Landing on Humlebæk

Battle of Humlebæk

Charles XII in the landing on Humlebæk, 1700

Date	July 24, 1700 (O.S.) July 25, 1700 (Swedish calendar) August 4, 1700 (N.S.)
Location	Humlebæk, Zealand in Denmark
Result	Swedish victory

Belligerents

Swedish Empire

Denmark

Commanders and leaders

Jens Rostgaard

Strength

2,500 (infantry)
Swedish-English-Dutch combined fleet

350 (cavalry)
350 (infantry)
7 artillery pieces

Casualties and losses

no more than five dead,
around 15 wounded.

around 25 killed,
some captured and disarmed but later set free.

The Landing at Humlebæk took place on August 4, 1700 (Gregorian calendar), in the Swedish invasion of Denmark during the Great Northern War 1700-1721. This was the first offensive during the war by the Swedish army, and it was directly led by Charles XII of Sweden commanding the right flank and Arvid Horn together with Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld at the left. The Swedes were victorious and utterly routed the Danish forces led by Jens Rostgaard.

The Swedish king Charles XI had died in 1697. Sweden's competitors, Russia, Denmark-Norway and Saxony-Poland-Lithuania, tried to exploit this by forming a coalition in order to regain their earlier losses. Denmark wanted to reclaim territory lost in the Second Northern War, Russia to get a port to the Baltic Sea, and Saxony-Poland-Lithuania to take back Livonia. This, they supposed, could be easily achieved against the new and inexperienced Swedish king, Charles XII.

However, this new threat Charles had to deal with was averted during the first years of the war due to surprising movements made by the Swedish king's troops, one of them being the landing on Humlebæk, an invasion of Denmark with the aim of capturing Copenhagen undertaken in reaction to the Danish attack on Holstein-Gottorp.

About 16,000 Swedish troops were gathered in Scania to launch against Denmark and another 10,000 just by the Norwegian border. The Swedish fleet went out from Karlskrona to Øresund with their 38 ships of the line. The Danish fleet of 40 ships however blocked their pathway in the West entrance of Drogden and forced the Swedish ships to sail another way across to the East by the name of Flintrännan - which at the time was claimed to have been too shallow - but Charles XII gave order that they should try. At July 13 the Swedish ships went over Flintrännan with only 5 ships that ran aground and got stuck, which had to be pulled up.

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Wikipedia