"The Great Sleigh Drive" (German: Die große Schlittenfahrt) from December 1678 to February 1679 was a daring and bold maneuver using sleighs by Frederick William, the Great Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia, to drive Swedish forces out of the Duchy of Prussia, a territory of his which had been invaded by the Swedes in November 1678.
Frederick William had previously defeated the Swedes and driven them from Brandenburg at the Battle of Fehrbellin and now faced another punitive Swedish incursion into his territories. The main body of his army was engaged at the siege of the Swedish-held port city of Stralsund on the coast of the Baltic Sea far to the west, so Frederick marched his army to the small town of Preußisch Holland and engaged a small Swedish force occupying the city. The Swedes, having been soundly defeated at the Battle of Fehrbellin, were hesitant to face Frederick William again and decided to retreat to the coast in order to return to Sweden, having already accomplished their goal of looting much of the province and avenging their earlier defeat.
Engraving by Bernhard Rode, ca. 1783
The Sleigh Driveedit
Most commanders would have simply allowed the Swedes to depart, but Frederick William was particularly aggressive and came across the ingenious idea of commandeering thousands of sleighs from local peasantry to transport his army across the snowy terrain of the Duchy of Prussia to cut off the Swedes' escape route: creating, in effect, a precursor to motorised infantry. Driving over the heavy snow and several frozen lakes, Frederick managed to drive deep into the flanks and rear of the escaping Swedish force, denying them access to the coast and their navy, which would have allowed them to resupply or escape.
Aftermathedit
Frederick's forces managed to ride all the way to Memel, completely cutting off the Swedes from the coast. Although the Brandenburg forces never actually managed to force the Swedes to commit to the field in an open battle as Frederick had wanted, many Swedish troops perished in the harsh winter from hypothermia and starvation, and the Swedish army was effectively destroyed. This victory cemented Frederick William's reputation as a great military strategist.
Significanceedit
Maneuver warfare, or as the Germans call it, Bewegungskrieg, was eventually part of a long-standing tradition of the German military. The Winter Campaign of 1678 and the subsequent Great Sleigh Drive appeared in the German military war journal Militär-Wochenblatt in 1929, in which a (then) relatively unknown Major by the name of Heinz Guderian wrote an article commenting about its use of operational mobility as a decisive factor in victory.
Order of Battle of the Prussian defense of East Prussiaedit
Clodfelter, Micheal (2008). Warfare and Armed Conflicts: A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures, 1492–2015 (2017 ed.). McFarland. p. 47. ISBN978-0-7864-7470-7.
Curt, Jany (1967). Geschichte der Preußischen Armee – Vom 15. Jahrhundert bis 1914. Vol. 1. Osnabrück: Biblio Verlag. pp. 229–271. ISBN9783764814717.
Wimarson, Nils (1912). Sveriges Krig i Tyskland 1675–1679. Vol. 3. Lund: Gleerupska Universitetsbokhandeln.
January 01, 1970
great, sleigh, drive, german, große, schlittenfahrt, from, december, 1678, february, 1679, daring, bold, maneuver, using, sleighs, frederick, william, great, elector, brandenburg, prussia, drive, swedish, forces, duchy, prussia, territory, which, been, invaded. The Great Sleigh Drive German Die grosse Schlittenfahrt from December 1678 to February 1679 was a daring and bold maneuver using sleighs by Frederick William the Great Elector of Brandenburg Prussia to drive Swedish forces out of the Duchy of Prussia a territory of his which had been invaded by the Swedes in November 1678 Great Sleigh DrivePart of Scanian WarFrederick William pursues Swedish troops across the frozen Curonian Lagoon fresco by Wilhelm Simmler ca 1891DateDecember 1678 February 1679LocationDuchy of Prussia and the Polish Lithuanian CommonwealthResultBrandenburgian victoryBelligerentsBrandenburg PrussiaSwedenCommanders and leadersFrederick WilliamHenrik HornStrength14 000 15 000 1 34 guns6 000 7 000 2 Casualties and losses1 000 2 000 dead captured or deserted 2 Contents 1 Background 2 The Sleigh Drive 3 Aftermath 4 Significance 5 Order of Battle of the Prussian defense of East Prussia 5 1 October 1678 6 References 7 BibliographyBackground editFrederick William had previously defeated the Swedes and driven them from Brandenburg at the Battle of Fehrbellin and now faced another punitive Swedish incursion into his territories The main body of his army was engaged at the siege of the Swedish held port city of Stralsund on the coast of the Baltic Sea far to the west so Frederick marched his army to the small town of Preussisch Holland and engaged a small Swedish force occupying the city The Swedes having been soundly defeated at the Battle of Fehrbellin were hesitant to face Frederick William again and decided to retreat to the coast in order to return to Sweden having already accomplished their goal of looting much of the province and avenging their earlier defeat nbsp Engraving by Bernhard Rode ca 1783The Sleigh Drive editMost commanders would have simply allowed the Swedes to depart but Frederick William was particularly aggressive and came across the ingenious idea of commandeering thousands of sleighs from local peasantry to transport his army across the snowy terrain of the Duchy of Prussia to cut off the Swedes escape route creating in effect a precursor to motorised infantry Driving over the heavy snow and several frozen lakes Frederick managed to drive deep into the flanks and rear of the escaping Swedish force denying them access to the coast and their navy which would have allowed them to resupply or escape Aftermath editFrederick s forces managed to ride all the way to Memel completely cutting off the Swedes from the coast Although the Brandenburg forces never actually managed to force the Swedes to commit to the field in an open battle as Frederick had wanted many Swedish troops perished in the harsh winter from hypothermia and starvation and the Swedish army was effectively destroyed This victory cemented Frederick William s reputation as a great military strategist Significance editManeuver warfare or as the Germans call it Bewegungskrieg was eventually part of a long standing tradition of the German military The Winter Campaign of 1678 and the subsequent Great Sleigh Drive appeared in the German military war journal Militar Wochenblatt in 1929 in which a then relatively unknown Major by the name of Heinz Guderian wrote an article commenting about its use of operational mobility as a decisive factor in victory Order of Battle of the Prussian defense of East Prussia editOctober 1678 edit Groben Infantry Battalion Talan Infantry Battalion Samland Militia Cuirassier Regiment Nataginsk Militia Cuirassier Regiment Dragoons 4 companies 3 References edit Wimarson 1912 pp 433 434 a b Wimarson 1912 pp 385 431 452 Curt 1967 Bibliography editCitino Robert M 2005 The German Way of War From the Thirty Years War to the Third Reich Lawrence Kansas University Press of Kansas ISBN 0 7006 1410 9 Clodfelter Micheal 2008 Warfare and Armed Conflicts A Statistical Encyclopedia of Casualty and Other Figures 1492 2015 2017 ed McFarland p 47 ISBN 978 0 7864 7470 7 Curt Jany 1967 Geschichte der Preussischen Armee Vom 15 Jahrhundert bis 1914 Vol 1 Osnabruck Biblio Verlag pp 229 271 ISBN 9783764814717 Wimarson Nils 1912 Sveriges Krig i Tyskland 1675 1679 Vol 3 Lund Gleerupska Universitetsbokhandeln Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Great Sleigh Drive amp oldid 1211288242, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
