"I have never used such a large bathhouse", King Gustaw Adolf reportedly said after the battle with Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski. Indeed, the Polish commander became a real terror of the Swedes - the Swedish monarch himself was wounded twice in clashes with him!
When in 1626 the Swedes captured Royal Prussia, and in the battle of Gniew, the invincible hussars collapsed under enemy infantry fire, Sigismund III decided to bring the quartered army from Ukraine together with the field hetman. And so, at the head of 4,200 cavalry, 1,000 dragoons and about 1,000 infantry, Koniecpolski set off to the Prussian theater to face a new enemy - the Swedish army, personally led by Gustaw Adolf.
Knowing the firepower of enemy regiments, the queen chose the tactic of quick, stealth attacks on weaker garrisons manned by invaders. It also cut their lines of communication. In this way he forced the Swedish command to adopt a defensive variant of operations.
Unfortunately, despite this and the taxes passed by the Toruń Sejm, the initiative was still in the hands of the enemy. The Swedes proved it by defeating the Lithuanians in December 1626 at Koknese in Livonia. In the spring of the next year, they were already planning to break up Koniecpolski's forces - they intended to strike from both sides and take his army into pincers.
Gustaw Adolf came close to death twice during the fights with Koniecpolski.
A close associate of the king, Axel Oxenstierna, was to move from the side of the Vistula, and the newly recruited troops under the command of Johann Streiff von Lawenstein and Maksymilian Teuffl were coming from Swedish Pomerania.
Brilliant Wins
However, fate was favorable to the Hetman. The flood of the Vistula River immobilized Oxenstierny's troops, and the Polish commander turned to the forces of both colonels. The clash took place on April 12 near Black (Hamersztyn).
The enemy was forced to take refuge in the town, and three days later the soldiers, under constant fire, forced their commanders to surrender. It was signed on April 18. The defeated took an oath that they would not take part in the fights against the Republic of Poland. What's more, almost 500 reiters joined the Polish service! Koniecpolski incorporated some of the infantry into his units, supplementing their stocks.
In the same 1627, the field hetman also met the Lion of the North. The Swedish monarch landed in Pilawa with an 8,000-strong corps. The clash took place when his forces were crossing the Vistula near Kieżmark. The king himself was injured in the hip and had to order a retreat. It was his first but not the last loss to Koniecpolski ...
When the Swedes besieged Orneta in July, the hetman attacked Gniew in response. He managed to take the fortress after a short siege. In the meantime, the king entrusted him with the task of protecting Gdańsk, so he began to concentrate his forces near Tczew. It was there that on August 7-8, 1627, a major battle took place. 7,800 Polish soldiers stood against the 10,000-strong Swedish army, including 2,500 hussars and raiders. Both armies divided the Motława marshes through which two dikes led.
Gustaw Adolf's plan was to provoke the Poles to cross the dike and then hit them with all their strength. Koniecpolski, however, disappointed his hopes. After repelling the attack of the Swedish reiter, he stopped the attack on the enemy's entrenchments, thus forcing the monarch to change his plans. The latter threw all his reiters under the command of Count von Thurn on the Polish cavalry, but the Polish infantry, grouped in the ramparts in front of the dikes, stopped the attack.
The cavalry of the Republic of Poland suffered great losses. A horse was killed under the hetman - but he continued to fight on foot. It was only thanks to his brave attitude that the army remained in their positions despite the dense fire of the enemy. Ultimately, the situation was saved by accident - Gustaw Adolf was shot during the fight. The bullet hit the neck and collarbone, and the king ordered that all further actions be stopped.
The battle at Trzciana
In the following year of the Polish-Swedish war, the hetman continued the strategy of fast cavalry attacks, supported by infantry and field artillery fire. He used field fortifications and other terrain obstacles. He became famous for the clash with the forces of Gustaw Adolf at Trzciana on June 26, 1629. The Swedes found themselves there during the retreat from Grudziądz. They headed through Sztum to Malbork. Infantry moved in the vanguard, protected by three throws of reiter.
The Hetman took advantage of this situation, casting his cavalry on the latter, enhanced by imperial reinforcements. The Swedish rear guard under the command of Count Jan Rhine was quickly crushed by the Polish hussars. The pursuit of the second throw of the enemy cavalry, headed to Pułkowice, was just underway, when Gustaw Adolf himself, at the head of 2,000 cavalry, joined the fight.
He encouraged his reiters to fight, but they too were forced to retreat. The situation of the invaders was saved only by Field Marshal Herman Wrangel, who used the last reserves of his cavalry. "I have never used such a large bath," said the Swedish monarch after the battle.
In three consecutive clashes between Koniecpolski and the Swedes, about 1,200 Swedes died, including Count Renu and Wrangel's son - Jan Wilhelm Reingraff. Many soldiers from the North were taken prisoner. Polish losses were estimated at about 200 killed and as many wounded. This battle was not used militarily or politically, but brought the commander-in-chief well-deserved recognition and fame.
Koniecpolski, however, had no influence on the humiliating conditions of the truce with the Swedes, which was concluded in Stary Targ on September 26, 1629. Under it, neighbors from overseas obtained the right to collect customs duties on Polish trade and occupied a number of cities in Royal Prussia. Meanwhile, Hetman was summoned to Ukraine to face another Cossack uprising - this time led by Taras Fedorowicz.
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You can read about the secret of the successes of our greatest leaders in the book "Polish gods of war" . The above text is an excerpt from the chapter devoted to Stanisław Koniecpolski.