Frederick the Great and the Seven Years' War by Herbert J. Redman

Author:Herbert J. Redman [Redman, Herbert J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: McFarland
Published: 2015-01-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Thirty-Three

The Swedes Show Their Hand1

The Swedes had, earlier in the year, shown a rather curious lack of drive. Heavy demands for Prussian troops had cost the Northern Front its entire field force except for a battalion of troops on Usedom, and a second at Wollin. Frederick was quick to realize he was vulnerable at the Northern Front, but counted on the sluggishness of the Swedes to help him out.

This seemed good enough until news of the Prussian defeat at Kunersdorf got out. The Swedes then appeared to come to life, possibly out of a desire to carve out their share of a country many believed to be on the verge of collapse. The Swedish Army had some advantage with the use of its naval arm, which helped offset lack of equipment, and, very often, the lack of effort. There had been a rumor about the Swedes cooperating with their allies across the Rhine, but the intended target was to be nothing less than an invasion of Great Britain, not operating directly against Prussia. Any such adventures would have involved the Swedish fleet, of far more significance in that case than their army.

As for the Northern Front itself, clearly the most important city, from the points of view of both of the antagonists, was Stettin. The Swedes could hold nearly all of Pomerania and still not be secure so long as that powerful fortress remained in Prussian hands. It is not at all odd to say that, after Kunersdorf (when Berlin was largely stripped of its garrison), the Swedes did not push on that city but went elsewhere.

Any southward advance by these people could leave them vulnerable to a descent by the Stettin garrison. There was a strong force in the city, which showed no intentions of leaving, totaling 7,368 men, including the Garrison Artillery unit Barghardt.2 If Stettin could be besieged and captured, this would require it be denied any resupply by sea.

To back up the place, the Prussians assembled the closest thing they had to a naval fleet. The chief reason for this flotilla was to secure a water route for the relief of Stettin. Bevern had returned from Austrian captivity and was appointed by the king to be the commandant of Stettin. With little otherwise to distract him, Bevern turned his attention to upgrading the defenses of his new surroundings. His chief enemy, the Swedes, although rather anemic on land, were sure a formidable lot on the water. Their navy truly dominated the Baltic Sea. Bevern’s task was to eat away at that dominance if possible. He was engaged in the winter break of 1758–1759 in building up the aforementioned flotilla. Bevern’s plans were aided by Daniel Schultze, a local merchant of some repute. The sum of their efforts were to transform, to the degree possible, merchant vessels into seaworthy ships of war.3 By September of 1759, the number of vessels so converted was 12.

The Russians were also busy cooperating with their Swedish allies. As General Lantinghausen’s

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