Not everyone knows what battle Peter called "the mother of the Poltava battle." Meanwhile, it was one of the most fierce clashes with the enemy in the history of the reign of the Russian Tsar. Let's consider it in more detail.
General information
During the reign of the Great Reformer of Russia there was a war with the Swedes. During it there were several military operations. One of the clashes was the battle of Lesnaya. The corollant under the command of the Russian Tsar defeated the enemy units in one day. The enemy units were commanded by A. L. Levengaupt.
Enemy forces
The Swedish Baltic corps included infantry and cavalry. The first consisted of 8050 people. The infantry was attended by the Smoland third and Finnish-Swedish regiments. The first was considered a unit of weak combat capability. In fact, he acted as a militia. The Finnish-Swedish regiment has been known since 1620. It was a fairly strong division. The cavalry was attended by:
- Noble Livonia squadron. There were about 200 people in it. Despite the rather weak discipline and the irregular nature of manning, the units were quite combat-ready.
- About 800 people strong dragoon regiment.
- Karelian settled squadron. There were about 300 people in it. This unit was characterized by medium combat efficiency.
- Recruited Livonia Dragoon Regiment under the command of von Schreiterfelt. It had 600 people. It was a fairly combat-ready unit, including mercenaries of the Livonia and Courland.
- Recruited Livonia Dragoon Regiment led by von Schlippenbach. It also had 600 people. It was a very strong division.
- Other shelves.
In total, the cavalry numbered 4900 people.
Year of the Battle of Poltava
During the reign of the Great Reformer, there were many military clashes. However, the largest of them is the Battle of Poltava. The Russian Tsar was opposed by King Charles XII. In the year of the Battle of Poltava - 1709 - the enemy suffered a crushing defeat. This was made possible thanks to the excellent organization of the actions of the Russian army.
"Mother of Poltava victory": preparation
On September 28, 1708, the enemy detachment was preparing to withdraw. Not far from their location was the village of Lesnaya. Parts of the enemy occupied heights: 6 battalions were located at the forefront, the rest - at the main front of the village. The enemy’s command planned to repel the attacks of the Russian troops until the entire convoy was ferried. Peter's flying regiment (corvolant) advanced in two columns along forest roads. So that the soldiers could enter the open road, the Nevsky detachment of Colonel Campbell attacked the enemy in a horse formation, on the move. Nevertheless, the enemy managed to line up in a square and beat off the blow. Meanwhile, the Golitsyn Guard moved to help Campbell. She managed to drive the Swedes from the forefront. As a result, the latter moved to the main line. The Russian corvolant managed to reach a wide area and line up in battle formation. Units were 1 km from the enemy.
Russian forces
In the center of the construction was the Golitsyn Guards Brigade. It consisted of Semenovsky, Preobrazhensky and two battalions of the Ingermaland regiment. Cavalry was stationed on the right flank. She was commanded by Major Generals Stolz and Schaumburg. General management of the flank was carried out by Lieutenant General Hesse-Darmstadt. On the left side was the cavalry. She was commanded by Pluh and Boehm, and the general management was carried out by Lieutenant General Bruce. On the second line were 6 regiments of dragoons. They were reinforced by battalions of the Ingermaland and Astrakhan regiments. The rigidity of the system was provided by the grenadiers of the Rostov Dragoon and Guards units.
Main battle
What was the "mother of the Poltava battle"? The main battle lasted from 13.00 to 19.00 with a slight break. By the middle of the day, the soldiers on both sides were so tired that they fell right on the battlefield. The distance between them was no more than 300 steps. They rested for a couple of hours. The Russians were waiting for the Baur detachment, and the Swedes - for the return of the vanguard. At five o'clock in the evening 4 thousand dragoons came up. The Russians, having received help, launched an attack. As a result, the Swedes were pushed back to their convoy. At the same time, Baur’s cavalry bypassed the enemy from the flank, capturing the bridge. So the enemy was cut off the path to retreat. The Swedes, however, with the support of the avant-garde, managed to recapture the bridge. At seven in the evening twilight began to descend, and the weather turned bad. The Russians stopped attacking, but Peter withdrew artillery, which fired at enemy positions. The enemy first answered. Shelling of positions continued until 10 pm. It became clear to Levengaupt that he could not save the whole train. In this regard, he decided to retreat. At night, throwing half of the convoy, all seriously wounded and artillery, enemy units crossed the river. At the same time, they lit bivouac fires, misleading the Russians.
The end of the battle
"Mother of the Poltava battle" ended as the enemy fled. When the Russian Tsar became aware of this, he sent a detachment of the Plugin in the wake of the enemy. Russian soldiers caught up with Livengaupt near Propoisk. Here the crossing was already destroyed earlier, so the enemy was forced to leave the second part of the train and cross the river. Sozh. The remaining forces fled to the army of Charles XII, taking with them nothing but personal weapons.
Losses
"Mother of the Poltava battle" ended with the capture of a huge convoy of food, ammunition, artillery, designed for three months. In addition, the enemy lost about 8 thousand people killed and wounded, about 1 thousand soldiers were captured. Many Swedes deserted during the retreat. Such losses are caused mainly by poor discipline of the soldiers, illiterate organization of detachments. Of the Russians, a total of about 4 thousand people were killed and wounded. However, the general statement of losses does not indicate data on dragoon regiments, irregular cavalry units, and other forces. Given that the "mother of the Poltava battle" was very fierce, the researchers call the number of killed and wounded - 6 thousand people. As eyewitnesses noted, the victims almost completely flooded the battlefield. Often, even grass was not visible under them. Therefore, it is quite possible to talk about the comparability of losses on both sides.
Rating
The ongoing war with the Swedes caused serious concern among the Russian emperor. However, after the events of September 29, 1708, the army of Charles XII suffered serious damage. This affected the further course of the war. During the confrontation, the forces of both sides almost constantly replenished. From the Russian side, parts of Baura joined the regiments, and the forces transferred to Swedes were drawn to the Swedes. However, the former had a superior quality. The troops of the Baltic corps did not have Swedish guards or other elite regiments. The last, for example, was considered the Dalekarliysky division. Many regiments were equipped with Karelians and Finns, not Swedes, as well as Livonian Germans and Estonians, Izhoryans and Slavs from the former Swedish Ingermalandia. Even immigrants from Poland, as well as mercenaries from German lands, were present in the units. At the same time, Peter equipped his army with the best guards infantry and selected dragoon regiments.
Mistakes
As one of Peter's serious miscalculations, researchers call an insufficient number of artillery guns. There were only 30 of them. In addition, they were all small-caliber. Baura artillery did not have time to approach the battlefield in time. In this regard, the battle dragged on a bit and became more bloody than expected. The enemy army, taking advantage of this, was able to successfully retreat and gain a foothold in a new position. The Russians, in turn, did not attack the Swedes without artillery support. As a result, the enemy in relative order was able to retreat to the army of Charles.
Long term effects
The Russians faced a strategic challenge. It consisted in intercepting a huge convoy, which included about 8 thousand trucks. As a result of the actions of the Russian troops about 4 thousand carts were thrown at the village of Lesnoy, about 3 thousand - at Propoisk. Thus, the strategic objective was fully completed. The battle deprived the Swedes of the bulk of the troops. The remnants of the army, which brought almost nothing to Karl's army, were forced to radically change their plans. However, the Russians were not able to fully carry out the operation to capture and destroy the Baltic corps. The enemy managed to escape from the environment. Having retained part of the army, Livengaupt was able to unite with the main forces of Charles XII, although having lost the entire convoy with ammunition and food. One of the consequences of the battle is the subsequent surrender at Perevolochnya. Karl, based on the generally successful retreat of Livengaupt from Lesnoy, his connection with the main forces, appoints him commander of the remnants of the army. After Poltava, the king hoped that the general would be able to reach the Crimean Khanate without any particular problems. It was allied with Sweden at that time and acted as a Turkish vassal. But Levengaupt probably lost faith in the possibility of winning the fight. According to historians, the general was morally depressed after the main military campaign. In this regard, he did not have either the strength or, most likely, the desire to show proper firmness. Apparently, after the battle of Lesnoy, he was inclined not to continue the confrontation, but to surrender. After Karl left the Dnieper, his army - without losses and in a fairly short time - laid down their arms in front of the Menshikov detachment.
Conclusion
The Russian victory near Poltava became one of the largest in the history of the Great Reformer. The Russian Tsar always paid great attention to the military training of soldiers. That is why only the best detachments participated in all the battles: Semenovsky and Preobrazhensky, as well as the Ingermaland regiment, Vladimir, Nizhny Novgorod and Nevsky dragoon units almost equal in status. Of course, discipline in the troops was of particular importance. Russian regiments were distinguished by high organization and strict observance of order. This made it possible to mobilize forces as soon as possible, to rebuild units directly on the battlefield.