In 1711, the Great Northern War spread to Germany as anti-Swedish forces invaded Swedish Pomerania, capturing the islands of Wolin and Usedom, and Stettin (Szczecin) in 1713.

To effectively ship equipment to the blockading army, and capture Rügen to cut Stralsund off from Sweden proper, an invasion of Usedom was deemed necessary.

The allies stormed the sconce on 22 August; after a valiant defense, the entire garrison was cut down or captured, having inflicted heavy losses upon their enemies.

On 15 November, with the Swedes occupied in the front, they landed on Rügen; Charles XII counterattacked but was repulsed, resulting in the loss of the island and the inevitable fall of Stralsund.

His numerically superior army forced the Swedish commander Carl Gustaf Dücker to retreat, leaving Wolin, Usedom and nearby territories open for occupation.

[1] On 6 October 1713, the besieged Swedish city of Stettin (Szczecin) likewise fell when the commander Johan August Meijerfeldt signed a sequestration treaty with the enemies.

This resulted in neutral Holstein-Gottorpian and Prussian guardianship over the town until a peace was signed, or when Sweden could pay a sum of 400,000 riksdaler to cover the siege cost.

[12][13] As further diplomacy stalled,[14] and war against Prussia seemed inevitable, Charles XII decided on a preemptive strike against Usedom before the Prussians consolidated their position.

[18][19] Charles XII planned for 300–400 men to land on the eastern side of Peenemünde and dislodge any Prussians along the main road over Pudagla to the town of Usedom, and deny reinforcements from that direction.

[20] Accordingly, a Swedish fleet, consisting of 500 men onboard three frigates and seven or eight smaller ships under vice admiral Mikael Henck, sailed to Peenemünde where the small force landed on the Easter of 21 April.

The Swedish conquest of the island was concluded on the 27th when Rohr surrendered Peenemünde Sconce[c] due to inadequate provisions,[24] as anticipated by Charles XII.

[20] The Prussians made no attempts to send reinforcements to Usedom during the action; 500 infantry and some cavalry came marching from Stettin after receiving reports from major general Schwendi, but they limited themselves to securing Wolin.

[34] Eight small Swedish Privateers began harassing the Prussians,[35] preventing them from transporting artillery by water to Stralsund, via Anklam and the Greifswald harbor.

[33] The Prussian king assembled his army at Stettin,[37] with a defensive line behind the Peene river,[38] and awaited the results of the negotiations with his allies before going on the offensive against Stralsund.

[39] Charles XII arrived at Loitz the following day and sent lieutenant colonel Johan Segersten (later Stenflycht) to retaliate; on 18 June,[f] with 200 cavalry and 200 infantry, he drove the Prussians away from their redoubt.

To take Stralsund, it was necessary to cut the city off by capturing the Rügen island, which required naval supremacy over the Greifswalder Bodden bay; with the approach of the winter freeze, time was of the essence.

[58] After some fighting – which got Sehested's fleet trapped in southeastern Greifswalder Bodden – this was deemed impossible whilst Sweden controlled both Usedom and Ruden.

[67] When Charles XII arrived to discover Grothusen's vulnerable position, he ordered him to withdraw; this was also done to avoid being cut off in the rear in case of an allied attack over Wolgast.

One of his companions, Gustaf Fredrik von Rosen, then gave his horse to Charles XII which allowed him to reform with the infantry[j] in the rearguard; the Prussians retired after two accurate volleys.

[l][66][76][79] The Prussian cavalry, whose original objective was to cut off the Swedish force, was now too exhausted to pursue Charles XII,[80][81] who reached safety within Peenemünde Sconce in the evening.

[89] The Battle of Rügen was fought the same day between the Danish and Swedish navies, of which outcome freed up Sehested's fleet which shifted focus to Stettiner Haff.

[101] On 4 August, as von Arnim arrived with the main force, a formal siege was deemed necessary; but the advanced season and necessity of securing Peenestrom, of which mouth the sconce protected, restricted time.

The attack stalled once again; but when the reserve arrived,[q] the allies crossed the inner-moat and climbed the ramparts, engaging the Swedes in fierce hand-to-hand combat.

[120] Due to miscalculations and heavy storms, the Rügen-operation was not undertaken until 15 November,[s] when 17,219–20,000 allies in 438–640 transporting vessels began landing at Gross Stresow.

The allied conquest of Rügen was cemented by the Swedish surrender of Altefähr Sconce two days later; Charles XII with his garrison were thus cut off from Sweden proper, and the fall of Stralsund became inevitable.

[130][131] What followed – and preceded the allied landing since 5 November – were several assaults on Stralsund's outer works and Swedish sorties; often under Charles XII's personal command.

The loss of Stralsund, and later Wismar on 18 April 1716, deprived Sweden of its last German possessions; both cities were returned by the peace treaties of Stockholm and Frederiksborg in 1720, while Usedom, Wolin and Stettin were ceded to Prussia.