Bremen-Verden campaign

Background

After France invaded the General States in 1672, an alliance formed against France, escalating into the Dutch War. France urged its ally Sweden to attack its enemies, which included the House of Habsburg and the Electorate of Brandenburg. At the end of 1674, a Swedish army under Carl Gustav Wrangel invaded the Margraviate of Brandenburg while the Brandenburg army was fighting France. In a summer campaign of 1675, Elector Frederick William I defeated the Swedish army and pushed it back to Swedish Pomerania.

On 17 July 1675, the imperial ban was imposed on the Swedish king as an imperial prince, and a Reichsexekution was declared against Sweden, with the Westphalian and Upper Saxon Circles charged with enforcement. Denmark then declared war on Sweden. The Allies initially planned to conquer Swedish possessions in northern Germany and then focus on Scania. Swedish war planning relied on its fleet to defeat the Danish-Norwegian fleet and relieve its North German possessions, but delays in equipping the fleet prevented reinforcement of Bremen-Verden.

Autumn 1675 campaign

The campaign began on 15 September 1675 when troops of the Prince-Bishop of Münster, numbering about 10,000 men according to the Theatrum Europaeum or 4,000 men by other records, passed through Haselünne and invaded the Swedish Amt of Wildeshausen. They advanced unimpeded to the River Weser, and on 25 September Münster's artillery fired across the Weser at Bremen. A Brandenburg force of 1,600 infantry and 700 cavalry under Major General Freiherr von Spaen arrived at the end of September, along with 2,500 Danes under Count Gustavus Adolphus of Baudissin.

Münster troops marched from neutral Bremen to the fortress of Langwedel, capturing it on 27 and 28 September, opening the way into the former Prince-Bishopric of Verden. Verden upon Aller fell on 27 September when Münster forces suddenly invaded and established themselves at a town gate. Rotenburg was conquered after some resistance, and Ottersberg was taken on 3 October, with its roughly 140-man Swedish garrison captured. The Allied army then marched toward Buxtehude, reaching it on 12 October.

Buxtehude had a garrison of nearly 400 men and was well fortified. The Allies occupied an eminence, drew up 14 mortars and 37 cannon, and began shelling on 13 October, setting fire to over 60 houses. On 14 October, 100 mortar bombs and 60 artillery shells were fired, causing damage but no fatalities. On 15 October, fire was lifted to prepare trenches for an assault.

Allied disagreements

Serious arguments arose among the Allies because Münster and Lüneburg had agreed in advance to exclude Denmark and Brandenburg from the future division of Bremen-Verden. Münster demanded the former Prince-Bishopric of Verden and the Ämter of Wildeshausen, Burg, Bremervörde, Ottersberg, and Thedinghausen, with the rest to be annexed by Lüneburg-Celle. Denmark and Brandenburg argued for equal distribution, with Denmark demanding Carlsburg and Stade to control the Weser and Elbe estuaries, possibly for later exchange for auxiliary troops in the Pomeranian War.

The dispute escalated to the point of threatening open war between the Allies. The General States mediated, sending ambassadors van der Tocht and later Amerongen to Bremen. William III of Orange proposed slighting all fortresses in Bremen-Verden, negotiating the final apportionment at the peace congress in Nijmegen, and transferring provisional administration to Lüneburg-Celle and Münster. Brandenburg and Denmark retained rights to territorial interests if they did not achieve compensation in Swedish Pomerania and Scania.

Brandenburg's envoy approved the treaty on 28 March, though the Elector did not ratify it. However, the Elector dropped his objections to deploying Lüneburg auxiliaries to Bremen-Verden given favourable progress in Swedish Pomerania. In a secret agreement in early 1677, the Elector secured Denmark's support that Brandenburg should get at least one fifth of the territory to be divided in Bremen-Verden.

Siege of Stade, 1676

The dispute over distribution delayed the siege of Stade until spring 1676. On 28 April and 8 May, the Allies agreed in Bremervörde to attack the last Swedish possession with 16,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry, and to garrison the conquered fortress equally with troops from Denmark, Brandenburg, Lüneburg-Celle, and Münster. In early April, Lüneburg commander Lieutenant General Chauvet blockaded the town, leading to almost daily skirmishes and Swedish raids.

The besiegers built earthworks. Stade had access to the sea via the Schwinge, a tributary of the Elbe, and a Swedish fieldwork at Stadersand guarded the mouth of the Schwinge, allowing Swedish ships to supply the town. To tighten the siege, the Allies decided to seize the Schwinge fieldwork, calling for artillery from Glückstadt and bringing two 18-gun Lüneburg ships into the mouth of the Schwinge. Swedish attempts to disrupt preparations were repulsed.

The Allies established a battery that fired continually on the Swedish position. On 23 April, a Swedish raid with 300 horsemen was driven back with a loss of 46 men. On 4 July, the Allies completed their earthworks and shelled the Schwinge position so heavily that its roughly 100-man unit capitulated. With the loss of the fieldwork, resupply of Stade from the sea was no longer possible.

Three Swedish warships and six transport ships loaded with supplies reached the mouth of the Schwinge but were shelled by Allied batteries and withdrew.

Did You Know?

• A treaty of neutrality was signed on 11/21 September 1675 between the Allies and John Frederick of Brunswick-Lüneburg, who had previously been on the Swedish side.
• After the conquest of Stade, 3,000 Lüneburg troops under Major General von Ende were sent to Swedish Pomerania to support Brandenburg troops.