Battle of Trzciana The Battle of Trzciana ( also known as Battle of Honigfelde or Battle on the Stuhmer Heide ) took place in late June 1629 ( usually said to be 27th in the New Style calendar ) and was one of the battles of the Polish - Swedish War ( 1626 – 1629 ) . The Polish forces were led by Crown Field Hetman Stanisław Koniecpolski and imperial troops under Hans Georg von Arnim - Boitzenburg , sent by emperor Ferdinand II to aid Sigismund III , met with troops commanded by Swedish King Gustav II Adolf , who supported the Protestant Lutherans of Germany and northern Europe . Fighting in Prussia continued after the battle into July and August and ended with stalemate and finally a truce accepted by Sigismund III . History . Swedish and Polish - Lithuanian king Sigismund III sought to hold on to the crown of Sweden , but was rejected by the Swedish people , and Sigismund ' s uncle Karl became king of Sweden instead . Sigismund wanted to regain the Swedish crown and he also wanted to gain the crown of Russia . Russia requested help from Karl of Sweden . The Holy Roman Empire under the Habsburgs attempted to regain European countries for Catholicism and to gain control of northern German Baltic Sea trading cities , namely the Hansa , and to reverse the North having become Lutheran and thereby Sweden gaining supremacy over the Baltic Sea . The Trade routes for some time had been controlled by a powerful Denmark , which controlled and collected at the Sound in its territory . Sigismund III of Poland - Lithuania sought to wrest the Baltic Sea with its lucrative trade routes for himself and he repeatedly requested Swedish king Gustav Adolph to denounce his title of Swedish king as a prerequesit for a truce and peace negotiations . The Swedes saw through these delaying tactics by Sigismund III and so the battles and skirmished went on for years . Eve of the Meeting at Honigfelde . In early 1629 the Polish king Sigismund III Vasa received military support from the emperor Ferdinand II . The reinforcements , 5000 infantry and reiters , led by Hans Georg von Arnim , arrived in Prussia in late spring 1629 , and set up camp near Grudziądz ( " Graudenz " ) . After wintering in Sweden , Gustav Adolf arrived in Prussia in May . Several skirmishes ( " Scharmuetzel " ) , broke out , one on June 27 , 1629 at Honigfelde ( Honigfeldt on older maps ) south of Sztum , where Gustav Adolph led his army of total of 4 , 000 cavalry and 5 , 000 infantry from Marienburg ( Malbork ) against the Imperial and Polish forces . Battle . Swedish objective to confront one side before unification failed , and Gustav felt forced to withdraw against Marienburg ( Malbork ) to not interfere with their superior numbers . However , while discovering of his withdrawal , Polish hetman , Koniecpolski and von Arnim started persecute the Swedes with a force of 1 , 300 hussars , 1 , 200 light cavalry and 2 , 000 reiters who managed to caught up at the village of Honigfelde ( Polish Trzciana , modern Trzciano ) on the Sztum Heath ( " Stuhmer Heide " ) . On learning of the proximity of the Poles , Gustav II Adolf ordered the troops of Rhinecount ( Rheingraf ) Otto Ludwig to continue the march as it is learned that the Polish and Imperial forces are in the vicinity . Otto Ludwig did not follow orders and instead maintained a position at Honigfelde with 1 , 950 cavalry , 60 infantry and 10 3x pounder leather guns . Meanwhile Koniecpolski ordered his Polish cossack horse to advance through the woods northwest of Sadowe and his hussars to make a flanking manoeuvre behind the hills south - east of Honigfelde . Von Arnim ' s slower and heavier horse regiments reached the battlefield last and formed into battle order to attack the Swedes frontally . The Swedish leather cannons began to fire on the approaching cossacks as they came out of the woods and the Rheincount ordered his arquebusier s to attack them . Both the cossacks and arquebusiers were mobile cavalry with good firepower but the Germans arquebusiers gained the upper hand and began pushing the outnumbered cossacks back towards the forest . At this moment the Polish hussars arrived from their flanking manoeuvre , a few companies were sent to deal with the Swedish artillery and the 60 musketeers supporting them but the majority advanced to charge the engaged arquebusiers . The arquebusiers quickly collapsed as the hussars charged their flank and rear and fled in great disorder towards the north towards the rest of their army . Gustav Adolf arrived to aid the Rheincount and they regrouped by charging with Zacharias Pauli ' s squadron and Reinhold Anrep ' s Finnish squadron of 700 cavalry , but most of these were demoralised by the flight of the rearguard and joined within it . Gustav Adolf was at great risk as he and the remaining cavalry were pursued by Polish cossacks . He was almost captured by a [ cossack ] but escaped when one of his officers , Erik Soop , shot the attacker and saved Gustavus to rejoin together with the rest of the cavalry . The situation was critical as the Swedes reached the village of Straszewo , but Field Marshal Wrangel momentarily stabilised the situation by charging the pursuing Poles with his entire force of 2 , 150 cavalry . This gave Gustav Adolf the time to reassemble 1 , 000 men of his fleeing squadrons and rejoin battle . Von Arnim ' s cuirassiers and Koniecpolski ' s hussars once again charged and the Swedes were thrown back once again , but this time in better order . The Swedes then began a withdrawal to Pułkowice ( " Pulkowitz " ) , where the Swedish guard cuirassiers and Streiff ' s squadron of 750 men took up a defensive position . During their retreat , the Swedes were subjected to a fierce pursuit . As they neared Pułkowice ( Pulkowitz ) , they were relieved by a counter attack by Streiffs squadron . The battle now reached a deadlock until von Arnim once again caught up with his cuirassiers and turned the battle against the Swedes . The Swedes again withdrew , this time to Neudorf ( Nowa Wieś ) where the infantry of 1 , 260 with 8 6x – 12x pounder guns had taken up position by the river - crossing and without too much trouble were able to hold off the tired Polish - Imperial cavalry until darkness fell . The following day the Swedes were able to withdraw unmolested to Marienburg ( Malbork ) . After the Battle . The Swedish cavalry had suffered serious losses during the battle , with about 600 dead and 200 captured by the Poles , including many high - ranking officers ( Earlier accounts of the battle incorrectly speak of only 200 - 300 lost on each side ) , along with 1 , 300 of the initially 5 , 500 horses , being unable to serve the cavalry due to losses and wounds . The Swedish infantry , however , remained mostly intact , and overall the balance of forces in the war remained largely unchanged . A further attack by the Polish side under Koniecpolski on July 15 was repelled as was one on August 9 on the Elbinger Werder ( Żuławy Elbląskie ) by a demoralized Polish group looking for food . Soon after , foreign diplomats arrived at Warsaw and the Truce of Altmark was signed which ended the hostilities of the Polish – Swedish war .