The Battle of Fehrbellin was fought on June 28, 1675 between Sweden and Brandenburg. The Swedes, under Count Waldemar von Wrangel (stepbrother of Carl Gustaf Wrangel), had invaded and occupied parts of Brandenburg from their possessions in Pomerania, but were repelled by the forces of Frederick William, the Great Elector, under Fieldmarshal Georg von Derfflinger near the town of Fehrbellin. The battle took place during the so-called Long Regency that finally led to Charles XI becoming absolute ruler in 1693. King Charles X of Sweden The Northern Wars (1655-1661) is a name sometimes used for the series of conflicts between Sweden and its adversaries Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (The Deluge, 1655-1660), Russia (1656-1661), Brandenburg-Prussia (1657-1660), the Holy Roman Empire (1657-60) and Denmark (1657-1658, 1658... is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1675 (MDCLXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ... Fehrbellin is a town in Germany, located 60 km NW of Berlin. ...   (Lower Sorbian: Bramborska; Upper Sorbian: Braniborska) is one of Germanys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states). ... Georg von Derfflinger Georg von Derfflinger (* 20 March 1606 in Neuhofen, Austria; † 14 February 1695 in Gusow, Brandenburg/Germany) was a fieldmarshal in the army of Brandenburg during and after the 30 Years War (1618-1648). ... is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1675 (MDCLXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Friday of the 10-day slower Julian calendar). ...   (Lower Sorbian: Bramborska; Upper Sorbian: Braniborska) is one of Germanys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states). ... Carl Gustaf Wrangel Carl Gustaf Wrangel (December 23, 1613 - July 5, 1676) was a Swedish soldier. ... Pommern redirects here. ... ... Georg von Derfflinger Georg von Derfflinger (* 20 March 1606 in Neuhofen, Austria; † 14 February 1695 in Gusow, Brandenburg/Germany) was a fieldmarshal in the army of Brandenburg during and after the 30 Years War (1618-1648). ... Charles XI (Karl XI) (November 24, 1655 – April 5, 1697) was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death. ...

Prelude

Prior to the battle the Swedes and Brandenburg had been allies in various wars against Poland. However, when Frederick joined an allied expedition against Louis XIV, the French persuaded Sweden (which had been increasingly isolated on the continent) to attack Brandenburg while their Army was away. Louis XIV King of France and Navarre By Hyacinthe Rigaud (1701) Louis XIV (Louis-Dieudonné) (September 5, 1638–September 1, 1715) reigned as King of France and King of Navarre from May 14, 1643 until his death. ...

When Frederick heard of the attack and occupation of a large part of his nation, he drew his army out of the coalition and marched it 250 Kilometers in only two weeks - considered one of the great marches in military history. He did it by abandoning his supply wagons and having his army buy supplies from the locals, but forbidding pillaging.

Storming of Rathenow

Once he returned to Brandenburg, Frederick William immediately realized that the Swedes were dispersed and ordered Derrflinger to take the central town of Rathenow in order to split the Swedes roughly down the middle. Frederick bribed a local official loyal to him to hold a large and elaborate banquet for the Swedish officers of the fortress in order to get them drunk before the assault began. Derrflinger then personally impersonated a Swedish officer and convinced the guards to open the gates of the town by claiming that a Brandenburg patrol was after him. Once the gates were opened for him, he personally led the charge of 1,000 Dragoons against the city and the rest of the army soon followed. He was 69 years old at the time. Rathenow is a town in the province of Brandenburg, Germany, with a population of 27,085. ... A light dragoon from the American Revolution A dragoon is a soldier trained to fight on foot, but transport himself on horseback. ...

Opening Stages of the Battle

Memorial in Hakenberg near Fehrbellin

Once Derfflinger had expelled the Swedish forces from Rathenow, this made the Swedish lines vulnerable. The Swedish Commander Wrangel, harassed by Brandenburg raiding parties under the command of Colonel Joachim Hennings, found itself hemmed in by a destroyed bridge over the Rhin River at the town of Fehrbellin. Impassable marshes on both the left and right left Wrangel little choice but to give battle here while his engineers repaired the bridge. Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (960x1280, 650 KB) Beschreibung Information en: Description: Memorial of the Battle of Fehrbellin, Hakenberg, Germany Author: Doris Antony, Berlin Date: March 30, 2005 Licence: GFDL and CC-BY-SA-2. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (960x1280, 650 KB) Beschreibung Information en: Description: Memorial of the Battle of Fehrbellin, Hakenberg, Germany Author: Doris Antony, Berlin Date: March 30, 2005 Licence: GFDL and CC-BY-SA-2. ... Rathenow is a town in the province of Brandenburg, Germany, with a population of 27,085. ...

5,600 cavalry and 13 guns on the Brandenburg side faced 7,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry and 38 guns on the Swedish side. By placing his guns on a series of low hills to his left, while the Swedes had only swamps to their flanks and a river behind them, Frederick William and Derfflinger gained a decisive tactical advantage. These guns opened fire around noon on the 28th and caused heavy casualties on the Swedish right flank. The Swedes attempted several times to wrest control of the hills but were stopped each time. Frederick William had his main attack press the right flank of the Swedes eventually causing their Cavalry to flee, and exposing their infantry to a flank attack. The Brandenberg cavalry then turned and annihilated an entire regiment of Swedish infantry, which was cut down to the last man. The Swedish right held up long enough though for the bridge to be repaired and Wrangel was able to get a large portion of his army across before darkness. The Brandenburg troops lost about 500 men. Wrangel's forces, although routed, lost only about the same on the day of the Battle, but lost some more in the coming days retreat. Raiding parties, desertion, starvation, and other factors reduced the retreating Swedish army to a fraction of what it was.

Historical Significance

Although militarily only of minor importance, the victory had enormous psychological impact: the Swedes, long considered unbeatable, had been bested. Frederick William henceforth was known as the Great Elector, and the army that he and Derfflinger had led to victory became the core of the future Prussian army. June 28th was a holiday that would be celebrated in Germany up until 1914, when on the same day, the Archduke Franz Ferdinand was assassinated, beginning World War I. Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg. ... A standard of the Prussian Army. ... Year 1914 (MCMXIV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Wednesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ... “The Great War ” redirects here. ...

References

Citino, Robert M.. The German Way of War: From the Thirty Years War to the Third Reich. University Press of Kansas. Lawrence, KS, 2005. ISBN 0-7006-1410-9 Robert M. Citino is a history professor, scholar and writer currently teaching at Eastern Michigan University. ...