In the beginning of the Great Northern War, it seemed that Sweden was isolated by its
enemies that would soon win the conflict.
However, by the middle of 1702, it proved to be anything but, as Charles XII, the soldier
King of Sweden, had defeated all of his initial opponents in battle and was close to total
domination.
As the Swedish victories mounted, so did her enemies’ eagerness to dismantle the empire.
Just as the king of Poland Augustus II was licking his wounds after the defeat at Klissow,
the Russian bear came out of its winter slumber and began planning its next attack.
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Following the battle of Klissow, the Swedish army advanced towards Kraków, while Augustus
fled to Sandomierz.
The governor of Kraków was unwilling to surrender his city without a fight, however, he changed
his mind after a Swedish display of force in front of the city walls.
A couple of weeks later, a 12000-strong Swedish army from Pomerania arrived in Kraków as
well.
Augustus, seeing the gravity of the situation, left Sandomierz with 4000 cavalry and advanced
towards Warsaw to re-take it.
He had hoped to call for another Diet and gather military and financial support from
the nobility.
The Diet did not go according to his plans though, as an increasing number of noblemen
voiced their dissatisfaction with the fact that Augustus involved the Commonwealth in
the war.
Several noblemen even threatened to openly back Charles in the conflict.
Growing more desperate, Augustus sent countless envoys to the Swedish King in the autumn of
1702, however, Charles would not accept any of the terms that were offered.
Fearing that all of his offers to Charles would go unanswered, Augustus begged for the
aid of his liege via the electorate of Saxony, the Holy Roman Emperor.
Leopold I acquiesced, though his motives were not as selfless as they seemed, as the treaty
he offered Charles stipulated that Sweden and Poland would end all hostilities and that
all Saxon troops would leave to join the Imperial Army in the War of the Spanish Succession.
The young King dismissed even this offer, as he was determined to defeat Augustus completely.
By 1703, Augustus was forced to flee Warsaw again, while Charles continued consolidating
his position in Poland.
Although we have neglected this theatre of the war for some time, it is time to return
to Ingria and Estonia.
As Charles turned southwards after the Battle of Narva, tsar Peter was given some much needed
time to reinforce and improve the Russian army.
Boris Sheremetev, the only Russian commander to have escaped after the Battle of Narva,
was given command over the Russian forces in the North.
Small raids into Estonia and Ingria were conducted regularly during 1701, but they were not decisive
by any means.
The first serious attempt to probe the Swedish defenses in the area was made in September,
when Sheremetev led a 7000 strong army into Estonia.
However, Von Schlippenbach intercepted the Russian advance with a three times smaller
army and defeated Sheremetev at Rauge.
Sheremetev made another attempt with a much larger army under him, and advanced into Estonia
again in January 1702.
Schlippenbach, this time outnumbered 6-to-1, gave battle at Erastfer, and was forced to
retreat after sustaining heavy casualties.
After Erastfer, the Russians faced almost no significant opposition in the area and
were able to advance deep into Ingria.
In the autumn of 1702, the main Russian army, under the command of Peter himself, reached
the Swedish fort of Noteborg.
As the Russians had lost all of their artillery at the Battle of Narva, two years prior, they
made an extraordinary effort to replace their lost and outdated artillery pieces, even going
as far as to melt down church bells for material.
The new Russian artillery core was quite effective.
The Swedish garrison of Noteborg, though mounting a serious defense, was forced to surrender
after heavy bombardment and continuous assaults.
The Swedish commander gave Peter the key to the city, which symbolized that Noteborg was
the key to the Neva river.
Peter, recognizing that as well, renamed the city to Schlusselburg and placed it under
the command of his most trusted general, Menshikov.
The siege, though relatively short, left the Russian army exhausted and the Tsar’s desire
to repair and improve the fort gave them some time to recover.
Charles was aware of the situation in the north, however, he did not see the Russian
advances as a significant threat and continued pursuing his goals in Poland.
As the campaigning season of 1703 began, the Russian army left Schlusselburg and advanced
towards the mouth of the river Neva.
The mouth of the river was guarded by a fort called Nyenschantz.
Hearing that the Russian army was approaching, the Swedish garrison burned the fort to the
ground.
Peter the Great captured what was left of Nyenschantz on the 1st of May and on the 27th,
decided to found a new city there, Russia’s future capital – St Petersburg.
In order to build the superior city and the fortresses around it, tens of thousands of
serfs were forcefully brought to St Petersburg.
Along with them, Peter also invited many architects, engineers and shipwrights from Western Europe
to help him build the city of his dreams.
These extraordinary efforts seem to have paid off, as by 1704, St Petersburg began sprawling
outwards from the main fortress and two new fortresses were built alongside it.
There were several Swedish attempts at reconquering the city in the next few years, however, all
of them were unsuccessful.
Back in Poland, Charles managed to obtain the support of enough of the Polish nobility
to have Stanislaw Leszczynski crowned as the new King.
On the other hand, Augustus still mounted a significant resistance as he controlled
the majority of the Polish army.
The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth subsequently descended into chaos, as the Sandomierz Confederation,
led by Augustus and the Warsaw Confederation, led by Stanislaw began fighting a brutal civil
war.
Due to the chaotic nature of the conflict, forts and cities continuously changed hands
between the two confederations and Sweden, and it is difficult to discern who controlled
several parts of the Commonwealth at different points in time.
In the summer of 1704, the Swedish fort of Narva fell to the Russian army, after a much
more effective blockade and siege than 4 years earlier.
And it was at Narva that Peter signed a treaty with Augustus, granting the Saxon monarch
significant subsidies, 12000 Russian soldiers and lands in Ruthenia in exchange for staying
in the war.
Over the next year, the Russians and Saxons had devised a strategy to defeat the Swedish
army and expel Charles from Poland.
The Grodno campaign, as it later became known, aimed to capture the Swedish forces in a pincer
movement with a three-sided offensive from Lithuania, Ruthenia and Saxony.
Charles was not sitting idly either, and by the summer of 1705, he had convinced the Diet
in Warsaw to start working on a peace treaty and to crown Stanislaw as King.
As what was going on in Warsaw was seen as a possible catastrophe for Augustus’ war
effort, not to mention the fact that it represented a significant hit to his pride, he knew that
he had to act quickly.
A large Saxon cavalry force was sent to assault Warsaw and stop the coronation of Stanislaw.
Augustus’ reckless endeavor ended in a complete disaster, as the force was defeated by a much
smaller Swedish army and its commander was captured.
Furthermore, the Saxon commander also divulged the strategic intentions of Augustus and his
allies, allowing the Swedes to thoroughly prepare for the upcoming Grodno campaign.
As the majority of Livonia and Estonia were under Russian control by the beginning of
the campaign, the main Russian army along with large Saxon and Polish-Lithuanian contingents
set up for winter quarters at the fort of Grodno in Ruthenia.
They expected a quick victory over the Swedish army after the campaigning season of 1706
began, however, they did not even get the chance to try.
Much like his predecessor, Gustavus Adolphus, Charles force marched his army in the dead
of winter and arrived at Grodno on the 24th of January.
Lacking the artillery to assault the fort, Charles opted to cross the frozen Neman river
and blockade the city.
Seeing that the young King was preparing to encircle them, Augustus immediately left with
5000 men, hoping to reinforce his army in Saxony.
Peter, unwilling to bring the rest of his army to relieve the siege, ordered Menshikov
to leave the fort with the cavalry as soon as possible.
Grodno fell in April and the Russians lost more than a third of their initial force.
They would have lost even more had Charles not misjudged the direction of Menshikov’s
retreat.
Unable to pursue the Russian army through the thick marshlands of Polesia, Charles went
westwards to seek a battle with the Saxons.
As Charles was busy with the siege, Augustus had prepared to advance towards Warsaw.
He led a 7000 strong cavalry force, while the main body of the Saxon-Polish army was
commanded by Schulenburg.
A third Saxon army under Brause was also advancing from Kraków.
Schulenburg crossed the Oder on the 8th of February and advanced towards the town of
Slawa in Silesia.
While this was taking place, Rheinschild was resting in his winter quarters, which extended
from Kostyn to the border with Brandenburg.
No sooner had he learned of the Saxon advance, he assembled his army and began marching towards
the Oder.
After discovering the movements of both Schulenburg and Brause, Rheinschild deduced that the two
of them planned to avoid open battle with him and join forces at Poznan.
To avoid any surprises, the Swedish commander retreated the same way from which he came
and made sure to spread the word at every town and village that he was retreating and
hoping to avoid open battle.
Rheinschild’s “information warfare” proved successful, as Schulenburg gave credit
to the rumors of a Swedish retreat and decided to pursue the Swedish army instead of advancing
towards Poznan.
The Saxon general believed that the mere presence of his superior army would be enough to rout
the Swedish force.
With this strategy, Rheinschild achieved two things: he drew Schulenburg’s army away
from any allied forces and was able to choose a site of battle that was optimal for the
Swedish army’s size and composition.
Upon both armies reaching Fraustadt, on the 13th of February, Rheinschild started arraying
his army in battle formation.
It was at this point that Schulenburg realized that he had been deceived, however, he had
to give battle as it would have been scandalous for him to retreat with such a superior force.
The Saxon force was around 20000 strong, with around 10000 Saxon and 6000 Russian infantry
and 4000 Saxon cavalrymen.
Schulenburg assembled his infantry into two columns between the villages of Jagersdorf
and Roersdorf, and in front of it he placed 31 cannons, 44 mortars and a chevaux de frise.
2000 Saxon horsemen were placed on the either wing.
Rheinschild had only 9400 men at his disposal, with 3700 infantry and 5700 cavalry.
He placed his cavalry on the flanks and the majority of his infantry in a single line
in the center, while some Caroleans were also mixed among the cavalry.
Axel Sparre commanded the infantry in the center, while Hummerhielm led the left and
Rheinschild himself was in charge of the right.
As the Swedish army advanced, the Saxons waited until their enemies were at about 100 paces
distance, when they fired all of their cannons and mortars.
Although the Swedish army suffered some casualties during this barrage, they did not give the
Saxons enough time for another one, as the center and left started their charge.
The Swedish center’s advance was, at first, checked by the chevaux de frise, however,
after less than 15 minutes, the Swedish forces broke through.
The Swedes, who were expertly trained at hand to hand combat, charged their Saxon counterparts
with swords and did not fire a single shot.
In spite of being under constant fire, the ferocious Carolean onslaught forced the Saxons
to retreat towards the village of Birzen.
The Swedish wings had even more success, as the numerically inferior Saxon cavalry began
fleeing after just several minutes of fighting.
Only a handful of cavalry on the Saxon right, led by Colonel Kospoth, mounted a desperate
defense, however, they were surrounded and broken after the rest of their wing fell.
The Swedish right afterwards came upon the 6000 Russian soldiers.
The Russians had their uniforms turned inside out, as Schulenburg knew that they were inexperienced
and that Rheinschild would target them.
Their weakness was revealed though - the Russians fired only one volley at the Swedes, before
throwing down their arms and retreating behind the wall of spikes.
After removing the chevaux de frise there, Rheinschild chased down the entire Russian
force and massacred them all.
As all of the Saxon cavalry had fled, their Swedish counterparts were now free to surround
the remainder of the army on all sides.
Much like Hannibal almost 2 millenia before him, Rheinschild executed a double envelopment
perfectly, forcing the remainder of the Saxon army to surrender.
And with that, the entire Saxon army, raised with so much toil, care and expense, and which
was twice the size of the Swedish army, had been defeated in less than an hour’s time.
The Saxons lost more than 7000 men during the battle itself, and had almost all of the
rest imprisoned, with the total losses amounting to about 15000 to 16000.
The Swedes lost around 400 men and had also around 1000 men injured.
Augustus’ biggest problem, however, was that the road to Saxony now lay wide open
and undefended.
Augustus, who linked up with Brause and had 12000 men at his disposal, was only 80km away
from Fraustadt when the battle took place.
Shocked at the news of his grand army’s complete defeat at the hands of an inferior
Swedish force, Augustus hastily retreated to Kraków.
Since Peter the Great was unwilling to send his army to even relieve the siege of Grodno,
there wasn’t any hope of Russian aid for them either.
After his victory at Grodno, Charles XII turned West to prepare for the upcoming invasion
of Saxony.
In the next few months, Augustus desperately tried to negotiate a peace with Charles, even
offering to split up the Commonwealth between himself and Stanislaw.
As autumn began, the Swedish armies marched into Saxony and quickly occupied Leipzig.
Without any other options, Augustus agreed to all Swedish demands, and signed the treaty
of Altranstadt.
According to the treaty, he would renounce all of his claims to the Polish and Lithuanian
crowns, annul treaties with Russia and extradite the Swedish traitor, Johann Patkul.
In order to humiliate his personal enemy, Charles also forced Augustus to congratulate
Stanislaw on his victory and coronation.
In only 6 years, the young and capable Charles XII eliminated two of his three enemies.
The time had finally come that he would turn his attention to Russia.
The Great Northern War was entering its most critical stage...
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