12: Masterpiece at Munster
Viennese cavalry at Munster
After months of preparations and planning, Alexander Menshikov and his army finally left St. Petersburg in February and began their long grueling westward march. This army did not reach the promised 60000 soldiers. Instead, Menshikov had little over 50000. Among these 50000 men were many veterans from the Great Northern War against Sweden and the Russo-Persian War; however, the large size of the army meant it also contained a number of recent recruits. These recruits were unaccustomed to the difficulties and deprivations of an army on the march, which immediately caused trouble for the aged Menshikov. As Menshikov marched through Russia he lost many soldiers to fatigue and desertion. On top of that, every two to three days Menshikov had to halt his advance just so that the men could rest. Despite these problems, Menshikov still strove forward, he had victory in his eyes and he would let nothing stop that.
Menshikov's determination to drive himself into the heart of Germany was matched by King George II's determination to remain in that heart of Germany. John Campbell, the Duke of Argyll and supposed supreme commander of the Army of Hanover, had seen the defeat at Bienenbuttel as a condemnation of the viability of fighting in Germany when Britain's enemies included the Hapsburgs, Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony, and Cologne. King George, however, responded only with anger and contempt at the suggestion of abandoning his homeland
[1]. George went so far as to place the blame of Bienenbuttel at Argyll's feet and to question Argyll's competence. George proclaimed that Argyll's record was nothing more than a retreat
[2] and a skirmish with brigands
[3]. Although both George and Argyll took offense at each other's words neither was willing to act on that offense as Argyll did not resign and George did not dismiss him. Argyll hoped he could still change the young King's mind and retain his favor while George feared that the next general would be no better. Thus throughout the spring, the Army of Hanover stayed stationary in southern Brunswick-Luneburg.
During this spring, Argyll was not the only person to face King George's wrath. In the aftermath of Bienenbuttel, George witnessed his son, Frederick or Griff, be treated as a hero by the common Brunswicker-Luneburger soldiers who he had saved from rout at Bienenbuttel. Even though George was their elector the people of Brunswick-Luneburg they barely knew him and barely loved him. George could not stand this fact and despised his son for it. Often times during councils of war George railed against his son if he dared to offer an opinion. Several officers of Brunswick-Luneburg were displeased by George's treatment of Griff, however, they sought to protect their careers and so they stood by silently. The ambition of these officers even led them to agree with George when he asked them if he was correct in his assessment of Griff's ability. Griff struggled to understand why his father was such a cruel stranger to him but desperately desired to gain his love. As a result, Griff took every hit that George threw his way and did not fight back no matter how much he was hurt
[4].
Ultimately, when Menshikov's army marched into Brandenburg the Hanoverian Alliance's situation became untenable, and George finally acceded to Argyll's demands and agreed to an evacuation of Brunswick-Luneburg. To accomplish this evacuation it was agreed that the Army of Hanover would march to Bremen-Verden and then depart from Bremen with the assistance of the Royal Navy. Just as Argyll had achieved the escape of the entire Austracista army from Spain in 1713, Argyll intended to rescue the Army of Hanover from Brunswick-Luneburg
[5]. In early May, Agryll marched out of Celle and began to make his way towards Bremen. However, his march would not be unopposed.
Although letting the Hanoverians run would have allowed Peter Lacy to take the rest of Brunswick-Luneburg without any loss of life, his standing orders demanded otherwise. Empress Catherine and Menshikov had been explicit: Brunswick-Luneburg must be destroyed with fire and blood. Simply capturing the electorate would not be enough for this monarch and that despot and Lacy knew it. With that thought in mind, Lacy did not hesitate to march into Bremen-Verden as soon as Argyll moved towards it. Swiftly, Russian troops under General Maurice overran much of the duchy and secured many of its strategic points. However, the all-important port of Bremen remained in the hands of forces loyal to the Hanoverian Alliance, which meant that escape was still position. Meanwhile, the rest of the Viennese Army turned southward to confront the Hanoverians and deny them the chance to depart.
Early June after much maneuvering and marching, Argyll finally made his attempt to dash to Bremen. With a couple of night marches, Argyll quickly closed the distance between his army and Bremen. However, Lacy was fast too and when Argyll neared Achim he found a large army awaiting him. Rather than dare to try to best Lacy on the field, Argyll again tried to outrun him. During the night of June 7th, the Hanoverian army crossed the Weser River in an effort to go around Lacy. Yet Lacy had not been a fool to not see this coming, so when Argyll's tired troops approached the Eiter River they found the bridge they wished to cross already occupied by a force of Russian soldiers under the command of Charles Frederick. This opposition did not please Argyll as he had hoped to evade any detection or resistance. Still, Argyll recognized that Charles had only a small troop of men and Argyll needed to cross that bridge.
After quickly organizing a few formations of infantry, Argyll ordered the first assault against the bridge. As the British soldiers advanced they were peppered with musket fire and hit hard by the Russian artillery battery. Exhausted and frightened this assault broke up and ran back towards the rest of the Hanoverian army. Argyll and his colleagues, however, could not allow this first failure to deter them. They needed to cross that bridge. If they did not then they could not escape. Thus another assault was sent forth. This one actually made it to the bridge only for the Russian infantrymen to break apart and reveal a cannon which then blasted apart the formation of British soldiers. Again the soldiers came running back and again Argyll ordered more men forward. This time two formations offered covering fire on the flanks of the bridge whilst the assault force fixed their bayonets and bravely charged forward. Their melee struggle with the Russians, however, was rebuffed just like the ones before. At this point, George took command and ordered a full assault of the bridge whilst other men were meant to ford the river. Crowded on the bridge the Hanoverians could not use their numbers to their advantage. At the same time, the soldiers wading through the river were welcomed by some submerged caltrops and wooden spikes. Nevertheless, with difficulty and death, the Hanoverians pushed forward on the bridge and made it to the other bank. Next, with a hideous thundering, the bridge exploded and tens of Hanoverian soldiers were instantly killed or injured by the explosion of fire and debris. Amidst this chaos, the Russians counterattacked and murdered the men who had made it across the bridge and had succeeded in fording the river.
The demolition of the bridge instantly made crossing the Eiter a more formidable task but not an impossible one, not even with Charles Frederick on the opposite bank. Thus the Hanoverians prepared for another strike against the Charles Frederick. However, that strike was never made. To the north, Danish scouts had spotted Russian horsemen riding towards Charles Frederick's aid. Even if the Hanoverians finally did dislodge the stalwart Holsteiner they would then have to defeat the menacing Lacy. Worse yet, if Lacy was fast enough he might catch the Hanoverians while they were still crossing the river, the river which now had no bridge. Argyll, George, Reventlow, they all knew that the safe crossing they had planned was no more and with it the plans to escape through Bremen had also vanished. With sad hearts and a sense of damnation, they called off the final attack and ordered a retreat back towards Celle
[6].
The Battle of Thedinghausen Bridge although minor in terms of the number of men who were actually engaged in combat and the death toll was still strategically significant. The Hanoverian forces had spent weeks plotting to escape through Bremen and then maneuvering to actually get close to Bremen only to fail in the end. In the meantime, Menshikov's army was allowed to march ever closer to Brunswick-Luneburg. Once Menshikov arrived in Brunswick-Luneburg the Hanoverian situation would certainly change from difficult to impossible. Within the Hanoverian army, the defeat only further worsened morale issues and the feeling of despair heightened the rate of desertion. Additionally, the hostility between King George and the Duke of Argyll rose to a much more dangerous and damaging level. King George lost almost all the respect he had left for the general. George went on to take supreme command of the army for himself and relegated Argyll to the simple commander of the British contingent. Furthermore, the Royal Navy had dedicated considerable resources towards readying an evacuation force
[7]. Instead of these resources being used to bolster the Caribbean squadron or protect the Mediterranean they were wasted in the North Sea. Overall, failure at Thedinghausen was very harmful to the military situation of the Hanoverian Alliance.
On the opposing side, the Battle of Thedinghausen was viewed as another sign of Russia ascendancy and superiority. Despite being massively outnumbered, Charles Frederick and his Russian soldiers withstood multiple enemy attacks over the course of a couple of hours. Furthermore, the Russians had lost less than 200 men whereas they killed or injured nearly 1000 enemies. The victory, importantly, prevented the Hanoverian escape while also preserving the Hanoverian army to be challenged by Menshikov himself. This situation is exactly what Lacy needed to accomplish and he had done it. In the following two weeks, the Viennese Alliance solidified their occupation of Bremen-Verden and took control of Bremen and Stade, which removed the threat of a future escape by sea.
In this new reality, the Army of Hanover was running out of options and out of time. No matter which way the Hanoverians looked all they could see were enemies. To the north, Lacy and Friedrich Wilhelm complicated any march towards Holstein and the rest of Denmark-Norway's army. To the east, Menshikov made Brandenburg unwelcoming. To the south, Wolfenbuttel and Saxony provided no good means of escape. To the west, Munster was possessed by the House of Wittelsbach and might be filled with the soldiers of Elector Charles Albert and Prince Eugene if the Hanoverians dared march there. The Hanoverians were surrounded and if they did not move then they would slowly be strangled and all hope be lost. With much debate, the Hanoverian generals discussed which route of escape would be their best chance. Ultimately, the French inability to provide a guarantee that they could hold Prince Eugene forced the Army of Hanover to look in one direction alone, north
[8].
The next many days saw the Army of Hanover desperately gather as many supplies as possible so that they could sprint towards Holstein and join with the Danish-Norwegian army there. Even though the Hanoverians readied themselves as fast as they could, it was not enough. On July 6th, Menshikov crossed the eastern perimeter of the electorate and gave the Viennese army a more than two to one advantage over the Hanoverians. However, with Lacy concentrated in Bremen-Verden and Menshikov only in Luneburg, there was still a chance. The Hanoverians might still escape Brunswick-Luneburg and escape obliteration. Driven by this hope, the Hanoverian army soon departed from the city of Hanover and began their march towards Holstein and towards safety.
Fortunately for the Hanoverian Alliance, Menshikov's march had not gone as well as Lacy's. Obviously, Menshikov's march had taken much longer but on top of that Menshikov had suffered far more attrition than Lacy had. While Lacy took Russia's best west he had managed to maintain a tight and disciplined march with limited desertion and disease. The same could not be said for Menshikov's army. By the time it reached Brunswick-Luneburg Menshikov's army had lost 6000 men to fatigue, disease, and desertion. This was more men than the Army of Hanover had killed thus far. Even with these losses, Menshikov's army was still a force to reckoned with. The core of the army was made up of hardened veterans and Menshikov himself was a more than capable commander. The Hanoverian army needed to be careful if it wanted to get out of Brunswick-Luneburg intact.
Considering the sustained Viennese garrison at Luneburg and the close proximity of the Prussian army in Pomerania, the Hanoverians preferred to escape through the western half of the electorate rather than the east even though the west was where Lacy laid. The escape plan King George and Reventlow formulated relied heavily on simply outrunning and outsmarting Lacy as difficult as that was. Warily the Hanoverian army marched northward before making a dramatic bolt out of Soltau. While a small force feinted to the east of the Luneburg Heath, the main army run into the west. Lacy, however, was one of the most formidable commanders of this period and was not easily taken by fakes. Swiftly, Lacy's army moved towards Neuenkirchen and provided too great a threat to the Hanoverians, which forced their march to come to a sudden halt.
George, despite his many faults, was not an idiot. He had hoped and prayed that he could sneak by Lacy but he had known there was a very real possibility he would not. Thus when the Hanoverian army found itself opposed by Lacy it was not paralyzed, it was not shocked, and it was not unprepared. At first, the Hanoverian army made a quiet and expected retreat back southward after another apparent failure. However, midway through the night, the Hanoverian camp outside of Soltau was awakened and orders were bellowed out. By 4 am,the Hanoverian camp had been disassembled and the army began to march this time to the east. Although George and Reventlow knew that Menshikov would probably be waiting for them, they believed that they could overpower him before Lacy would be able to reach him. To help slow down Lacy's army, a sizable rearguard was left behind. If the Hanoverian army could beat Menshikov and the rearguard and delay Lacy then the road towards Holstein would be wide open and from there they would continue the fight.
At around 8:30 am on July 18th, the Hanoverian army found Menshikov's army positioned in the village of Munster. Once again the Russians had positioned themselves on a riverbank and sought to throwback this Hanoverian escape attempt. However, the Hanoverians were not going to just throw themselves at the Russians again. This time the Russians were not just a small formation but were instead an entire army. Consequently, George prepared for a full-blown battle. As the army began to draw itself into battlelines, George hosted a final war council to decide how to best overcome Menshikov. George decided that this time the British would be the left, the Germans would make up the centre, and the Danish-Norwegians would control the right
[9]. Prince Frederick was placed with the British troops under Argyll's command while George would lead his electoral soldiers himself. The army would advance and lay down heavy fire on the Russians before charging at them and breaking through them.
On the opposite side, Menshikov had arrayed his army so that his veteran formations and his newer formations were interspersed. This way he hoped to mitigate any lack of discipline or displays of fear. Between these formations, Menshikov had placed his artillery batteries because he lacked any suitable elevation to justify placing them behind his army. All of these soldiers were dug in behind the riverbank and bogs of Munster. Menshikov had not had the time to turn the rivers into the same of horror that the Eiter had been for the Hanoverians. However, the bogs provided their own method of deterring attackers.
At 12:15 pm the battle finally commenced as the Hanoverians had finally pieced together their army
[10]. According to the plan, the Hanoverian army marched forward and began to fire volley after volley into the Russian formations. However, once again the Russians proved their mettle as traded back every volley the Hanoverians gave them. Along the Hanoverian left flank, the British soldiers struggled to make it past the Russians because the river curved to the north and thus guarded the Russian flank. On the Hanoverian right flank, the river curved in the opposite direction to the south and with it so did the Russian line. As a result, the Danish-Norwegian soldiers were unable to round the Russian flank and had their numerical advantage limited. For more than two hours this brutal firefight continued as the Russians showed no sign of weakening or breaking. Wherever a young soldier hesitated he looked around and saw the soldiers of the Peter the Great fighting with everything they had. Up and down the lines Menshikov rode rallying every soldier who wavered and demonstrating no fear as bullets and cannonballs whizzed past him.
At around 2:50 pm, George received news that Lacy was attacking his rearguard in Soltau. Immediately, George grew anxious about how long the battle had gone on without any real progress and he worried that his rearguard would not be able to hold long enough. Desperate to achieve victory and reach safety, the King ordered the Hanoverian army to attach its bayonets and assault the Russians. Lacking any sort of bridge, the Hanoverians only path was through the waters of the river and the bogs
[11]. As the soldiers trudged through these waters many were shot and some dropped. Upon reaching the opposite bank the Hanoverian soldiers were met with a fear wooden stakes and a heavy rain of fire. At this point, some formations were turned back. Others, however, struggled forward and charged right at the Russian brutes. In the harsh melee that followed the ragged and disheveled Hanoverian soldiers unleashed themselves on the hated Russian foes. In the centre, the German soldiers were severely rebuked after only an hour of combat. On the Hanoverian right, the Danish-Norwegians later managed to overpower the southern length of the Russian army. Whereas on the Hanoverian left, the British and Russians infantry still contested the ground. In this heavy and bloody brawl, the Hanoverians seemed as if they might actually succeed.
Come 4 pm the Hanoverian hopes, however, were crushed. Thousands of Russian, Prussian, and Saxon cavalry emerged on the western horizon and surged towards the British on the left. George was completely surprised. No word of his rearguard falling had arrived, yet somehow the Viennese cavalry was here. It did not make any sense but with thousands of enemies smashing into his flank George need not think about how these enemies had gotten here. George instead needed to figure out how to respond to it. Unfortunately, his centre was still in disarray after its failed assault and much of the Hanoverian reserves had already been committed. The reserves that George had left he quickly dispatched to his left and just prayed that it would be enough.
Already engaged with Russian soldiers in the front and with many British soldiers split between the two banks of the river, the Hanoverian left flank is a horrible position when the Viennese reinforcements arrived. The initial shock of the cavalry charge broke some of the British units in morale and those which still stood struggled to form up and react effectively. At this moment, Frederick of Hanover, the young Griff, once again displayed his courage and relentlessness as he rode towards fray rather than away from it. Inspired by Griff's example, the British soldiers rallied and began to fight back against the Viennese cavalry with the aid of some fresh reserves. However, this moment did not last long. Now, Viennese infantrymen arrived too and joined the epic melee while also laying down fire where they could. Outnumbered and completed enveloped the British soldiers found themselves the victims of a massacre. Being cut down by Saxon cavalry, gunned down by Prussian musketeers, and run through by Russian footmen, the British were shattered and destroyed.
The arrival of further Viennese soldiers was not something which King George could understand. It did not make any sense and George did not want it to make sense, not as part of his army was being utterly crushed. George was stunned and so was his army. As his German troops wavered, Menshikov launched his counterattack and thousands of Russian soldiers streamed forth. With the Hanoverian left flank having collapsed, the Viennese soldiers were able to attack the German centre from both the flank and the front. Even overwhelmed and demoralized the German soldiers still put up a good fight before finally being dispersed and defeated by 6 pm. Many of the German soldiers were captured right there and then. Others would be captured by Viennese cavalry and scouts over the next few days.
The only Hanoverian soldiers who escaped the slaughter at Munster were the Danish-Norwegians and a small group of Germans. Having actually been winning their part of the battle, the Danish-Norwegians had been close to turning the Russian flank before the arrival of Viennese reinforcements. At that point, the Danish-Norwegians continued to fight hard but as they realized just how dire the situation was they instead chose to run while they still could. With them, they took a few thousand Brunswicker-Luneburger men. Among these men was King George II. However, during their retreat, they did end up having to sacrifice further soldiers to delay the Viennese troops just a little longer. Even with the brave sacrifice of those men, the retreat was not easy. The escapees barely stopped or rested in their run towards Holstein. Along the way, many injured men had to be left behind to preserve the speed and integrity of the rest of the army. When the force finally reached the friendly arms of the Danish army in Holstein, it was a starved and damaged thing. Of course, the army lacked any heavy artillery or significant war materials.
As George later found out, his rearguard had not failed him. Early on July 18th, Lacy was suddenly woken up by General Maurice because the scouts had spotted movement near Soltau. Instantly, Lacy realized that Menshikov was at great risk and with all haste he prepared his army to march to Menshikov's aid. Due to the size of his army and the need for artillery, Lacy had little choice but to march the army towards Soltau. However, Maurice postulated that such a maneuver might take too long and Menshikov could be defeated before Lacy could come to his aid. For this reason, Maurice suggested that Lacy give him 10000 of the best troops that they had so that Maurice could march straight through the Luneburg Heath and reach Menshikov before any disaster could befall him. In an acknowledgment of Maurice's skill and a show of trust, Lacy approved Maurice's plan. Thus while Lacy marched towards Soltau, Maurice went towards the Heath
[12].
Although Maurice's march was difficult he was correct in believing that he could do it and that it was necessary. As Maurice had joined the fight at Munster, Lacy had only just defeated the hard Hessian and Brunswicker-Luneburger rearguard that George had left for him. Had Maurice instead stayed with Lacy then Menshikov's probably would have faltered. At the moment Maurice arrived the British had been making progress and the Danish-Norwegians were already winning their part of the battle. Within an hour or two, Menshikov's flanks could have folded and with it his army destroyed and the Hanoverian army's escape achieved. Instead, Maurice arrived just when he was needed most and routed the Hanoverian army.
In military terms, the Battles of Munster and Soltau amounted to a military catastrophe for the Hanoverian Alliance. The casualties suffered by the Hanoverians were devastating. More than 14000 Hanoverian soldiers had been killed in battle among them was the Duke of Argyll. A further 13000 men were captured in the immediate aftermath of the battle. This list of prisoners included the Frederick of Hanover. Only 19000 men made it to the safety of Holstein. The last 9000 men were later regrouped in the City of Hanover but there a position was doomed. Accompanying these losses of men, the Hanoverian Alliance lost all ability to contest the control of Brunswick-Luneburg and its dependencies. The region was the Viennese Alliance's to take and would take it in the succeeding weeks. With the Hanoverian threat in Germany vanquished, the Viennese Alliance would be able to refocus and redouble its efforts towards achieving mastery of the Rhine and of the Baltic Coast.
Regarding the victor of Munster, Menshikov, obviously, treated the victory as an extreme triumph. Despite the fact that the Viennese Alliance suffered nearly 8000 casualties at Munster, Menshikov still had much to be proud of. He had held his ground against a superior foe and, in the end, he and Maurice had shattered the Army of Hanover. The sheer number of casualties inflicted on the Hanoverians alone justified calling Munster the sort of great victory Menshikov had been aiming for. Additionally, the strategic result of the battle made this success comparable to Peter's victory at Poltava. Finally, the carnage of the battle had matched exactly the havoc which the Empress and Menshikov had envisioned when they called for the destruction of Brunswick-Luneburg. All in all, Menshikov was one step closer to his full glory.
Maurice, the other hero of Munster, also had much to be happy about in the aftermath of the battle. Although publically Menshikov made sure to take as much credit for the victory as possible and to play down the importance of Maurice's intervention, in private Menshikov did recognize the true role of Maurice. Seeing as Menshikov was still the first man of Russian politics, this private praise was a significant breakthrough for Maurice is in ambitions to regain the Duchy of Courland. However, Maurice still had a ways to go. Menshikov was grateful towards Maurice but Maurice was not first among Menshikov's friends
[13]. In terms of military advancement, Munster solidified Maurice's place as a top-tier Russian general rather than just one of its many talented subordinate commanders.
The duo of Lacy and Prince Leopold were able to mark down another victory due to their intelligent command at Soltau. Although the Hessian and Brunswicker-Luneburger rearguard had put up an impressive fight, Lacy and Leopold were able to overcome them with just 700 men being lost. However, as mentioned earlier, the rearguard did waste enough time that Lacy's army did not reach Munster before the battle concluded. Fortunately, Lacy's dispatching of Maurice was enough and Menshikov honored Lacy for the brilliance of it. Underneath Lacy, Duke Charles Frederick of Holstein and Frederick Augustus of Rutowsky fought with a distinction worthy of notice
[14]. In Charles Frederick's case, his bravery and leadership contributed to the Russian breakthrough of the enemy lines. While in Hans Hermann's case, his natural aptitude for war resulted in the rearguard's retreat being cut off and thousands of Hanoverian soldiers being captured.
Immediately following the Battles of Munster and Soltau and their subsequent chases, the Viennese Alliance turned towards finishing their conquest of Brunswick-Luneburg. Already Luneburg, Bremen-Verden, and Lauenburg were under Viennese occupation, however, Brunswick, Osnabruck, and Gottingen remained in the hands of the remnants of the Army of Hanover. Rather than take these locations one by one, Menshikov split up the Viennese army. The King Augustus the Strong and the Saxons were sent to Gottingen, Maurice and some Russians were deployed to Osnabruck, Lacy and Leopold were tasked with taking Celle, and Menshikov himself went for Brunswick-Luneburg's crown, Hanover. Over a period of three weeks, all of these places either surrendered or were overwhelmed.
In Hanover itself, the defending commander realized the impossibility of his situation and was also scared that the Russian demands for the destruction of Brunswick-Luneburg would actually be carried out. As a result, the commander offered to surrender his whole army of 9000 men and allow them to be imprisoned so long as the city was unharmed. Although a surrender typically lacked the excitement which Menshikov sought, a surrender on this scale was utterly humiliating for the Hanoverian Alliance and was more than enough to appease Menshikov's power-lust. The subsequent Convention of Hanover marked the official end of the Viennese campaign against Brunswick-Luneburg.
With Brunswick-Luneburg conquered the Viennese Alliance showed its first cracks. After the conquest was finished, Menshikov asked the Saxon army to return to him so that they could pivot towards Holstein. However, King Augustus cared little for the affairs of Holstein and the ambitions of Menshikov. Augustus occupied the territories he wished to control and he had the political clout that he knew he could keep them when peace negotiations arrived. Instead, Augustus turned towards the Holy Roman Emperor, who still had prizes to offer the Elector of Saxony. The Prince of Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel, Ferdinand Albert II, felt the same way and he too refused the calls of Menshikov
[15]. The same could not be said for the Prussians and Mecklenburgers. Although the Prussians had taken most of Pomerania, Stralsund remained under Swedish control and until it was taken the Prussians felt the need to play nice with the Russians. For Charles Leopold of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, the Danish presence in Holstein was too great a threat to his newly captured Duchy of Lauenburg. Thus it was only Russia, Prussia, and Mecklenburg which still stood to oppose Denmark-Norway.
Menshikov like Augustus did not actually care about Holstein. Menshikov recognized that the duchy had some importance to Empress Catherine who had married both of her daughters to princes of Holstein. However, Menshikov's command of Russian politics was so dominant that taking Holstein would do little to grow his power. Indeed, the effects of spending so much time away from St. Petersburg to conquer Holstein could overweigh the political gains of actually taking it. Yet politics so far had not been Menshikov's reason for personally this war and politics certainly played little part in Menshikov's decision to go after Holstein. Already, Menshikov had defeated the Swedes and the British but he not defeated the Danish-Norwegians. Indeed, they were the ones who had escaped Munster. Furthermore, Menshikov had won just two good victories, Fredrikshamm and Munster, but he wanted three. Holstein and the army of Denmark-Norway offered an opportunity to find that third victory and Menshikov wanted it badly
[16].
The Hanoverian army in Holstein was made up of 40000 Danish-Norwegian soldiers and 1000 German survivors from Munster. Although King George was counted among the army's generals, the composition of the army made it so that Reventlow's authority was supreme and that all the important positions were held by Danish-Norwegian commanders. This army was quite formidable in numbers and in skill. However, Reventlow was presented with a true challenge when he saw the army which Menshikov had. With 3000 Mecklenburgers, 32000 Prussians, and 50000 Russians Menshikov assembled an army of 85000 soldiers, more than twice the number Reventlow had. Of course, this number was commanded by men such as Maurice of Saxony, Prince Leopold of Anhalt-Dessau, and Hans Heinrich Graf von Katte. Furthermore, Reventlow had an incredibly long boundary to defend and not a heavily fortified one at that. In fewer words, Reventlow's task was a tall order.
To invade Holstein, Menshikov placed the majority of his army in Lauenburg and near Altoona. Reventlow matched this array as best as he could but, of course, was outnumbered in both places. As Reventlow dug in, Maurice detached himself from Menshikov's army with 20000 men and marched north along the right bank of the Elbe. From this maneuver, it was obvious to Reventlow that Maurice intended to cross the Elbe and threaten Reventlow's rear. However, Reventlow could do little to stop Maurice. The disparity in numbers between the Danish-Norwegians and the Viennese meant that if Reventlow sent a significant force to defend against Maurice then Reventlow himself would doubtless be attacked and perhaps overwhelmed. Instead, Reventlow could only send 4000 men and just hope they could rebuff Maurice's crossing.
Rapidly Maurice marched northward along the Elbe but the small Danish-Norwegian army was able to match his speed. Subsequently, Maurice split his army into four and dispersed the different sections along the river, which forced the Danish-Norwegians to do likewise. Finally, as Maurice marched on of these sections north during the day he reversed course at night and then quietly began to cross the river. By morning 4000 Viennese soldiers had amassed in Holstein 7 miles south of Gluckstadt. As the Danish-Norwegian soldiers tried to regroup they left other portions of the river unprotected and so by the end of the day all 20000 soldiers had crossed the Elbe and Holstein security had been breached.
At this point, Reventlow decided to retreat. The Danish general recognized that his situation was untenable and that he had been beaten. Maurice was a talented commander who might be able to hold out long enough for Menshikov and Lacy to rescue him, which made turning on Maurice a risky decision. Attacking Menshikov's main army was simply out oft he question. The best option and the safest course of action for Reventlow was to concede Holstein and retreat to better ground with shorter lines. For this reason, Reventlow quickly ordered the Danish-Norwegian army to evacuate towards Schleswig and not risk getting caught out by a Viennese pincer attack. Although the decision was a tough one to make it was the right one. Earlier that year, King George's reluctance to give up Brunswick-Luneburg had resulted in the destruction of the Army of Hanover and Brunswick-Luneburg still fell. Here, presented with the same situation, Reventlow chose to preserve his army's strength and trade Holstein so that Schleswig could stand a better chance of surviving
[17].
For the Viennese, the Danish-Norwegian evacuation was a military coup that allowed them to quickly retake Holstein-Gottorp and also occupy Holstein-Gluckstadt. However, Reventlow's withdrawal had deprived Menshikov of his third victory on the field. Despite the success, Menshikov wanted more and was not yet ready to give up on his dreams of a decisive defeat of the Danish-Norwegians. Consequently, when Charles Frederick asked for Menshikov to continue on to Schleswig and retake the duchy for his family, Menshikov acceded. If Holstein could not provide Menshikov with a battle than Schleswig must. However, as the Viennese army began to make its moves towards Schleswig, terrible news arrived.
To the east, as the Viennese forces under Lacy and Menshikov conquered Brunswick-Luneburg and then Holstein, Prussians under King Friedrich Wilhelm had been continuing their siege against Stralsund. The hardened fortress of Stralsund had managed to survive the dedicated effort of the Prussians for over a year without showing any signs of falling. As the key to Pomerania, Stralsund's capture was necessary to assure the Prussian domination of Pomerania, which is why Friedrich Wilhelm had continued to please and court the Russians even after Brunswick-Luneburg had fallen. He had hoped that after defeating Denmark-Norway the Russian armies would turn to help take Stralsund. Failing that, if Stralsund should survive the war then Friedrich Wilhelm would need Russia to use its victories in Finland to gain Stralsund for Prussia.
All of this began to change on September 2nd when a lucky mortar shot hit some barrels of powder and ripped a hole in the Stralsund's outer wall. Eager to throw off the shackles of Russian military and political superiority, Friedrich Wilhelm did not hesitate to order an assault of the breach. That evening hundreds of Prussian soldiers stormed towards the breach taking cannon shot after cannons hot and volley after volley without breaking formation. Upon reaching the wall, the Prussian soldiers fearlessly climbed through the rumble and viciously pushed back the Swedes from the wall
[18]. Despite repeated Swedish counterattacks, these Prussian soldiers held on to this position and allowed for reinforcements to flood into the outer defenses of Stralsund.
With Stralsund's outer wall under Prussian control, Friedrich Wilhelm demanded the inner citadel surrender. However, the brave Swedish defenders refused. Friedrich Wilhelm then began to reestablish siege lines within Stralsund so that he could pound the citadel into submission. Before he did this, a young officer, Kurt Christoph of Schwerin, presented Friedrich Wilhelm with a plan to attack the citadel with an escalade attack and then open the gates for the rest of the Prussian army. Friedrich Wilhelm was unsure of the plan but he recognized Schwerin's two decades of experience and constant demonstration of competence and gave Schwerin permission to proceed
[19]. Two days later during the night of September 5th, Schwerin and his soldiers quietly and slowly crawled towards the Citadel and got within 100 yards without detection. For the last length, Schwerin's men broke out into a mad sprint towards the walls, musket in one hand and ladder in the other. The Swedish sentries were taken by complete surprise but were still able to raise the alarm. Swedish troops began rushing towards the walls in their nightcaps to repel the attack. And in most cases, they succeeded with four of the six escalades failing. However, with the two units that did successfully establish themselves within the citadel, Schwerin was able to battle his way towards the gate and open it. Within 15 minutes hundreds more Prussian soldiers rushed into the citadel and overran the Swedish garrison. Two hours later, the Swedish commander surrendered and Stralsund was Prussia's.
For Schwerin's part in taking Stralsund, he was raised to the title of count, made a major-general within the Prussian army, and given extensive financial awards. This was exactly the sort of man which Friedrich Wilhelm sought in all his officers, a man of daring and talent. These traits were also exactly what Friedrich Wilhelm wanted for his own son, who admittingly had shown some promise during the siege and was not the complete coward his father feared he would be.
From a military and political standpoint, the fall of Stralsund had a considerable impact on Empress Catherine's War. As expected, the capture of the city gave the Prussians full and unchallenged control of Pomerania. All the Prussians had to do was keep control of Stralsund till the end of the war and they should be able to retain it. Considering the fact that Holstein and Brunswick-Luneburg had already been conquered, no German threat to Stralsund existed. There was also no reason to believe that the Swedes would retake Stralsund on their own as they were being pummeled by the Russians in Finland. Altogether, Friedrich Wilhelm had accomplished his wall goals and now lacked any reason to continue to support the aggrandizement of Russian power in Germany. As a result, his next orders to Prince Leopold proved very damaging to Menshikov and Charles Frederick's ambitions.
With no reason to fight on and all the reasons to stop fighting at all, Prince Leopold separated himself from Menshikov's army and retreated back towards Brunswick-Luneburg. The loss of the Prussians hurt Menshikov's plans to run over Reventlow and his Danish-Norwegian army as Menshikov's army had dropped to just 53000 men. This number of soldiers was still considerably greater than Reventlow's army in Schleswig but the numbers were close enough to warrant some concern. Instead of recklessly chasing after Reventlow, Menshikov now carefully and cautiously pursued the Dane. With the few weeks of campaigning that Menshikov had left he tried to get Reventlow to meet Menshikov on favorable ground but each time Reventlow conceded and avoided the disadvantageous fights that Menshikov offered
[20].
When the campaigning season came to a close, the Viennese Alliance had undoubtedly won the Northern seat of conflict. Brunswick-Luneburg and all its dependencies were occupied, Pomerania was captured, and Holstein was possessed. Furthermore, the main Hanoverian army was destroyed and the crown prince of Great Britain and Brunswick-Luneburg had been captured. However, the indefatigable Viennese Alliance began to strain. The Germans had been willing to fight alongside the Russians so long as they had to. Now that Prussia, Saxony, and Wolfenbuttel saw no further reason to fight for the Russians they left the Russians to fight with just the Holsteiners and Mecklenburgers. This shift in the strategic situation gave Denmark-Norway the reprieve it desperately needed and also thwarted Menshikov's efforts to complete his crown of victories, at least for 1728 that is.
[1] King George II like OTL is very attached to Hanover. Historically, he spent a lot of time in Hanover after ascending the throne just like his father before him which damaged his popularity in Great Britain. The current popularity of his son in Hanover only intensifies George's attachment to Hanover. George does not want to seem like he failed his subjects and like he is not committed to them. He does not want them to prefer this man he barely knows over himself their God-given ruler.
[2] Argyll's evacuation of the Army of Spain in 1713
[3] Argyll's defeat of the Jacobites at the Battle of Sherrifmuir.
[4] OTL Frederick of Hanover/Wales tried very hard to please his father and get in his good graces when he first reunited with him. Frederick had gone up with almost no family except the occasional visits from his grandfather and granduncle, so Frederick really wanted a sense of family and love. This is why he takes his father's harsh criticism. He does not want to provoke further anger or estrangement in his father.
[5] Austracista was a name for the pro-Hapsburg forces in Spain during the War of the Spanish Succession.
[6] Although another assault or two might have actually succeeded if the Hanoverians tried hard enough, they really are worried that they will just allow themselves to get caught out by the Viennese and so they give up and fall back.
[7] The Royal Navy essentially committed a full fleet and countless support vessels to this operation, which pretty massive for what is essentially just a transport convoy.
[8] Fleury does not want to raise and deploy another army which could protect the escape of the Army of Hanover. All Fleury can do is try and distract Prince Eugene with Villars' army. However, Villars is still on the wrong side of the Rhine so there is no guarantee that he can't stop Eugene.
[9] King George wants an excuse to fight with the Germans hence them being in the centre. Kings typically fight on the right or the centre. The Danish-Norwegians are better than the Germans so they are given the right as they have a better chance of flanking the enemy. That only leaves the centre for George and the Germans.
[10] Typically it took hours to set up for a pitched battle hence the delay in the battle start and when the armies see each other.
[11] Bogs are not fun at all for soldiers. Going through dark muddy water with uncertain depths is always a hazard. The river is less of a problem but it is still not a cakewalk.
[12] Lacy is basically trying to do a V and Maurice going straight. Lacy, however, gets to go using a road whereas Maurice has to make his way through the woods.
[13] Maurice got Menshikov's favor but he did not instantly earn himself Courland. Maurice will have to provide further services if he wants the Russians to support him in Courland.
[14] Frederick Augustus is already a major general despite being in his twenties. This is because he is Augustus the Strong's bastard. However, he is talented anyways so he gets to use that talent here and start building up his reputation.
[15] In case you are wondering why little Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel is asking as tough as an ancient electorate, Brunswick-Wolfenbuttel is directly tied to the Holy Roman Emperor and for that reason is able to act high and mighty.
[16] Everything is better in threes, right? So far Menshikov has a victory over a minor Swedish army and a bloody victory over the Hanoverians. Menshikov wants a beautiful and clean victory over the Danish-Norwegians.
[17] Reventlow had a terrible position to defend and he did his best. He decides to trade space for time and for better ground. Turns out to be the right decision as Menshikov's army loses 32000 men while Reventlow loses "0"*
*Aside from disease, etc.
[18] The Prussians are already becoming one of the better-trained armies and this is a demonstration of that.
[19] Schwerin is already a known quantity in Prussian military affairs. However, Schwerin is not yet a top general of the Prussian army. Because of his existing reputation he is able to speak to Friedrich Wilhelm about his plan and is able to get it approved.
[20] Reventlow does not take Menshikov's bait and keeps maneuvering. Reventlow is not conceding Schleswig, he is trading pieces of it back and forth with the Russians in a campaign of maneuver.
Word Count: 7571