Estonia from January through March 1574, during the Livonian War. The siege is infamous for a brawl and subsequent combat between German and Scottish mercenaries within the besieging army, which claimed the lives of about 1,500 Scots. Wesenberg was seized in a renewed Swedish assault in 1581.
John III, king of Sweden since 1568, faced a Russian offensive on the Swedish positions in Estonia during the early 1570s.[3] Reval withstood a Russian siege in 1570 and 1571,[1] but several smaller towns were taken by Russian forces.[3] The Russian advance was concluded by the sack of Weissenstein (Paide) in 1573.[3] After the capture, the Russian forces roasted alive some of the leaders of Weissenstein's Swedish garrison, including its commander, triggering John III to mount a retaliatory campaign with Wesenberg being the main objective.[3]
The campaign started in Reval, where Sweden had concentrated her troops, including between 4,000[3] and 5,000 Scots.[4] Already in 1572, John III had requested that Archibald Ruthven recruit Scottish co-patriots to reinforce his Livonian army.[3] Ruthven had raised 3,000 infantry and 760 cavalry, who arrived in Swedish Älvsborg in June and July 1573.[3] They were split up into small units and marched to Sweden's eastern coast.[3] Overdue pay caused some mercenaries to delay their march, pillage the countryside,[3] and revolt against Ruthven.[4] Upon their arrival in Stockholm and ports in Östergötland, they were joined by another 300 Scottish cavalry[3] and shipped to Reval, where they arrived in September[4] and joined with Swedish and Finnish regulars as well as German mercenaries, primarily consisting of cavalry and artillery.[3] In November, the army left for Wesenberg,[4] under the overall command of Klas Åkesson Tott (the Elder) and field command of Pontus de la Gardie.[3] The march was again delayed by the Scottish troops, who demanded to be paid a month in advance, causing de la Gardie to sell part of his jewelry to satisfy their claims.[4]
Siege
In January 1574,[nb 1] Wesenberg was stormed twice, but without success.[3][4] In the third assault of 2 March 1574,[4] the Swedish forces lost at least 1,000 men.[3][4][nb 2] Subsequent Swedish attempts to dig tunnels and set the town on fire likewise failed.[3] De la Gardie withdrew part of the besieging army for expeditions to nearby Tolsberg (Toolse) and Dorpat (Tartu), both of which were unsuccessful.[4]
Thus, the besieging forces were demoralized.[3] In addition, supplies ran out and tensions grew[3] after the German faction blamed the failures on a lack of Scottish support.[4] On 17 March 1574,[2][5][nb 3] a brawl between German and Scottish mercenaries occurred,[2][6] triggered by insults[2] and/or unpaid ale in the canteen.[6] First, a German officer tried to intervene, but when he was unsuccessful and the brawl turned into an open fight, de la Gardie, Tott, and Ruthven arrived to the scene in person.[6] They were however likewise attacked and fled, with Ruthven suffering severe injuries.[6]
When the commanders had fled the scene, Scottish mercenaries overwhelmed the German artillery, seized the guns and took aim at the German cavalry.[2][6] The German cavalry charged, hit by Scottish artillery fire on their way, and cut down the Scots.[2][6] The result was 30 dead Germans and 1,500 dead Scots.[2][6] The German and Swedish infantry stood by without taking action,[2] neither did the Scottish cavalry intervene.[6][nb 4] Several Scottish officers were among the dead, including David Murray, Jacob Murray, and George Michell.[6] About 70 Scots escaped to the Russian forces in Wesenberg, the last historical record of them is that they were subsequently brought to Moscow.[7][nb 5]
The siege was aborted and the army withdrawn to Reval by the end of March.[8]
Aftermath
As a consequence, John III of Sweden removed Tott from overall command in Livonia and replaced him with de la Gardie.[8] Furthermore, the king would not again start an expedition relying heavily on mercenaries, and was hindered by starting any offense at all by the investigation of the Wesenberg incident and a few subsequent trials in Reval throughout 1574.[8] Ivan IV seized the initiative until the Battle of Wenden (1578) turned the war's tide.[1] In 1580, Sweden took Kexholmslän, and in the winter of 1580/81, Pontus de la Gardie led a Swedish army over the frozen Gulf of Finland, captured Wesenberg, turned to Narva which was taken on 6 September with the whole population slaughtered by the assailants, and until the end of 1581 sacked the last Russian strongholds in Estonia.[1]
Notes
↑ Peterson (2007) erroneously gives January 1573 on page 91, contradicting his previous description of the 1573 Scottish march through Sweden on the same page.
↑ Ruthven claimed 1,100 Scottish dead: Fischer (1907/2009), p. 63.
↑ Fischer gives 15 March 1574: Fischer (1907/2009), p. 64.
↑ Fischer however reports a possible involvement of the Scottish Moncrieff cavalry unit in the fight: Fischer (1907/2009), p. 64.
↑ Fischer also cites Rüssow's report, according to whom there were 700 escapees: Fischer (1907/2009), p. 65.
Black, Jeremy (1996). Warfare. Renaissance to revolution, 1492–1792. Cambridge Illustrated Atlases. Vol.2. Cambridge University Press. ISBN0-521-47033-1.
Frost, Robert I (2000). The Northern Wars. War, State and Society in Northeastern Europe 1558–1721. Longman. ISBN978-0-582-06429-4.
Fischer, Ernst Ludwig aka Thomas A. Fisher (pseud.); Kirkpatrick, John (2009) [1907]. The Scots in Sweden; being a contribution towards the history of the Scot abroad. Reprint. BiblioBazaar, LLC.
Peterson, Gary Dean (2007). Warrior kings of Sweden. The rise of an empire in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. McFarland. ISBN978-0-7864-2873-1.
1 Treaties primarily concerning the Northern Seven Years' War which contain agreements regarding Livonia
Related Research Articles
Livonia is a historical region on the eastern shores of the Baltic Sea. It is named after the Livonians, who lived on the shores of present-day Latvia.
Swedish Livonia was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1629 until 1721. The territory, which constituted the southern part of modern Estonia and the northern part of modern Latvia, represented the conquest of the major part of the Polish-Lithuanian Duchy of Livonia during the 1600–1629 Polish-Swedish War. Parts of Livonia and the city of Riga were under Swedish control as early as 1621 and the situation was formalized in the Truce of Altmark 1629, but the whole territory was not ceded formally until the Treaty of Oliva in 1660. The minority part of the Wenden Voivodeship retained by the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth was renamed the Inflanty Voivodeship, which today corresponds to the Latgale region of Latvia.
Field Marshal and Count Jacob Pontusson De la Gardie was a statesman and a soldier of the Swedish Empire, and a Marshal from 1620 onward.
The Duchy of Estonia, also known as Swedish Estonia, was a dominion of the Swedish Empire from 1561 until 1721 during the time that most or all of Estonia was under Swedish rule. The land was eventually ceded to Russia in the Treaty of Nystad, following its capitulation, during the plague, in the Great Northern War.
The Polish–Swedish Wars were a series of wars between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden. Broadly construed, the term refers to a series of wars between 1563 and 1721. More narrowly, it refers to particular wars between 1600 and 1629. These are the wars included under the broader use of the term:
The Livonian War (1558–1583) was the Russian invasion of Old Livonia, and the prolonged series of military conflicts that followed, in which Tsar Ivan the Terrible of Russia (Muscovy) unsuccessfully fought for control of the region. The Tsardom of Russia (Muscovy) faced a varying coalition of the Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom of Sweden, and the Union of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Kingdom of Poland.
Rakvere is a town in northern Estonia and the administrative centre of the Lääne-Viru maakond (county), 20 km south of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea. Rakvere is the 8th most populous urban area in Estonia. Rakvere has a total area of 10.75 square kilometres, and although about 15% of it is covered by forest, the city is still populated so densely as to make it the third most densely populated city in Estonia. From the 13th century until the early 20th century, Rakvere was more widely known by its historical German name, Wesenberg(h).
Saint George's Night Uprising in 1343–1345 was an unsuccessful attempt by the indigenous Estonian population in the Duchy of Estonia, the Bishopric of Ösel-Wiek, and the insular territories of the State of the Teutonic Order to rid themselves of Danish and German rulers and landlords who had conquered the country in the 13th century during the Livonian Crusade; and to eradicate the non-indigenous Christian religion. After initial success the revolt was ended by the invasion of the Teutonic Order. In 1346, the Duchy of Estonia was sold for 19,000 Köln marks by the King of Denmark to the Teutonic Order. The shift of sovereignty from Denmark to the State of the Teutonic Order took place on November 1, 1346.
The Duchy of Estonia, also known as Danish Estonia, was a direct dominion of the King of Denmark from 1219 until 1346 when it was sold to the Teutonic Order and became part of the Ordensstaat.
Baron Pontus De la Gardie was a French nobleman and a general in the service of Denmark and Sweden.
Paide is a town in Estonia and the capital of Järva County, one of the 15 counties of Estonia.
The Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611) was a continuation of struggle between Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth over control of Livonia and Estonia, as well as the dispute over the Swedish throne between Charles IX of Sweden and Sigismund III of Poland. After skirmishes, sieges and battles often aborted by Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, a truce was signed until the later invasion by the Russians.
Clas Åkesson Tott was a military Field Marshal (1572) and member of the Privy Council of Sweden (1575).
Colonel Samuel Cockburn was a Scottish soldier in the service of Sweden who sometimes took the role of (generalfältvaktmästare) a temporary role akin to a major general, but not a fixed rank. He was born around 1574 in Scotland. He entered Swedish service in 1598 where he participated in the Swedish civil war between Sigismund Vasa and his uncle Duke Karl, later Karl IX.
The Battles of Wenden were a series of battles for control of the stronghold of Wenden, in present-day Latvia, fought during the Livonian War in 1577 and 1578. Magnus of Livonia besieged the town in August 1577, but was deposed and replaced by Russian forces under Tsar Ivan IV, who eventually sacked the town and castle in what became a symbolic victory. Polish forces, however, re-captured the stronghold in November and beat back a Russian counter-attack in February 1578.
Battle of Lode was a battle fought during the Livonian War, between Sweden and Russia on 23 January 1573. The battle was won by the Swedes.
The Battle of Weissenstein, or Battle of Biały Kamień, was fought during the Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611), between Sweden and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on 25 September 1604. The Swedish army was commanded by Arvid Stålarm and the Polish army under Jan Karol Chodkiewicz. The battle ended with a victory for Poland, who sent a relief party against the Swedish forces which besieged Weissenstein castle, modern day Paide in Estonia.
Events from the year 1590 in Sweden The Russo-Swedish War of 1590–1595 was sparked by Russian King Boris Godunov's interest in taking over Duchy of Estonia that Sweden had occupied after the Livonian War. The Russo-Swedish War of 1590–1595 was instigated by Boris Godunov in the hope of gaining the territory of the Duchy of Estonia along the Gulf of Finland belonging to Sweden since the previous Livonian War.
Archibald Ruthven of Forteviot and Master of Ruthven (1546-1578), was a Scottish nobleman who raised a Scottish force for Swedish service in Estonia. There his men and the German soldiers in Swedish service fought a serious battle with each other; many hundred Scotsmen being killed. The Scots were blamed for the disaster, and, although wounded by his own men, Ruthven was imprisoned. As a prisoner in Sweden he was accused of having participated in a conspiracy to assassinate King John III of Sweden. Others implicated in the plot were executed, but Ruthven was kept a prisoner in Vasteras, where he died.
The Mornay plot was a plot in 1574 to assassinate John III of Sweden, free the imprisoned Eric XIV of Sweden and place him or Charles IX of Sweden upon the Swedish throne. The plot was hatched and planned by Charles de Mornay, a Swedish courtier of French Huguenot origin with international contacts. It was one of three major plots to free the imprisoned Eric XIV, preceded by the 1569 Plot and succeeded by the 1576 Plot.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
Tsardom of Russia 
Clas Åkesson Tott
