[Ennath]

February 13, 1706
Battle of Fraustadt

Swedish successes in the early years of the Great Northern War led to a growing number of Polish-Lithuanian magnates switching sides, culminating in the formation of Warsaw Confederation on February 16, 1704 and the election of the Swedish-endorsed voivode of Poznan, Stanislaw I, as the new Polish king. The Saxon Augustus the Strong still enjoyed support of a Polish faction, the Sandomierz Confederation (formed on May 20, 1704), and about 75% of the Polish army. Augustus and his supporters declared war on Sweden, and joined the anti-Swedish coalition.

By October 1703 Augustus had had to abandon Warsaw. A Russo-Saxon-Polish-Lithuanian army was then assembled at Polotsk, another allied army in Saxony, and a third allied force commanded by Otto Arnold von Paykull advanced towards Warsaw, where Swedish King Charles XII and Stanisław were encamped. Paykull’s Saxon-Polish-Lithuanian forces reached the outskirts of Warsaw on July 31, 1705, where they were defeated (see posting). The army at Polotsk was blocked from a westward advance by Swedish forces under Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt. Thus, Stanislaw was crowned king of Poland in Warsaw on October 4, 1705 and he and his supporters concluded an alliance with the Swedish Empire in the Treaty of Warsaw in November.

Augustus was not done yet. In early 1706 he approached Warsaw with a cavalry force 8000 strong and ordered Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg to move the army assembled in Saxony into Poland-Lithuania. Swedish General Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld hurried to engage Schulenburg before Augustus’ forces could unite.

The Saxon army had not chosen its position carefully; Schulenburg had been maneuvered into a position chosen by the Swedes. Rehnskiöld withdrew his forces from Schlawa to Fraustadt. He later stated in his journals, “Thus I resolved to withdraw to Fraustadt with the thought to lure the enemy to me away from his advantageous position, deceiving him into thinking I was in full retreat”.

The Saxons, superior in infantry (9000 Saxons and 6300 Russians), but with less cavalry (4000 Saxons) than the Swedes, took a strong defensive position behind lines of chevaux de frise littered by artillery. The Swedes deployed in 2 lines, with cavalry on both flanks, between the villages of Geyersdorf and Röhrsdorf and ahead of the town of Fraustadt, entrenched behind frozen lakes and marshes opposing the Saxon-Russian army. Rehnskiöld placed his 3700 infantry in the center in 3 columns and his 5700 cavalry on both flanks.

On the left flank, the Swedish cavalry had some trouble passing through a frozen swamp, but the Saxon cavalry did not press its advantage. After regrouping, the Swedes charged the Saxon Garde du Corps and Chevaliers Garde regiments, utterly routing them. Col. von Krassow, commander of the Swedish cavalry on the right flank, passed outside the left Russian flank with 12 dragoon squadrons, near the village of Rörsdorf, and engaged the Saxon cavalry covering the Russian flank. After witnessing the destruction of the Saxon right flank, the left flank fled, and were routed by the Swedish dragoons. Von Krassow’s cavalry then wheeled into the Saxon-Russian rear, which caused several of the Saxon regiments to break.

The Swedish infantry now assaulted the Saxon-Russian line frontally, under heavy cannon and musket fire. Upon discovering that the allied left was held by the Russians (this was uncertain at first as the Russians had reversed their coats to show the inside red rather than their standard green - this was orders from Schulenberg, who doubted their combat value), Rhenskiöld directed his main assault here, as the Russians were now also being attacked from the rear by colonel von Krassow’s cavalry. The Russian infantry was quickly broken.

The Saxon center now had its flanks and rear exposed, and it buckled and broke in short order under the pressure along its left flank. The Saxon right initially held, inflicting some damage to the Swedish infantry until the cavalry in the frozen swamp attacked their rear. The Saxon-Russian army fell apart and the main body fled to the south through Fraustadt. The Swedish cavalry, previously bogged down in the swamp, raced ahead on the open terrain, and met the fleeing Saxons and Russians on the far outskirts of the town. Trapped by Swedish cavalry to their front and infantry to their rear, the defeated Saxon-Russian forces surrendered en masse.

The battle has been called the “Swedish Cannae”. In the end 7377 Saxons and Russians were killed and over 7300 taken prisoner (2000 of them wounded). The Swedes had some 400 killed and 1000 wounded. Schulenburg managed to escape, despite having suffered a bullet wound to his hip. 71 standards, the whole Saxon artillery, and 11,000 muskets had also been captured. Rehnskiöld executed about 500 Russian prisoners; apparently in retaliation for Russian atrocities in Courland or because he believed their inside-out coats were an attempt to be recognized as Saxons, who were given better terms in captivity. Hiding your own identity and claiming to be something else was frowned upon and sometimes considered reason enough to be denied quarter.

The army assembled in Polotsk had been moved to Grodno where it was tactically defeated and forced to withdraw eastwards around the same time. Charles XII then occupied a now defenseless Saxony, forcing Augustus to abandon both the Polish crown and his allies in the Treaty of Altranstädt on February 24, although he remained Elector of Saxony. However, he did not cease his efforts to recover his Polish throne.