Battle of Malatitze | |||||||
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Part of the Swedish invasion of Russia | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
6,000 [1] | 13,000 [1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Swedish estimates: 200 [1] –300 killed [2] 500 [1] –750 wounded [2] Other estimates: 2,000 killed and wounded [3] | Russian estimates: 375 [4] –600 killed [5] 1,000 [5] –1,191 wounded [4] Other estimates: 2,700 killed and wounded [6] [7] |
The Battle of Molyatichi (Swedish: Malatitze), also known as the Battle of Dobroye, took place on August 31, 1708 at Molyatichi (present-day Belarus near the Russian border) during the Great Northern War. The Russian army of Peter the Great under the command of Mikhail Golitsyn launched a surprise attack on the isolated vanguard of Charles XII's Swedish Army, under the direct command of Carl Gustaf Roos, in order to destroy it. Their cavalry was unable to arrive in time to cut Roos' command off before Swedish reinforcements arrived, forcing the Russians to retreat.
The Russian attack-force consisted of 9,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry (including about 1,000 Cossacks and Kalmucks) under Mikhail Golitsyn and Gebhard von Pflug. The isolated command under Roos consisted of 4,000–5,000 men. The Russian objective was to cut off Roos' force and destroy it. [1]
The fighting occurred in the swamp between the rivers Belaya Natopa and Chernaya Natopa. The Swedish force under Roos was surprised by the Russian attack in the morning fog and steadily withdrew towards the main Swedish army. The swampy landscape prevented the Russian cavalry to cut off the Swedish way of retreat. At least two Swedish regiments arrived as reinforcements during the course of the action, boosting their overall force to 6,000 men. The Russians were thus halted and put on the defensive. Since the attack of the main body of the Swedish army was not part of the Russian intentions at that moment, and to avoid a disastrous defeat, the Russians withdrew. [3] [1] Some Russian infantry got stuck in the swamps and were made easy targets to the pursuing Swedish forces. [4]
After initial success, having pushed the isolated Swedish force back, Roos received reinforcements which in turn forced the Russians to retreat, leaving the battlefield to the Swedes. [1] According to some Russian sources, estimating the Swedish losses to 2,000 men, their objective had been fulfilled. [3] [8] Other Russian sources, however, acknowledged only limited success, in large due to the slow march of their cavalry which had to traverse difficult marshlands. [9] As a result, they had been unable to cut off and destroy Roos' isolated Swedish force, as was their objective. [1]
The Swedes estimated their loss to 200–300 killed and 500–750 wounded, [1] [2] and the Russians their own to between 375 [4] and 600 killed and between 1,000 [5] and 1,191 wounded. [4] Other sources mention 700 killed and 2,000 wounded Russians. [6] [7] The Swedes are said to have collected over 900 killed Russians on the battlefield. [5]
The Battle of Lesnaya was one of the major battles of the Great Northern War. It took place on October 9 [O.S. September 28] 1708 between a Russian army of between 26,500 and 29,000 men commanded by Peter I of Russia, Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn, Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov, Christian Felix Bauer and Nikolai Grigorovitj von Werden and a Swedish army of about 12,500 men commanded by Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt and Berndt Otto Stackelberg, at the village of Lesnaya, located close to the border between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russia. The Swedes were escorting a supply column of more than 4,500 wagons for their main army in Ukraine.
Prince Pyotr Ivanovich Bagration was a Russian general and prince of Georgian origin, prominent during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars.
The Battle of Poltava was the decisive and largest battle of the Great Northern War. A Russian army under the command of Tsar Peter I defeated a Swedish army, under the command of Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld. The battle put an end to the status of the Swedish Empire as a European great power, as well as its eastbound expansion, and marked the beginning of Russian influence in Northern Europe.
The Battle of Holowczyn was fought in July 1708 between the Russian army, and the Swedish army, led by Charles XII of Sweden, only 26 years of age at the time. Despite difficult natural obstacles and superior enemy artillery, the Swedes were able to achieve surprise and defeat the numerically superior Russian forces, who were separated from each other, had no overall command and could not coordinate their actions, disallowing them an engagement in full force. Reportedly, it was Charles' favourite victory.
Count Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld was a Swedish Field Marshal (fältmarskalk) and Royal Councillor. He was mentor and chief military advisor to King Charles XII of Sweden, and served as deputy commander-in-chief of the Carolean Army, an army he assisted both in its education and development.
The Battle of Kliszów took place on July 19, 1702, near the village of Kliszów in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth during the Great Northern War. A Swedish army under the command of King Charles XII of Sweden defeated a Polish–Saxon army twice the size that was led by King Augustus II the Strong.
The Battle of Helsingborg was the last major engagement of the Great Northern War to take place on Swedish soil. It resulted in a decisive victory of a Swedish force of 14,000 men under the command of Magnus Stenbock against a Danish force of equal strength under the command of Jørgen Rantzau, ensuring that Denmark's final effort to regain the Scanian territories that it had lost to Sweden in 1658 failed. The battle was fought on March 10, 1710, in the province of Scania, just outside the city of Helsingborg, and directly on the Ringstorp heights just north-east of the city.
The invasion of Russia by Charles XII of Sweden was a campaign undertaken during the Great Northern War between Sweden and the allied states of Russia, Poland, and Denmark. The invasion began with Charles's crossing of the Vistula on 1 January 1708, and effectively ended with the Swedish defeat in the Battle of Poltava on 8 July 1709, though Charles continued to pose a military threat to Russia for several years while under the protection of the Ottoman Turks.
The Battle of Jakobstadt was fought in the Great Northern War. It took place on 25 July 1704 (O.S.) / 26 July 1704 / 5 August 1704 (N.S.) between a Swedish army under Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt and a combined Polish/Russian force under Great Hetman Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki at the town of Jēkabpils in the Duchy of Courland and Semigallia. The Swedes were victorious.
The Battle of Poniec took place on October 28, 1704 in Poniec, Poland, during the Great Northern War. The Swedish Army under Charles XII unsuccessfully dislodged the Saxon Army under Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg through several cavalry charges. The Saxons had deployed in a massive square formation near the village of Janiszewo, west of Poniec.
The Battle of Bornhöved or Bornhöft took place on 7 December 1813 between a Swedish cavalry regiment under Bror Cederström and Prince Frederik of Hesse's Danish troops reinforced by smaller numbers of Polish cavalry and German infantry. The clash occurred at the small village of Bornhöft in what is now Schleswig-Holstein in northern Germany. The engagement occurred during the War of the Sixth Coalition, part of the Napoleonic Wars, and was the last time Swedish and Danish forces met on the battlefield.
The Battle of Kletsk took place on 30 April 1706, in- and outside the city of Kletsk, Belarus during Charles XII's Polish campaign of 1701–1706, in the Great Northern War. The Swedish forces were led by Carl Gustaf Creutz who defeated a larger Russian–Cossack force under the command of Semjon Nepljujev and Danylo Apostol. Many of the Russian and Cossack regiments participating in the battle were wiped out and ceased to exist as fighting units.
The Battle of Krasnokutsk–Gorodnoye took place on February 20–22, 1709, in the Swedish campaign of Russia during the Great Northern War. The Swedish troops were directly led by Charles XII King of Sweden who pursued a force of Russians commanded by Otto Rudolf von der Schaumburg from the minor battle of Krasnokutsk to the town Gorodnoye where a new battle took place, with the Russians now commanded by Karl Evald von Rönne. The Swedes were victorious but cancelled their offensive when the night fell.
The Battle of Rajovka took place on September 20, 1708 near Rajovka during the Swedish invasion of Russia in the Great Northern War. The Swedish army of about 2,400 men under the command of Charles XII defeated the Russian army of 10,000 men under Christian Felix Bauer after a fierce cavalry skirmish where the king himself was in great danger.
The Battle of the Neva took place on September 9, 1708, during the Ingrian campaign of 1708 during the Great Northern War.
The Battle of Petschora took place on February 23, 1701 near the village of Pechory, Russia during the second year of the Great Northern War. The Swedish army of about 2,100 men assisted by approximately 2,000 peasants under the command of Jacob Spens defeated a Russian force of about 6,000 men.
The Battle of Wismar took place on December 5, 1711 close to Wismar, Swedish Empire during the Great Northern War. A 3,000 strong Danish force under the command of Jørgen Rantzau blocked the Swedish city of Wismar. The Swedes under Martin von Schoultz, sent out 2,500 men from their garrison in an attempt to surprise the Danish forces camping a distance away. However, the Danish commander got words of the approaching Swedes and countered them, resulting in 478 Swedes dead, with another 1,500 captured to only 300 Danes killed and wounded.
The Battle of Pälkjärvi was fought between Swedish and Russian forces at Pälkjärvi (Pyalkyarvi) in present-day Russia on 10 August 1808 during the Finnish War.
The Drabant Corps of Charles XII was the most prestigious unit in the Swedish Army during the time of the Great Northern War. As a result of the reforms of 1700, all personnel in the corps received an officer's rank with increased wages, while its size was eventually set at 168 men. Those serving as Drabants were almost exclusively recruited from the Swedish Empire, with most coming from Sweden. The corps was issued the finest weapons, horses, and clothing was often adorned with gold lacing. They fought according to the cavalry regulations of the Caroleans, emphasizing the cold-steel charge in slight wedge formations, knee behind knee, over the more common caracole. This strategy allowed them to function as a bodyguard for the king as well as an elite combat unit, often playing a crucial role in the battles despite their relatively small size. During the war, the corps frequently marched with the main army and the king, fighting in most battles.
The Great Northern War in Ukraine (1708–1713) — war between the Tsardom of Russia on one hand and the Swedish Empire and the Ottoman Empire on the other.
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