"The Great Sleigh Drive" (German: Die große Schlittenfahrt) was a daring and bold maneuver by Frederick William, the Great Elector of Brandenburg-Prussia, to drive Swedish forces out of the Duchy of Prussia, a territory of his which had been invaded by the Swedes during the winter of 1678. Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg. ... The Brandenburg-Prussian state was formed in 1618 when the Duchy of Prussia came under the control of the Elector of Brandenburg (part of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation). ... The Prussian Tribute, oil on canvas by Jan Matejko, 1882, 388 x 875 cm, National Museum in Kraków. ...

Background

Frederick William had earlier defeated the Swedes and driven them out of his territory of Brandenburg at the Battle of Fehrbellin and now faced another punitive Swedish incursion into his territories. The main body of his army was busy sieging the Swedish-held port city of Stralsund on the coast of the Baltic Sea far to the west, so Frederick marched his army to the small town of Preußisch Holland and engaged a small Swedish force occupying the city. The Swedes, having been resoundingly defeated at the Battle of Fehrbellin, were in no hurry to face off against Frederick William again and decided to retreat back to the coast in order to embark back to Sweden, having already accomplished their goal of looting much of the province and avenging their earlier defeat.   (Lower Sorbian: Bramborska; Upper Sorbian: Braniborska) is one of Germanys sixteen Bundesländer (federal states). ... Combatants Brandenburg Sweden Commanders Georg von Derfflinger Waldemar von Wrangel Strength 5,600 cavalry, 13 guns 7,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, 28 guns Casualties 500 men 600 men but almost entire force later lost during retreat The Battle of Fehrbellin was fought on June 28, 1675 between Sweden and... Stralsund is a city in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, Germany. ... The Baltic Sea is located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. ... PasÅ‚Ä™k (German: , Prussian Holland) is a town in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, Poland. ...

The Sleigh Drive

Most commanders would have simply allowed the Swedes to depart, but Frederick William was a particularly aggressive commander and came across the ingenious idea of commandeering thousands of sleighs from the local peasantry to transport his army across the snowy terrain of the Duchy of Prussia to cut off the Swedes' escape route, creating a primitive form of mechanized infantry. Driving over the heavy snow and several frozen lakes, Frederick managed to drive deep into the flanks and rear of the escaping Swedish force, denying them access to the coast and their navy, which would have allowed them to resupply or escape. Mechanized infantry are infantry equipped with armored personnel carriers (APCs), or infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for transport and combat (see also mechanized force). ...

Aftermath

Frederick's forces managed to ride all the way to Memel, completely cutting off the Swedes from the coast. Although the Brandenburg forces never actually managed to force the Swedes to commit to the field in an open battle as Frederick had wanted, many Swedish troops perished in the harsh winter from hypothermia and starvation, and the Swedish army was effectively destroyed. This victory cemented Frederick William's reputation as a great military strategist. Location Ethnographic region Lithuania minor County Klaipėda County Municipality Klaipėda city municipality Coordinates Number of elderates 1 General Information Capital of Klaipėda County Klaipėda city municipality Population 187,316 in 2006 (3rd) First mentioned 1252 Granted city rights 1254 or 1258 (Lübeck); 1475 (Chełmno... To be more accessible to a general audience, this article or section may require cleanup. ... A female child during the Nigerian-Biafran war of the late 1960s, shown suffering the effects of severe hunger and malnutrition. ...

Significance

Maneuver warfare, or as the Germans call it, Bewegungskrieg, was eventually part of a long-standing tradition of the German military. The Winter Campaign of 1678 and the subsequent Great Sleigh Drive appeared in the German military war journal "Militär-Wochenblatt" in 1929, in which a then (relatively unknown) Major by the name of Heinz Guderian wrote an article commenting about its use of operational mobility as a decisive factor in victory. Maneuver warfare (American English) or manoeuvre warfare is a concept of warfare that advocates attempting to defeat an adversary by incapacitating their decision-making through shock and disruption. ... Major is a military rank the use of which varies according to country. ... Heinz Wilhelm Guderian (ca. ...

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. ...