Charles XII's campaign to Russia was the culmination of the Northern War. After waiting for the rivers and swamps to freeze, the 45,000-strong Swedish army led by the invincible king at the beginning of 1708 moved through the territory of Belarus to Moscow. A third of the Swedish armed forces participated in this operation (and in fact, half with the Livonian and Finnish corps of Levengaupt and Lübecker).
In this situation, Peter I had only to defend himself. According to the plan drawn up by the tsar, the Russian army in Belarus had to evade decisive battles. She was ordered to withdraw and wear down the Swedes in defensive battles, thereby creating conditions for the subsequent transition to a counteroffensive. Russian regiments retreated, destroying roads and bridges, destroying all supplies. Remaining an elusive shadow, Russian troops intercepted enemy soldiers and officers who were lagging behind, destroyed foraging squads, and attacked detached enemy units.
The Swedes were not ready for this turn of events. Their king, in an effort to increase the mobility of his troops, usually did not care about arranging the rear and preferred to supply the army from local resources. Under the Russian "strategy of exhaustion", this flaw in Charles XII's tactics made itself felt in full measure. The famous historian Sergei Soloviev wrote about all this as follows: “The campaign was difficult for a hungry army across a devastated country; the soldiers themselves had to remove ears of corn from the field and grind them between stones, and then there were continuous rains and there was nowhere to dry out. and bad food - disease; the soldiers said they had three doctors: Dr. Vodka, Dr. Garlic, and Dr. Death. "
Once in the two-hundred-kilometer zone of the "man-made desert", Charles XII suspended the offensive and ordered the general's Liflyad corps (16 thousand men) to urgently go to Belarus to join up with the main army to replenish food and ammunition supplies. Leventhaupt collected a huge baggage train of more than 7 thousand carts and moved to the aid of his king. The number of carts in the train - 7,000 - is a very controversial figure. The fact is that the convoy consisted of regimental convoys, carts of supplyants (that is, individuals) and vans with supplies for the royal army, collected in Courland. So the latter were 1,300 pieces (by order of the king, each company of the Courland army, and there were 128 of them, had to prepare and bring with them 10 wagons with supplies. Regimental convoys could consist of 1,700 carts, including personal officers. Thus, the convoy could consist of out of 3000 combat carts.No number of carts of marketers is known, but it may have been significant Levengaupt delayed much and set out on short marches only at the end of May, barely covering 230 kilometers in a month.
Meanwhile, on July 7, Karl went to the Dnieper and occupied the city of Mogilev without a fight. Let us remind once again that so far all actions still took place on the territory of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Swedish army set out from Mogilev on August 5, without waiting for Levengaupt, the delay lasted for a very long time, it was time to resume hostilities. However, the Swedish troops did not move against the main forces of the Russians, who were standing in fortified positions near Gorki, but turned southeast and rested on the Sozh River (a tributary of the Dnieper). The Swedes were forced to keep close to the Dnieper in order to somehow overshadow the small corps of Levengaupt. They tried to lure the Russians out of their positions and impose an open battle on them.
At Cherikov, not far from the Sozh River, the Swedes stood for a couple of days, fighting with the Russians on the other side of the river. Karl, a great shooting enthusiast, walked along the beach in excitement and took a musket from one soldier then another. He shot several Russians with his own hands.
Only a few minor skirmishes took place, for example, at Dobry on August 31 and at Raevka on September 10, but in general, they did not lead to any result, except for small losses. The hunt for the retreating Russian troops continued in the northeast direction towards Smolensk. On September 11, the Swedish army stopped at Starish, a border town that stretches on both sides of the main road to Moscow. Only 14 versts remained from here to Smolensk.
For four days Karl remained undecided. By order of Peter, the Russians ruined their own country as well as Poland. In order not to be unfounded, we will quote from Peter's decree: "If the enemy goes to the Ukraine, then go in front of him and everywhere provisions and fodder, also bread standing on the field and in the threshing floors or in granaries in the villages (except only cities) .. burn Polish and your own, not sparing, and buildings in front of it and on the sides, also spoil bridges, cut down forests and keep them on large crossings whenever possible. " A severe punishment awaited the violators: "to say everywhere, if someone is lucky to have anything to the enemy, although for money, he will be hanged, so is the one who knows, and will not say."
In another decree, the tsar ordered not the bread brought to Smolensk to be “hidden in pits”, but “mills, millstones, and tackle to take everything out and bury it in the ground, or flood it somewhere in deep water, or break it up” so that “the enemy would not get the thunder of bread". Lieutenant-General Bour received an analogous order from Peter: "to tire the main army with burning and ruin".
On reflection, Karl gave the order to march on the Ukraine. On September 15, the army turned south and moved towards the city of Starodub.
On the eve (September 14), Peter called a council of war, at which it was decided to divide the army. Most of the army, led by Field Marshal Sheremetev, was ordered to follow Karl to the Ukraine, and the 10,000th corps (corvolant) with 30 regimental cannons to move towards Levengaupt. Menshikov was assigned to command the corvolant, but in fact, Peter himself commanded him.
Meanwhile, Levengaupt's corps was moving in the direction of Shklov - Propoisk. That Karl changed the plan of action, Levengaupt did not know anything and continued to move towards the crossing of the Dnieper near Shklov. On September 21, a 16,000-strong Swedish corps with 16 guns and a huge wagon train crossed the Dnieper and continued to move towards Propoisk. He was pursued with a 12-thousandth cavalry corps (corvolant), consisting of 10 dragoon and 3 infantry regiments, mounted on horses. At the same time, the general's 4,000th cavalry detachment moved from Krichev to cut Levengauptu. 12 versts from Propoisk, near the village of Lesnaya, the Russian corvolant overtook Levengaupt.
For starters, Leeuwenhaupt did not want to fight on the field near Lesnaya, he leaned towards the field near Propoisku, where he could use the entire Courland army. His Quartermaster General Brask convinced him to give a rearguard battle. The position was far from perfect. Wagenburg, as such, was not built, on the outskirts of the village regimental carts stood in groups, depending on the place where the regiments spent the night. The bridge across Lesnyanka was not protected and was only covered by part of the artillery. The Swedes, like the Russians, did not know the exact number of the enemy, although they suspected that the forces were significant, since the tsar himself was leading them (they learned this from the prisoners).
In the morning, on the day of the battle, the Swedes sent part of the convoys to Propoisk (including 1300 with royal supplies) and, when sending the transport, carefully monitored the strictly allowed number of officer carts, which were allowed to leave the officers: colonels - 4, lieutenant colonels and majors - 3 each, captains and captains - 2 each, lieutenants and warrant officers - 1. The rest were to be destroyed on the spot.
To Propoisk, 2824 people were dispatched to escort the transport of 1,300 carts with supplies for the king. combat units (3 infantry battalions, 1 cavalry regiment, 1 dragoon regiment and 2 dragoon squadrons), in addition, the drivers on these vans were soldiers (1300 more people), and 100 people from each regiment were guarded (another 1600 people)
Thus, up to half of the Courland army at the beginning of the battle was at Propoisk.
The position chosen by Levengaupt for the battle was a clearing surrounded by forest. Here the Swedish troops were located, setting up a fortified camp behind them, covering the road to Propoisk. North of this clearing was another clearing, which Levengaupt decided to occupy with six infantry battalions. This forward position was convenient because it was covered by the Lesnyanka River from the left flank, and a dense forest on the right, which made it difficult for Russian troops to leave it.
Having crossed the river Resta, Russian troops approached the Swedes. Peter divided the corvolant into two columns. At the head of the left column (one infantry and seven dragoon regiments) was Menshikov, the right column (two infantry, three dragoon regiments and one battalion) was commanded by Peter himself. Each column numbered 5-6 thousand people. For speed of movement, the infantry that was part of the columns (Ingermanland, Preobrazhensky, Semenovsky and Astrakhan regiments) was also mounted on horses.
The battle began at 8 am on September 27 (October 9). Russian artillery opened fire from a forest near the village and forced the Swedish regiments to retreat. However, when the right-flank column, the vanguard of the Nevsky Dragoon and Ingermanland infantry regiments, began to line up at the edge of the forest for an attack, the Swedes counterattacked and captured four guns.
... By 11 o'clock Levengaupt was able to push Peter's right flank to the forest. "If it were not for the forests," the tsar wrote later, "then they would have won, there were 6 thousand more of them than us." Hiding in the thickets, the Russian infantry broke away from the Swedes and freely retreated to a safe place, where they formed up again and put themselves in order. By this time, Menshikov's left column, which had not arrived in time for its beginning, had pulled up to the place of the battle.
The afternoon was followed by a powerful new attack by 12 dragoon regiments and 12 Russian infantry battalions. During the battle, 1377 returned to the field. Swedes (1 battalion of infantry, 1 cavalry regiment and 1 drag. squadron from the Swedish avant-garde, at first sent to Propoisk. But the Russians began to press the Swedes and by 3 o'clock in the afternoon pushed them to the carts. Behind Levengaupt was a village and a river. It seemed , more pressure - and the Swedish defense would collapse. But at this climax the unexpected happened. The intensity of the battle was so high that the opponents, without saying a word, suddenly fell to the ground from fatigue and rested for a couple of hours right on the battlefield ...
The unexpected respite proved to be beneficial to both sides. By 5 o'clock in the afternoon, Bour's detachment arrived in time for the Russians, and the Swedes received a second reinforcement - 2 infantry battalions, 1 dragoon regiment and 1 drag. squadron - 1429 people in total
With the approach of Bour's cavalry, Peter immediately resumed the battle. The tsar put the reinforcements that had arrived on his right flank in order to break through to the river with a powerful blow from here, seize the bridge across Lesnyanka and cut off the path to retreat for the Swedes.
In a "great fierce battle", which after the first volleys turned into a merciless hand-to-hand combat, the Russians managed to capture the bridge over Lesnyanka. The way to Propoisk was closed for Levengaupt. But then the 3-thousandth Swedish detachment, who had returned to their own, intervened. He immediately entered the fray and managed to recapture the crossing.
After this success, the Swedes took refuge behind the carts. Dusk fell. It started raining with wind and snow. The attacking Russians ran out of ammunition. By 7 pm, darkness deepened, snowfall intensified and the battle died down. But the gun duel lasted until 10 pm. The Russians spent the night in positions preparing for a new attack. Peter I was right there with his troops, despite the bad weather.
The Swedes defended the village and the crossing, but the position of their corps was extremely difficult. Not hoping for a successful outcome of the battle, Levengaupt decided to retreat. Considering that before Lesnoy the general had not lost a single battle, one can imagine what such a step cost him.
In the morning, Peter was going to renew the attack, but Levengaupt secretly took the army to Propoisk, putting the infantry on wagon horses. At the site of the camp, before leaving, he kindled bivouac fires from the no longer needed transport wagons, so that the enemy decided that the Swedish army had spent the night in Lesnaya. The pursuit began only in the morning. The Russian dragoons of General Pflug arrived at Propoisk on September 29, where they captured the remnants of the Swedish convoy. Levengaupt, unable to take away the artillery, drowned the cannons in a swamp, and the gunpowder and charges in the Sozh River. With the remnants of the demoralized troops, Levengaupt fled down the Sozh River.
On October 12, the remnants of Lewenhaupt's corps, numbering about 6,500, joined up with Charles's army. The king was extremely upset, but he not only did not punish Levengaupt, but, on the contrary, sent a bulletin to Stockholm, where on six pages it was told how the Swedes bravely repelled the attack of 40 thousand Muscovites all day and how the barbarians retreated by evening. Not a word was said about the loss of the convoy.
The figures show that the Russians had the numerical superiority during the entire battle at Lesnaya: 17,917 men (5149 infantry, 7792 dragoons for Peter I and 4076 dragoons for General Bour) and 30 guns against 12,900 Swedes (8000 infantry, 2000 cavalry and 2900 dragoons) with 16 guns.
The figure of 16,000, wandering in the historical literature, meant the staffing of the Courland army of the general. Levengaupt. 2957 people (1 drag. Squadron and 6 batt. Infantry) were left in Riga. Moreover, Levengaupt himself in his memoirs gives an even smaller number of troops who participated in the battle - 10.914 people.
According to Russian sources, the losses of the Swedes in the killed alone amounted to 8000 people - "8000 were laid in a corpse" (Journal of Peter the Great). In fact, out of 12.900 people, the Swedes left 3541 infantrymen, 1303 cavalrymen and 1749 dragoons in the ranks after the battle, for a total of 6503 people. Losses amounted to 6397 people. More than 1000 people returned to Riga, of which 2 garrison regiments were later formed. 2673 (including the abandoned wounded) Swedes were taken prisoners, including 45 officers. So the combat irrecoverable losses amounted to 2,724 people, this includes the losses of the Swedes when pursuing them by the Cossacks and Kalmyks (including killed drunken soldiers who fell asleep after the battle) and the missing.
In this battle, the Russians lost 1,111 people killed and 2,856 wounded. So in the battle itself, the losses of the Swedes were not much greater than the Russians.
After the Forest Army, Charles XII lost significant material resources and was cut off from its bases in the Baltic. Success at Lesnaya raised the morale of the Russian troops. Peter I called her "the mother of the Poltava battle", and ordered the participants of the battle to be awarded a specially knocked out medal with the inscription "Worthy - worthy. After the Forest Tsar forgave Prince Repnin and returned him the rank of general.
310 years ago, on October 9, 1708, a battle took place, which was included in all textbooks, accompanied by a fairly accurate formulation from the winner. Peter the Great, having personally won a major battle against the Swedish corps for the first time Adam Ludwig Lowenhaupt, named it like this: "Mother of Poltava Victoria".
The definition is precise, beautiful and biting. But not quite enough. Peter I thought in terms of his time and certainly could not imagine that the tandem "Lesnaya plus Poltava" would become a happy exception in a rather mournful series of historical events.
We often hear that Russia imagines too much of itself. Say, who needs you in your bearish corner? You might think that civilized countries do nothing but sleep and see how to conquer and enslave you.
In fact, such attempts have been made with alarming regularity over the past four hundred years. Every century, the elite armies of Europe have carried out the largest invasions of Russia. And each time their main goal was to erase the Russian state from reality and history.
Moreover, once, in 1612, they, in general, succeeded. For some time Russia really fell under the rule of the Polish crown. Twice - in that same 1612, and then in 1812 - Moscow was taken and practically destroyed by the enemies. Once again, the invasion was stopped by an incredible effort of forces almost a few miles from the capital: it happened in 1941. And only once the invasion was stopped and stopped at distant approaches. This is exactly Poltava in 1709.Only such a formulation of the question can reveal the real meaning and real value of "Mother of Poltava Victoria": the Battle of Lesnaya. It became the first impressive victory of the Russian army renewed by Peter.
From a purely formal point of view, Peter's blow to Levengaupt's corps was predetermined in advance. This was the only way that at least a somewhat sane commander should have done. The fact is that the invasion of Russia by the king of Sweden Charles XII conceived something serious. The main target was, of course, Moscow. Karl, this connoisseur of ancient military history, had an idea of \u200b\u200bwhat a "Scythian war" is, when the enemy, retreating, leaves behind a desert where there is nothing to profit from. And, of course, he knew that the Russians would do just that. Of course, Russian expectations did not disappoint.
Therefore, the rest of the course of events was predictable. Karl takes with him a huge baggage train, since in Russia no one is going to feed him with pies. Being careful and prudent, he, just in case, gives an order to the Governor-General of Livonia, Adam Levengaupt, to prepare another train, this time - just a gigantic one: for 7 thousand trucks. And slowly, under the protection and cover of a corps of 16 thousand people with 16 guns, all this joy to pull up to the main forces of the Swedes. Who, not having achieved success in breaking through the Smolensk road, decided to enter Moscow from the south and turned to Ukraine.
In a word, Levengaupt was walking with a wagon train and knew for sure that the Russians would strike. Just because they have to do it. The Russians, represented by Peter the Great, decided not to disappoint him and organized the pursuit of Levengaupt's corps by the forces of the corvolant: a flying detachment of 8 thousand dragoons and 5 thousand infantry mounted on a horse. Plus 30 guns.
So, Peter showed himself to be at least a sane commander. And what about Levengaupt?
reproductionWaiting for Peter's blow, he had to be tormented by two questions "where?" And How?". That is, where the Russians will attack and how they will do it. In reality, Adam Ludwig only asked himself the first question. He didn't think about "how" at all. Because he was confident in the Swedes. "The strongest army in Europe", the mighty "Carolins", named after their Emperor Charles XII, they have been rolling into a thin pancake not only "Russian barbarians", but also any enemy for many years. The key to this was tactics built on the personal qualities of the Swedish soldier. According to the charter, he had to withstand enemy fire, and then sharply break the distance. He himself was allowed to shoot only by seeing the color of the eyes and pupils of the enemy. That is, from a distance of no more than 20 steps. And even better - 10. The standard caliber of hand-held small arms was then 20 mm. A single volley of two-centimeter pieces of lead almost point-blank was guaranteed to mow down the enemy stunned by such impudence. The bayonet attack completed the job. In Europe, no one else possessed sufficient skill and composure to repeat these simple, in general, tricks.
The first clash near the village of Lesnaya showed that the Swedish commander did not seem to be very wrong. The Russians, deploying their forces, stumbled upon an ambush. Here is what General Levengaupt himself writes about this in his memoirs: "Meanwhile, our infantry successfully clashed with the enemy, captured two or three guns, and his infantry began to yield ... Tsar Peter himself with kind and strong words restrained the fleeing."
It is a pity that the general does not specify exactly what kind of “kind” and “strong” words Peter I used. Although he could have done it: Adam Ludwig wrote his memoirs in Moscow. But not as a winner, but as a prisoner of war. In general, I should have learned to express myself both "according to mother" and in a dozen different ways.
In any case, Peter's words were effective. The Russians stopped fleeing, and help came to them in the person of the Petrine guard. Now the turn has come to check how good the notorious "Carolins" are against the Transfiguration and Semyonovites, who did not waste time in vain and in the years that have passed since the "embarrassment" near Narva, not only adopted the Swedish experience, but also added something of their own.
What happened after Levengaupt could not even imagine in a nightmare: “The salvo of the Russians was like a lightning strike and shocked even the oldest Swedish officers ... The lieutenant colonel was killed, and the banners were lost, the soldiers fled. Seeing this, the enemy made a turn and fired such a volley in their backs, from which the soldiers fell like grass under a scythe, after which he pursued them while at least one person remained ... "
Monument in honor of the 200th anniversary of the victory at Lesnaya. Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org
This was only the very beginning of the battle. The Russian guards showed that they know how to control fire much better than the Carolins. In principle, it was possible to solve the matter with this alone: \u200b\u200bthe Swedes fled almost everywhere during the battle, huddled in a hastily fortified camp. It was then that Levengaupt strongly regretted that, because of his arrogance and arrogance, he did not think about either retreat or the camp: "The Swedes despised to dig in against the Muscovite army, and such arrogance became the reason for their defeat."
In fact, the main reason was not so much arrogance as banal rain and snow, which disabled the flintlock rifles. The Russians abandoned the fire training demonstration and fought with hostility. This was the same famous Russian bayonet attack that terrified the armies of Europe three hundred years later. But the Swedes were the first to try it: “The last onslaught of the Russians was carried out with the greatest ferocity ... They went into a frenzy ... From our last reserves - 2 battalions and 10 squadrons - no more than 70 people remained ... Most of us, fleeing, mounted horses, hoping to find the general but no one could tell where he was ... ”The general fled at that time, hoping to find the main forces of the Swedes and his king Charles. And I found them. But ahead was Poltava ...
One of the most important (at least for Russia) battles of the Great Northern War - the battle at Lesnaya, took place on September 28, 1708 in the Mogilev region. As a result of the confrontation, the corvolant of Peter the Great defeated the Swedish corps of General Levengaupt. According to Peter I, this victory became “the mother of the Poltava victory”. Today we will talk about the battle at Lesnaya, briefly discuss its prerequisites, course and consequences.
Background
In 1708, Charles XII ordered Infantry General A.L. Levengaupt to gather the troops of the garrisons of Courland and Livonia and unite with the king's army preparing to invade the Russian lands. On September 22, 1708, the general's detachment, consisting of 12-16 thousand people, went to Propoisk.
Meanwhile, Karl the Seventh, after a cavalry battle at Raevka, decided to abandon the campaign to Smolensk and turned to Ukraine. There were at least three objective reasons for this. First, the Swedish army was in dire need of replenishment of provisions and fodder. Secondly, there were no sufficiently strong military garrisons in Ukraine, which means that the army of Charles XII could calmly rest there and wait for Levengaupt's troops. And, thirdly, Charles XII hoped to enlist the support of the Cossacks - Hetman Mazepa promised him to bring up to 20 thousand soldiers. In addition, the king hoped to establish contact with the Crimean Khan and the Poles.
Due to the evasion to the south, Charles XII moved away from the Levengaupt corps, and Peter the Great decided not to miss the opportunity to give him a fight. In pursuit of the Swedish army of King Peter I sent key forces of the Russian army under the leadership of Field Marshal Sheremetev. Believing that Levengaupt's detachment consisted of approximately 8 thousand people, the tsar sent a 7-thousandth Corvolant Menshikov to meet him, who later headed him personally.
The false guide deceived the tsar, pointing out the wrong direction of the enemy's movement, as a result of which Peter the Great moved with his army to the Dnieper. Soon he learned that Levengaupt would melt his detachment at Shklov and go to Propoisk. All the cavalry were sent in pursuit of the Swedish general. To speed up the movement, the infantry was put on horses. On September 25, the Russian army overtook Levengaupt's troops. The next day, the Swedish general sent a wagon train ahead and repulsed the Russian attack. Then he set off across the Resta River, where he stayed until the night of 27 September. After that, the Swedish troops concentrated near the village of Lesnaya. Meanwhile, part of the convoy (3000 soldiers) was sent to Propoisk.
Only when faced with the enemy, Peter the Great realized that he had greatly underestimated his number. On September 26, at the military council, it was decided to call for help the corps of Lieutenant General Baur, consisting of 4 thousand cavalrymen, and wait for him for two days. After the expiration of the specified period, the Russian army was to attack the enemy in cash. At the same time, 700 dragoons from the Fastman brigade were sent to destroy the crossing of the Sozh River (Propoisk area). And Major General von Verden, who at that time was standing near Smolensk, was ordered to meet General Levengaupt's baggage train, but did not manage to take part in the battle.
In different sources, you can find at least two dates of this historical event. The reason is simple: some of them use the Gregorian calendar (new style), while others use the Julian calendar (old style). The date of the battle near the village of Lesnoy according to the new style (it is he who is used in this article) is September 28, 1078, and according to the old one - October 9.
Concentration of troops
On September 28, 1078, Levengaupt's detachment was preparing to cross the Lesnyanka River. Realizing that the Russian corps was stationed nearby, the Swedes took up high-altitude positions near the village: 6 battalions took the forward position, and all the rest - on the main one, with the rear to the river. According to Levengaupt's plan, the Russian attack had to be repelled before the convoy was ferried. Along with Levengaupt, Major General of the Cavalry Schlippenbach and Major General of the Infantry Stackelberg were in charge of the command.
The corvolant moved to the battlefield along the forest roads, breaking into two columns. AD Menshikov was at the head of the first of them, and Peter the Great was at the head of the second. So that the Russian regiments could get out of the forest and line up for an attack, Colonel Campbell's Nevsky Regiment, who entered the battlefield first, was forced to attack the enemy outright. As a result, his equestrian system suffered heavy losses (56% of the soldiers were killed or wounded). On the other hand, the equestrian system was the most successful option for attacking the Swedes, who were not ready to repel the attack. The Swedes should be given their due, as they managed to line up in squares and still repulse the attack.
Major General Golitsyn's guard soon moved to the aid of Campbell's regiment, thanks to which the Swedes lost their leading positions and retreated to the main line. So the Russian corvolant went out into the open field and began to build just a kilometer from the enemy.
The composition of the Russian army
In the center was the Golitsyn's Guards Brigade, which included the Semenovsky, Preobrazhensky and 2 Ingermanland battalions. The right flank consisted of the cavalry of Major General Schaumburg, the general leadership of which was entrusted to the Lieutenant General Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt. The left flank was formed by the cavalry of Lieutenant-General Flug and Major-General Behm, under the general command of Lieutenant-General of Artillery Bruce.
On the second line were 6 dragoon regiments, which were reinforced by battalions of the Ingermanland and Astrakhan regiments. The grenadiers of the guards regiments and the dragoon regiment from Rostov, which the Swedes took for the third line, were responsible for the rigidity of the formation. In total, the number of Russian troops was about 10 thousand people. There were about a thousand less Swedes.
The beginning of the battle
The battle near the village of Lesnoy took place on September 28, 1708 and lasted about 6 hours (from 13 to 19), with short breaks. The Russians attacked the enemy several times. Basically, the attack began with shooting and ended with hand-to-hand combat. By the middle of the battle, the opponents were so tired that they fell exhausted to the ground, at a distance of 200-300 meters from each other, and rested for several hours right on the battlefield. Both sides allowed themselves such pauses for a reason: the Russians were waiting for reinforcements in the person of Baur's detachment, and the Swedes in the person of their vanguard.
Reinforcement
By 17 o'clock, 4,000 dragoons of General Baur arrived on the battlefield. The Russians again attacked the Swedes and drove them to the village itself, where the enemy's wagon train was stationed. General Baur's cavalry, meanwhile, outflanked the Swedes and recaptured the bridge over the Lesnyanka River, cutting off the enemy's escape route. The Swedes had to use the village for defense and build a fortified camp of carts. When reinforcements arrived at Levengaupt's troops, they managed to recapture the bridge from the Russians. By seven o'clock in the evening it began to get dark, the weather began to deteriorate - it started raining with snow. The active attacks of the Russians stopped, so it is believed that the main battle near the village of Lesnoy ended at that moment. Nevertheless, the artillery continued to shell the camp of the Swedes, who now and then retaliated. The artillery duel lasted until 22 hours. Ultimately, Leeuwenhaupt decided to retreat.
Retreat of the Swedes
Levengaupt understood that his army would not be able to break away from the pursuit with heavy carts. Therefore, when the Swedes began to retreat at night, they left half of the convoy (about 3 thousand carts), artillery and wounded. In order to deceive the enemy, they kindled fires in the camp, supposedly for spending the night, and they themselves suddenly headed across the Lesnyanka River. Many of the Swedish soldiers deserted.
The pursuit
Peter the Great found out about the flight of the Swedes only the next morning. In pursuit, he sent a detachment of Lieutenant General Flug. Flug's army caught up with the enemy near Propoisk, where the Russians had already managed to destroy the crossing. As a result, Levengaupt had to abandon the second half of the convoy (about 4 thousand carts) and cross the Sozh River, not far from the village of Glinka. The scale of the damage suffered by the Swedes during their retreat was due to the disorder and negligence on the part of the soldiers - they even allowed themselves to abuse wine while fleeing. The remnants of the Swedish corps were forced to march to the main forces of Charles XII, taking with them only their personal weapons.
Losses
According to Russian data, approximately 8 thousand Swedish soldiers were killed during the battle near the village of Lesnaya. About a thousand more Swedes were taken prisoner. In addition, the Russians captured a huge baggage train, which was a three-month supply of food and ammunition for the army of Charles the Seventh.
The Russian army in the battle near the village of Lesnoy lost a total of about four thousand people. Of the famous generals, Lieutenant-General Prince of Hesse-Darmstadt was mortally wounded, and Lieutenant-General R.H.Brown was seriously wounded. Right on the battlefield, his arm and leg were taken away. Brown remained unconscious until the end of September. For several months the Russian army was left without a brave and most active commander. By the battle near Poltava, he fully recovered and once again proved his military prowess, heroism and command. While the lieutenant general was undergoing treatment, his division was at the disposal of Prince Menshikov.
Superiority of the troops
According to Peter the Great, the victory in the Battle of Lesnaya in 1708 became "the mother of the Poltava victory." The army of Charles the Seventh lost reserves, ammunition and was significantly weakened. It is important to understand that at all stages of the battle, the number of the tsarist troops was not inferior to the number of the troops of the Swedish king. At the first stage of the confrontation, 12.5 thousand soldiers of the corvolant, together with several thousand Kalmyk-Cossack cavalry, opposed the 8 thousandth army of Swedes. At the next stage of the battle, the Swedes received reinforcements of 3 thousand people who returned from Propoisk, which, taking into account the losses, increased their strength to 9-10 thousand. However, in parallel with this, the troops of the Russian sovereign were constantly increasing at the expense of parts of the Baur corps and the main forces of the Kalmyks and Cossacks.
Moreover, the Russians had a quality superiority. The fact is that the troops of the "Baltic Army" did not have a single guard or simply an elite Swedish regiment. The lion's share of the regiments was staffed not by the Swedes, but by the Livonian Germans, Finns, Karelians of Swedish Finland, Estonians of the Baltic states, Slavs, Izhorians of Swedish Ingermanland, immigrants from Poland and mercenaries from Germany. Peter the Great, meanwhile, included the best infantry and dragoon regiments of the Guards in his Flying Corps.
With such a strategic task as intercepting a supply convoy, the Russians coped perfectly well. Of the 8 thousand Swedish carts, about 3 thousand were left near Lesnaya, and 4 thousand were abandoned at Propoisk. In addition, the lion's share of the remaining supplies was abandoned by the Swedes during the retreat. After the arrival of the remnants of the "Baltic Army" the main Swedish forces were forced to radically change their strategy.
Strategic mistakes of Peter I
During the battle near the village of Lesnoy in 1708, the Russian command made a serious mistake - it included a small amount of artillery in the corvolant. Baura's artillery park simply did not have time to approach the battle site in time, as did the infantry from the same corps. Because of this, the battle turned out to be more prolonged and fierce for the Russian army, and the Swedish army was able to relatively successfully retreat to Wagenburg (a mobile fortification from carts) and gain a foothold in it. Without strong artillery, the Russian army did not dare to attack the Swedish Wagenburg, which allowed Levengaupt to withdraw some of the troops to the main forces of the king.
At the same time, despite the significant inequality of forces, the Russian troops were never able to fully surround and destroy the enemy. Here it is worth paying tribute to General Levengaupt, who was able to break through the encirclement and lead part of the army to join the main forces of Charles the Seventh. Thanks to the most important event of the Northern War - the battle near the village of Lesnoy - Levengaupt, despite the defeat, managed to win the favor of his commander-in-chief.
Awards
For his distinction in the battle near the village of Lesnoy, MM Golitsyn was elevated to the rank of lieutenant general. The Kadashevsky Mint of Moscow minted 4,618 silver medals, which were handed out to the lower ranks. The medals had a diameter of 28 millimeters. The officers participating in the battle, depending on their rank, were awarded 6 types of gold medals, in denominations of 1, 2, 3, 5, 6, or 13 ducats. In total, 1,140 copies of these awards were produced.
Memory
In honor of the 200th anniversary of the battle near the village of Lesnoy, a monument in the form of a bronze eagle, which defeated the enemy's banner, was erected in this settlement. Not far from the monument, the St. Peter and Paul Church was erected, in which during the USSR there was a museum of the battle. In the early 1990s, the battle near the village of Lesnoy was respected again by building a new temple near the site of hostilities. And in honor of the three hundredth anniversary of the battle, a new museum was opened near it, the exposition of which included banners, coins, weapons, photocopies of documents, as well as a mini-panorama of the battle. At the local cemetery there is a mass grave of the soldiers who fell during the battle, on which a marble obelisk in the form of a stele with memorable words is installed.
"Mother of the Poltava Battle". So on September 28, 1708, the battle began near the village of Lesnoy - one of the most fierce in the history of the Northern War. Soldiers on both sides fought to the point of exhaustion. After a short break, they again rushed into battle, turning into hand-to-hand combat. The battle took place in a small forest clearing, which did not allow the Swedes to fully realize their numerical superiority. Reinforcements arrived in time - 4 thousand dragoons of General Bour - forced the Swedes to retreat behind the convoy carts. They lit fires at night to disguise their escape. On the battlefield, Levengaupt left 8 thousand corpses and almost the entire train. The losses of the Russian army amounted to more than a thousand people killed and almost 3 thousand wounded. The tsar, however, did not ensure the proper pursuit of the remnants of Levengaupt's corps. Editing the "History of the War of Sweden", Peter I aptly christened the battle at Lesnaya "the mother of the Poltava battle", "for nine months ago she uttered this baby happiness." The victory at Lesnaya raised the morale of the Russian army and made them believe in themselves.
Upon learning of the defeat of the corps of General Levengaupt, who arrived at the king without a convoy, with the remnants of his exhausted army, Charles XII fell into despondency, but faith in his own luck drew him further to Ukraine.
Hetman Mazepa. The Swedish king pinned great hopes on the hetman I.S. Mazepa. The latter promised the Swedes support and the most favorable wintering conditions in Ukraine. Hetman Mazepa was an educated man with personal charm, but at the same time an unprincipled politician who knew how to please different masters. He did not enjoy the support of the Ukrainian peasantry and the Cossacks, but for a long time he had the disposition and mercy of Tsar Peter. The tsar generously awarded Mazepa - he was one of the first to receive the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. The hetman's real power in Ukraine was great; the tsar suppressed all attempts to denounce Mazepa. During the period of the greatest power of the Swedish king, when Russia was left alone with its enemy, the hetman of Ukraine entered into a secret alliance with Charles XII. Having chosen a new, as it seemed to him, a stronger master, he was not a supporter of the independence of Ukraine. Mazepa's betrayal was not a consequence of the fact that the tsar allegedly abandoned Ukraine to its fate in the face of an enemy invasion (this was how Mazepa justified himself). The facts do not allow us to speak about the lofty thoughts of the traitor.
For Peter, the news came as a big surprise that on October 25, 1708 Mazepa appeared in the Swedish camp. True, he did not live up to Karl's expectations: instead of the promised 30-thousandth army, the hetman brought with him no more than 2 thousand Cossacks.
Peter I dealt with the Cossacks. Upon learning of Mazepa's betrayal, the tsar instructed Menshikov to seize the hetman capital Baturin as soon as possible, where supplies of food, equipment, artillery and ammunition, which the Swedish army so needed, were concentrated. According to legend, there were Cossacks loyal to the tsar in the city, who indicated a secret entrance to the fortress. Capturing Baturin, Russian troops killed its defenders, and left only ashes from the city. The Zaporozhye Sich was also devastated when 8 thousand of the Cossacks expressed a desire to follow Mazepa. The tsar did not stop before the cruel measures against the Zaporozhye Cossacks. At a critical moment, he could sacrifice the lives of peaceful inhabitants for the sake of victory, but there is no reason to see this as some kind of special anti-Ukrainian policy of the tsar. With no less cruelty, he treated the Great Russian population and the Don Cossacks on occasion.
Support for Mazepa by the Ukrainian population was out of the question. “Little Russian peasants, where they can act in a military manner, and in a certain place near the Desna River ... with one and a half hundred Swedes, some of them were chopped up, and some were taken full of them,” a contemporary wrote. Soviet historians have collected a lot of material about the partisan struggle in Ukraine.
Read also other topics part III "The European Concert: The Struggle for Political Equilibrium" section "West, Russia, East in the battles of the XVII-early XVIII centuries":
- 9. "Swedish Flood": from Breitenfeld to Lutzen (September 7, 1631 - November 16, 1632)
- Battle of Breitenfeld. Gustav Adolphus Winter Campaign
- 10.Marston Moore and Nasby (July 2, 1644; June 14, 1645)
- Marston Moore. Parliamentary army victory. Army reform of Cromwell
- 11. "Dynastic wars" in Europe: the struggle "for the Spanish inheritance" at the beginning of the XVIII century.
- "Dynastic Wars". Struggle "for the Spanish heritage"
- 12. European conflicts take on a global dimension
- War for the Austrian Succession. Austro-Prussian conflict
- Frederick II: victories and defeats. Hubertusburg Peace Treaty
- 13. Russia and the "Swedish question"
- Russia at the end of the 17th century. An attempt to solve the "Baltic issue"
- 14. Battle of Narva
Battle of Lesnaya |
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Near the village of Lesnaya, Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Rzeczpospolita |
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Russian army victory |
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Opponents |
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Commanders |
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Adam Ludwig |
Tsar Peter I |
Forces of the parties |
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16,000 soldiers |
12,000 soldiers |
War losses |
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6397 killed and wounded 700 prisoners lost |
1,111 killed; 2,856 wounded |
Forest - a Belarusian village in the Slavgorod district of the Mogilev region, near which on September 28 (October 9), 1708, during the Northern War, the corvolant (the 12,000th flying corps of Peter I) defeated the 16,000th Swedish corps of Levengaupt.
Battle progress
On September 14 (25), 1708, Charles XII was forced to abandon an immediate campaign to Moscow and decide to advance deep into Ukraine. There were enough reasons for this decision: the Swedish army experienced an acute shortage of provisions and forage, the reserves of which needed to be replenished; there were no strong military garrisons in Ukraine, which means that one could calmly rest and wait for reinforcements from Sweden (Levengaupt's corps); Charles XII also counted on the support of the Cossacks, whom the Ukrainian hetman Mazepa promised to bring up to 20 thousand; in addition, he hoped to establish closer contacts with the Crimean khan and the pro-Swedish-minded Poles. However, all these hopes were not destined to come true. According to the "journal of Peter the Great", the Swedes lost in this battle more than 9 thousand people killed and wounded. A huge convoy was captured with a three-month supply of food, artillery and ammunition for the army of Charles XII. Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn especially distinguished himself. Peter I named this victory "The mother of the Poltava battle", since Charles's army was left without reserves, ammunition, which significantly weakened his strength, and also because the battle of Lesnaya and the Battle of Poltava was separated by 9 months (with an accuracy of one day).
The issue of the number of troops participating in the battle and the losses of the sides is debatable. Levengaupt in his diary describes that the Russians learned the figure of 16,000 from Adjutant General Knorring, who was taken prisoner during a battle in the copse, that is, at the beginning of the battle. Swedish sources (diaries of the participants in the battle) give slightly smaller numbers, but there is no agreement between them.
Memory of the battle
For the 200th anniversary of the Battle of Lesnaya near the village, a monument was erected in the form of an eagle cast from bronze that defeated the enemy banner (sculptor A. Ober), and the St. Peter-Pavlovsky memorial church was built, in which in the Soviet years there was a Forest. After the accident at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the museum was closed. In the early 90s, a temple was reopened here.