The Military History Thread

[Ennath]

February 16, 1951
Wonsan Blockade

Wonsan was a strategic point, located on North Korea’s southeastern coast with a large harbor, an airfield, a petroleum refinery, 75,000 people, and as many as 80,000 troops, including several artillery batteries. The city fell to UN forces in late October 1950 in the advance north after the Battle of Inchon (see posting). However, they would not hold it for long. After the massive Chinese intervention, Wonsan was evacuated on December 9. When the North Koreans and Chinese recaptured the city, defenses were rebuilt in a more formidable way, additional sea mines were deployed and new artillery batteries were erected.

The blockade began on February 16, 1951 and would last until the armistice in July 1953. During over 2 years of blockade, US Navy ships and aircraft engaged shore batteries repeatedly. Several American vessels were damaged by artillery fire, though none were destroyed. UN Task Group 95.2 was assigned to the blockade and they first bombarded Wonsan on February 17, causing heavy damage.

On February 24, the undefended island of Sindo-ri, in Wonsan Harbor, was captured by South Korean marines supported by 2 American destroyers and 2 frigates. The battleship New Jersey participated in her first bombardment mission of the war on May 20; while patrolling off Wonsan, North Korean batteries opened fire and she was struck by one shell.. She responded by bombarding the enemy positions until they were silenced. This type of warfare would last throughout the war.

Operation Fireball was the code name for a bombardment of the Wonsan area from May through September. It involved the cooperation of naval vessels and aircraft from the 5th Air Force which caused heavy damage to the North Koreans. On the night of May 21-22, 2 American LSMRs fired 4900 rockets in thirty-five minutes; it was the first time LSMRs would be deployed at Wonsan and over time would cause heavy casualties to the North Korean garrison. Between June and September they would discharge over12,900 rockets.

On May 24, the UN station ship at Wonsan detected several small craft southeast of Rei-To Island. In a one sided night engagement, the light cruiser USS Manchester and the destroyer Brinkley Bass used radar to direct their fire and broke the enemy formation. Four sampans were recovered the following day along with the bodies of 11 crew; 1 other wounded North Korean was taken prisoner and the sampans were found to have been converted to minelayers, with four M-26 mines each.

On June 12, the destroyer USS Walke was about 60 miles off the coast when she was hit by either by a torpedo or a floating mine which had separated from a field. The resulting explosion severely damaged the hull; 26 men were killed and 40 others wounded. Shortly thereafter, sailors on 2 nearby destroyers spotted an oil slick off of Walke’s starboard side so they began dropping depth charges on what they reported as 2 submarines. The chase was eventually discontinued. A later investigation of the incident recovered a small metal disk from the damaged ship and when analyzed it was concluded to have been part of a torpedo detonator.

Between late June and August 1951, North Korean attacks on American ships seemed to increase so the UN began concentrating on destroying shore batteries. When the frigate Everettwas hit on July 3, the Americans responded with an attack by carrier aircraft; in 1 day, 247 sorties were flown against Wonsan and 600 South Korean marines raided the mainland from the island of Cho-do. The destroyer Blue captured Kukto-do on the 7th and established an observation post. On July 17, the Allies launched Operation Kickoff. Every day on from July 17, bombardment groups would sail at 5 knots to bombard known enemy positions and continue doing so from 3:00 PM until dark. On August 4, British Royal Marines installed mortars on Hwangto-do for use in countering the North Korean shore batteries. Operation Kickoff proved to be a success as the number of attacks on blockading ships decreased for a while until new batteries were constructed.

North Korean mining now escalated and on September 5, the minesweeping group was ordered to keep the approaches swept so as to allow the warships to remain within gunfire range of the shore while maintaining the blockade. As a result, allied ships would no longer need to withdraw out of range each night. Minesweeping would continue for months as the UN ships constantly swept various areas to ensure that no new fields were laid. Incidents of shore batteries scoring hits on allied warships also became less common and no vessels were damaged until October 29 when the USS Osprey was damaged. By November 9, the minesweeping mission was 80% complete, but accurate shore battery fire delayed the UN ships from completing the operation for a few more weeks.

In late 1951 and 1952 intelligence from captured or surrendered North Koreans became more frequent and reliable. The information told the United States that the enemy was building sampans for minelaying and preparing offensives against the islands around Wonsan. North Korean troops were also conducting large artillery bombardments that demonstrated their supply of ammunition. Shore batteries increased their effectiveness as well, now that fire control was being equipped, air burst rounds were also starting to be used. With the minesweeping mostly complete, American bombardment groups began shelling the city again.

The only naval air battle at Wonsan and Hungnam occurred on October 7. MiG-15s attacked TF77 aircraft three times, one MIG made a firing pass on 2 American Skyraiders so they returned fire. There were no damage or casualties on either side and the MiGs retired to the west. Later on 4 MiG-15s attacked a flight of F4Us while 2 others attacked 8 Skyraiders near Hungnam. In these engagements there were no casualties, but in a final attack later on that day, a single MIG-15 destroyed an F4U in another action near Hungnam.

January 2, 1953 marked the first day in a large scale North Korean bombardment of the UN-held islands in Wonsan Harbor. Over the course of the next few months, shore batteries in and around Wonsan fired hundreds of rounds primarily against Hwangto-do and Yo-do. The operation lasted until May and sporadically thereafter. It was also a failure; UN intelligence estimated that 90% of the North Korean batteries were active against the islands rather than the blockading fleet, though throughout the bombardments, which occurred almost on a daily basis, only 4 friendlies were killed. During the operation, UN ships responded with counter battery fire.

April 1953 was reported by the US Navy as being the height of the campaign, with enemy forces firing over 2000 rounds in defiance of the blockade alone, and over 1000 more at the friendly-held islands. Usually the average was about 500 rounds a month. North Koreans troops also constructed hidden batteries on Ho-do Pan-do; as a result UN naval forces were ordered to stay out of the area in daylight until the weapons could be destroyed. Mine warfare also increased during the month. This level of action dropped off in May, but significant clashes continued. On July 27, the cruiser St. Paul fired the last American shots of the battle against shore batteries. With the signing of an armistice, the fighting came to an end after 861 days of action.

United Nations ships at Wonsan achieved a significant goal by maintaining a blockade against hostile territory for so long. UN naval forces inflicted heavy casualties on the North Korean forces while sustaining comparatively few casualties of their own (41 dead, 158 wounded). The North Korean artillerymen who defended Wonsan were mostly ineffective, and thousands of dollars worth of shells were wasted. Wonsan was devastated and remained so for years after the war, but due to its location, it was eventually rebuilt and is still an important strategic point.

[Ennath]

February 17, 1864
Hunley’s Battle

While the United States Navy was constructing its first submersible, USS Alligator, in late 1861, the Confederacy was doing so as well. Horace Hunley, James McClintock, and Baxter Watson first built Pioneer, which was tested in February 1862 in the Mississippi River and was later towed to Lake Pontchartrain for additional trials. But the Union threat to New Orleans caused the men to abandon development and scuttle the Pioneer the following month. Hunley and McClintock moved to Mobile to begin development of a second submersible, the American Diver. Their efforts were supported by the Confederate Army; Lt. William Alexander of the 21st Alabama Infantry Regiment was assigned to oversee the project. The builders experimented with electric and steam propulsion before falling back on a simple hand-cranked propulsion system. The American Diver was ready for harbor trials by January 1863, but she proved too slow to be practical. One attempted attack on the Union blockade was made in February, but it was unsuccessful. The submersible sank in the mouth of Mobile Bay during a storm later that month and was not recovered.

Construction of the Hunley began soon after. She was designed for a crew of 8, 7 to turn the hand-cranked propeller and 1 to steer. Each end was equipped with ballast tanks that could be flooded by valves or pumped dry by hand pumps. Extra ballast was added through the use of iron weights bolted to the underside of the hull. In the event the boat needed additional buoyancy to rise in an emergency, the iron weights could be removed by unscrewing the heads of the bolts from inside the vessel. The Hunley was equipped with 2 watertight hatches, one forward and one aft, atop 2 short conning towers equipped with small portholes and slender, triangular cutwaters. The hatches were only 16.5 by 21 inches, making entry to and egress from the hull difficult.

The Hunley was originally intended to attack by using a floating explosive charge with a contact fuse (a torpedo in 19th century terminology), towed at the end of a long rope. The Hunley was to approach an enemy ship on the surface, then dive under her, and surface again once beyond her. The torpedo would be drawn against the targeted ship and explode. This plan was discarded as dangerous because of the possibility of the tow line fouling the Hunley’s screw or drifting into the submarine herself. Instead, a spar torpedo was mounted on the bow, to be used when the submarine was 6 feet or more below the surface. Previous spar torpedoes had been designed with a barbed point: the spar torpedo would be jammed in the target’s side by ramming, and then detonated by a mechanical trigger attached by a line, so that as she backed away from her target, the torpedo would set off. However, archaeologists working on Hunley discovered evidence, including a spool of copper wire and components of a battery, that it may actually have been electrically detonated.

By July 1863, the Hunley was ready for a demonstration. Supervised by Adm. Franklin Buchanan, the Hunley successfully attacked a coal flatboat in Mobile Bay. Following this, the boat was shipped by rail to Charleston, South Carolina, arriving on August 12. However, the Confederate military seized the submersible from her private builders and owners shortly after arriving, turning her over to the Confederate Army. The Hunley would operate as an Army vessel from then on, although Horace Hunley and his partners would remain involved in her further testing and operation. While sometimes referred to as the CSS Hunley, she was never officially commissioned into service.

Confederate Navy Lt. John A. Payne volunteered to be captain, and 7 men volunteered to operate her. On August 29, the Hunley’s new crew was preparing to make a test dive, when Lt. Payne accidentally stepped on the lever controlling the diving planes as she was running on the surface. This caused the Hunley to dive with her hatches still open. Payne and 2 others escaped, but the other 5 crewmen drowned. On October 15, the Hunley failed to surface after a mock attack, killing Payne and 7 other crewmen. Among these was Hunley himself, who had joined the crew for the exercise. The Confederate Navy once more salvaged the submarine and returned her to service. Gen. Beauregard ordered that the boat should no longer be used to attack underwater. An iron pipe was then attached to her bow, angled downwards so the explosive charge would be delivered sufficiently under water to make it effective.

The Hunley made her only attack against an enemy target on the night of February 17, 1864. Her mission was to destroy the sloop-of-war USS Housatonic in Charleston Harbor. Housatonic was a 1260 ton vessel with an armament of 12 large cannons, stationed at the entrance of the harbor roughly 5 miles off the coast. She was commanded by Captain Charles Pickering and had a crew of 150 men.

The Hunley began her approach at about 8:45 PM, commanded by Lt. George Dixon and crewed by 7 volunteers. Accounts differ about the approach; what is known is that the Hunley was spotted just before embedding her torpedo into Housatonic’s hull. Official accounts say Housatonic was unable to fire a broadside at Hunley, and hit her with only small arms fire. The Hunley attached her explosive before reversing and setting a course for home.

A few moments later the torpedo detonated and sank the sloop. First-hand reports say no explosion was heard by the crew of Housatonic, who immediately began climbing the rigging or entering life boats as she began to sink. Within 5 minutes, Housatonic was partially underwater. 5 men - 2 officers and 3 crewmen - went down with their ship while an unknown number of sailors were injured. The survivors were rescued by other elements of the Charleston blockading force. Hunley won her first victory, but was lost at sea the same night while returning home to Sullivan’s Island.

It was originally thought that the Hunley was sunk as the result of her own torpedo exploding, but some claim that she survived as long as an hour after destroying the Housatonic. Support for this argument is a report by the commander of Ft. Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island that prearranged signals from the boat were observed, and answered; he did not say what the signal was. Further support comes from the testimony of a lookout on the sunken Housatonic, who reported seeing a blue light from his perch in the sunken ship's rigging. There was also a post-war claim that 2 blue lights were the prearranged signal between the sub and Fort Moultrie. “Blue light” at the time was a pyrotechnic signal in long use by the US Navy. Modern claims in published literature on the Hunley have repeatedly and mistakenly been that the blue light was a blue lantern, when in fact no blue lantern was found on the recovered Hunley, and period dictionaries and military manuals confirm the 1864 use and meaning of “blue light.”

This was the last time the Hunley was heard from, until her recovery from the waters off Charleston in 1995. While returning to her naval station Hunley sank for unknown reasons. However, a team of historians managed to examine the submersible’s remains, and theorized that a crewman on the Housatonic was able to fire a rifle round into one of the Hunley’s viewing ports. New evidence announced by archaeologists in 2013 indicates that the Hunley may have been much closer to the point of detonation than previously realized, thus probably damaging herself, although it was impossible to tell at the time due to concretion covering the hull. Later studies showed that the crew was probably instantly killed through blast injury caused by the close proximity of the torpedo.

[Ennath]

1542
Siege of Perpignan

King Francis I of France declared war on Spain and the Empire on July 12, 1542, and the French immediately launched an offensive with 5 armies. One of them, commanded by his son Charles, Duke of Orléans went to Luxembourg. Another, led by Francis's eldest son, Henry, Dauphin of France, marched to Roussillon towards the frontiers of Spain. The third, commanded by Marshal Maarten van Rossum marched into Brabant, the fourth under the Duke of Vendôme to the Netherlands, and the fifth went to the Piedmont commanded by the Marshal of France Claude d’Annebault.

The result of this grand offensive was another failure for Francis. In Flanders, Rossum, supported by a German army under the Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, came up against a strong Imperial-Spanish defense of Leuven and Antwerp. The Duke of Orléans attacked Luxembourg, and in the meantime, in Piedmont, the French army managed to capture some towns due to the cunning of d’Annebault.

In Roussillon, the army commanded by Dauphin Henry, consisting of 40,000 men, supported by the army of Marshal d’Annebault, laid siege to Perpignan, after losing valuable time, which was used by Emperor Charles V to strengthen the towns of Salses, Fuenterrabía and Perpignan.

Perpignan had been reinforced and was held by several nobles of Castile and their retinues, and also several hundred veteran Spanish soldiers. Henry, who thought it would be an easy conquest, encountered fierce resistance. A surprise sortie led by Captains Cervellón and Machichaco destroyed most of the French siege guns, which had already begun to damage the walls, causing a severe blow to the French siege. Things did not get any better for the French and the town was eventually relieved by the army of the Duke of Alva, forcing to the Dauphin to lift the siege and withdraw. Losses had been heavy and the year’s great hopes came to nothing.

[Ennath]

February 18, 1871
Surrender of Belfort

Belfort is located in a gap between the mountainous southern Vosges and the Jura Massif, strategically positioned as the gateway between Alsace and central France. At the beginning of the Franco-Prussian War, the French Army of the Rhine was routed in northern Alsace. The fall of Strasbourg on September 28, 1870 allowed a German army under August von Werder (the mostly Badener XIV Corps) to move south against Belfort. Upon hearing of the approaching German army, Pierre Philippe Denfert-Rochereau, commander of Belfort, began constructing fortifications around the city, expanding those originally built by Vauban. Werder’s forces reached Belfort and invested the city on November 3. The unyielding resistance by the French garrison kept the Germans from completing an effective encirclement of the city.

Both sides now focused their attention on the siege. On January 11, Edwin von Manteuffel assumed command of a new Army of the South, 3 corps strong, its goal to find and destroy France’s last field army, the 110,000 strong Army of the East under Charles Denis Bourbaki. Bourbaki’s orders were to take Dijon, relieve Belfort and then cut the supply lines of the German armies in France, a task well beyond the capabilities of his half-trained conscripts. Any hope of success depended on speed, but Bourbaki took weeks to assemble and did not move until late December, giving the Germans time to reinforce and prepare.

Dijon fell without a fight by the end of the month. The heavily outnumbered Werder braced for attack, but none came. Famished in a winter landscape, the French spent most of early January scrounging for food; with pay in arrears, the French army was reduced to begging. Most of the horses died (and were eaten). Marches were slow due to the weakness of many of the men. Bourbaki refused to close with the outnumbered Germans, while the Prussian II and VII Corps had time to finish arriving and find his exposed flanks. Bourbaki finally made his effort on January 15, pushing his 4 corps up to the Lizaine, a stream west of Belfort, where Werder was prepared to meet him.

The resulting Battle of Héricourt sputtered and flared for 3 days in freezing cold and cutting winds. The French guns fired an alarming number of dud shells, so common now that the gunners assumed it was sabotage. The French fought across the frozen Lizaine on the 16th, broke through near Héricourt, and opened the road to Belfort, but Bourbaki did not exploit the victory. Instead, he fell back to guard the railway. He had taken 6000 casualties for nothing. Morale plummeted; self-doubt exacerbated tensions in the army, officers against men, zouaves against the line, and everyone against the mobiles ( the leftist national guards). Many officers admitted to being Bonapartists, of doubtful loyalty to the new government.

Word that Manteuffel had pushed down the Saone and engaged Garibaldi’s 25,000 men at Dijon gave Bourbaki all the excuse he needed to retreat, but again he was too late. After surging across the Langres plateau in the third week of January, Manteuffel had steered his 2 corps southwest of Bourbaki to Dijon and Dole, where they turned to surround France’s last army on January 21. Sent to cut German communications. Bourbaki now found himself in the exact predicament prepared for the Germans. He was marooned in the barren Swiss border region without any sustaining railways or roads in the cul-de-sac formed by the Saone, Doubs and Ognon, surrounded by 140,000 German troops. When Manteuffel’s troops seized the Lyon railway a few days later, Bourbaki took the only route left to him, the road east to Pontarlier and neutral Switzerland.

Desperate appeals from the government at Bordeaux to fight on were ignored. Bourbaki cabled back, “You continue to believe that you have a well constituted army here. I have frequently advised you that the opposite is the case..” Indeed, France Army of the East was a shambles and clung together only to wring supplies from the cold, desolate uplands. (As late as the 1960s, the phrase l’Armee de Bourbaki would survive as French slang for mass disorganization.) The men staggered shoeless and shivering through the Jura and refused to fight the Germans nipping at their heels. The officers had no maps of the region and the columns moved blindly.

After ordering the retreat on January 26, Bourbaki placed his service revolver against his right temple and pulled the trigger. The blast threw him backward and opened a nasty wound in his forehead, but did no other damage, the bullet miraculously flattening against his skull and plowing under the skin to the other side of his head, where a surgeon later extracted it.

With Bourbaki confined to the garrison hospital at Besancon, command fell to Justin Clichant, but he had little left to command. The army had dissolved long before the Germans trapped its columns in the mountains, where fighting flared all day on the 29th, before news arrived that an armistice, signed at Versailles on the 26th, had been in effect since the previous day. Peace descended for a moment, but then the commanders learned that the Departments of Doubs, Jura and Cote d’Or had been excluded from the agreement; some in the French government still had hopes of a great victory in the east that would roll back German demands. Better informed of the reality, Clichant hurried to push his ragtag army into Switzerland and on February 1, 80,000 French troops, all that remained of the Army of the East, staggered across the Swiss borer and were interned.

Meanwhile, the siege of Belfort was continuing and the Germans grew impatient. On January 27, Gen. von Tresckow launched an assault, but was repulsed. A comprehensive armistice was signed on February 15 and the French government ordered Denfert-Rochereau to surrender the fortress. On February 18, the Belfort garrison marched out of the city with their weapons and honor.

In recognition of the French defense, under the terms of the Treaty of Frankfurt, the city and its surrounding area were not handed over to Germany, unlike the remainder of Alsace.

[Ennath]

February 19, 1943
3rd Battle of Kharkov

As the Battle of Stalingrad was concluding in early February 1943, Soviet forces launched Operation Star. Conducted by Col-Gen. Filip Golikov’s Voronezh Front, the goals of the operation were the capture of Kursk and Kharkov. Spearheaded by 4 tank corps under Lt-Gen. Markian Popov, the Soviet offensive initially met with success. On February 16, Soviet troops liberated Kharkov. Angered by the loss of the city, Adolf Hitler flew to the front to assess the situation and meet with the commander of Army Group South, Field Marshal Erich von Manstein.

Though he desired an immediate counterattack to retake Kharkov, Hitler ceded control to Manstein when Soviet troops neared Army Group South’s headquarters. Unwilling to launch a direct frontal assault, the German commander planned a counterstroke against the Soviet flanks once they became overextended. For the coming battle, he intended to isolate and destroy the Soviet spearheads before mounting a campaign to retake Kharkov. This done, Army Group South would coordinate with Army Group Center to the north in retaking Kursk.

Commencing operations on February 19, Manstein directed Paul Hausser’s II SS Panzer Corps to strike south as a screening force for a larger assault by Hermann Hoth’s 4th Panzer Army. Hoth’s command and Eberhard von Mackensen’s 1st Panzer Army were ordered to attack into the overextended flank of Soviet 6th and 1st Guards Armies.

Meeting with success, the early days of the offensive saw German troops sever Soviet supply lines. On February 24, Mackensen's men succeeded in surrounding a large part of Popov’s Mobile Group. German troops also succeeded in surrounding a large portion of Soviet 6th Army. Responding to the crisis, the Soviet high command (STAVKA) began directing reinforcements to the area. Also, on February 25, Col-Gen. Konstantin Rokossovsky launched a major offensive with his Central Front against the junction of Army Groups South and Center. Though his men had some success on the flanks, going in the center of the advance was slow. As fighting progressed, the southern flank was halted by the Germans while the northern flank began to overextend itself.

With the Germans exerting heavy pressure on Nikolai Vatutin’s Southwestern Front, STAVKA transferred 3th Tank Army to his command. Attacking on March 3, this force took heavy losses from enemy air attacks. In the resulting fighting, its 15th Tank Corps was encircled while its 12th Tank Corps was compelled to retreat north. The destruction of Popov’s Mobile Group and 6th Army opened a large gap in the Soviet lines. Taking advantage of uncoordinated and piecemeal Soviet attempts to plug this gap, Manstein ordered a continuation of the offensive towards Kharkov.. By March 5, elements of 4th Panzer Army were within 10 miles of the city. While Rokossovsky’s Central Front continued its offensive against the German Second Army, which had by now been substantially reinforced with fresh divisions, the renewed German offensive towards Kharkov took it by surprise. The success of Manstein’s counterattack forced STAVKA to halt Rokossovsky's offensive.

Though concerned about the approaching spring thaw, Manstein pushed toward Kharkov. Rather than advance to the east of the city, he ordered his men to move to the west then north to encircle it. On March 8, II SS Panzer Corps completed its drive north, splitting Soviet 69th and 40th Armies before turning east the next day. In place on March 10, Hausser received orders from Hoth to take the city as soon as possible. Though Manstein and Hoth wished him to continue the encirclement, Hausser directly attacked Kharkov from the north and west on March 11.

Pressing into northern Kharkov, the Leibstandarte SS Panzer Division met heavy resistance and only gained a foothold in the city with the aid of air support. The Das Reich SS Panzer Division attacked into the western side of the city the same day. Stopped by a deep anti-tank ditch, they breached it that night and pushed on to the Kharkov train station. Late that night, Hoth finally succeeded in making Hausser comply with his orders and this division disengaged and moved to blocking positions east of the city.

On March 12, the Leibstandarte Division renewed its attack south. Over the next 2 days, it endured brutal urban fighting as German troops cleared the city house-by-house. By the night of March 13-14, German troops controlled 2/3 of Kharkov. Attacking again the next day, they secured the remainder of the city. Though the battle largely concluded on March 14, some fighting continued on the 15th and 16th as German forces expelled Soviet defenders from a factory complex in the south.

Dubbed the Donets Campaign by the Germans, the 3rd Battle of Kharkov saw them shatter 52 Soviet divisions while inflicting approximately 45,300 killed/missing and 41,200 wounded. German casualties totaled 11,500. Pushing out from the Kharkov, Manstein’s forces drove northeast and secured Belgorod on March 18. With his men exhausted and the weather turning against him, Manstein was compelled to call a halt to offensive operations. As a result, he was unable to press on to Kursk as he had originally intended.

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February 20, 1815
Constitution vs. Cyane & Levant

The American frigate Constitution, commanded by Captain Charles Stewart, had broken out of Boston late in 1814 in a westerly gale which blew the British blockading squadron under Captain Sir George Collier off station. Stewart then embarked on a commerce-raiding cruise which took Constitution to Bermuda, Madeira, the coast of Portugal and finally back towards Madeira.

At 1:00 PM on February 20, 1815, 2 ships were sighted to the south, and Stewart set all sail in chase, in an easterly wind. The ships were the sixth-rate post ship HMS Cyane (sometimes referred to as a corvette), commanded by Captain Gordon Thomas Falcon, and the ship-sloop (also a sixth-rate) HMS Levant, commanded by Captain the Honorable George Douglass. Cyane was armed with 22 32-pounder carronades, 10 18-pounder carronades, and two 12-pounder long guns, the slightly lighter Levant had 18 32-pounder carronades, 2 6-pounder long guns, and a shifting 12-pounder. The crews of the 2 British vessels totaled 310.

Constitution carried a main battery of 30 24-pounder long guns, and 20 or 22 32-pounder carronades and two long bow-chasers Having earlier detached 20 men to a prize, she had a crew of 410 officers and seamen and 41 Marines.

The 2 British ships were at first widely separated. Cyane increased sail to close on Levant and by 5:30 PM the British ships were within hail of each other. The 2 captains resolved to fight rather than split up and try to escape. They at first tried to delay battle until after nightfall, but Constitution was approaching too rapidly and they formed on the starboard tack in line ahead, with Levant a cable's length ahead of Cyane. The combined broadsides of the 2 British ships were slightly heavier than Constitution’s, but were fired almost exclusively from short-range carronades, and at the range at which the action commenced, 250 yards, the effect of Constitution’s main deck battery of 24-pounder long guns was decisive against the lighter structure and short range armament of the British vessels.

At 6:10, the action began, with Constitution to windward, Levant on her port bow and Cyane on her port quarter. After broadsides had been exchanged for quarter of an hour, the cloud of smoke which gathered under Constitution’s lee hid the British ships from view. Stewart ordered his crew to cease fire, and the smoke cleared in time to allow the Americans to see Cyane attempting to cross their stern and rake Constitution. Stewart ordered the sails to be thrown aback, and Constitution instead raked Cyane. As Levant tried to cross Constitution’s bows, Stewart ordered the sails to be filled again, and raked Levant from astern. As Levant drifted downwind with battered rigging, Constitution turned again to engage Cyane. At 6:50, Cyane struck her colors.

Lt. Hoffman, the 2nd lieutenant of Constitution, took command of Cyane. At 8:00, Stewart set off to pursue Levant, and at 8:50 discovered the British vessel beating back upwind to re-enter the fight, unaware that Cyane had surrendered. The 2 vessels exchanged broadsides on opposite tacks. Captain Douglass then attempted to escape upwind but at 9:30 was overtaken and also forced to surrender. Although it was acknowledged that the crews of both British ships had fought determinedly and skillfully, Stewart’s ship-handling had been faultless. The Americans lost 6 men killed and 9 wounded. Aboard Cyane, 12 men were killed and 26 wounded, some of whom later died of their injuries. Aboard Levant, 7 men were killed and 16 wounded.

Constitution and the two prizes made for Porto Praya in the Cape Verde islands, which were neutral Portuguese territory, arriving on March 10. While repairs were being made to all 3 ships and Stewart was preparing to send off the prisoners in a neutral vessel, a large ship was sighted making for the anchorage. Stewart was preparing to engage when 2 more heavy ships were sighted, clearly too powerful a force for Constitution to face. Stewart believed that the Portuguese would be unable to enforce their neutrality and his 3 ships hastily left the harbor.

The approaching ships were Collier’s squadron, which had recrossed the Atlantic once Collier had discovered that Constitution had escaped from Boston. They were Collier’s own ship HMS Leander (50), HMS Newcastle (50), and HMS Acasta (40). (Leander and Newcastle had been constructed in 1813 with 24-pounder main deck broadsides specifically to match the large American frigates.)

As the British pursued, Constitution was forced to cut away the boats which the frigate had been towing. Cyane dropped back and Stewart ordered her to tack. She did so, and escaped, being ignored by Collier’s frigates. Levant, commanded by Lt. Ballard, 1st lieutenant of Constitution, also fell back, and turned back for Porto Praya. All 3 British frigates pursued her into the harbor and opened fire, while the British prisoners from Cyane and Levant seized a Portuguese shore battery, in violation of neutrality, and also opened fire on Levant. Although the cannonade was ineffectual, the odds were overwhelming and Ballard surrendered.

After calling at a Brazilian port, where Stewart released his remaining prisoners, Constitution reached Puerto Rico where Stewart learned that the war had ended some days before he had fought. Cyane reached New York without incident. The Portuguese later paid compensation to the United States for their failure to enforce their neutrality which allowed the recapture of Levant. Sir George Collier was accused of cowardice or incompetence for his failure to engage Constitution at Porto Praya, and took his own life in 1824.

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February 21, 1808
Finnish War, Part 1

After the Russian Emperor Alexander I concluded the 1807 Treaty of Tilsit with Napoleon, Alexander informed King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden that peaceful relations between Russia and Sweden depended on Swedish agreement to abide by the limitations of the Treaty which in practice meant that Sweden would have been required to follow the Continental System. The king, who viewed Napoleon as the Antichrist and Britain as an ally, was apprehensive of the ruinous consequences for Sweden’s maritime commerce. He instead entered into negotiations with Britain in order to prepare a joint attack against Denmark, whose Norwegian possessions he coveted.

In the meantime, the Royal Navy attacked Copenhagen. Referring to the treaties of 1780 and 1800, Alexander demanded that Gustav Adolf close the Baltic Sea to all foreign warships. Although he reiterated his demand on November 16, 1807, it took two months before Gustav responded that this was impossible as long as the French were in control of the major Baltic ports. He did this after securing an alliance with Britain on February 8, 1808. Although most Swedish officers were skeptical about their chances against the larger and more experienced Russians, Gustav Adolf had an unrealistic view of Sweden’s abilities. In St. Petersburg, his stubbornness was viewed as a convenient pretext to occupy Finland, pushing the frontier considerably to the west of the Russian capital and safeguarding it in case of future hostilities.

The situation was problematic for Sweden, as it faced both Denmark and Russia requiring the Swedes to split their forces. The Swedish plan was mostly based on holding on to the critical fortifications in southern Finland and then counterattacking with naval support in the spring and retaking the lost areas. Some officers advocated an immediate offensive or actively delaying the advancing enemies in cooperation with the garrisons on the southern coast. In the end, the instructions which the new Swedish commander in Finland, Gen. Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor, received from the king were an unsuccessful mixture of ideas from these very different plans.

Russia had gathered a wealth of information on Finland. The level of detail was so great that Russian maps were in many respects more accurate than their Swedish counterparts. The Russians used the services of Georg Magnus Sprengtporten when forming their plans. He suggested an offensive during the winter, since Finland would be mostly isolated when seas were frozen. Gen. Friedrich Wilhelm von Buxhövden was appointed commander of the Russian army of Finland in December 1807. The plan involved using the series of fortifications as staging grounds for advances. Finland. In southern Finland, armies were to isolate the fortifications and take control of the whole of southern Finland before advancing further north. Forces in Savolax were to press hard against the Swedes and reach the Gulf of Bothnia towards Uleåborg and Vasa to cut off the retreat of the main body of the Swedish army.

On February 21, 1808, 24,000 Russian troops under Buxhövden crossed the border and took the town of Loviisa. Klingspor finally arrived on March 2 and assumed command. Instead of facing the Russians at Tavastehus, where the army was assembling, he ordered a withdrawal. In Savolax the Russians also forced the Swedes to withdraw. The king was quite unprepared for the attack, especially as war was not declared until April. About 21,000 Swedish troops were stationed in various fortresses in Finland, while the rest of his army was unable to leave southern Sweden for fear of Danish attack.

The Russian advance was swift. On the first day, they besieged the Swedish fortress of Svartholm. Helsingfors fell on March 2. The forts at Hangö were abandoned and the Russians took Abö on the 21st, while a small detachment was sent to Åland. Before the end of March, Vasa was taken. In Savolax Russians also advanced rapidly and took Kuopio on March 16. Swedish forces had mostly just withdrawn, often destroying usable materials.

The Swedish fortress of Svartholm, under Major Carl Magnus Gripenberg was ill-prepared. While the garrison was 700 men, only a third had functioning weapons, while most of the fortress' guns had no carriages. The fortress had fallen into disrepair and lacked adequate supplies. Even the wells were unusable. After starting the siege on February 21, the Russians issued a surrender demand, which was refused. After a meager Russian bombardment, Gripenberg agreed to negotiations on March 10. The fortress surrendered on March 18, with just one man having been wounded in action.

Sveaborg, under Adm. Carl Olof Cronstedt, had been well prepared, with a garrison of 6000 men, over 700 cannons, and enough stores to last until summer. Defenses were strong enough to prevent the Russians from trying to storm the fortress. Instead the Russians laid siege. The fortress surrendered on May 6, after prolonged negotiations, as Cronstedt and his council believed that resistance was futile. The Russians gained the main body of the Swedish archipelago fleet intact as well as large stores of supplies and munitions.

The Russians had advanced considerably but they had also gained the long and vulnerable coastline. After the thaw, there would be nothing to prevent Swedish forces from landing. With the Royal Navy supporting the Swedish fleet, there was little the Russian fleet could accomplish. Capture of the main body of the Swedish archipelago fleet had resulted in a real advantage to the Russians since it allowed them to gain superiority in the narrow waters where large ships could not operate. The Russians constructed several fortifications on the coast, both in Hangö as well as along narrow passages leading to Åbo.

Under Col. Carl Johan Adlercreutz the Swedes counterattacked in central and northern Finland at Siikajoki, stalling the Russian offensive. Soon after at Battle of Revolax, Swedes under Colonel Johan Cronstedt started an advance south. These successes brought Klingspor promotion to Field Marshal. However, the mud of the spring mud brought advances to a halt, save for the brigade of Col. Johan Sandels, advancing on Kupio. Nikolay Tuchkov, Russian commander in northern Finland, left garrisons in every fort on his way, reducing him to 4000 troops, insufficient to advance further.

In May, the Russians suffered further setbacks when they were driven from Gotland and Åland, where a Swedish flotilla, supported by the local population, compelled the small Russian force to surrender and then invaded the island of Kumlinge where bulk of the Russian garrison of Åland had been based. The Russians were overwhelmed and forced to capitulate. On May 26, a British fleet carrying 14 000 troops under Sir John Moore entered the port of Gothenburg but, due to various disagreements with the king, never landed and proceeded to fight the French in Spain after leaving a fleet at Sweden's disposal.

The Swedish fleet which had expelled Russians from Gotland was ordered to blockade the Hangö Peninsula and reached the cape on June 10. Due to bad weather and bad visibility the fleet under Admiral Cedeström chose to stay far from the coast. After approaching coast on June 21, Cedeström learned that the Russians had already passed some time earlier. Attempts to stop the Russians deeper in the archipelago did not succeed either. Failure to stop the Russians led the king to relieve Cederström and replace him with Admiral Nauckhoff.

[Ennath]

February 21, 1808
Finnish War, Part 2

On June 19-20, landings in southern Finland at Åbo and Vasa by 3700 hastily-trained Swedish troops were repulsed after initial success by the rapid dispatch of Russian reinforcements. The Russian coastal squadron then moved west. The Swedish coastal fleet engaged the Russians at Rimito Kramp on June 30 and Pukkisaari on July 4. Further fights occurred at Tallhlmen (July 21) and Sandöström (August 2). The fighting was indecisive. This was accompanied by small landings, which joined with local irregulars. These came to nothing, though a Swedish raid on August 2 came close to capturing Buxhövden. In the end, the Russians managed to link up their separate coastal forces, gaining the edge in the Finnish archipelago.

Meanwhile, the Russians in central Finland had reinforced and now outnumbered the Swedes 55,000 to 36,000. Count Nikolai Kamensky opened a new offensive on August 14. Despite a setback at Jutas (September 13), Kamensky won battles at Kuortane (September 1), Salmi (September 2) and Oravais (September 14). A Swedish landing near Turku was repulsed by Prince Bagration. In eastern Finland, the guerrilla movement was gradually extinguished. As a consequence, Russia's situation in southern Finland improved significantly.

In the north, the situation was more complicated. Tuchkov strained to hold its own against Sandels, while the progress of a relief force under General Alexeev was contained by guerrillas. It was not until September 26 that Prince Dolgorukov (Alexeev’s replacement) managed to join forces with Tuchkov, inducing Sandels to retreat. Three days later, Buxhövden, due to the early onset of winter weather, signed an armistice, much to the dismay of Alexander. The emperor refused to ratify the truce and replaced Buxhövden with a new commander-in-chief, Bogdan von Knorring, in December.

In the south, the Swedish battle fleet had remained anchored within the Finnish archipelago, blocking some of the deeper coastal sea routes towards Åbo. Russian ships continued to arrive east but remained within the shallow narrows where the Swedish ships of the line could not reach. A Russian battle fleet under Adm. Pyotr Khanikov sortied in late July to clear the Swedish blockades in the archipelago, to cut contact between Åland and Sweden, and to stop Swedish supply transports in the Gulf of Bothnia. However, the Swedish fleet dropped its blockade on August 22, allowing Russian coastal units to join up. Odds were very much against the Swedes as the Russians had nearly one hundred coastal ships in the Finnish archipelago against which Sweden could deploy only 7 galleys and 30 gun sloops.

The Swedes were joined by 2 British ships of the line (HMS Implacable and HMS Centaur) and the allied fleet engaged the Russians, who turned back for the archipelago. The Russians were heavily defeated, losing 9 ships of the line. Four more British battleships (including HMS Victory) arrived to blockade the Russian fleet. Due to outbreaks of scurvy, the Swedish fleet was unable to maintain the blockade on its own. This blockade continued until the sea began to freeze.

The Swedish situation was further weakened by being at war with France and Denmark, both of whom threatened Sweden's possessions, with a joint invasion force of 45,000 troops in Denmark (under French general Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte) and a further 36,000 in Norway. This forced the Swedes to allocate forces to southern Sweden and along the Norwegian border (23,000 troops). Denmark had declared war on Sweden on March 14 but no serious hostilities occurred, except for a series of inconclusive skirmishes along the Norwegian border, as the situation in Spain increasingly required Napoleon’s attention, and the British navy remained a continuous threat to troop movements between Denmark and Sweden.

By this time, Russian forces had overrun all of Finland. On November 19, the Convention of Olkijoki was signed and the Swedish army was forced to leave the country. The emperor was, however, now eager to bring hostilities to Sweden proper, which was certain to bring the war to a victorious end. With this in mind, Kamensky suggested a daring plan, whereby the Russian army was to cross the frozen Gulf of Bothnia in 2 directions: one unit was to march from Vaasa towards Umeå and another from Turku to the Åland Islands and then towards the vicinity of Stockholm. A third unit was to advance on Tornio and arrive in Sweden by land. Although Knorring was urged to execute the plan as quickly as possible, he regarded it as unrealistic and procrastinated until March, when the emperor dispatched the War Minister Arakcheev to Finland in order to pressure Knorring into action before arriving at the army himself.

As Russian forces began their unexpected march across the frozen Baltic on March 13, King Gustav, accused of fatal mistakes leading to the loss of Finland, was dethroned and his uncle was proclaimed Charles XIII. Four days later, Bagration’s corps of 17,000 occupied the strategic Åland Islands, while Kulnev led the vanguard further across the frozen sea and on March 19 reached the Swedish shore within 40 miles of Stockholm. When news reached the Swedish capital, the new king sent an embassy to Knorring, proposing a truce. The Russian commander agreed and speedily recalled Kulnev back to Åland. In the meantime, another Russian contingent, 5000 men under Barclay de Tolly, endured great hardships in crossing the frozen gulf further north: they entered Umeå on March 24.

A third force, commanded by Count Shuvalov, struck against Tornio and, braving fierce frost, encircled a Swedish division, which capitulated on March 25. Six days later, the czar arrived in Turku and, on learning about the truce, not only revoked Knorring’s signature but named Barclay de Tolly new Commander-in-Chief. Hostilities thus continued until May, when Shuvalov finally reached Umeå, where he was succeeded by Kamensky.

A British fleet under Admiral Saumarez (10 ships of the line) arrived in May and sailed to the Gulf of Finland, containing the Russian fleet and imposing a great strain on Russian supply lines to Sweden. The Royal Navy captured 35 Russian ships and burnt 20 others before leaving the Baltic Sea on September 28.

In August, Charles XIII, anxious to reach a better peace settlement, ordered Sandels to land in the north of Sweden and to attack Kamensky’s rear. The last engagements of the war, at Sävar and Ratan, proved inconclusive and Kamensky succeeded in neutralizing this belated counteroffensive. Sandels’ action was only a prelude to the peace negotiations that opened in August and resulted in the Treaty of Fredrikshamn (September 17), in which Sweden ceded the whole of Finland and all of its domains east of the Torne River to Russia. Sweden closed its harbors to British ships and joined the Continental System, leading to the formal declaration of war on Great Britain. A few months later, on January 6, 1810, the Russian government mediated the Treaty of Paris between Sweden and France. Russia would attach areas ceded earlier during the 18th century by Sweden to the newly formed Grand Duchy of Finland.

[Ennath]

February 22, 1734
Siege of Danzig

Augustus II of Saxony, who had also ruled as King of Poland for most of the years since 1697, died on February 1, 1733, sparking a struggle over his successor to the Polish throne. Stanislaw I Leszczyński, who had briefly ruled as king during the Great Northern War (r. 1705-09), was elected king by an election sejm held on September 10, 1733, with broad support from the Polish nobility and populace, as well as support from France (where his daughter was married to Louis XV), and Sweden (which had supported him during his earlier reign). Russia, Austria, and Saxony, desiring a monarch over whom they would have more influence, opposed his election. The result was the War of the Polish Succession (though war was not officially declared until October).

Russia sent troops into Poland in August 1733, at first in an attempt to influence the election, but then forcing Stanislaw, who had only 2000 troops in Warsaw, to retreat to Danzig, where he entrenched with his partisans (including the Primate of Poland Teodor Potocki and the French and Swedish ministers) to await support that had been promised by France. On September 30,a Russian army of 20,000 under Peter Lacy arrived in Warsaw, and on October 6,a second sejm (composed of a smaller number of electors who had dissented from the previous election) proclaimed Augustus III of Saxony as king.

France, which had agreed to financially and militarily support Stanislaw, was reluctant to send a fleet into the Baltic as it was trying to avoid confrontation with Britain and the Dutch that might draw those neutral powers into the conflict. Cardinal de Fleury, Louis XV’s chancellor, ordered a small fleet to the Baltic in support of Stanisław. Departing Brest on August 31, 1733, a fleet of 14 ships (9 transports carrying 1500 troops, and an escort of 5 frigates) arrived at Copenhagen on September 20. The fleet was recalled before it became clear that Stanislaw would need some sort of assistance. Nevertheless, French funds made their way to Danzig and were used by Gen. von Bittinghofen, Danzig’s military commander, to improve the defenses. In addition to 4500 regular troops stationed in the city, a large number of Stanislaw’s supporters joined locally raised militia.

General Lacy, required to leave large garrisons to deal with Stanislaw’s partisan supporters, marched 12,000 men to Danzig, which he began to besiege on February 22, 1734. Due to the lack of proper siege equipment and the winter season, little activity took place at first, and the Russians had to deal with constant skirmishing from partisans both inside and outside their siege lines.

On March 17, Marshal Burkhard von Münnich arrived with Russian reinforcements - 15,000 soldiers and took command of the siege. The Russians made some gains, but were limited by inadequate artillery. Adam Tarło, a Stanisław supporter, led 8000 men in an attempt to relieve the blockade; these were surprised by a detachment sent from the siege lines under Lacy near the town of Berent and repulsed. With the arrival of heavy artillery and 10,000 Saxons in May, the Russians captured Fort Sommerschanz at the mouth of the Vistula River, but were bloodily beaten back in an attempt to storm the Hagelburg.

When it was learned in Paris that Stanislaw was blockaded in Danzig, a second relief fleet was organized. While Count Plélo (France’s ambassador in Denmark) requested 15-20,000 troops, at first only 2 ships under Commodore Jean André, Marquis de Barailh were sent with 1800 men under Comte Pérouse La Motte. These troops were landed at Weichselmünde on May 11. Four days later, Pérouse La Motte abandoned the position, declaring it untenable, and returned to Copenhagen. There Count Plélo insisted that action be taken, and, reinforced by the arrival of 3 more ships, the fleet returned to Danzig, landing the troops on May 24. On May 27, in the first recorded meeting of French and Russian troops, this force attempted to storm the Russian entrenchments, but failing to do so (the attempt costing Plélo his life), retreated to Weichselmünde. A Russian fleet under Adm. Thomas Gordon arrived on June 1, delivering additional siege weaponry; the fleet’s guns so battered the French position that they surrendered, with Weichselmünde (and thereby control of Danzig’s port) following 2 days later. Barailh returned to Copenhagen, but not before 2 of his fleet captured the Russian frigate Mittau; this ship was eventually exchanged for the captured French troops.

Danzig capitulated unconditionally on June 30, after sustaining a siege of 135 days, which cost the Russians 8000 men. Danzig had suffered considerable damage and was also required to pay reparations to the victors.

Disguised as a peasant, Stanislaw had managed to escape 2 days before the surrender. He reappeared at Königsberg, whence he issued a manifesto to his partisans which resulted in the formation of a confederation on his behalf, and the dispatch of a Polish envoy to Paris to urge France to invade Saxony with at least 40,000 men. In Ukraine, Count Nicholas Potocki hoped to support Stanisław by joining up with a force of some 50,000 guerillas operating in the countryside around Danzig. However they were ultimately scattered by the Russians, and France refused to send any additional support. Stanislaw formally renounced his claim on January 26, 1736.

Following the surrender, some of the Russian forces were sent further west to assist Austria in the defense of the empire against French military action in the Rhine River valley. Russian forces reached the Rhine for the first time, and helped to blunt further French military action in that theater.

[Ennath]

1627
Trinh-Nguyen War

Both the Trinh and the Nguyen families were descended from close friends and aides to the hero-Emperor Le Loi who liberated Vietnam from the Chinese in 1428. By 1520 a succession of weak emperors had brought the country into a state of civil war. For the 20 years the Trinh and Nguyen clans fought as allies against the usurper Mac Dang Dung. In the end, they restored the emperor, but he was only a figurehead with little real power.

The prime mover from 1525 on was Nguyen Kim. His daughter married the young head of the Trinh family Trinh Kiem. In 1545, Nguyen Kim and subsequently his eldest son were assassinated and his son-in-law, Trinh Kiem, took control of the Royal army. In 1558, Trinh gave the rulership of the southernmost province of Quang Nam to Nguyen Hoang, the second son of Nguyen Kim. The suspicious causes of death of his father and brother probably caused bitter resentment in Nguyen Hoang and the later rivalry between the 2 families. For the next 55 years, Nguyen Hoang ruled Quang Nam. He gradually extended his control south into the remaining Champa lands. Periodically, he sent military forces north to help the Trinh in their long fight against the Mac dynasty. In 1570 Trinh Kiem died and was succeeded by his second son Trinh Tung, a vigorous leader who captured Hanoi from the Mac king in 1572. However, the Mạc emperor recaptured the city the next year. 20 years later, Trinh Tung, again captured Hanoi and executed Mac Mau Hop, last of his dynasty.

In 1593, Nguyen Hoang went personally to court, bringing money and an army to help destroy the remaining Mac armies. Once these were defeated, Nguyen Hoang held the office of Grand Vizier for the next 7 years. However, his nephew Trinh Tung became increasingly wary of Nguyen Hoang’s influence at court and tried to put him under surveillance by having Hoang near him at all time. Hoang adopted Tung’s 2 most important generals as nephews and incited them to rebel against their commander. When the rebels stormed the court, Tung fled with the emperor while Hoang took to the southern provinces, never to return. In 1600, the old Nguyen ruler broke relations with the Trinh court and titled himself as the Vuong (prince or king). Hoang died in 1613. The new leader of the Nguyen, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen, continued his father’s policy of defiance, but also initiated friendly relations with the Europeans reaching the area. A foreign trading post was set up in Hoi An. By 1615 the Nguyen were producing their own bronze cannons with the aid of Portuguese engineers.

In 1620, Nguyen Phuc Nguyen officially refused to send taxes to the court in Hanoi. A formal demand was made to the Nguyen to submit to the authority of the court, and was formally refused. In 1623, Trinh Tung died and was succeeded by his son Trinh Trang. Trang made a formal demand for submission, and again Nguyen Phuc Nguyen refused. Finally in 1627 open warfare broke out between the Trinh and the Nguyen. For 4 months a large Trinh army battled against the Nguyen army but were unable to defeat them. The result was that Vietnam had effectively been partitioned, with the Trinh controlling most of the north and the Nguyen controlling most of the south; the dividing line was the Gianh River, very close to the 17th parallel, the border between North Vietnam and South Vietnam.

While the Trinh ruled over a much more populous territory, the Nguyen had several advantages. First, they were on the defensive. Second, the Nguyen were able to take advantage of their contacts with the Europeans, specifically the Portuguese, to purchase advanced weapons and hire European military experts in fortifications. Third, the geography was favorable to them, as the flat land suitable for large organized armies is very narrow at this point of Vietnam; the mountains nearly reach to the sea. After the first assault, the Nguyen built two massive fortified lines which stretched a few miles from the sea to the hills. The walls were built north of Hué near the city of Dong Hoi. The Nguyen defended these lines against numerous Trinh offensives which lasted till 1672.

In 1633, the Trinh tried an amphibious assault to get around the wall. The Trinh fleet was defeated at the battle of Nhat-Le. Around 1635, the Trinh copied the Nguyen and sought military aid from the Europeans. Trinh Trang hired the Dutch to make cannons and ships for the royal army. In 1642-43, the Trinh army attacked the Nguyen walls. With the aid of the Dutch cannons, the Trinh army broke through the first wall but failed to break through the second. At sea, the Trinh, with 3 Dutch ships, were destroyed in a humiliating defeat by the Nguyen fleet with their Chinese style galleys. Trinh Trang staged yet another offensive in 1648, but at the battle of Truong Duc, the royal army was badly beaten. This now left the door open for the Nguyen to go on the offensive.

The Nguyen launched their invasion of northern Vietnam in 1653, defeating the weakened royal army and capturing Quang Bình and Ha Tinh provinces. In the following year, Trinh Trang died as Nguyen forces made attacks into Nghe An province. Under a new Trịnh lord, the capable Trinh Tac, the royal army counterattacked. The Nguyen were fatally weakened by a division between their 2 top generals who refused to cooperate with each other. In 1656 the Nguyen army was driven back all the way to their original walls. Trinh Tac tried to break the walls in 1661 but this attack, like so many before it, failed to break through.

In 1672, the Trịnh army made a last effort. The attack, like all the previous attacks on the Nguyen walls, failed. This time the two sides agreed to a peace. With mediation by envoys of the Chinese emperor, the Trịnh and the Nguyen finally agreed to end the fighting by making the Linh River the border between their lands (1673). Although the Nguyen nominally accepted the Le King as the ruler of Vietnam, the reality was, the Nguyen ruled the south, and the Trinh ruled the north. This division continued for the next 100 years. The border was strongly guarded but peaceful.

The long peace came to an end in 1774. At the time, the Nguyen were under heavy assault from the Tay Sơn clan and part of their force had been defeated in recent fighting in Cambodia. As a result, the army in the north defending Hué was weak. Trinh Sam, one of the last Trinh Lords and ruler of the north, launched his attack on November 15, 1774. For the first time, the Nguyen walls were broken. In February 1775, the Nguyen capital of Hué was captured by the royal (Trinh) army. After some fighting with the army of the Tay Sơn, a treaty was signed and the Trinh army left the destruction of the Nguyen to the southern rebels. A dozen years later the Trinh Lords would themselves be thrown out by the Tay Sơn.