The Battle of Warsaw (also known as the Battle of Rakowitz or Rakowiec)Rakowiec later became part of the Ochota district of Warsaw. was fought on 31July 1705 (Gregorian calendar)Unless otherwise stated, this article uses dates from the Gregorian calendar (new style), in preference to the Swedish or the Julian calendar (old style) which were used simultaneously. near Warsaw in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, during the Great Northern War and the 1701–1706 Swedish invasion of Poland. The battle was part of a power struggle for the Polish–Lithuanian throne, and was fought between Augustus II the Strong and Stanisław Leszczyński and their allies. Augustus entered the Great Northern War as Elector of Saxony and King of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, and had formed an alliance with Denmark–Norway and Russia. Stanisław Leszczyński had seized the Polish throne in 1704, with the support of the Swedish army of King Charles XII. The struggle for the throne forced the Polish nobility to pick sides; the Warsaw Confederation supported Leszczyński and Sweden, and the Sandomierz Confederation supported Augustus and his allies. The conflict resulted in the Polish civil war of 1704–1706.
In 1705, two events were planned to take place in Warsaw: a session of the Polish parliament to negotiate a formal peace between Poland and Sweden, and the coronation of Stanisław Leszczyński as the new king of Poland. Meanwhile, Augustus and his allies developed a grand strategy that envisioned a combined assault to crush the Swedish forces and restore Augustus to the Polish throne. Accordingly, an allied army of up to 10,000 cavalry under the command of Otto Arnold von Paykull was sent towards Warsaw to interrupt the Polish parliament. The Swedes sent a 2,000-strong cavalry contingent of their own, under the command of Carl Nieroth, to protect it. Encouraged by the fact that he heavily outnumbered the Swedes, Paykull took the initiative and attacked. He managed to cross the Vistula River with his army on 30 July, after a stubborn defence by a few Swedish squadrons, and reached the plains next to Rakowiec, directly west of Warsaw, on 31 July, where the two forces engaged in open battle.
Augustus's allied left wing quickly collapsed; after a short but fierce fight, so did the right and centre. Paykull managed to rally some of his troops a few kilometres away, at the village of Odolany, where the fight was renewed. The Swedes again gained the upper hand and, this time, won the battle. They captured Paykull along with letters and other documents which informed the Swedes of the strategic intentions of Augustus's allies. The coronation of Stanisław Leszczyński occurred in early October. Peace between Poland and Sweden in November 1705 allowed Charles to focus his attention on the Russian threat near Grodno. The subsequent campaign resulted in the Treaty of Altranstädt (1706), by which Augustus renounced both his claim to the Polish throne and his alliance with Peter I of Russia.
Background
After defeating the Danes at Humlebæk and the Russians at Narva in 1700, Charles XII of Sweden turned his attention towards his third enemy, Augustus of Poland and Saxony, defeating him in a fierce battle at the Crossing of the Düna in 1701. The same year, he launched an invasion of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth to dethrone Augustus and install a candidate acceptable to Sweden. After the Swedes' seizure of Warsaw, Kraków and Sandomierz and another defeat for Augustus at the Battle of Kliszów, a growing number of Polish-Lithuanian magnates switched sides, in favour of Charles.
After further success in the engagements at Pultusk and Toruń, the Swedes proclaimed Stanisław Leszczyński king with the support of the Warsaw Confederation of Polish nobles. To oppose him, the Sandomierz Confederation was created by other nobles, in support of Augustus, thus starting the Polish civil war of 1704–1706. Some smaller engagements at Poznań, Lwów, Warsaw and Poniec followed in 1704 as a consequence of Augustus's attempts to restore the situation to his favour.
In 1705 Stanisław Leszczyński was due to be crowned in Warsaw, after which peace negotiations between Sweden and Poland could take place. The Swedes were eager to increase support for Leszczyński to strengthen their position in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. The coalition forces, under Peter I of Russia and Augustus, would not sit idle, and planned a grand strategy of their own, mainly based upon the ideas of Johann Patkul and Otto Arnold von Paykull; they would gather all available forces and crush the Swedish Army in Poland–Lithuania by a joint offensive.
Prelude
The Swedes reconquered Kraków in early 1705, with 4,000 men under Swedish lieutenant Nils Stromberg, forcing between 3,000 and 4,000 Saxons to evacuate the city and retreat towards Lublin. This led the nobles of Kraków and Sandomierz to renounce their support for Augustus in favour of Stanisław Leszczyński; they started to gather in Warsaw for the session of parliament. Further support from the Ruthenian Voivodeship (duchy) appeared from Lviv, along with Józef Potocki and his 7,000 troops. These movements were observed by the Saxons, who withdrew from the left bank of the Vistula River completely, along with all Polish troops, and marched towards Brest to better coordinate with the Russian army in Lithuania. This meant the coronation of Stanisław Leszczyński in Warsaw as well as negotiations for peace between Poland and Sweden could safely go ahead. The parliamentary session was scheduled to start on 11 July.
Receiving news of this event, Charles, headquartered in Rawicz at the time, sent a contingent of troops from Gniezno on 6 JulyThe date when the Östergötland Cavalry Regiment departed. consisting of 2,000 cavalry under Carl Nieroth to protect Warsaw. Another 2,000 infantry under Johan Valentin von Daldorff of the Dala and Uppland Regiments were also ordered to depart on 29 July from Kaliszkowice OłobockieThe date and place from where the Dalarna Regiment departed. as reinforcements, and to form an escort for Stanisław Leszczyński; but they would not arrive at the Polish capital until 11 August, more than a week after the battle.
Nieroth arrived at Warsaw just before 11 July and opened the parliamentary session according to schedule. He established camp just south of the city next to the Vistula River. Meanwhile, the Saxons who had been forced out of Kraków and back to Brest departed for Warsaw in early July. They united banners with between 5,000 and 6,000 Poles and Lithuanians, led by Stanisław Chomętowski and Janusz Antoni Wiśniowiecki. The overall command of the force was assigned to Otto Arnold von Paykull whose orders from Augustus were to disrupt the parliamentary session. Paykull's vanguard, under the command of Adam Śmigielski, soon arrived in the vicinity of Praga, on the opposite side of the Vistula from Warsaw, and attempted to cross the river on several occasions.
Initial skirmishes
On 16 July, some 1,000 Poles crossed the river at Karczew and attacked a Swedish guard-post consisting of 20 men. After defending themselves for some time, the Swedes were reinforced by 150 cavalrymen who forced the Poles to retire, leaving behind 30 dead. A further 200 men drowned as they went back over the Vistula River and four men ended up in captivity. Five days later, the Polish commander Stanisław Chomętowski arrived at Praga with 67 banners of Polish–Lithuanian cavalry and 400 Saxons. He attempted to cross the Vistula to Warsaw in boats and ferries. He was repulsed, but the repeated attempts caused the nobility in Warsaw to scatter. Paykull appeared with his full army by the end of the month and immediately overwhelmed two small Swedish reconnaissance units sent by Nieroth to operate on that side of the river. Here some important intelligence was gained, informing Paykull of the exact strength of the enemy, hardly 2,000 men, as well as the condition of the river.
Paykull held a council of war, and planned a joint strike on Nieroth's vulnerable cavalry before the arrival of further Swedish reinforcements. Nieroth, being informed of their intentions on 28 July, split off two small units, with 186 men in each, under the commands of and Claes Bonde, to scout for the enemy in the vicinity of the Vistula river.Numbers vary from 180 to 200. As the river proved to be shallower than usual for July, the Swedish command had trouble predicting where Paykull could and would commit.
The scouting party under Stålhammar was ordered to search south-southeast towards Góra Kalwaria while Bonde scouted as far as Kazuń Nowy, north-west of Warsaw. Thus more than 70 kilometres of the Vistula River were patrolled. On 29 July, Paykull committed to an attack with his Saxons, Poles and Lithuanians. He intended to cross the river some north-west of Warsaw, near Zakroczym, which Bonde received intelligence of during the night of 29–30 July, while in Kazuń Nowy. With a mere 26 menOther sources say 20 and even 10. he rapidly marched to investigate before the arrival of his remaining 160 troops.
He arrived there in the morning and soon found the vanguard of Paykull's army, consisting of 500 men who had just completed the crossing in advance of the bulk of their army. Despite being massively outnumbered, Bonde followed his instructions to prevent any attempt made by the coalition to cross the river. Almost immediately the small party attacked their enemies, but after a desperate fight, they were cut down to the last man. The remaining 160 Swedes arrived at the scene, followed the example of their leader, and attacked. By this time about half of the coalition forces, approximately 5,000 men, were across. The Swedes were encircled, and after a sharp battle, repulsed, with a loss of about 100 men killed or captured.Other sources say 90 killed. Only one of the initial three squadrons of some 80 men managed to retreat back to Warsaw and notify Nieroth of the action.
The seemingly foolish act at the beaches near Zakroczym caused the coalition troops under Paykull to suffer some lost momentum which allowed Nieroth more time to organise his troops for the forthcoming battle. The Polish military commander Stanisław Poniatowski, a supporter of Stanisław Leszczyński, wrote afterwards: "The bravery and fearlessness which the Swedish officer [Bonde] had displayed, caused some terror to be struck into our enemies". Von Paykull remained confident, and sent a courier to Augustus, informing him that the Swedes were on the run and the parliament in Warsaw scattered. He added, "I hope to deliver the furious and wild Swedish lad to your Majesty within 14 days, dead or alive".
Battle When Nieroth was informed of Paykull's crossing on the afternoon of 30 July, he decided he was not properly equipped to withstand a siege. Instead he marched his army past Warsaw to about north-west of the city to receive the coalition forces there, in an open battle. As it was already far into the evening by the time he arrived, and with no sign of the enemy, he chose to go back and position his troops between Warsaw and Rakowiec, just west of the initial Swedish camp. At sunrise, around 04:00 in the morning, on 31 July, he received intelligence that Paykull was marching towards him along the road from Błonie, west of Warsaw. Soon afterwards, Nieroth drew his army up in battle order and marched towards Wola to face the advancing enemy.
Swedish forces