Qualla: Battle of Wenden (1626) https://qualla.com/battle-of-wenden-1626 en-us © 2026 Bendyline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 10:21:35 GMT Qualla serial false Qualla support@bendyline.com yes https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/1/y/battle-of-wenden-1626-wp/hero-small.webp Qualla: Battle of Wenden (1626) https://qualla.com/battle-of-wenden-1626 Battle of Wenden (1626): Introduction https://qualla.com/battle-of-wenden-1626/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. There were not enough houses. That mundane fact almost cost Gustav Horn the Swedish army in Livonia. On the night of 2 December 1626, his force of nearly four thousand men reached the village of Drobbusch, north of Wenden in present-day Latvia. The infantry crowded into the cottages. The cavalry, with no roof to spare, made cold camps in the surrounding woods. Aleksander Gosiewski's Lithuanian field army was approaching through the dark, intent on a dawn attack. When his troopers swept into Drobbusch at first light, they hit a Swedish line where infantry and cavalry could not see one another and could not easily combine.

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/1/y/battle-of-wenden-1626-wp/ud1y-battle-of-wenden-1626-intro.mp3 0:06 1 full Battle of Wenden (1626): The Long Polish-Swedish Argument https://qualla.com/battle-of-wenden-1626/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. By 1626 the Polish-Swedish War — really the latest round of a dynastic dispute that had been running since the 1590s — had pivoted to the Baltic provinces. King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden had spent 1625 sweeping through Livonia and was now in Prussia trying to force a decision a...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/1/y/battle-of-wenden-1626-wp/ud1y-battle-of-wenden-1626-the-long-polish-swedish-argument.mp3 0:06 2 full Battle of Wenden (1626): Sentries in the Half-Light https://qualla.com/battle-of-wenden-1626/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Gosiewski's plan was simple: hit the village from the roads at dawn, before the Swedes could recover the situation. About fifteen hundred Lithuanian troops moved into position overnight, the cavalry staying back, the assault parties pushing forward. As the eastern sky paled on 3 ...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/1/y/battle-of-wenden-1626-wp/ud1y-battle-of-wenden-1626-sentries-in-the-half-light.mp3 0:06 3 full Battle of Wenden (1626): Horn's Hour https://qualla.com/battle-of-wenden-1626/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Horn understood that as long as the Lithuanian cavalry blocked the open ground beyond the village, his own cavalry — still stranded in the woods — could not get into the fight. So he led musketeers forward himself, pushing the Lithuanian horsemen off their commanding ground. With...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/1/y/battle-of-wenden-1626-wp/ud1y-battle-of-wenden-1626-horns-hour.mp3 0:06 4 full Battle of Wenden (1626): Winter Without Coats https://qualla.com/battle-of-wenden-1626/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Horn stayed at Drobbusch for two days, gathering supplies, then moved south to push Gosiewski out of Livonia and into Courland. Here the bitter Latvian winter became the more dangerous enemy. After Gosiewski crossed the Düna (Daugava) at Yxkull, De la Gardie and Horn had to call ...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/1/y/battle-of-wenden-1626-wp/ud1y-battle-of-wenden-1626-winter-without-coats.mp3 0:06 5 full Battle of Wenden (1626): Wenden Now https://qualla.com/battle-of-wenden-1626/ Photo credit Unknown author, Public domain. Wenden — modern Cēsis in northern Latvia — has a remarkable medieval castle, built by the Livonian Order beginning in the early thirteenth century and still standing in evocative ruin today, with intact towers and partially restored interiors. The town below it is one of the pret...

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]]> Fri, 24 Apr 2026 00:00:00 GMT https://qualla.com/_m/u/d/1/y/battle-of-wenden-1626-wp/ud1y-battle-of-wenden-1626-wenden-now.mp3 0:06 6 full