Siege of Wesenberg ( 1574 ) The Siege of Wesenberg ( Rakvere , Rakovor ) was an abortive Swedish siege of the Russian - held town of Wesenberg in Estonia from January through March 1574 , during the Livonian War . The siege is infamous for a brawl and subsequent combat between German and Scottish mercenaries within the besieging army , which claimed the lives of about 1 , 500 Scots . Wesenberg was seized in a renewed Swedish assault in 1581 . Background . While the Treaty of Stettin had formally ended the Northern Seven Years ' War in the Baltic , the Livonian War dragged on for control of the Eastern Baltic coast , formerly controlled by the Teutonic Order State . The town of Wesenberg , Rakvere in Estonian and Раковоp in Russian , was a Russian - held stronghold situated near the southern coast of the Gulf of Finland , about half - way between Reval ( Tallinn ) , which had submitted itself to Sweden in 1561 , and Narva , captured by Ivan IV of Russia in 1558 . Prelude . John III , king of Sweden since 1568 , faced a Russian offensive on the Swedish positions in Estonia during the early 1570s . Reval withstood a Russian siege in 1570 and 1571 , but several smaller towns were taken by Russian forces . The Russian advance was concluded by the sack of Weissenstein ( Paide ) in 1573 . After the capture , the Russian forces roasted alive some of the leaders of Weissenstein ' s Swedish garrison , including its commander , triggering John III to mount a retaliatory campaign with Wesenberg being the main objective . The campaign started in Reval , where Sweden had concentrated her troops , including between 4 , 000 and 5 , 000 Scots . Already in 1572 , John III had requested that Archibald Ruthven recruit Scottish co - patriots to reinforce his Livonian army . Ruthven had raised 3 , 000 infantry and 760 cavalry , who arrived in Swedish Älvsborg in June and July 1573 . They were split up into small units and marched to Sweden ' s eastern coast . Overdue pay caused some mercenaries to delay their march , pillage the countryside , and revolt against Ruthven . Upon their arrival in Stockholm and ports in Östergötland , they were joined by another 300 Scottish cavalry and shipped to Reval , where they arrived in September and joined with Swedish and Finnish regulars as well as German mercenaries , primarily consisting of cavalry and artillery . In November , the army left for Wesenberg , under the overall command of Klas Åkesson Tott ( the Elder ) and field command of Pontus de la Gardie . The march was again delayed by the Scottish troops , who demanded to be paid a month in advance , causing de la Gardie to sell part of his jewelry to satisfy their claims . Siege . In January 1574 , Wesenberg was stormed twice , but without success . In the third assault of 2 March 1574 , the Swedish forces lost at least 1 , 000 men . Subsequent Swedish attempts to dig tunnels and set the town on fire likewise failed . De la Gardie withdrew part of the besieging army for expeditions to nearby Tolsberg ( Toolse ) and Dorpat ( Tartu ) , both of which were unsuccessful . Thus , the besieging forces were demoralized . In addition , supplies ran out and tensions grew after the German faction blamed the failures on a lack of Scottish support . On 17 March 1574 , a brawl between German and Scottish mercenaries occurred , triggered by insults and / or unpaid ale in the canteen . First , a German officer tried to intervene , but when he was unsuccessful and the brawl turned into an open fight , de la Gardie , Tott and Ruthven arrived to the scene in person . They were however likewise attacked and fled , with Ruthven suffering severe injuries . When the commanders had fled the scene , Scottish mercenaries overwhelmed the German artillery , seized the guns and took aim at the German cavalry . The German cavalry charged , hit by Scottish artillery fire on their way , and cut down the Scots . The result was 30 dead Germans and 1 , 500 dead Scots . The German and Swedish infantry stood by without taking action , neither did the Scottish cavalry intervene . Several Scottish officers were among the dead , including David Murray , Jacob Murray and George Michell . About 70 Scots escaped to the Russian forces in Wesenberg , the last historical record of them is that they were subsequently brought to Moscow . The siege was aborted and the army withdrawn to Reval by the end of March . Aftermath . As a consequence , John III of Sweden removed Tott from overall command in Livonia and replaced him with de la Gardie . Furthermore , the king would not again start an expedition relying heavily on mercenaries , and was hindered by starting any offense at all by the investigation of the Wesenberg incident and a few subsequent trials in Reval throughout 1574 . Ivan IV seized the initiative until the Battle of Wenden ( 1578 ) turned the war ' s tide . In 1580 , Sweden took Kexholmslän , and in the winter of 1580 / 81 , Pontus de la Gardie led a Swedish army over the frozen Gulf of Finland , captured Wesenberg , turned to Narva which was taken on 6 September with the whole population slaughtered by the assailants , and until the end of 1581 sacked the last Russian strongholds in Estonia .