An original 17th century engraving depicting the second day of the Battle of Warsaw in 1656. Part of a set of three engravings.
This is a bird's eye view of the Battle of Warsaw (with that city in the distance upper left) on July 19, 1656, between the armies of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and of Sweden and Brandenburg. It was a major battle in the war between Poland and Sweden in the period 1655 - 1660, also known as The Deluge (part of the Northern Wars).
The key to the locations of the forces is listed n the cartouche and at the bottom of the map.In the battle, a smaller Swedish-Brandenburg force gained victory over a Polish-Lithuanian force superior in numbers, though in the long term the victory achieved little. Polish-Lithuanian losses were insignificant, and even though Swedish forces were able to reoccupy Warsaw, they were forced to abandon it soon afterward. Engraved by Dutchman Willem Swidde (1660 c. - 1714) who worked in Amsterdam and Stockholm.
The Original drawings were by Erik Dahlberg, the Quater-Master of the Swedish Army, who was an eye witness. Count Erik Jönsson Dahlbergh was a Swedish military engineer, governor-general, field marshal and master-general of the ordinance. He rose to the level of nobility through his military competence.
The engraving was published in 1696 in Samuel von Pufendor's work on the Swedish Wars, and was engraved by Willem Swidde.
Willem Swidde was a Dutch draughtsman and engraver, active in Sweden. His life is not well documented. We do know that he was recruited by Erik Dahlbergh to come to Sweden to work with illustrating topographical and historical books around 1688, but very little else is known about him.
