Siege of Riga

Overview

The siege of Riga by the Russian army under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich was the main event of the Russo-Swedish War. The fortifications of Riga consisted of a wall with ditch and 5 bastions around the old town. In 1652 Swedes had started construction of a new wall with 12 bastions around suburbs, but by 1656 the work had not been completed. The Russian vanguard consisting of the Vladimir v. Vizin reiters, Daniel Krafert infantry and Iunkmann dragoons approached Riga on August 20 and threw back the Swedes under count of Pärnu, Heinrich von Thurn into the city. Von Thurn was either killed, or captured in the action. The Swedes evacuated the suburbs and withdrew to the old town. A few days later, the main army under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich arrived on the ships on the Duna River, and laid siege to Riga. The Russian army occupied three camps, two on the east bank of the Duna in Riga's suburbs, and a Corps under Ordyn-Nashokin on the west bank of the Duna, opposite the Kobrun entrenchment.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Siege of Riga, begun on 21 August 1656, saw a Russian force of 35,000 under Tsar Aleksey Mikhailovich confront a Swedish garrison of approximately 7,389 commanded by Simon Grundel-Helmfelt and Heinrich von Thurn. Russian casualties of between 8,000 and 14,000 indicate the siege imposed a severe cost on the Tsardom's forces, suggesting the Swedish defenders held their position against a substantially larger attacking army. Within the Second Northern War, Riga was a prize of considerable strategic weight as the principal port of Swedish Livonia, and Russia's intervention in the conflict reflected Aleksey Mikhailovich's ambition to secure Baltic access. The disparity in force sizes and the scale of Russian losses point to a costly failure to reduce the city, which bore directly on the limits of Russian power projection into the Baltic theater during this phase of the war.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (5)