Battle of Wallhof

Battle of Wallhof (Latvian: Valles kauja, also known as Battle of Walmozja) was a battle fought between Sweden and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth on 7 January 1626, in which a Swedish force of 3,100 men (2,100 of them cavalry) with 6 guns under Gustavus II Adolphus ambushed and took by surprise a Polish-Lithuanian force of 2,000-7,000 men (sources differ) with 3 guns under Jan Stanisław Sapieha. Polish-Lithuanian casualties amounted to between 1,000 and 2,300 dead, wounded or captured,[1][4] and their commander collapsed from a mental illness after this defeat.[4]
The Swedish king Gustav claimed: "not a single man is missing, everyone is where they should be" which is hard to believe, but to have suffered very small casualties is most likely true.

Battle of Wallhof
Part of the Polish-Swedish wars
Date7 January 1626
Location
Valle (German: Wallhof), (present-day Valle Parish, Vecumnieki Municipality, Latvia)
Result Swedish victory
Belligerents
Swedish Empire Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Commanders and leaders
Gustavus II Adolphus, King of Sweden Jan Stanisław Sapieha
Strength
1,000 infantry
2,100 cavalry
6 guns		 7,000 men[1]
or
2,000 men (mainly cavalry)
3 guns[2]
Casualties and losses
Very light, some sources claim not a single man dead or missing 2,300 men killed, wounded or captured[1]
or
Around 1,000 dead or wounded
150 captured[3]

In the battle Gustavus Adolphus' reformed tactics, utilising close cooperation between infantry and cavalry, were tried for the first time. It was also the first time the Swedish cavalry successfully withstood the Polish cavalry.

The Swedes attacked the Lithuanian camp at dawn and, since the camp was located between two woods, the Lithuanian cavalry could not outflank the Swedes. Instead, the Swedes used the woods to fire upon the Lithuanian cavalry charge.[5]:106

  • The battle depicted on a contemporary engraving with the format 290 mm x 1070 mm.

References
  1. Wallhof i Nordisk familjebok (2:a upplagan, 1921)
  2. Leszek Podhorodecki, "Rapier i koncerz", Warszawa 1985, ISBN 83-05-11452-X,
  3. Leszek Podhorodecki, "Rapier i koncerz", Warszawa 1985, ISBN 83-05-11452-X, pp. 142–144
  4. Podhorodecki, Leszek (1985). Rapier i koncerz. Warsaw. ISBN 83-05-11452-X.
  5. Frost, R.I., 2000, The Northern Wars, 1558-1721, Harlow: Pearson Education Limited, ISBN 9780582064294

Sources
  • http://runeberg.org/nfck/0270.html
  • Wallhof i Nordisk familjebok (2:a upplagan, 1921)
  • Sundberg, Ulf: Svenska krig 1521–1814, s. 109–112, Hjalmarson & Högberg Bokförlag, Stockholm 2002, ISBN 91-89660-10-2
  • Gullberg, Tom: Krigen kring Östersjön - Lejonet vaknar 1611–1660, s. 50–52, Schildts Förlags AB, Helsingfors 2008, ISBN 978-951-50-1822-9


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