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Chapter 46: 1760 part 5
June 10th: Battle of Wittstock - Nine Years War
In May the Mecklenburg army in North Germany marched out again in the direction of Berlin, taking Pritzwalk where they were defeated before and other small towns north of the Elbe. The marched to the southeast towards Berlin with the intention of joining the Swedish-Mecklenburg army as it moved south to Berlin from Pomernia.
Instead near the town of Wittstock, they would run into Hans Joachim von Zieten and Heinrich von Manteuffel, who led the 10000 strong western Prussian army.
On June 10th, Zieten and Manteuffel crushed the 8000 strong Mecklenburg force sending it into a rout running back east. The Prussians pursued briefly inflicting more losses, before word would reach them of the Swedish Army’s southern advance, forcing them to turn around and face the new threat.
On June 22nd, in little more than a week since their last battle, Zeitan and Manteuffel would face the Swedish-Mecklenburg force led by Jakob Albrekt Lantingshausen. The Swedes spent the spring slowly going southward from Swedish Pomerania, taking or retaking towns in Western Prussian Pomerania west of the Oder River past Prenzlau and as far south as Templin where Zeitan was waiting for them, his army well rested and prepared.
Despite being outnumbered the 9700 strong Prussian forces proved victorious over the poorly trained and equipped Swedish-Mecklenburg army 18,000. After Prussian ambushes and charges took out over 25% of his forces, Lantinghausen was forced to quickly retreat, a large portion of his army, routed, scattered and fleeing northwards.
The Prussians followed as Lantinghausen fled, undoing the gains the Swedes had made in Western Pomerania over the next few days, when they learned that the Swedes had left Stettin somewhat lightly defended in order to pursue the failed Berlin offensive. Zeiten turned and came upon Stettin from the west, with hundreds of captured guns to bring to bear on the defenders.
June 27th – July 17th: 3rd Siege of Stettin - Nine Years War
Lantinghausen had left 6000 troops in defense of Stettin, though it was also defended and supplied by the Swedish navy. Zeitan spent three weeks besieging Stettin, possibly coming close to retaking the city, when he was forced to withdraw. On orders from Fredrick, he needed to lift the Russian siege of Kolberg as soon as possible. Zeitan was even force to destroy several of his captured guns in order for his army to move with greater speed.
Swedish Victory, siege abandoned.
June 14th – July 23rd: 2nd Siege of Kolberg - Nine Years War
The Russian Baltic fleet, assist by Swedish ships, bombarded Kolberg in advance and during the siege, and Russian General Vasily Lopukhin had sent ahead 12000 Russian troops to besiege the city, while he led his remaining force of 58000 after a several days of delay waiting on word from St. Petersburg, toward Berlin.
Only July 23rd, Zeiten and Manteuffel force of 8850 Prussian soldiers inflicted a heavy unexpected skirmish on the 12000 Russian besiegers, causing them to retreat back to their ships, in fear of a larger force.
Zeiten would return southwest toward Stettin but was dismayed to find that Lantinghausen forces had recovered and he wisely reinforced Stettin. After the casualties he had taken in Kolberg, he knew he could not try to retake the city again.
Around the same time the Russians abandoned their siege of Kolberg, Lopukhin was just marching east of Posen. Orders had come back from Peter III, to return eastwards. Empress Elizabeth had fallen ill again, and was unresponsive.
While the battles in North Germany played out, Fredrick had his own problems dealing with the Austrians in the south. While the French and the English would fight another round to decide the fate of Hanover.