The Battle of Poltava ( July 1709) 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 hegemony in Northern Europe.
Part of the Swedish invasion of Russia of the Great Northern War
Date
8 July 1709
Location
Poltava, Cossack Hetmanate, Russia (present-day Ukraine)
Coordinates
49°37′53″N 34°33′10″E
Result
Russian victory
Belligerents
Swedish Empire
Cossack Hetmanate
Tsardom of Russia
Kalmyk Khanate
Cossack Hetmanate
Combatants
Swedish
Charles XII
Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld (POW)
Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt
Ivan Mazepa
Russian
Peter I
Boris Sheremetev
Alexander Menshikov
Jacob Bruce
Ivan Skoropadsky
Strength
Swedish combined army
24,000 Swedish regulars
(13,000 cavalry 11,000 infantry)
6,000 irregulars
1,000 Polish vlach cavalry
3,000–7,000 Cossacks
34 artillery pieces
Total: up to 30,000
Participated in battle:
8,700 infantry
7,800 cavalry
4 cannons
Total: 16,500
Besieging Poltava:
1,100 infantry
200 cavalry
Russian combined army
52,100 Russian regulars
(33,500 infantry 18,600 cavalry)
23,000 irregulars
(Cossacks and Kalmyks, 3,000 Kalmyks arrived at the end of the battle)
102 artillery pieces
Total: 75,000
Participated in battle:
24,500 infantry
14,600 dragoons
3,000 Kalmyks
86 cannons
Total: 42,000
Garrison of Poltava:
4,200 infantry
2,000 Cossacks
28 cannons
Casualties and losses
Swedish
Swedish accounts: 6,900 killed and wounded, 2,800 captured.
Russian accounts: 9,234 killed, 2,864–2,977 captured.
Russian
Official accounts: 1,345 killed, 3,290 wounded.
Other accounts: 5,953 killed and wounded
Background
In 1708, King Charles XII of Sweden invaded Russia with the goal of bringing the Great Northern War to an end. Turned away at Smolensk, he moved into the Ukraine for the winter. As his troops endured the frigid weather, Charles sought allies for his cause. While he had previously received a commitment from Ivan Mazepa's Hetman Cossacks, the only additional forces who were willing to join him were the Zaporozhian Cossacks of Otaman Kost Hordiienko. Charles' position was further weakened by the need to leave an army corps in Poland to aid King Stanislaus I Leszczyñski.
As the campaigning season approached, Charles' generals advised him to fall back to Volhynia as the Russians were beginning to surround their position. Unwilling to retreat, Charles planned an ambitious campaign to capture Moscow by crossing the Vorskla River and moving via Kharkov and Kursk. Advancing with 24,000 to 30,000 men, but only 34 guns, Charles first invested the city of Poltava along the banks of the Vorskla. Defended by approximately 6,500 Russian and Ukrainian troops, Poltava held out against Charles' attack, while waiting for Tsar Peter the Great to arrive with reinforcements.
Peter's Plan
Marching south with 42,500 men and 102 guns, Peter sought to relieve the city and inflict a damaging blow on Charles. Over the previous few years Peter had rebuilt his army along modern European lines after suffered multiple defeats at the hands of the Swedes. Arriving near Poltava, his army went into camp and erected defenses against a possible Swedish attack. Across the lines, field command of the Swedish army had devolved to Field Marshal Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld and General Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt after Charles had been wounded in the foot on June 17.
The Swedes Attack
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| Initial dispositions. The Swedish forces are in blue, while the Russian forces are in red |
On July 7, Charles was informed that 40,000 Kalmyks were marching to reinforce Peter. Rather than retreat, and despite being outnumbered, the king elected to strike at the Russian camp the next morning. Around 5:00 AM on July 8, the Swedish infantry advanced towards the Russian camp. Its attack was met by the Russian cavalry which forced them to retreat. As the infantry withdrew, the Swedish cavalry counterattacked, driving back the Russians. Their advance was halted by heavy fire and they fell back.
Rehnskiöld again sent the infantry forward and they succeeded in taking two Russian redoubts.
The Tide Turns
Despite this foothold, the Swedes were not able to hold them. As they attempted to bypass the Russian defenses, Prince Aleksandr Menshikov's forces nearly encircled them and inflicted massive casualties. Fleeing back, the Swedes took refuge in the Budyshcha Forest where Charles rallied them. Around 9:00 AM, both sides advanced into the open. Charging forward, the Swedish ranks were pounded by the Russian guns. Striking the Russian lines, they nearly broke through. As the Swedes battled, the Russian right swung around to flank them.
Under extreme pressure, the Swedish infantry broke and began fleeing the field. The cavalry advanced to cover their withdrawal, but was met with heavy fire. From his stretcher at the rear, Charles ordered the army to begin retreating.
Aftermath
The Battle of Poltava was a disaster for Sweden and a turning point in the Great Northern War. Swedish casualties numbered 6,900 dead and wounded, as well as 2,800 taken prisoner. Among those captured was Field Marshal Rehnskiöld. Russian losses were 1,350 killed and 3,300 wounded. Retreating from the field, the Swedes moved along the Vorskla towards its confluence with the Dnieper. Lacking enought boats to cross the river, Charles and Ivan Mazepa crossed with a bodyguard of 1,000-3,000 men. Riding west, Charles found sanctuary with the Ottomans in Bendery, Moldavia. He remained in exile for five years before returning to Sweden. Along the Dnieper, Lewenhaupt was elected to surrender the remnants of the Swedish army (12,000 men) to Menshikov on July 11.
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