Siege of Danzig ( 1734 ) The Siege of Danzig of 1734 was the Russian encirclement ( February 22 – June 30 ) and capture of the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth city of Danzig ( present - day Gdańsk ) during the War of Polish Succession . It was the first time that troops of France and Russia had met as foes in the field . Background . Augustus II of Saxony , who had also ruled as King of Poland for most of the years since 1697 , died on February 1 , 1733 , sparking a struggle over his successor to the Polish throne . Stanisław Leszczyński , who had briefly ruled as king during the Great Northern War ( his reign was from 1705 to 1709 ) , was elected king by an election sejm held on September 10 , 1733 , with broad support from the Polish nobility and population , as well as support from France ( where his daughter was married to Louis XV ) , and Sweden ( where Charles XII had supported him during his earlier reign ) . Russia , the Habsburgs , and Saxony , desiring a monarch over whom they would have more influence , opposed his election . Russia sent troops into Poland in August 1733 , at first in an attempt to influence the election , but then forcing Stanisław , who had only 2 , 000 troops in Warsaw , to retreat to Danzig , where he entrenched with his partisans ( including the Primate of Poland Teodor Potocki and the French and Swedish ministers ) to await support that had been promised by France . On September 30 a Russian army of 20 , 000 under Peter Lacy arrived in Warsaw , and on October 6 a second sejm ( composed of a smaller number of electors who had dissented from the previous election ) proclaimed Augustus III king . Prelude . France , which had agreed to financially and militarily support Stanisław in his bid for the throne , was reluctant to send a fleet into the Baltic Sea since it was trying to avoid confrontations with Britain and the Dutch that might draw those neutral powers into the conflict . French funds made their way to Danzig in 1733 and were used by General von Bittinghofen , Danzig ' s military commander , to improve the city ' s defenses in anticipation of military action from Russia , Saxony , and Austria . In addition to 4 , 500 regular troops stationed in the city , a large number of Stanisław ' s supporters joined locally - raised militia to bolster the city ' s defenses . General Lacy , required to leave large garrisons to deal with Stanisław ' s partisan supporters , marched 12 , 000 men to Danzig , which he began to besiege on February 22 , 1734 . Due to the lack of proper siege equipment and the winter season , little siege activity took place at first , and the Russians had to deal with constant skirmishing from partisans both inside and outside their siege lines . First French fleet . Cardinal de Fleury , Louis XV ' s chancellor , ordered a small fleet to the Baltic in support of Stanisław . Departing Brest on August 31 , 1733 , a fleet of fourteen ships ( nine transports carrying 1 , 500 troops , and an escort of five frigate s ) arrived at Copenhagen on September 20 . The fleet was recalled before it became clear that Stanisław would need some sort of assistance , over the objections of France ' s ambassador to Denmark , Louis Robert Hyppolite de Bréhan , Count Plélo . Siege . On March 17 Marshal Münnich arrived with reinforcements - 15 , 000 soldiers ( raising the total size of the besieging army to 60 , 000 , according to some sources [ what sources ? ] ) and took over command of the siege . The Russians made some advances , but were limited in their advances by inadequate artillery . Adam Tarło , a Stanisław supporter , led 8 , 000 men in an attempt to relieve the blockade ; these were surprised by a detachment sent from the siege lines under Lacy near the town of Berent ( present - day Kościerzyna ) and repulsed . With the arrival of heavy artillery and 10 , 000 Saxons in May , the Russians captured Fort Sommerschanz at the mouth of the Vistula River , but were bloodily beaten back in an attempt to storm the Hagelburg . Second French fleet . When it was learned in Paris that Stanisław was blockaded in Danzig in February 1734 , a second relief fleet was organized . While Plélo requested fifteen to twenty thousand troops , at first only two ships ( " Achille " and " Gloire " ) under Commodore Barailh were sent with 1 , 800 men under Pérouse La Motte . These troops were landed at Weichselmünde on May 11 . Four days later , Pérouse La Motte abandoned the position , declaring it untenable , and returned to Copenhagen . There Count Plélo insisted that action be taken , and , reinforced by the arrival of three more ships ( " Fleuron " , " Brillant " , and " l ' Astrée " ) , the fleet returned to Danzig , landing the troops on May 24 . On May 27 , in the first recorded meeting of French and Russian troops , this force attempted to storm the Russian entrenchments , but failing to do so ( the attempt costing Plélo his life ) , retreated to Weichselmünde . A Russian fleet under admiral Thomas Gordon arrived on June 1 , delivering additional siege weaponry ; the fleet ' s guns so battered the French position that they surrendered , with Weichselmünde ( and thereby control of Danzig ' s port ) following two days later . Barailh returned to Copenhagen , but not before two of his fleet captured the Russian frigate " Mittau " ; this ship was eventually exchanged for the captured French troops . Surrender . Danzig capitulated unconditionally on June 30 , after sustaining a siege of 135 days , which cost the Russians 8 , 000 men . Danzig had suffered considerable damage and was also required to pay reparations to the victors . Disguised as a peasant , Stanisław had contrived to escape two days before the city ' s surrender . He reappeared at Königsberg , whence he issued a manifesto to his partisans which resulted in the formation of a confederatio n on his behalf , and the dispatch of a Polish envoy to Paris to urge France to invade Saxony with at least 40 , 000 men . In the Ukraine , Count Nicholas Potocki hoped to support Stanisław by joining up with a force of some 50 , 000 guerillas operating in the countryside around Danzig . However they were ultimately scattered by the Russians , and France refused to send any additional support . Stanisław formally renounced his claim on January 26 , 1736 . Following the surrender , some of the Russian forces were sent further west to assist Austria in the defense of the empire against French military action in the Rhine River valley . Russian forces reached the Rhine for the first time , and helped to blunt further French military action in that theater .