Battle of Kokenhausen

Battle of Kokenhausen
Part of the Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611)
Date June 23, 1601 Location Koknese, Livonia (now in Latvia) 56°38′17″N 25°25′02″E / 56.63806°N 25.41722°E / 56.63806; 25.41722Coordinates: 56°38′17″N 25°25′02″E / 56.63806°N 25.41722°E / 56.63806; 25.41722 Result Decisive Polish victory
Belligerents
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth	Sweden
Commanders and leaders
Krzysztof "the Thunderbolt" Radziwiłł Jan Karol Chodkiewicz	Carl Gyllenhielm
Strength
300 infantry 2,700 cavalry 9 guns	900 infantry 4,000 cavalry 17 guns
Casualties and losses
100–200 dead	2,000–3,000 dead

The Battle of Kokenhausen (Kokenhuza, Latvian: Koknese) was a major battle opening the Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611). It took place on the 23 June 1601 near Koknese in Livonia (now in Latvia). In the battle, Polish forces defeated the Swedish relief force and captured the besieging force, relieving the Polish garrison. The battle is notable as one of the greatest victories of the Polish hussars, who defeated their numerically superior Swedish adversaries.

Kokenhausen was one of three major forts blocking the Swedish progress on the line of the Daugava River. Swedish forces of about 2,000 under Carl Carlsson Gyllenhielm had been blockading the fortified town of Kokenhausen, located on Daugava River, between Riga and Daugavpils - since 10 March - after the arrival of Duke Charles with heavy artillery - laying a siege to it since 28 March. On 1 April the Swedes had taken the town but not the inner castle, which was still defended by a Polish-Lithuanian garrison. Charles left about 2,600 strong besieging force, and moved north to Erlaa.

The Polish-Lithuanian relief army of 800 men under Krzysztof Mikołaj "the Thunderbolt" Radziwiłł arrived around 11 May and in turn started to besiege the Swedes; it grew to over 4,000 with 16 cannons by mid-June. The Swedes decided to prioritize the relief of the Kokenhausen siege force. They have been reinforcing it with supplies through the river, but many of them have been captured by Commonwealth troops on May 29. A major Swedish relief force of about 2,000 under Carl Gyllenhielm has been defeated at Erlaa by 1,000 Poles under Jan Siciński in early June. Emboldened by the victory, other Polish detachments captured some nearby strongholds and harassed the Swedish units. The Poles did not assault Kokenhausen, however, as they were waiting for more artillery, and were content to starve the Swedes out. The Swedes did not give up on securing the site, however, and reinforced to 5,000 the Swedes under Gyllenhielm arrived on the morning of 23 June at Kokenhausen and attempted to break the Polish encirclement.

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