Battle of Salis 1609
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 23 March 1609 – 24 March 1609 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1609 | Wikidata P580 (start time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | Latvia | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | Europe | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | Polish–Swedish War of 1600–11 | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, Sweden | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 57.7553, 24.3494 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Salis took place during the Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611) during the night of March 23–24, 1609. After the capture of Pärnu, Jan Karol Chodkiewicz, commander of the Lithuanian army, moved towards Riga, which was besieged by the Swedes under the command of Joachim Frederick von Mansfeld. Along the way, Chodkiewicz saw a chance to destroy the Swedish squadron based in the Salis port which blocked Riga. The dominant presence of the Swedes in the Baltic region gave the Lithuanian army the upper hand, as von Mansfeld and the Swedish army did not expect the possibility of an attack in such a heavily Swedish-occupied region.
Chodkiewicz's army consisted of two ships obtained in Pärnu, filled with Samogitian infantry and armed with cannons brought in from the Pärnu Castle. The squadron was additionally reinforced by a few hastily armed merchant ships (probably five) purchased from the English and Dutch, and a couple of boats and bateaux. To assist in managing vessel traffic, Chodkiewicz hired a few sailors, mainly Livonians.
On the night of March 23, Chodkiewicz's army (consisting of Samogitians, Livonians, and probably some bribed members of the Swedish infantry) surprise-attacked the Swedish Fleet.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Salis (revision 1370588106), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the Polish–Swedish War of 1600–11
- Siege of Weissenstein 1602
- Battle of Rakvere (1603) 1603
- Battle of Weissenstein 1604
- Battle of Kircholm 1605
- Capture of Daugavgrīva 1608
- Battle of Daugavgrīva (1609) 1609
- Siege of Pärnu 1609
All 13 battles of the Polish–Swedish War of 1600–11 →
Browse more: battles in Latvia · Europe · Early modern battles