The famous battle of Lesnaya took place on September 28 (October 9 in a new style) in 1708. It got its name in honor of the nearest village in the modern Mogilev region of Belarus. On the battlefield, a corps led by Peter I and the Swedish army of Adam Levengaupt collided. The Russians won, which allowed them to build on the success of the campaign during the Northern War.
Background
In 1708, the Swedish king Charles XII planned to launch an invasion of Russian territory. At the same time, his goal was provincial lands in the heart of the country. With this blow, Karl hoped to take away the strategic initiative from the enemy. Prior to this, the Russian troops won in the Baltic States for several years, but there was no general battle between the main forces.
The king wanted to unite all his troops right in the direction of movement to Russia. To do this, he ordered Adam Levengaupt to leave Swedish Kurland and arrive at the monarch’s headquarters in Ukraine, where Karl ended up after he abandoned the plan of the siege of Smolensk. The general’s detachment included about 15 thousand people to be considered a serious force. Karl wanted to collect all his parts in Ukraine, feed horses fresh fodder and get tangible support from the Cossacks, whose chieftain Mazepa went over to the Swedes, causing the wrath of Peter I.
Strategy of the Russian Tsar
The battle of Lesnoy happened because Peter decided to cut off Levengaupt from his king. Together, they could easily defeat the Russian army. But individually, each of these two squads was vulnerable enough to hope for success. Peter himself led the army, marching towards the general. Against Karl, he sent Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev.
At first Peter moved in the wrong direction because he was deceived by his own guide. Having learned about the current location of Levengaupt, he sent cavalry against him, which was faster and more mobile than the infantry. The vanguard of this detachment met with the Swedes on September 25. Only then did Peter learn about the true size of the enemy’s army. He assumed that he was opposed by no more than 8 thousand people. The real numbers were twice as much.
Because of this, the battle of Lesnaya could turn into a complete failure. However, Peter did not shy away. He ordered the crossing on the nearby Sozh River to be destroyed in order to cut off the enemy’s retreat. After this, the king’s troops prepared for a decisive attack.
Battle preparation
On September 28, the Swedish corps was preparing to cross a small river called Lesyanka. Intelligence reported that the Russians were very close, which could not but cause alarm at Levengaupt. He ordered the troops to take up high ground positions and hold them until the entire convoy was crossed over the river.
The battle of Lesnaya with the Swedes was approaching. At this time, the Russian army was advancing along forest paths and roads, hoping to take the enemy by surprise. However, the commanders faced a serious problem. To organize an attack on the Swedes, it was necessary to carry out the construction, as the army came out of the forest in a fragmented and defenseless state. Peter decided to divert the attention of the enemy and sent him to meet the Nevsky Dragoon Regiment of several hundred daredevils. These soldiers were supposed to occupy the Swedes until the main forces were built near the forest.
First clash
The battle was bloody. Of the 600 people, exactly half died. The battle of Lesnoy began. The Swedes, encouraged by their success, decided to launch a counterattack, but were repelled by the riveted guard of Mikhail Golitsyn. The front line of the enemy faltered, and he retreated to the starting position, which he occupied when the convoy crossing to the other side of the river had just begun.
The battle of Lesnaya, the date of which is memorable for Russian history, has moved to a new stage. While the attack of the guards continued, the main parts of Peter were successfully built near the forest. In the center stood the Semenovsky, Preobrazhensky, and Ingermanland regiments led by Mikhail Golitsyn. The right flank consisted of cavalry, led by Lieutenant General Friedrich of Hesse-Darmstadt. On the left, the gunner Jacob Bruce ordered. The general leadership was in the hands of Peter. At the time of the start of the main battle (one o'clock in the afternoon), the Russian army totaled 10 thousand people. There were several hundred less Swedes, which meant that there was parity between the opponents.
Second half of the battle
The battle lasted for almost 6 hours, until late in the evening. Moreover, in the middle of the battle, its intensity decreased slightly. Tired soldiers rested and expected help. Reinforcements arrived at Peter at 5 p.m. It was General Baur, who brought with him the 4,000th dragoon corps.
In the evening, the battle of the village of Lesnoy resumed with renewed vigor. The Swedes were thrown back to their convoy. Meanwhile, a small cavalry detachment went around the river and cut off the last path to a successful retreat by Levengaupt. However, the vanguard of the enemy responded with bold attacks and was able to repel the last bridge.
Artillery battle and the flight of the Swedes
Late in the evening, Peter ordered to take forward artillery, which opened intense fire on the enemy. At this time, the tired infantry and cavalry returned to their positions to rest. Sandwiched Swedes also responded with cannon fire. Their situation became critical. Levengaupt could not retreat along with the whole large train, which markedly slowed down the movement of troops.
Because of this, the battle of Lesnoy in 1708 was interrupted at night. The Swedes removed their positions, leaving most of their convoy in the village so that the enemy could not overtake them. In order to deceive the Russians, bonfires were built in the camp, which created the illusion of the presence of parts of Levengaupt in the old place. Meanwhile, the organized retreat of the Swedes began to take on the character of flight. Many soldiers simply deserted, not wanting to be captured or get a deadly bullet.
Mistakes of the parties
One of the reasons for the defeat of the army of General Levengaupt was the disorder of his regiments. Compared to Russian troops, they did not have a single guard. In addition, most of the troops consisted of mercenaries - Finns and representatives of other nationalities, who, in fact, did not really want to die in the name of the interests of a foreign power.
The Battle of Lesnaya, the significance of which was to correct past mistakes, showed the miscalculations of the Russian command. For example, little artillery was used in this battle. Later, this error was corrected, and near Poltava, domestic guns fired even more fiercely at the enemy. In what year the battle of Lesnoy took place, now every inhabitant of Russia knew, because it was she who made an important contribution to the final defeat of the Swedes in a long war.
Value
Only a small part of the hitherto large corps of General Levengaupt nevertheless reached the headquarters of his king. The battle of Lesnaya, the date of which was mourning in the history of Sweden, left Karl without reinforcements and ammunition in the lost train.
Exactly 9 months later, Peter defeated his opponent near Poltava, which was a turning point in the course of the Northern War. This curious coincidence gave the witty king an occasion to joke. He called the battle of the Forest Mother victory near Poltava. From that moment, the Northern War was waged in a completely different vein. The battle of Lesnaya and the subsequent successes of the Russian army finally weakened the Swedes, and a few years later they surrendered the city outside the city in the Baltic without previous resistance (this region was Peter's main goal).