Siege of Wolgast
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| Siege of Wolgast | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Scanian War | |||||||
 Wolgast c. 1652, from the Deutsche Fotothek | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Brandenburg |
 Swedish Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Frederick William |
Andreas Dubislaff von Blixen  | ||||||
| Units involved | |||||||
| Unknown |
Wolgast garrison | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Unknown | c. 820 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | Unknown | ||||||
The Siege of Wolgast[a] took place from 1 to 10 November 1675 during the Swedish invasion of Brandenburg, part of the Scanian War. Frederick William besieged Wolgast, then part of Swedish Pomerania, and forced the Swedish garrison to surrender.
Wolgast was returned to Sweden in accordance with the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1679) that ended the war.
In 1674, Sweden invaded Brandenburg as France's ally. Denmark–Norway, who wanted to regain its territories lost in 1658, supported Brandenburg-Prussia and invaded the Swedish possessions in Germany in 1675.[1] In autumn, the Swedes had already been pushed back to the North German Coast, and the Brandenburgians, under Elector Frederick William, subsequently besieged Wolgast, one of the Swedish Empire's last holdings within the Holy Roman Empire.[2] Wolgast was of great importance for both parties because of its location within the mouth of the Peene.[3]
Siege
Frederick William opened the siege of Wolgast on 1 November. [2] Establishing positions for his guns was delayed by fire from the garrison and ships in the harbour, but once in place on 9 November, they quickly destroyed two of the castle's bastions along with the powder store and half the castle, while the Brandenburg troops began to prepare an assault.[2] Recognising his position was hopeless, the Swedish commander, Andreas Dubislaff von Blixen, negotiated terms allowing the garrison free passage to the Swedish garrison in Stralsund.[2][4]
Aftermath
According to Jensen, any German-born Swedish soldiers were forcibly enlisted by Frederick William,[5] while Wimarson asserts that, despite Imperial letters prohibiting Germans to fight for Sweden, the Wolgast-accord allowed for an exception; they could, however, join the Bandenburg-Prussian Army if they so wished.[6] After this conquest, Frederick William turned his attention to Anklam, which he sought to seize in order to better approach Stettin.[5]