Key Facts
- Duration
- 24 July – 24 August 1807 (final phase)
- Swedish garrison strength
- ~15,000 men
- Franco-Allied assault force
- ~40,000 men
- Territorial loss
- Stralsund and island of Rügen
- French commander (final phase)
- Marshal Guillaume Brune
Strategic Narrative Overview
Marshal Mortier first blockaded Stralsund early in 1807 for two months before being recalled, during which time Swedish forces under Lieutenant General von Essen repelled the weakened blockading troops. Mortier returned and pushed the Swedes back, leading to a brief armistice. When King Gustav IV Adolf repudiated the truce, Marshal Brune assembled a multinational force of 40,000 Franco-Allied troops—French, German, Spanish, Italian, and Dutch—and mounted a decisive assault on the fortress.
01 / The Origins
Stralsund, a fortified Baltic port in Swedish Pomerania, became a target of French imperial expansion during the War of the Fourth Coalition. Sweden, allied against Napoleon, held the city as a strategic foothold on the southern Baltic coast. French interest in neutralising Swedish military presence in northern Germany prompted repeated efforts to seize the port and sever Sweden's access to continental Europe.
03 / The Outcome
Overwhelmingly outnumbered, the Swedish garrison abandoned Stralsund on 24 August 1807, surrendering the port to Franco-Allied forces. Sweden also forfeited the nearby island of Rügen as a direct consequence of the defeat. The fall of Stralsund effectively ended Swedish military presence on the German mainland and strengthened French control of the southern Baltic littoral.
Belligerents & Mobilization Analysis
Side A
1 belligerent
Marshal Guillaume Marie Anne Brune, Marshal Édouard Mortier.
Side B
1 belligerent
Lieutenant General Hans Henric von Essen.
Kinetic Engagement Axis
Scroll horizontally to view full axis. Events plotted relatively.