Siege of Fredriksodde

Siege of Fredriksodde
Part of the Dano-Swedish War (1657–1658)
Engraving of the Siege of Fredriksodde by Erik Dahlbergh
Date 25 August – 24 October, 1657 Location Fredriksodde (modern day Fredericia), Denmark Result Swedish victory Territorial changes Fredriksodde and the rest of Jutland falls into Swedish control
Belligerents
Swedish Empire	Denmark–Norway
Commanders and leaders
Carl Gustaf Wrangel Erik Dahlbergh Fabian von Fersen Jacob Kasimir De la Gardie Fabian Berendes Nils Brahe Per Larsson Sparre Spens Johan Georg von Anhalt Delwig Berendt Sahnitz Johan von Essen Hestrig Stöwing  † Stuart  †	Anders Bille  (DOW) Eiler Holck   Måns Höök  (POW) Linderoth  † Poul Beenfeldt
Units involved
Uppland Regiment Hälsinge Regiment Stenbocks Brigade Närke-Värmland Regiment Södermanland Regiment Västgöta Regiment	Fredriksodde garrison Marshal's life regiment Old Jutish Regiment
Strength
In the start 5,000 soldiers 2,000 cavalry Later 4,500–8,000 men	In the start 6,000 men Later 3,000 men
Casualties and losses
56–213 killed 195 wounded	1,000–1,100 killed 2,000 captured 73–80 guns

The siege of Fredriksodde, also known as the Storming of Fredriksodde (Swedish: Stormningen av Frederiksodde; Danish: Stormen på Frederiksodde), was a successful Swedish siege of the fortress and town of Fredriksodde (modern day Fredericia) in 1657 during the Dano-Swedish War of 1657–1658. The siege and the subsequent capture of the fortress by Swedish forces completed the Swedish conquest of Jutland.

On 17 August, Charles X Gustav ordered Karl Magnus to go northwards to determine exactly how strongly Fredriksodde was defended. According to the king's information, the fortress was garrisoned with 4,000 mustered peasants, of whom only 1,000 had any weapons at all. Johan Gorries Gorgas and Erik Dahlbergh were also instructed to inspect Fredriksodde. From these reports, Charles decided to "unceremoniously" storm the fortress.^[1]

On the 25 August, the main body of the Swedish Army went towards Fredriksodde, and on the following day, a war council was held. The council decided to delay the assault. This is because the Danish defenses were more powerful than once thought, and in a letter to Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie dated the 27 August, Charles described after having seen the fortress with his own eyes decided not to "risk our people in a storming". A similar explanation is given by Nils Brahe, who, in a letter he wrote on the same day, reported from "the fort of Fredrichsudd" that: "we had intended to storm it as we had done yesterday, but since the place is strong and well-manned, we found it unwise'".^[2]

Charles was furious with the, in his opinion, overly casual reports that he had received about the fortress before his arrival. Therefore, he ordered the army to prepare for an assault, and the Swedish army rermained in these positions for a day and a half until the king and the war council decided to postpone the assault. During this time, the Swedish army was subjected to heavy fire from the Danish garrison, which further contributed to the Swedes postponing the assault.^[3]

In the beginning, when the Swedish army had recently arrived to Fredriksodde, King Frederick III, along with the Colonels Sehested and Rantzau, quickly reacted to the Swedes encircling the fortress and attempted a sortie with a force of 400 cavalry, however, after being overwhelmed by the Swedes, they were repelled and retreated back into the fortress. At that point, Frederick quickly decided to leave the fortress for the Danish islands. During the following period, more sorties would occur, although they all failed.^[4][5][6]

On the same day as the attempted sortie, Charles X Gustav arrived to the fortress with the rest of the Swedish army and began placing the individual regiments around the fortress. He wanted to make an immediate storm of Fredriksodde, but Wrangel managed to convince him not to, asking him to wait until the Swedish artillery had softened up the Danes. After this, Charles instead began placing out two 12-pounders and four 6-pounder cannons at Galgberget, and by Rackarkulan, he placed four 12-pounders and two 24-pounders.^[7]

On the following day, the Swedish bombardment of the fortress began as soon as it became bright at six o'clock. The Swedish fire was met by the powerful cannons inside the fortress, being 12 batteries with 23 cannons. The Danish bombardment turned out to be highly effective, as the Swedish artillery suffered heavy casualties. Around nine o'clock, the Swedes were forced to end the bombardment, and pulled their cannons back with their bombardment not having achieved much.^[7]

Responding to this failure, Wrangel immediately decided to pull the Swedish army back to the village of Bredstrup to avoid unnecessary losses. In Bredstrup, the troops could live a relatively protected life until the day of the storming. The Swedish camp spread all the way from the village itself to the old rectory. Soon, there was 5,000 men and 2,000 horses in the Swedish camp, which in terms of area became larger than the entirety of Fredriksodde itself. For health reasons, the camp was spread out to prevent the spread of diseases, in particular dystentery, which was a large killer during the time. The Swedish camp suffered from freezing and starving while the Danish defenders were somewhat dry and secure behind the walls, provided their supplies were well-stocked. In order to protect the camp, a strong cavalry guard was established around two kilometers away from the city, which guarded the way to Bredstrup.^[3][7]

The Swedish hesitation for a direct attack on the fortress strengthened the confidence of the Danish defenders, especially when they received news that King Charles had left the Swedish camp on 4 September and had gone to Wismar. The reason for Charles' departure was fears of Imperial and Brandenburgian intervention in favour of Denmark, and thus he decided to go to Wismar, which was a better place to handle intenrnational diplomacy.^[6][7] Instead, it was now Carl Gustaf Wrangel who led the Swedes. A classic siege tactic was to combine artillery bombardment with the digging of a trench system that came closer to the fortress over time. From the relative safety of the trenches, the attackers could assume exit formations fairly close to the defensive works before a storming.^[8][6]

As a result of the siege, the defenders were completely cut off from the rest of Jutland, however, they retained an important opening to Fyn, from which they regularly received new supplies and troops.^[7]

The Swedish navy at the time was tasked with cutting off the connections across the Little Belt in order to prevent Danish reinforcements from reaching Jutland. Charles X Gustav assumed that it would be possible to capture Fredriksodde after this had been achieved. But the king had also planned to take parts of Wrangel's army and combine it with approximately 2,000 English mercenary troops, which were supposedly on their way to him, and with the help of the fleet make a landing at Varberg and Halmstad in order to help the Swedish army there, with an alternative being to land on Zealand. However, none of these plans ever came to fruition, with the only thing happening being that the Jutish coast was swept by ships of all kinds, which were sent to the coastal villages around Fredriksodde.^[9]

Wrangel sent expeditions to subdue northern Jutland during his siege. On one occasion, a 500–700 strong cavalry force under Generalmajor Böddeker encountered a redoubt at Nabe in Agger, which was defended by 150 Danish cavalry and 1,500 peasants led respectively by the Lieutenant Colonels Niels Lykke and Friedrich Ziegler. The former commander was away visiting his relatives, and Ziegler was drunk and possibly away from the redoubt, and the peasant levies were unenthusiastic. As a result, around 600 of them deserted before the Swedes attacked. This reduced the Danish numbers to, at most, 150 cavalry and 900 peasants. In the following battle, the Swedes killed many peasants, and also captured both Ziegler and Lykke, along with the rest. The number of dead is uncertain, although 80 cavalry and 200 peasants has been proposed by some historians. The battle resulted in popular resistance in Jutland being shattered, and the Jutland peasants no longer took an active part in the war.^[10][11]

Reinforcements for Wrangel's siege army arrived in the autumn of 1657. In the summer of the same year, the Swedish garrison in Krakow had capitulated, and the Swedish soldiers that had survived the siege, around 2,500 men, quickly arrived at Wismar. Quickly after arriving, King Charles ordered them to march towards Fredriksodde. At the same time, Charles also expressed in a letter to Wrangel his doubts that the fortress could be captured before winter. Erik Dahlbergh, along with the Lieutenant Colonel Sahnitz and Adjutant general Stöwing were ordered to do reconnaissance on the fortress, to see if the Swedes could make a storming. This was a highly dangerous task, and the men were forced to crawl on their knees through the long ditches to ensure that nothing in them would obstruct the Swedish storming. Dahlbergh would write about the reconnaissance in his diary, writing that on one occasion he came so close to a Danish guard post that he took the sandwich from the guard which was laying by his feet.^[12]

According to Dahlbergh. their reconnaissance had revealed that there was a weakpoint in the fortress wall in the south-west. At this place, there was no rampart, only three rows of wooden palisades and a low waterline, with no proper moat, which was where the Swedes chose to strike.^[5][10]

On 22 October, 3 more infantry regiments arrived to the Swedish army under Generalmajor Fabian von Fersen. On the same day, an exchange of prisoners also occurred. On 23 October, a council of war was held by Wrangel and it was at this point that the Swedes decided to attempt a storming of the fortress.^[5][13]

During the siege, the Danish garrison had slowly become weaker. Originally, the commander of the fortress, Anders Bille, commanded over 6,000 men, but the cavalry in the fortress had later been sent to Fyn, partly to defend the island against the Swedes, and partly because there was almost no food for the horses in Fredriksodde. Many of the defeders had also deserted, and in mid-October, almost 500 men were sick. On the morning of the Swedish storming on 24 October, as a result of this, the effective defense of Fredriksodde had shrunk to some 3,000 men.^[14][10] Although this is also contested, with Wrangel himself claiming that the Danish garrison had around 5,000 men, Danish sources claim that it was no larger than 1,000 soldiers, 2,000 armed peasants and 400 burghers.^[12]

The Danish peasants were divided into four regiments and had only gone through a month-long basic education, leading their fighting abilities to be low. The regular troops consisted of the Marshal's life regiment, which had nearly been decimated after the fighting in Holstein. The regiment was led by the Colonel Poul Beenfeldt. There was also the veteran regiment of the Old Jutish Regiment, but this had also been weakened after the fighting in Bremen.^[15]

As a result of the reconnaissance, Wrangel decided to split the storming into three columns. Wrangel would lead the first, Lieutenant General Jacob Kasimir De la Gardie leading the second, and the third being led by Generalmajor Fabian Berendes.^[16]

Around one o'clock at night on 24 October, the Swedish army was assembled, in total, it consisted of around 4,500–8,000 men, mostly infantry and cavalry. The Swedes refrained from artillery preparations to achieve the greatest possible surprise effect. Instead, 79 artillerymen marched forward, armed with handgrenades that they were to throw at the defenders, and thus clear the path for the assault units.^[17]

At two o'clock, Wrangel arrived and rode along the front of the Swedish troops and shouted encouraging words to the officers and soldiers. He bore a straw bundle on his left arm that he had received from his wife. This was a common identification that all Swedish soldiers were supposed to wear in order to minimize the risks for friendly fire. At the end of his speech, Wrangel informed everyone of the warcry, which was "Hjälp Jesus!" (Help Jesus) which was what the Swedes were supposed to shout during the storming.^[17][16][15]

In the village of Eritsö, near Fredriksodde, the Swedish soldiers filled a house with flammable materials, and when they lit the house on fire, the Swedish soldiers were signaled to attack. The Swedes moved forward and after around 45 minutes they stood in front of the Danish ramparts.^[17][15]

The first Swedish attack column, led by Wrangel, began with four infantry regiments storming against the palisades at Adlns bastion, the closeby halvbastion, and the Oldenburg bastion. First, 13 carpenters were sent to chop holes into the palisades and after them, there was 40 men with 150 grenades and 50 soldiers under a major. They were to march over the bastion closest to the water. After them, the Uppland Regiment under Colonel Nils Brahe, followed by the Hälsinge Regiment led by Colonel Per Larsson Sparre.^[18][19]

Last in the column, Stenbocks Brigade, led by Colonel Spens and a German force led by Generalmajor Fabian von Fersen advanced forwards. These brigades had the task of going away from the main column and to attack and capture the Holstein Bastion.^[19]

24 cavalry companies under Johan Georg von Anhalt rode out into the shallow water in the Little Belt and managed to ride around the defensive lines. This action would turn out to be decisive, as the Swedish cavalry came in behind the Palisades and quickly entered the city itself. As a result, panic spread in the defenders and their resistance quickly fell apart.^[20]

The second Swedish attack column, commanded by Lieutenant General Jacob Kasimir De la Gardie led an attack against Mittlager Port, Billes, Prins Georg, Prinsporten, Prinsessan, and Herrarnas bastions. In the front, Jacob's own German foot regiment advanced, which was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Delwig. Right behind them, Lieutenant Colonel Berendt Sahnitz with the Södermanland foot brigade advanced, followed by Johan von Essen's Värmland-Närke foot brigade. The reserve was made up by a German and Polish brigade under Colonel Hestrig. The attackers reached the ramparts but were halted there before the collapse further south caused the defenders in this section of the rampart to give up and flee.^[21][19]

The third Swedish attack column, led by Generalmajor Fabian Berendes, was directed against Kongeporten and Dronningens bastions along with a curtain wall nearby. This column consisted of redirected cavalry from Berndes own regiment, Galles Finnish cavalry, Småland cavalry, Södermanlanders, and five German cavalry regiments. The cavalry was led by Adjutant general Stöwing. Here, 200 musketeers were included to provide supporting fire for the Swedes. The Danish resistance at this front was particularly stubborn, as the Swedes would encounter Marskens Livregemente under Lieutenant Colonel Eiler Holck, however, the defenders here would also give up after the Swedes managed to break through at the southern shore.^[21][19]

Any surviving Danish soldiers, including Anders Bille, retreated into the Berfodde castle at the tip of the cape in order to try shipping themselves over to Fyn. Bille had recently sent his wife there on a small boat and was told that it had sunk and his wife had drowned. Bille had been seriously wounded during the fighting, his uniform was ruined and blood ran down his face from a head wound.^[22][23]

Near the Trinitatis Cemetery, pursuing Swedish soldiers killed straggling dragoons from the Marshal's regiment. By seven o'clock, after around 2 hours of fighting, Fredriksodde had fallen into Swedish control. The Danes made a desperate attempt to evacuate Anders Bille over to Fyn, but their attempt failed as the winds and currents were against them.^[19]

Continued resistance was futile, the Swedes had at this point captured the entire fortress in exception to the citadel on Bers Odde, which had already been surrounded, with nobody being able to get out. Wrangel wished to prevent further death, and Erik Dahlbergh was sent into the citadel to try and convince Bille to capitulate, which was a hard decision for Bille to make. To capitulate a fortress was a crime if there was no good reason to do so, Bille believed that he had good reasons to capitulate and that nobody would criticize him for doing so.^[22]

After half an hour of bitter fighting, Bille finally gave up the fight for the citadel and the fortress, and 2,300 now unarmed Danes marched out. Bille himself would die of his wounds after a long conversation with Wrangel. Ulfeldt attempted to take part in it but was told off by Bille, since he didn't want to speak with him. After Bille's death, the Närke-Värmland Regiment went into the citadel, plundering it.^[22][21]

According to Swedish estimates, the casualties were as follows:^[24][25][22]

• 1,000–1,100 killed, including Linderoth
• 2,000 captured, including 110 officers and 69 underofficers and Måns Höök. Other sources also claim the amount captured was 6,000^[26]
• 33 standards
• 73–80 guns

• 56–75 killed, including Adjutant general Stöwing and Colonel Stuart. Other sources say 213 were killed.^[26]
• 195 wounded

These Swedish losses were most likely higher, as many Swedish units had a high number of soldiers who were unfit for duty in the following period.

According to Danish research, the Danish losses were much smaller.^[27]

The plunder taken from the fortress was significant, in addition to the fact that the Swedes had occupied a strong and strategically important fortress, they captured 73–80 cannons, large amounts of gunpowder, 1,000 muskets, 1,200 armor pieces, 700 helmets, 39 banners, and a large amount of barrels containing salted meat, Herring, Cod, Rye, and Malt. Wrangel was satisfied with this "härliga viktorie" (Lovely victory), and the king, which was more important, was very satisfied. As appreciation for his contributions, Wrangel was promoted to Rear Admiral and lawman over Uppland.^[28]

The loss of Fredriksodde came as a great shock to the Danes, who immediately blamed it on treason. Public anger, fuelled by propagandists close to King Frederick who wanted to shift the blame from him, accused the dead Bille of the disaster and had him sentenced to death posthumously. After the Swedes returned Bille's corpse to Fyn with full honours after the battle, the court interpreted it as proof of Bille's treason. Moreover, two Danes who had served at Fredriksodde, a Lieutenant and a Corporal respectively, but who were later discovered with the Swedes, were quickly convicted and executed for treason.^[25][23]

The Swedish victory at Fredriksodde completed the Swedish conquest of Jutland, although the Danes still held Fyn.^[25][28][29]

• March Across the Belts – Swedish military campaign
• Battle of Nabe – Battle between Swedish and Danish forces

• Wolke, Lars Ericson (2014). 1658: Tåget över bält [1658: March across the Belts] (in Swedish). Historiska Media. pp. 101–108. ISBN 9789187031984.
• Essen, Michael Fredholm (2023). Charles X's Wars: Volume 3 - The Danish Wars, 1657-1660. Helion & Company. pp. 165–174. ISBN 9781915113603.
• Isacsson, Claes-Göran (2015). Karl X Gustavs krig: Fälttågen i Polen, Tyskland, Baltikum, Danmark och Sverige 1655-1660 [Wars of Charles X Gustav: The campaigns in Poland, Germany, the Baltics, Denmark and Sweden 1655-1660] (in Swedish). Historiska Media. pp. 146–155. ISBN 9789175450117.