Musket & Pike: Great Northern War

Historical and Design Notes

Contents
The Great Northern War, 1700-1721: Historical Background ................................................................ 3
Background to the Great Northern War............................................................................................ 3
The Swedish Military Establishment ................................................................................................. 4
The Outbreak of War – and the Collapse of Denmark ...................................................................... 4
The Swedish Offensive into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth ................................................ 5
Continued Russian Operations .......................................................................................................... 7
Civil War in the Commonwealth ........................................................................................................ 7
The Defeat of Saxony ......................................................................................................................... 9
The Swedish Offensive into Russia .................................................................................................... 9
The Great Frost ................................................................................................................................. 11
The Battle of Poltava ........................................................................................................................ 12
The Restoration of the Triple Alliance ............................................................................................. 14

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 The Danish Invasion of Southern Sweden ....................................................................................... 15
The Alliance Attacks Sweden’s German Possessions ...................................................................... 15
The Russian Offensive into Finland ................................................................................................. 17
The Swedish Offensives into Norway .............................................................................................. 18
Danish and Russian Raids along the Swedish Coasts ...................................................................... 19
The War Ends .................................................................................................................................... 20
A Note on the Calendar .................................................................................................................... 20
Scenario Designer Notes: The Great Northern War ............................................................................. 21
Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 21
Languages and spelling .................................................................................................................... 21
The Game Campaigns ....................................................................................................................... 21
1700 Campaign – 1700 - 1701....................................................................................................... 22
Polish Campaign – 1702 – 1706 .................................................................................................... 22
Russian Campaign - 1708 - 1709 ................................................................................................... 25
Finnish campaign – 1713 - 1714 .................................................................................................... 26
Norwegian Campaign .................................................................................................................... 27
Other battles ................................................................................................................................. 27
Notes on the armies ......................................................................................................................... 29
Sweden/Finland ............................................................................................................................ 29
Denmark........................................................................................................................................ 31
Norway .......................................................................................................................................... 32
Russia ............................................................................................................................................ 33
Saxony ........................................................................................................................................... 34
Poland and Lithuania .................................................................................................................... 35
Weapon Types .................................................................................................................................. 36
Further Notes ................................................................................................................................... 37
Bibliography .......................................................................................................................................... 38
Books and articles ............................................................................................................................ 38
Unpublished or translated sources.................................................................................................. 41
Websites ........................................................................................................................................... 43

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 The Great Northern War, 1700-1721: Historical Background
by Michael Fredholm von Essen

Swedish military might and regional power had expanded immensely during the seventeenth century.
A series of successful conquests, from the Thirty Years’ War to the campaigns in the 1650s of the
warlike King Charles X, had transformed the little northern kingdom of Sweden into a regional great
power centred on the Baltic Sea. By the end of the century, the accession to the Swedish throne of
King Charles XII, a mere youngster without known military experience, convinced the neighbouring
monarchs that it finally was payback time. In 1699, King Frederick IV of Denmark and Norway, King
Augustus II of Saxony and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and Tsar Peter I of Russia formed a
triple alliance against Sweden. The three monarchs wanted to reconquer lands lost to Sweden during
its expansion into a great power. King Frederick wished to regain the lost Scanian provinces and
Holstein-Gottorp. King Augustus coveted Swedish Livonia, while Tsar Peter desired the ports on the
eastern Baltic shore. The result of their ambitious plan was the Great Northern War, a conflict that
lasted for a generation, devastated northern Europe, and directly led to the rise of the Russian Empire
as the leading great power in eastern Europe.

The following historical background is intended to introduce the nature and course of the war as a
whole, and to summarize the background to its campaigns and major battles. Battles highlighted in
bold are featured in the game.

Background to the Great Northern War

The triple alliance was initiated by Frederick IV, the new King of Denmark and Norway, and Augustus
II ‘the Strong’, King of Poland, Grand Duke of Lithuania, and Elector of Saxony. Within days of
Frederick’s accession to the throne the two monarchs entered into a secret alliance, the Treaty of
Dresden of September 25th, 1699. King Frederick IV wanted to regain the Scanian lands in southern
Sweden which had been ceded in 1658. Augustus of Saxony had in 1679 also become King of the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth for which he wanted to regain Livonia, ceded to Sweden in 1660.
Together, they devised a plan according to which King Augustus would attack Livonia early in 1700.
After that, Danish armies would go on the offensive against first the Duchy of Holstein-Gottorp,
Sweden’s ally to the south of Denmark, and having achieved this objective, also the Scanian provinces.
Soon afterwards, on November 21st, 1699, King Augustus and Tsar Peter of Russia agreed in the Treaty
of Preobrazhenskoye to join into an alliance to attack Sweden. The treaty called for the partition of
the Swedish lands and their annexation by Russia, Saxony, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, and
Denmark-Norway. Since Tsar Peter wanted to expand his power to the Baltic and Black Seas, which
entailed the conquest of the Swedish Baltic ports, he accordingly agreed to attack Sweden’s other
eastern lands: Ingria, Estonia, and Finland. The Treaty of Preobrazhenskoye was recognized by the
Danish king a few weeks later, whereby the triple alliance against Sweden was a fact. The three
monarchs began to lay plans for a three-pronged attack on Sweden. All three parties kept the triple
alliance secret, going as far as sending emissaries to Sweden to confirm their sincere friendship.

Soon, the three monarchs set their plans in motion. On February 22nd, 1700 a Saxon and Polish-
Lithuanian Commonwealth army crossed the River Düna (modern-day River Daugava) to lay siege to
the city of Riga in Swedish Livonia on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. This marked the beginning
of the Great Northern War. King Charles XII of Sweden was then 17 years old.

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The Swedish Military Establishment

The Swedish army and navy were comparatively strong at the outbreak of war. The Swedish armed
forces consisted of a combination of national units and units enlisted abroad. The national army
consisted of 10 cavalry regiments, one cavalry squadron (Bohus), one cavalry company (Jämtland),
and 22 infantry regiments, a total of 11,000 horse, 25,000 foot, and 6,600 sailors. Soldiers were well
equipped, and the institution of provincial regiments resulted in high morale and esprit de corps.
Moreover, government funding was also sufficient to maintain a force of eight enlisted cavalry
regiments, 15 enlisted infantry regiments, and one artillery regiment to garrison the overseas
provinces, Altogether, national and enlisted units reached a strength of 76,000 men.

Sweden had established a well-performing system of military mobilization through the indelningsverk,
the allotment authority. Swedish military forces were superbly trained and very disciplined. Because
of past experiences, Swedish army tactics were aggressive and became known as the gå på (‘go at
them’) approach, after the command Gå på! which was the order to charge. The infantry battalion
commonly fired only one salvo, at a distance of 70 paces from the enemy. Then the battalion
immediately charged with pike, bayonet, and rapier. The battalion’s application of firepower was thus
fully integrated with its movement into contact with the enemy. There was no period of preparatory
musket fire before the charge began. The aggressive doctrine also meant that the pike was retained,
despite being regarded as obsolete elsewhere in Europe. Swedish cavalry tactics were aggressive as
well, based on men in dense wedge-shaped formations who with drawn rapiers rapidly closed with
the enemy. The Swedish artillery however, had to adopt a subordinate role. Not even the highly mobile
regimental artillery had the necessary mobility to follow such a rapid charge, so although still
employed during sieges, artillery seldom played a prominent role on the battlefield, at least not until
the second half of the Great Northern War.

Yet, Sweden had a small population and few sources of state revenue. It remained uncertain how the
system would perform during a period of protracted war. The Swedish model of war had been widely
copied in the previous century, so the Swedish army was no longer unique in its use of efficient
organizational structures and aggressive tactics.

The Outbreak of War – and the Collapse of Denmark

Soon after King Augustus’s assault on Riga, King Frederick IV sent a Danish army into the Duchy of
Holstein-Gottorp, which was a Swedish ally. On March 22nd, 1700 the Danes laid siege to the Duchy’s
largest fortress, Tønning.

Fortunately for Sweden, the alliance powers failed to coordinate their efforts, and declared war
against Sweden at different times in 1700. This opened up the possibility that Sweden might strike
against each one at a time, in effect pushing the geographically separated enemies out of the war
before they managed to unify their forces.

Faced with invasions in both the east and south, King Charles decided first to deal with the Danish
threat. Although King Charles had never been to war, he was already well versed in military tactics
and organization, and his father had taught him much about army life. On June 2nd, the fortress of
Tønning was rescued by a Swedish relief army, consisting of Swedish units from the German territories
and allied units from the Duchy of Lüneburg. In southern Sweden, an army gathered to invade
Denmark. With the help of an Anglo-Dutch naval squadron, the Swedish navy forced the Danish fleet
to retreat towards Copenhagen. On August 4th King Charles landed the vanguard of the Swedish army

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at Humlebæk south of Helsingør on the main Danish island of Zealand. The Swedes rapidly dispersed
the few Danish defenders. The rest of the Swedish army could not be landed until two weeks later due
to poor weather. Having finally assembled the entire army, King Charles marched towards
Copenhagen.

This offensive, together with the pressure of Britain and the Netherlands, the two western Maritime
Powers, forced King Frederick of Denmark-Norway to withdraw from the war on August 18th, when he
agreed to the Treaty of Traventhal. Denmark was forced to return Holstein-Gottorp to its duke, and
abandon the triple alliance. Denmark-Norway had been forced out of the war.

However, the war was not yet over in Livonia. In May, a Swedish relief army commanded by General
Otto Vellingk and Major General Georg Johan Maydell came to the rescue of besieged Riga, and after
a battle at Jungfernhof, the invaders were pushed back towards Commonwealth territory. In July, King
Augustus therefore made a new attempt in which Riga again came under siege.

Moreover, on August 30th Tsar Peter of Russia declared war on Sweden and soon afterwards
(September 12th) Russian units attacked Swedish Ingria at the Gulf of Finland. On September 20th a
large Russian army began to lay siege to the important port of Narva.

King Charles at first contemplated a direct attack on Saxony to counter King Augustus’s invasion of
Livonia in the same way as he had checked King Frederick’s invasion of Holstein-Gottorp by a Swedish
descent on Zealand. However, the unwillingness of the Maritime Powers to risk disturbances within
the Empire that might harm their own interests made such a solution politically impracticable.

Instead, King Charles in October shipped the Swedish army to Pernau in Estonia, intending to relieve
the siege of Riga. When King Augustus received the news he abandoned the siege, instead returning
south to his possession of Courland because he feared a Swedish attack. With the threat to Riga
averted, King Charles turned his main army against the Russians laying siege to Narva.

After a long and arduous march, the Swedes arrived on the outskirts of Narva. On November 30th the
Swedish King ordered his troops immediately to attack the Russian fortified lines. With the help of a
blizzard and with the wind at their back, the Swedes attacked and broke through the Russian defensive
lines. Panicking, the Russians fled, and ultimately surrendered to King Charles. It was crushing defeat.
Tsar Peter lost the entire army, including most of the senior commanders who fell into captivity. The
battle had the immediate effect with the Russians evacuating the whole of Ingria. This removed the
immediate threat to Sweden.

Having relieved Narva, the Swedish army went into winter quarters around the Estonian town of
Dorpat. However, Estonia and the other Baltic territories had suffered greatly, and moreover, had still
not recovered from the devastating famine in 1696-1697. Logistics precluded a continuation of
operations there against Russia.

The Swedish army accordingly began to plan for an offensive against the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth and Saxony.

The Swedish Offensive into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Having forced the Danes out of the war, pushed back King Augustus, and destroyed Tsar Peter’s main
army, an offensive against the Commonwealth and Saxony was the logical next step.

However, the Russian defeat at Narva did not mean that Tsar Peter was idle. He gathered his forces
at the towns of Pskov and Gdov near the Swedish border to launch a new offensive, this time into
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Swedish Livonia. Suspicious of the Russian activities, King Charles gathered his own forces under the
command of Major General Magnus Stenbock and Major General Jacob Spens, with the mission of
crossing the Russian border and destroying the Russian positions at Izborsk and Pechory, which was a
fortified monastery. This resulted in a small battle at the Pechory (Petschora) Monastery on February
23rd, 1701. Spens, who commanded the Swedish corps, won the engagement, but ultimately retreated
after burning the nearby villages. Tsar Peter assumed that the Swedish incursion was the first step in
a full-scale Swedish invasion so ordered his men to fortify the Pskov and Gdov line, together with
Izborsk and Pechory, where he began to build fortifications.

In June 1701, King Charles marched south towards Riga. On July 19th he defeated the Saxon-Polish
army, which also contained an allied Russian contingent, at what in traditional historiography is known
as the Battle of the Düna (modern-day River Daugava) or, in some modern works, the Battle of Riga.
The Swedes occupied Courland, a duchy under Commonwealth suzerainty which had served King
Augustus as a base for his Livonian operations. King Charles then continued into Poland, where the
Swedes captured Warsaw and Cracow, and defeated King Augustus at the battle of Kliszów (Klissow)
on July 19th, 1702. King Charles also defeated Adam Heinrich von Steinau’s army at the battle of
Pułtusk on May 1st, 1703, and after a period of siege from May 26th to October 14th captured the well-
fortified town of Thorn (modern-day Toruń) on the river Vistula. King Augustus was at this time ready
to make peace with Sweden, but King Charles felt that he could gain a greater influence in the internal
affairs of Poland by deposing Augustus and placing a friendlier candidate on the Polish throne.

King Augustus tried to rally the Poles around him at the Parliament in Lublin in June-July 1703. In
October, he also entered into a new agreement with Tsar Peter so that he could receive the support
of the Russian troops already present in the Commonwealth. However, the Parliament in Lublin
merely enhanced the disunity within the Commonwealth by excluding Greater Poland’s
representatives, on the grounds that as their territory was in the hands of the Swedes they were
ineligible to participate.

In response to this muddle, the governor (wojewoda) of Posen and Greater Poland, Stanisław
Leszczyński, organized a Greater Poland Confederation to protect the interests of his constituency. He
soon won a degree of popular support, in part because of the apparent military superiority of the
Swedish army that backed him but also because August’s agreement with Tsar Peter raised concerns
that Russia might assume control of the Commonwealth government. In short, the Commonwealth
nobility realized that they had to choose between two candidates one of which was backed by Sweden
and the other by Russia. As a result, many Polish nobles joined Leszczyński, and the Greater Poland
Confederation ultimately sought and received the protection of King Charles.

Having taken Thorn, King Charles was in the position to coerce King Frederick I of Prussia to conclude
an agreement with Sweden, despite the fact that the Prussian ruler coveted Swedish Pomerania and
that an agreement with Sweden was in direct opposition to King Augustus’s wishes. Likewise, King
Charles renewed his links with the western Maritime Powers, Britain and the Netherlands.

The Greater Poland Confederation transformed into the Warsaw Confederation which in February
1704 declared King Augustus deposed from the Polish throne. Instead, Stanisław Leszczyński was
elected King of Poland on July 12th, 1704 under the name Stanislaus I. (Ultimately, peace was
concluded between the Commonwealth and Sweden with the Treaty of Warsaw on November 28th,
1705.)

Meanwhile, King Charles decided to strike at the area where Augustus still retained strong support,
namely Lesser Poland and Galicia. King Charles accordingly marched south, where he stormed the city

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of Lemberg (modern-day Lviv in western Ukraine). In response, Augustus hurried to the north, joined
his troops from Saxony under the command of Lieutenant General Matthias von der Schulenburg, and
moved into and took the almost defenseless Warsaw. Augustus then headed westwards, with the idea
that Schulenburg would return the main force to Saxony, while Augustus and the cavalry would head
for the Cracow region to lure the Swedes to follow him. King Charles saw through this plan, so instead
set out in pursuit of Schulenburg. On August 19th this resulted in a battle at Posen (Poznań) between
Swedish dragoons, operating independently under Major General Johan August Meyerfeldt, and
Schulenburg’s Saxons. Afterwards, both sides claimed victory.

King Charles finally intercepted the retreating Schulenburg near the border with Silesia, and decisively
defeated him in the battle of Punitz (Poniec) on November 7th, 1704.

Continued Russian Operations

Meanwhile, Tsar Peter had rebuilt the army lost at Narva. Then, he had taken advantage of the
Swedish King’s presence in the Commonwealth to take control of Sweden’s Baltic territories.

Russian forces had defeated the Swedes in the battle of Erastfer (modern-day Erastvere) on January
9th, 1702 and the Battle of Hummelshof on July 29th. Further to the northeast, Russian forces in
October took Nöteborg and in April 1703 Nyen, located at the mouth of the River Neva where Tsar
Peter immediately founded St. Petersburg as a future naval port. Dorpat fell on July 24th, 1704 followed
by Narva on August 20th. Taking advantage of the changed circumstances, Tsar Peter only ten days
later concluded the Treaty of Narva with Augustus. Their plan was to rekindle the war in the
Commonwealth so that Augustus could regain the Polish throne. Tsar Peter would subsidize Augustus
with annual subsidies and 12,000 troops. In return, the Tsar would be free to continue his expansion
into the Swedish Baltic territories.

While the Russians were successful in Estonia, their attempts to drive the Swedes out of Courland
further south, thereby cutting the line of direct communication between the Baltic territories and the
Polish theatre of war, were halted by the diligent Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt. He did this with victories
at the battles of Saladen (modern-day Saločiai, Lithuania) on March 29th, 1703 and Jakobstadt
(modern-day Jekabpils, Latvia) on August 5th, 1704. There is good reason to believe that King Charles
intended to retain Courland, ultimately incorporating it in Sweden in exchange for giving the
Commonwealth new territories taken from Russia further to the east.

Civil War in the Commonwealth

Despite his successes in the north, Tsar Peter cannot have felt completely secure. Of his two allies,
King Frederick of Denmark had already surrendered, and if the Tsar could not restore Augustus to the
throne of Poland, this would leave Augustus with only Saxony. The Tsar accordingly sent considerable
reinforcements into the Commonwealth to assist Augustus. The result was a full-scale civil war in the
Commonwealth.

In early March 1705, Russian Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev organized a meeting with the Saxon
general Otto Arnold von Paykull to agree on a joint plan of action with the aim of defeating the Swedish
King. Paykull advocated a plan to lure King Charles and the Swedish main army out of Greater Poland
eastwards towards Brest (modern-day Brest-Litovsk), where it could be destroyed by the superior
numbers of the allied armies. This was to be achieved by bringing together the main Russian army
under the command of Field Marshal Georg Benedikt von Ogilvy and Paykull’s troops stationed at
Brest, forcing King Charles to face them in battle. While at the same time, the main Saxon army would
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march through Poland to attack King Charles from behind. It was decided that the allies should first
crush Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt’s Courland army, before Ogilvy’s troops would face the Swedish King.
Otherwise, Lewenhaupt’s Swedes would threaten Ogilvy’s rear. Finally, they agreed that Sheremetev
would fight Lewenhaupt at the same time as Ogilvy marched towards the fortified town of Grodno.
There, the allied commanders believed that Ogilvy could withstand King Charles’s men long enough
for the Saxon main army to arrive from Cracow. Meanwhile, Paykull would go on the offensive with
his combined Saxon-Commonwealth army against Warsaw to prevent Stanisław’s coronation.

The allies put the plans into action in early July when Sheremetev marched out against Lewenhaupt’s
army in Courland. The two armies met on July 26th, 1705 at the Battle of Gemäuerthof (modern-day
Mūrmuiža, near Jelgava, Latvia). Despite being numerically stronger, the battle went badly for
Sheremetev, who was wounded and defeated by Lewenhaupt’s Swedes. However, after the battle
Lewenhaupt lacked ammunition and supplies, so he retreated to Riga. As a result, Tsar Peter’s Russian
reinforcements got the chance to occupy Courland. This was an advantage for Ogilvy’s army, which
then could march towards Grodno with a protected rear. Besides, only five days later, on July 31st,
Paykull arrived with his Saxon army on the outskirts of Warsaw, and with a surprise attack tried to
stop Stanisław’s coronation. In the ensuing battle, at the village of Rakowiec outside the capital,
Lieutenant General Carl Nieroth’s numerically inferior Swedish troops won a decisive victory. Paykull
was captured, and the Swedes seized secret documents informing them of a possible attack on
Warsaw by a larger Russian army under Tsar Peter’s personal command.

After King Charles received word of Tsar Peter’s plans, he marched towards Warsaw in order to
safeguard Leszczyński’s coronation. He ordered General Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld to march to Posen
with an army to protect the rear of the Swedish forces from Schulenburg’s large Saxon army, which
was poised to march into Poland.

In late autumn 1705 Tsar Peter met with Augustus in Grodno to discuss what steps could be taken to
improve the situation. Despite the setbacks, they agreed that the strategic plan fundamentally
remained valid. King Charles would be defeated in the east, surrounded by Saxon and Russian forces
and far from his supply lines. Schulenburg’s Saxon army, presently reinforced by Russian units, would
march into Poland to join a cavalry army already there under the personal command of Augustus and
then, together with the Russian main force, which was in Livonia, set out to defeat the Swedish
adversary.

In Saxony, Schulenburg, with a combined Saxon-Russian army, was still waiting to cross the Polish
border and go into battle with Rehnskiöld. He planned to depart with his army as soon as he received
word of King Charles’s crossing of the River Vistula. Yet, King Charles surprised his opponents. On
January 9th, 1706, King Charles suddenly marched towards Grodno. This move surprised the allied
commanders, as they assumed that the Swedish King would not march out of his winter quarters
before the onset of spring. They had failed to comprehend that Swedish armies regularly carried out
operations in winter.

Tsar Peter and Augustus had managed to draw King Charles deeper towards the east, but at a time
when they were utterly unprepared to spring their carefully planned trap. Augustus was still at Grodno
with a Russian army under the command of Field Marshal Ogilvy. Augustus, with his cavalry, hurried
to get out of the town before King Charles could close his communication routes.

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The Defeat of Saxony

Meanwhile, Rehnskiöld with another Swedish army protected western Poland. Schulenburg, now
promoted to General, would have either to bypass or fight Rehnskiöld before he could unite his army
with those of the others. Schulenburg advanced against Rehnskiöld through Silesia with a combined
Saxon-Russian army. However, Rehnskiöld forced Schulenburg to battle at the town of Fraustadt
(modern-day Wschowa, Poland) on February 13th, 1706. Rehnskiöld almost annihilated the Saxon-
Russian army.

Rehnskiöld’s victory at Fraustadt, which is considered one of the greatest victories in Swedish military
history, averted the danger from Saxony. Meanwhile, at Grodno, the besieged Russians lacked
supplies. At the end of March Ogilvy decided to try to break out towards the south. While pursued by
King Charles, he managed to save his army by fleeing across the town of Pinsk towards Kiev. As the
spring flooding made the roads impassable, King Charles stopped at Pinsk in April and in June headed
south to Lutsk, from where he returned westward. King Charles had forced the Russians out of the
eastern Commonwealth. With the threat of both Saxons and Russians averted, King Charles with his
army then marched into Saxony, forcing Augustus to make peace with Sweden.

Negotiations began in the village of Altranstädt west of Leipzig, and a peace treaty was concluded on
September 24th, 1706. The agreement stipulated that Augustus had to renounce the Polish crown,
recognize Stanislaus as king of Poland, and renounce the alliance with Russia. The success on the
battlefield against Saxony also meant that other Swedish rivals such as Denmark and Prussia for the
time being were deterred from initiating hostilities against Sweden.

Augustus did not at first wish to acknowledge the Treaty of Altranstädt and also secretly requested
help in Berlin and Copenhagen. He personally was with a Russian army under Prince Aleksandr
Menshikov. Enjoying a numerical superiority of two to one, Menshikov and Augustus now faced a
Swedish army under Major General Arvid Axel Marderfelt. Augustus knew of the Treaty of Altranstädt,
but he dared not inform Menshikov, so hostilities began nonetheless. In the ensuing battle of Kalisz
(Kalisch) on October 29th Menshikov defeated Marderfelt. Polish and Lithuanian soldiers fought on
both sides, which makes the battle of Kalisz not only the last of the Commonwealth civil war but also
the most unnecessary battle, since peace already was declared.

The Swedish Offensive into Russia

After Altranstädt, King Charles appeared unstoppable. France and the Maritime Powers each sought
his support in the War of the Spanish Succession. However, King Charles did not see any advantage in
intervening in this conflict before he had dealt with his own enemies. For sure, the alliance that in
1700 had assessed Sweden ready for the plucking was mostly defeated. Denmark had been subdued
six years earlier, and under the threat of the Swedish army, a resumption of war was out of the
question for the Danish monarchy. Augustus the Strong’s Saxony had been defeated, too, and the
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been turned into a Swedish ally through the removal of
Augustus and the election of Stanisław Leszczyński as king.

It now remained for King Charles to secure the position of the new monarch in Poland against
subversion attempts by Augustus’s Saxons and by Tsar Peter, Augustus’s ally. This was not always easy
and resulted in a number of lesser-known engagements and battle. One of them was fought at
Olkieniki (modern-day Valkininkai, Lithuania) on March 5th, 1706. This battle was fought between a
Swedish detachment of dragoons under the command of Carl Gustaf Dücker whom King Charles had

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sent from Grodno (in modern-day western Belarus) to join a larger Polish detachment under the
command of Józef Potocki and Jan Kazimierz Sapieha at Olkieniki, before marching on to Wilna
(modern-day Vilnius) to secure the road to Swedish Livonia which since the previous summer had been
under attack by Russian units. However, at the same time, an allied force of Russians, Poles, and
Lithuanians under the command of Christian Felix Bauer, Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki, and Grzegorz
Antoni Oginski marched in their direction to drive away Potocki’s and Sapieha’s pro-Swedish Polish-
Lithuanian soldiers before they could join with their Swedish allies. The Swedish dragoons repulsed
two attacks before retreating some distance to a nearby forest, with the aim of prompting the allied
forces to launch a third attack. At the same time, Potocki’s and Sapieha’s men witnessed the battle
from a distance but remained hesitant to participate in the fighting. However, when the Swedes
counterattacked on their own and managed to repel their opponents, the Polish-Lithuanian soldiers
joined the struggle, pursuing the defeated units for some distance. The engagement was perhaps
typical for the conditions of civil war.

The only remaining real opponent was Russia, and King Charles’s men had already shattered several
of the Tsar’s armies. Yet, Russia remained a threat. King Charles in the autumn of 1707 therefore
decided to invade Russia. He knew from past conflicts between the two countries that Russia had the
potential to mobilize large armies. King Charles accordingly aimed to strike directly at the Russian
heartland, in an attempt to force Russia out of the war before the Tsar could put the entire country
on war footing.

The decision to invade Russia was not taken lightly. By Christmas time in 1707, Russia had conquered
practically all of Sweden’s Baltic possessions except the city of Riga, and stood on the border with
Finland, where the Tsar had founded St. Petersburg four years earlier. Moreover, Russia still
maintained powerful forces in the Commonwealth.

On the other hand, the Ukrainian cossack hetman (commander) Ivan Mazepa had just rebelled against
Tsar Peter. Mazepa’s action remains debated into the present, including among political leaders of
different allegiances who depict him in black and white terms either as a traitor or a nationalist hero.
The real Mazepa was a more complex character. Until then, Mazepa had amassed power and wealth
fighting for the Tsar, primarily against those cossacks who remained loyal to the Commonwealth. Now
he planned to switch the men of his command and of his vast landholdings to the Swedish side. There
was an old tradition of alliances between Sweden and Cossack Ukraine. While Mazepa’s men were
mostly untrained in modern methods of warfare, they were numerous and would add to the strength
of the Swedish army when it reached Russia. Moreover, King Charles had prepared for reinforcements
to move into Russia as the campaign progressed.

The Swedish King left an army under Major General Ernst Detlof von Krassow in Poland to assist King
Stanislaus and to be sent as reinforcements along with allied Commonwealth forces the following
year. But before this, King Charles expected Lewenhaupt with the Courland army to join the main army
on the march on Moscow at a later stage of the campaign. Lewenhaupt was also commissioned to
procure a large quantity of provisions and supply wagons for the main army.

The Swedish invasion of Russia began with King Charles’s crossing of the frozen Vistula on January 1st,
1708. Like his January 1706 march on Grodno, the adversaries failed to account for the Swedish army
leaving winter quarters to carry out an offensive so early in the season. King Charles probably hoped
to take Tsar Peter by surprise and he almost succeeded. On February 7th he nearly caught the Tsar and
his army at Grodno, just as he had almost caught Augustus in the same town two years earlier. King
Charles personally led a vanguard of 800 horse against the town, where they attacked the Russian
units detached to guard the bridge leading into town. Shocked by the news of the unexpected Swedish
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attack, Tsar Peter ordered a general retreat and left town a mere two hours before the Swedish army
arrived, even though he outnumbered his Swedish adversary ten to one.

The march towards Moscow continued in spring. Pending Lewenhaupt’s arrival, King Charles and his
deputy Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld with the main Swedish army advanced slowly, apparently with the
intent of following the traditional road towards Moscow by way of Smolensk. At the crossing of the
River Vabich at the town of Holowczyn (Golovchin) in July 1708, the Swedish vanguard encountered a
Russian army under Field Marshal Boris Sheremetev and Prince Aleksandr Menshikov standing in a
defensive position on the opposite bank. At the ensuing battle of Holowczyn on July 14th, King
Charles’s men successfully drove out the Russians. Yet, the battle had no strategic consequences as
the Russian army managed to escape mostly intact.

Moreover, the further King Charles penetrated towards the east, the more he realized the poor state
of the roads. Meanwhile, the Russians employed scorched earth tactics, killed livestock, and carried
out surprise attacks. It was hard to find supplies, which together with the other difficulties during the
march took a toll on the soldiers. The autumn rains came, making most roads almost impassable,
which put down the spirits of the soldiers further. It was getting cold and Lewenhaupt with the
supplies was far behind. Under these conditions, it was doubtful whether the Swedish army would
make it to Moscow before the onset of winter cold in October. Taking these problems into
consideration, King Charles interrupted his march on Moscow and instead turned south to establish
good winter quarters in Ruthenia with the help of the pro-Swedish cossack leader Mazepa. He also
sent word for Lewenhaupt to march to a meeting point in Ruthenia with the reinforcements and his
large supply train, which was intended for the main army. Having spent the winter in Ruthenia, where
Mazepa held sway, the Swedes planned to continue the march towards Moscow from the south in
1709. The reinforcements from Poland would arrive in the coming spring to assist in the continued
campaign.

The plan was good, but reality soon began to interfere. First, Russian units under Mikhail Golitsyn met
the advanced guard of the Swedish army, led by Major General Carl Gustaf Roos, in a highly effective
surprise attack at Dobroye or Molyatichi (Swedish: Malatitze), on September 10th, 1708. Only the
arrival of the main Swedish forces saved Roos and his troops from total destruction. Losses were
comparable for the two sides or even higher among the Russians, yet the battle showed that the
Russian army now operated far more efficiently than in the past, which did not bode well for the
Swedes.

Second, Lewenhaupt’s army was intercepted on route by a numerically strongly superior Russian army
under Tsar Peter’s personal command. The resulting battle of Lesnaya on October 8th, 1708 ended in
a tactical draw, in which both sides suffered heavy losses. However, the outcome was a decisive
strategic victory for Tsar Peter, since Lewenhaupt lost most of the supplies. On 2 November
Lewenhaupt finally made it to the Swedish main army, but only with half the reinforcements and
without the necessary supplies.

The Great Frost

Then, a harsh winter hit all of Europe, causing many soldiers on both sides to freeze to death. The
Great Frost, as it was known in England, was an extraordinarily cold winter in Europe, in fact the
coldest European winter during the past 500 years. At the same time as the real cold came, King
Charles learned that Lewenhaupt had lost the supplies at Lesnaya. When Lewenhaupt’s survivors
finally joined the main army, this only increased the supply problems.

11 | P a g e
At the end of November 1708, the Swedes reached Baturin, the capital of Mazepa’s cossacks. They
were too late. King Charles found that the Russians had gotten ahead of the game and burned the
town. Tsar Peter had learned of Mazepa’s alliance with King Charles and sent a punitive expedition
under Prince Menshikov against the cossacks. On 13 November 1708, Menshikov took, sacked, and
burned Baturin, executing those cossacks who had sided with Mazepa. This crushed Mazepa’s
uprising. Many civilians perished as well, which leaves the sack of Baturin a divisive issue in modern-
day politics. At the time, the key implications of the fall of Baturin were (1) that King Charles’s army
found neither supplies nor reinforcements upon arrival, and (2) that Mazepa lost much of his popular
support. Most cossacks now rejected Mazepa’s leadership, instead choosing Ivan Skoropadskiy as
their new hetman. When Mazepa finally joined forces with the Swedes, he was able to bring only a
few thousand men, without the large army and abundant food supplies that he previously had
promised.

In early December 1708, the Swedish army reached the area around Gadyach. Nearby was the
stronghold of Veprik, which blocked the way of the Swedish advance. King Charles stormed Veprik on
January 17th, 1709. The Russian garrison surrendered after fierce fighting, but the Swedes suffered
significant losses.

After the siege of Veprik the Swedes launched an offensive against the Russian army. The Russians
dispersed their forces to cover all possible attack directions. Finding a strong cavalry force under
Menshikov at Oposhnya on the river Vorskla with orders to prevent the Swedes from crossing the
river, King Charles personally led a small force of cavalry in surprise attack on February 7th to seize the
crossing over the Vorskla. Menshikov’s men, far superior in numbers, were taken by surprise, and the
Swedes gained the crossing with very few casualties.

Spring came, but King Stanislaus had not sent reinforcements yet. He needed them to maintain his
position on the throne. His men had already had to fight for the King’s survival at Koniecpol on
November 22nd, 1708, when a rebel army of pro-Russian and pro-Saxon Commonwealth soldiers under
Jakub Zygmunt Rybiński and Ludwik Konstanty Pociej engaged the Polish King’s army to prevent him
from sending reinforcements to the Swedish King. The royal army, commanded by Józef Potocki, was
defeated and fled the battlefield. This meant that Potocki, who had planned to ride east in support of
King Charles, no longer could bring any reinforcements. The defeat also greatly weakened King
Stanislaus’s position at home, since he hardly had any military reserves left.

King Charles and his army were now out of allies. At the same time, Estonia, Ingria, and Livonia had
mostly fallen to Russian forces, while Finland was exposed and relatively unprotected. Something
needed to be done, and quickly.

The Battle of Poltava

In May 1709, King Charles laid siege to Poltava. In mid-June, Tsar Peter moved in to rescue the town.
On July 8th the confrontation between King Charles and Tsar Peter resulted in the battle of Poltava. It
was the largest and most decisive battle of the Great Northern War and was fought between the
Swedish main army commanded by Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Rehnskiöld and a significantly larger
Russian army personally commanded by Tsar Peter. King Charles was unable to command the Swedish
army because days before the battle he suffered a gunshot wound to the left foot.

Being greatly outnumbered and out of supplies, the Swedish commanders prepared an audacious
plan. The Swedish infantry would divide into four columns that, before dawn, would penetrate the
Russian line of redoubts through a combined infantry and cavalry attack. After the infantry columns

12 | P a g e
had passed the redoubts, they would attack the western front of the Russian camp. The Swedish
cavalry would follow behind the infantry, divided into six columns, and drive away the Russian cavalry
stationed behind the redoubts, and then cut off the Russian retreat routes north of the Russian camp.
The infantry would deal the main blow in this final assault on the camp, after which the entrenched
Russian army would be trapped with its back to the river and threatened with total destruction.

Rehnskiöld was in overall command, Lewenhaupt would lead the infantry and the cavalry would be
primarily in charge of Major General Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach. King Charles, still too ill from
his wound to take an active part, wanted to observe the battle personally and allowed himself to be
carried by the infantry on a stretcher strung between two horses.

However, the battle of Poltava turned fatal for the Swedes. The Russians outnumbered the Swedes
more than two to one, and moreover, had learned the modern art of war from previous encounters
with the Swedes. The battle went badly, numerous Swedes were killed, and the survivors of the army
fled towards Perevolochna, where most surrendered. King Charles saved himself across the border
into the Ottoman Empire along with about a hundred soldiers.

The Russian victory at Poltava spurred Sweden’s many enemies into new action. They immediately
revived the triple alliance. Augustus the Strong of Saxony moved into Poland with Russian support,
expelled Stanisław Leszczyński, and reclaimed the Polish crown. The vast majority of Poles hastened
to repudiate Leszczyński and make their peace with Augustus. Leszczyński accompanied Krassow’s
army in its retreat to Swedish Pomerania. Denmark also went into action. In 1710, a year after Poltava,
the Danes landed in Swedish Scania in an attempt to recapture those territories that had been lost in
previous war.

Since much of the Swedish territories of Estonia and Livonia were already taken by Russian armies, in
the summer of 1710 Russia set out formally to annex Livonia and Estonia, which became part of the
soon-established governorates of Riga and Reval.

King Charles and the remaining handful of Swedes sought refuge in Bender (also known as Bendery
and Tighina, modern-day Transnistria) in the Ottoman Empire. During King Charles’s stay in Bender,
he engaged in diplomatic negotiations to bring the Ottoman Empire into the war against Russia. As a
result, a brief war (known as the Russo-Turkish War) was fought between the Ottoman Empire and
Russia in 1710-1711. This time, it was Tsar Peter who found himself out of supplies. The Tsar and his
army were allowed to withdraw only after agreeing to hand over the fortress of Azov and its
surrounding territory to the Ottomans, demolish several other fortresses, and making other
concessions such as promises to cease interfering in the Commonwealth and granting King Charles
safe passage to Sweden.

However, the plans to bring a new army from Sweden to the King’s base in the Ottoman Empire failed,
and King Charles remained in Bender, not as a respected ally with a military force of his own but merely
as an honoured guest of the Sultan. His stay ended with the so-called turmoil in Bender. On February
11th, 1713, the Ottoman Turks had enough of the guests and tried by force of arms to induce the King
and his entourage to depart. For a while, King Charles and some 45 of his men held their own against
about 600 Ottoman Turks. After a confused action, the Ottoman soldiers captured King Charles,
bringing him to a new residence in Demotika outside Adrianople, where the Swedish King remained
until October 1st, 1714.

At this point, King Charles finally announced that he planned to travel to Stralsund in Swedish
Pomerania. The only route that the Swedish King could safely follow led through the lands of the Holy
Roman Emperor, who had assured the returning Swedes of free passage. It was inadvisable to enter
13 | P a g e
Silesia or Saxony, as King Augustus there could easily arrange an ambush. Prussia must be avoided,
too, for similar reasons. King Charles accordingly chose a route that led through Transylvania and
Hungary along the Danube, then across Bavaria to Frankfurt am Main and to Kassel, whose Elector
was related to him. From there, the road went fairly straight towards Stralsund. On October 1st the
King broke up from Demotika. He met his Swedish and cossack entourage from Bender in Pitesci
(Pitești in Wallachia, modern-day Romania).

The King set out on horseback from Pitesci before midnight on November 7th with first two, then only
a single companion. They arrived at Stralsund in Swedish Pomerania on the night of November 21st.
The King completed the journey of 2,152 kilometres to Stralsund in only fourteen days and three
hours, that is, he covered more than 150 km per day, which was a remarkable feat. His companions
from the Ottoman Empire arrived to Swedish Pomerania only in March 1715.

King Charles stayed in Stralsund for almost a year. In September 1715, an army of Prussians, Danes,
and Saxons moved in to lay siege to the town. Over time, the situation became untenable. On the
night between December 21st and 22nd King Charles left the city with a few officers to sail to Scania in
southern Sweden. On the following day Stralsund surrendered, with the prior permission of the King.

The Restoration of the Triple Alliance

The Danish King Frederick IV had long planned an attack on Sweden, even though the Treaty of
Traventhal in 1700 had forced Denmark out of the Great Northern War. For this purpose, King
Frederick IV travelled to Saxony’s capital Dresden where he and Augustus of Saxony on June 28th,
1709 agreed to the Treaty of Dresden, an alliance in which King Frederick undertook to invade Sweden
as soon as he reached an advantageous agreement with Russia.

The Treaty of Dresden implied that the Danish attack should be directed against Sweden’s
Scandinavian lands and not against the Swedish possessions in Germany, nor Sweden’s ally the Duchy
of Holstein-Gottorp. The reason was that the Maritime Powers, Britain and the Netherlands, feared
that the Great Northern War under such conditions would spread to Germany, which might force
those German states that participated on their side in the War of the Spanish Succession to withdraw
from the conflict. It was bad enough that Denmark and Saxony, which both supplied Britain and the
Netherlands with troops for the war against France, would be locked in hostilities elsewhere.
(Ultimately, Sweden’s non-accession to the Declaration of Neutrality for the Empire, The Hague
concert of 1710, which the Maritime Powers arranged with Sweden’s enemies so as not to lose the
Danish and Saxon regiments, destroyed much of Sweden’s goodwill with the former.)

King Frederick IV of Denmark then travelled straight to Berlin, where he together with Augustus on
July 15th, 1709 concluded an agreement, the Alliance of Cölln an der Spree, with King Frederick I of
Prussia. The Prussian King promised to deny Swedish troops passage through his country, but he
agreed to declare war on Sweden only if the Tsar carried out a partition of Poland that would divide
the territory between Prussia, Saxony, and Russia.

Meanwhile, and as the direct result of King Charles’s defeat at Poltava, Augustus on August 8th
declared the Treaty of Altranstädt invalid on the pretext that his proxies had exceeded their power of
attorney when they entered into the Treaty. Instead, Augustus renewed the union with Tsar Peter
through the Treaty of Thorn on October 20th. The Tsar promised to restore Augustus the Strong to the
Polish throne. Augustus agreed to set up an army of 10,000 to 11,000 men to maintain power in the
Commonwealth, to which the Tsar promised to contribute 10,000 to 12,000 horse and 4,000 to 5,000
foot. Russia would accordingly base more men in the Commonwealth to back up Augustus than he

14 | P a g e
would do on his own. In return, Augustus promised that the Tsar could retain all his conquests, both
those taken so far and those to be taken for the duration of the war. While Augustus and the Tsar
previously had appeared more or less as equals, henceforth it was Tsar Peter who dictated the terms.
Augustus had become the junior partner in the alliance.

Finally, the alliance between Russia and Denmark was renewed in the Treaty of Copenhagen on
October 22nd, 1709. Denmark promised to invade southern Sweden, while Russia promised to march
into Finland and Livonia. Both parties agreed to restore Augustus to the Polish throne.

By these treaties, the original triple alliance was restored, and Prussia was given the option to join as
well. So far, most of the fighting had taken place outside of Sweden’s core territories. Henceforth, the
triple alliance vowed to invade the Swedish heartland from two directions, with Denmark attacking
from the south and Russia from the east.

The Danish Invasion of Southern Sweden

Denmark, as noted, went into action first. On November 12th, 1709, a Danish invasion army under the
command of General Christian Ditlev Reventlow landed at Råå south of Helsingborg in Scania,
southern Sweden. As the Swedish forces in Scania, led by Governor Magnus Stenbock, at the time
were too weak to resist the Danish army, they retreated and the Danes were able to quickly take over
large parts of the province. Helsingborg and Lund were conquered without resistance and the
important fortified ports of Landskrona and Malmö were besieged.

However, the Swedes were busy raising a new army to replace the one which had been wiped out at
Poltava. In January 1710, Stenbock marched into Scania with the new army, whereupon Reventlow
felt compelled to retreat with the Danish invasion army, which had suffered some attrition since the
landing.

An encounter between the two armies took place at Fjelkinge in Scania on January 23rd, 1710. The
Swedish cavalry ultimately abandoned the field, whereby the only Swedish infantry on the field, a
battalion of Saxons who had gone into Swedish service after suffering a previous defeat, surrendered
and switched to Danish service.

During the Danish retreat, Reventlow fell ill and was replaced by Lieutenant General Jørgen Rantzau
who withdrew the troops to Helsingborg. The Danish and Swedish armies finally met at Helsingborg
on March 10th, 1710. The battle ended in a decisive Swedish victory. The Danish troops fled back inside
Helsingborg’s fortifications and from there were evacuated by sea to Denmark. The last Danish troops
left Scania on March 15th. This was Denmark’s last serious attempt to reclaim the Scanias.

The Alliance Attacks Sweden’s German Possessions

Although defeated in Scania, Denmark still had the resources to continue the war on the Continent.
In 1711, a Danish corps under the command of Jørgen Rantzau moved to blockade the important
Swedish port of Wismar, which already was under threat from a Saxon corps. Martin von Schoultz
then led a sally from the garrison in an attempt to surprise the Danes, encamped some distance away.
However, Rantzau received reports of the approaching Swedes and prepared for what became the
battle of Wismar on 5 December 1711. The Swedes lost the battle, but the allied units did not push
on towards Wismar, since they instead began a siege of Stralsund, the gateway of Sweden’s
communications with Europe. Soon, strong Saxon and Russian contingents lined up against Stralsund.

15 | P a g e
Meanwhile, in July 1712 King Frederick IV of Denmark launched an offensive into the Swedish Duchies
of Bremen and Verden. On August 7th, the Danes laid siege to the capital Stade which surrendered on
September 7th after a month-long siege. At this time Elector George Louis of Hanover (who in 1714
would ascend the throne of Great Britain and Ireland as King George I) joined the triple alliance to
safeguard his interests in the two duchies.

In December 1712, King Frederick IV with his Danish army then moved in towards Stralsund to join
forces with the already very strong Saxon and Russian army there. To save Sweden’s German
territories and in particular Stralsund, Sweden sent Magnus Stenbock with an army to relieve the
town. Stenbock defeated the Danes and Saxons in the battle of Gadebusch or Wakenstädt on
December 20th. Although a significant victory, the Russians had not taken part in the battle and
remained undefeated, while both King Frederick and many Danish units escaped to fight another day.
Moreover, Stenbock’s German expedition of 1712, whose ultimate goal was to meet King Charles,
ultimately failed because of the superior numbers of Russian, Saxon, and Danish troops sent against
him, and ended with his surrender at Tønning in May 1713.

Prussia then joined the triple alliance. King Frederick I of Prussia looked on Swedish Pomerania as ripe
for the plucking. In April 1715, Prussia declared war on Sweden, and soon afterwards Prussian troops
moved in to lay siege to Stralsund.

On November 16th Prussian, Danish, and Saxon troops landed at Stresow (the fishing village of Gross
Stresow) on the south coast of the island of Rügen in Swedish Pomerania. King Charles, although
greatly outnumbered, responded by personally leading a cavalry charge against the fortified camp of
the invaders. While the Swedes managed to break through the allies’ defensive line, they were quickly
repulsed and retreated with heavy losses.

As far as is known, this was the first battle commanded by King Charles which he lost (it will be
remembered that he was too ill to command in person at Poltava). With the landing secured, the allies
continued the offensive on Rügen, and when the island was finally occupied, joined their compatriots
who laid siege to Stralsund. As a result, Stralsund fell on December 24th, 1715. In April 1716, Sweden’s
last stronghold on the Continent, Wismar, fell, too.

Having accomplished this, Denmark renewed the plans to retake Scania in southern Sweden. With the
loss of Sweden’s territories on the Continent and the absence of Stenbock who was languishing in
captivity, perhaps an invasion would succeed this time? King Frederick hoped to accomplish the
conquest of Scania in 1716, and this time with the help of Russian troops and British naval units. The
plan was to assemble an allied army on Zealand. However, in September Tsar Peter refused to join the
endeavour, citing the supply situation and the impending winter. However, the underlying reasons for
the cancelled invasion was the widely differing interests of the allied powers and the uncertainty about
the direction in which any Swedish counterattacks might be directed. The Danish fleet was tied up on
the Norwegian coast. Moreover, rumours were rife in Europe that Sweden planned to land troops in
Scotland to reinforce an attempt by supporters of the House of Stuart to reclaim the Scottish throne.
Such rumours made Britain reluctant to commit troops elsewhere. In October, the Russian troops
earmarked for the invasion left Zealand. This effectively cancelled Denmark’s last concrete attempt to
retake its former eastern provinces.

Meanwhile, the end of the War of the Spanish Succession reduced the interest of other European
powers in limiting the effects of the Great Northern War by offering diplomatic support to Sweden.
Already after the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713, the Maritime Powers Britain and the Netherlands
grumbled over the setback suffered to the Baltic trade through King Charles’s ban on all shipping to

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those Swedish ports that had been conquered by Tsar Peter. As a result, their previous support for
Sweden diminished sharply. To the Swedes, however, the ban was essential. Russia was in the process
of forming a Baltic fleet, thereby creating a new and very serious threat to Sweden. One key objective
for Swedish privateers as well as navy warships was accordingly to prevent, or at least impair, this
process by denying Russia strategic materials, supplies, and most importantly, newly procured
warships and trained naval officers. The newly-built Russian navy depended on foreign officers to
actually sail the new, unfamiliar vessels. Many English, French, and other west European officers went
into Russian service, and quite a few of them travelled to Russia by ship. The Swedish navy attempted
to catch as many as possible before they reached Russia’s new Baltic ports. Besides, much of the trade
with Russia went on English and Dutch keels.

The change in political allegiances became yet more pronounced after Elector George Louis of Hanover
in 1714 ascended the throne of Great Britain and Ireland as King George I. The new monarch remained
ruler of Hanover, for which he in 1712 had joined the triple alliance to gain Sweden’s German
possessions of Bremen and Verden. King George remained at war with Sweden, not as King of Great
Britain but as Elector of Hanover. The result was nonetheless that Sweden’s position vis-à-vis Britain
rapidly deteriorated. In October 1715, Hanover formally declared war on Sweden. As a result, the
Danish Navy was supported in the aforementioned siege of Stralsund by eight British warships, under
the command of British Vice-Admiral Sir John Norris. The triple alliance against Sweden was growing
out of its original number of signatories.

The Russian Offensive into Finland

The Russian victory at Poltava not only opened up opportunities on the Continent, it had also offered
Tsar Peter the opportunity again to go on the offensive against both Livonia and Finland, thereby
securing St. Petersburg from both sides of the Gulf of Finland. In 1710, the Russians captured the
towns of Riga, Dünamünde, Pernau, Reval, Viborg, and Kexholm from Sweden. The last Swedish
soldiers in Estonia were evacuated from the island of Ösel in December, and an attempt to reconquer
the island in the following year failed. The port cities provided Tsar Peter with naval bases for actions
against the Swedish navy, both within the archipelagos with galleys and on the high seas with
conventional warships.

The capture of Viborg and Kexholm also opened the way for further Russian expansion into Finland,
defended by General Georg Henrik Lybecker. In the summer of 1712, Admiral-General Fyodor Apraksin
led a Russian army into south-eastern Finland. Although driven back, in 1713 he led a yet stronger
Russian army into southern Finland. Apraksin employed an amphibious strategy that allowed him to
tie down the defending army units with part of his force, while another part performed an outflanking
manoeuvre by making a coastal landing behind the defenders.

Tsar Peter landed in Helsinki in May 1713, and by August, Russian troops under Apraksin had gained
control of most of southern Finland.

Lybecker’s inability to defend Finland led to his replacement in September by Major General Carl
Gustaf Armfeldt. Although talented, Armfeldt had little to work with. The Finnish cavalry was already
mostly lost, and remaining defensive forces were few and often poorly trained. On October 17th, 1713
Armfeldt attempted to stop the Russian offensive at Pälkäne, on the River Kostianvirta. Greatly
outnumbered, Armfeldt failed to prevent Apraksin from taking the position, but he managed to extract
most of his corps.

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The next confrontation between Armfeldt and the Russians took place at Storkyro (Finnish: Napue;
Russian: Lappola) on March 2nd, 1714. Again, greatly outnumbered, Armfeldt lost the battle after
which Russian units gained control over the entire Finland.

The Swedish Offensives into Norway

Following King Charles’s return to Sweden in 1715, he began to prepare a winter invasion of Denmark.
His grandfather had once subdued Denmark by marching an army across the ice in winter, and there
was no reason why such a method would not work a second time. However, the Great Frost had
passed and the winter never grew cold enough for the ice to freeze sufficiently. Instead, King Charles
set out on the second-best option, an overland invasion of Norway.

In March 1716, the King personally led a corps into Norway. The Swedes occupied the capital
Christiania already in the same month. However, the military value of the possession of the Norwegian
capital was small as long as the strong fortress of Akershus at Christiania remained in Norwegian
hands. Ultimately, the Norwegian campaign was a failure, and the Swedes retreated, leaving
Norwegian territory in July 1716.

After King Charles was forced to call off his attack on southern Norway, the Danish navy, under the
leadership of the young commander Peter Tordenskiold, tried to block Gothenburg in the spring of
1717, but without success. During the summer, he also attacked the Swedish port of Strömstad, but
again without success. One consequence of the attacks was that the Swedish naval contingent in
Gothenburg, the Gothenburg Squadron, was moved from the city, mainly to Marstrand with some
smaller ships to Strömstad.

In 1718, King Charles made a second attempt to invade Norway. This time, the invasion would be a
major operation, with one Swedish army entering in the north and another in the south. The King
ordered General Armfeldt to lead an army against the important port of Trondheim in northern
Norway. If it could be conquered, this would cut communications between the southern and northern
halves of the country.

Meanwhile, King Charles would personally lead the main force in the south towards Christiania. In
November, the King laid siege to the strategically important fortress of Frederiksten near the town of
Frederikshald (modern-day Halden). But then, on December 10th, King Charles was hit by a bullet in
the head that instantly killed him. The campaign was interrupted; the southern army marched back to
Sweden. As soon as Armfeldt received word of the King’s death and that the main attack had been
interrupted, he too decided to retreat. It was a hard return march across the mountains in the middle
of winter, and the soldiers suffered severely from the cold, many freezing to death during the march.

There remains uncertainty with regard to King Charles’s strategic objectives in the invasions of Norway
in 1716 and above all that in 1718. King Charles did generally not reveal his plans until at the last
moment. Yet, the plans for the attack on Norway in 1718 and the massive effort that was made to
gather supplies on behalf of the army enable us to draw certain conclusions on how he envisaged the
continuation of the war. An attack on Norway was primarily a blow against Denmark. By neutralizing
Sweden’s long western border and preventing Danish incursions into the country, opportunities
opened up to transfer additional resources to other theatres of war.

King Charles presumably intended to withdraw the troops from Norway at the latest in the spring of
1719. By then, the coordinated attacks on Christiania and Trondheim, if successful, would have torn
away Norway from Denmark. This would have deprived Copenhagen of the vital income from the

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Norwegian timber trade, urgently needed goods for the Danish navy, and not least the flow of
experienced Norwegian sailors into the Danish navy. If so, Denmark would almost certainly agree to a
peace treaty without demands for border adjustments.

Russia would then be the only serious opponent that remained of the old triple alliance. Troop
transport ships and supplies were assembled in eastern Sweden already in 1718 which suggests that
King Charles planned to go on the offensive in the east in the following year. The King’s intention was
likely to land the army on the Baltic coast and march directly towards St. Petersburg, the new Russian
capital since 1712. The Russian occupation army that had been in Finland since 1713-1714 would thus
be cut off from the homeland and forced to surrender. In such a situation, it is possible that Tsar Peter
would have agreed to a peace treaty that was less costly for Sweden. The King may have hoped to
recover occupied Finland and possibly even parts of Estonia and Swedish Livonia.

We do not know whether such a strategy would have succeeded. Yet, with the King’s death, it soon
became obvious that Sweden henceforth would follow less audacious strategies.

Danish and Russian Raids along the Swedish Coasts

After King Charles’s renewed attack on Norway in the autumn of 1718, and after peace negotiations
broke down in the early summer of 1719, Danish units again attacked the Swedish province of
Bohuslän. The goal of the operation was to bring a quick end to the war with a loss of territory for
Sweden, but also to put an end to the Swedish privateer activities that took a heavy toll on Danish and
Norwegian shipping. Meanwhile, the new Russian naval base Kronstadt and other conquered Baltic
ports became bases for Russian warships.

For the Swedish navy, this changed the situation. While it previously had been possible to concentrate
in the southern Baltic and the Sound to meet the threat from Denmark, it was now also necessary to
face the threat posed by the growing Russian fleet, and above all to prevent the Danish and Russian
naval forces from coordinating their activities. In a situation that required tough prioritization of
Swedish resources, it was under these conditions very difficult also to protect the Swedish west coast
and shipping in the North Sea against the Danish fleet. The Gothenburg area came relatively far down
the priority list, despite the fact that the city had gained an increasing importance for foreign trade.

At the end of June 1719, Russian fleet units began to ravage the Swedish coasts. The raids, which
continued until 1721 and also included expeditions inland, were intended to force the Swedish
government to make concessions in the ongoing peace negotiations. Sweden procrastinated in the
hope of gaining military support from Britain before a treaty was agreed. Britain needed shipping
supplies from Scandinavia and was dependent on Swedish iron, as no less than fifty per cent of the
British iron supplies came from Sweden. Tsar Peter sought a favourable end to the war.

By then, Prince Consort Frederick of Hesse-Kassel, the spouse of King Charles’s sister, Princess Ulrika
Eleonora, commanded the defences of Stockholm. Frederick was an experienced general in his own
right, having commanded Hessian units in the War of the Spanish Succession under Prince Eugene of
Savoy and John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough. He managed to keep the capital secure, although
he lacked the men and ships to protect the coastal population from Russian raiders. Upon the death
of King Charles, Princess Ulrika Eleonora succeeded as Queen of Sweden. She reigned in her own right
until her abdication in 1720 in favour of her spouse, who then ruled Sweden as King Frederick I.

On 24 August 1719, Russian troops under Apraksin landed near Stockholm, where Swedish reservists
under Baltzar von Dahlheim had spent the previous month entrenching themselves. In the resulting

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battle of Stäket, Dalheim’s reserve regiment offered stiff resistance, but were inferior in numbers and
poorly trained. They would have been defeated had not reinforcements under first Lieutenant Colonel
Henrik Johan von Essen and then Colonel Rutger Fuchs come to the rescue.

The War Ends

Because of the death of King Charles and the pressure on the Swedish coasts, in 1719 the ongoing
peace negotiations began to bring results. The first was the Treaty of Stockholm between Sweden and
Hanover which was signed on 20 November 1719. Sweden ceded Bremen and Verden in northern
Germany in exchange for a million Reichsthalers.

The Second Treaty of Stockholm was signed on 1 February 1720 by Sweden and Prussia. Sweden ceded
Swedish Pomerania south of the river Peene and east of the river Peenestrom to Prussia, including the
islands of Usedom and Wollin, and the towns of Stettin, Damm and Gollnow, in exchange for two
million Reichsthalers. Prussia had invested little in the war, yet emerged a major winner due to the
territorial gains which over time would contribute to make the country a great power in Europe.

Peace between Sweden and Denmark was concluded with the Treaty of Frederiksborg on 3 June 1720.
The Treaty ended the Great Northern War as far as Denmark and Sweden were concerned. The terms
of the Treaty meant that Sweden lost its traditional duty-free access in the Sound and the Danish Belts,
had to pay 600,000 Reichsthalers to Denmark, pledged no longer to support the Duke of Holstein-
Gottorp nor oppose a Danish occupation of the Duke’s lands in Schleswig. Sweden also pledged not to
re-fortify Wismar. In return, Denmark would restore the parts of of Rügen, Pomerania, Stralsund,
Wismar, and Bohuslän (Marstrand) occupied during the war, and promised no longer to support Russia
or allow Russian privateers to use Danish ports. The Treaty was advantageous for the Danish King, but
he failed to regain any of the territories ceded to Sweden in previous war.

Finally, the Treaty of Nystad of 10 September 1721 concluded the war between Sweden and Russia.
The Treaty formally ended the Great Northern War and meant that Sweden had to cede parts of
Viborg and Kexholm Counties and the whole of Ingria, Estonia and Livonia to Russia in exchange for
two million Reichsthalers. Russia returned the bulk of occupied Finland to Swedish rule, and undertook
not to act further against Sweden, nor to support any other country in doing so. This pledge also
marked the end of Sweden’s hostilities with King Augustus of Saxony and the Polish-Lithuanian
Commonwealth, since the latter could not act alone. However, peace with the Commonwealth was
officially concluded only in 1732.

The Treaty of Nystad signified the definitive end of Sweden’s maritime empire and the emergence of
Russia as a European great power.

A Note on the Calendar

At the time of the war, the belligerent powers followed different calendars. The Gregorian calendar,
named after the sixteenth-century Pope Gregory XIII who introduced it, had been developed as a
correction to an observed error in the old Julian calendar. The visible result of the correction was that
the date was advanced 10 days, that is, 4 October 1582 was followed by 15 October 1582. The Holy
Roman Empire changed calendar on this date, as did most Catholic nations including the Polish-
Lithuanian Commonwealth. However, many Protestant countries initially objected to adopting a
Catholic innovation. Prussia was the first Protestant nation to adopt the Gregorian calendar. Denmark
and Norway adopted the new calendar only in 1700, when the date had to be advanced 11 days, not
10, to correlate the two calendars.
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Sweden in November 1699 decided to adopt the Gregorian calendar in 1700, but rather than
implementing it outright, the reform would be carried out over a 40-year period. The plan was to skip
all leap days in the period 1700 to 1740. Every fourth year, the gap between the Swedish calendar and
the Gregorian would accordingly decrease by one day, until the Gregorian and the Swedish calendar
finally merged in 1740. In accordance with the plan, 29 February was omitted in 1700, yet the changed
priorities of the Great Northern War prevented the implementation of further omissions in the
following years. In January 1711, King Charles XII accordingly decided to abandon the Swedish
calendar, which was not in use by any other nation, and instead return to the old Julian calendar. An
extra day was added to February in the leap year of 1712, thus giving the month a unique thirtieth day
(30 February) and the year a 367-day length. (Sweden finally introduced the Gregorian calendar in
1753. The leap of 11 days was then accomplished in one step, with 17 February being followed by 1
March.)

Russia delayed further still, retaining the Julian calendar until 1918. Many of the belligerents in the
Great Northern War accordingly used the Julian calendar, which for this reason differed from the one
used in Catholic nations and at present, and in the case of Sweden, the Swedish calendar. Old Style
(O.S.), New Style (N.S.), and Swedish Style (S.S.) are terms commonly used with dates to indicate that
the calendar convention used at the time described is different from the one in use at present. The
dates given in this Historical Background follow N.S.

Scenario Designer Notes: The Great Northern War

Introduction

These designer notes are meant to be an easy read to provide the gamer with an overview of the
conflict and main combatants of the GNW. It looks at each army – doctrine, tactics etc and these are
reflected in the game. Should you want to read more around the GNW, the bibliography lists books
and documents that are worth a read should the period interest you. The game has taken a long time
to publish and has only been possible with the support of many people, in particular the management,
staff and play testers of WDS without whom this game would not have been have seen the light of
day.

Languages and spelling

Languages – this war covered several European countries and multiple languages. We have tried to
spell names correctly, consistently and using any additional letters. There are variations in the names
of battles, ways in which names are spelt, changes in spelling over time etc. The team has included
some fluent Scandinavian speakers on the team but not for other languages. We know we will have
misspelt – possibly mangled some languages – for this we can only apologise.

The Game Campaigns

The game has five campaigns. Each campaign covers the main historical battles with variations - so
called “What if” scenarios. These “What if” games cover tactical or strategical choices the combatants
could have taken but didn’t. They feature in the campaign folder but can also be fought as a stand-
alone battles.

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1700 Campaign – 1700 - 1701

This campaign represents the initial battles of the Great Northern War (GNW) fought at the
start of the conflict and against the background of rising tensions in Europe. The GNW started
with a series of co-ordinated attacks by the Danes, Russians and Saxony with the Swedes
defeating each opponent by 1701.

The campaign contains the following battles (and variations of these battles):

Historical battles:

Humlebaek - August 1700: The Swedes took advantage of Danish commitments (see Holstein)
in Europe and landed a force at Humlebæk which was able to disperse the Danish defenders
and march unopposed on Copenhagen forcing the Danes to sue for peace.

Narva – November 1700: The classic Swedish victory against a numerically superior Russian
numbers in a snowstorm to relieve the garrison at Narva.

Olkieniki – November 1700: Support in Lithuania was split between pro-Swedish and pro-
Northern Alliance factions. This battle would determine which faction would hold sway.

Riga (Crossing the Düna) – July 1701: The Swedes were faced by a Saxon and Russian army
across the river Duna. The Swedes launched a deception plan which drew forces away and an
ambitious amphibious assault which dislodged the Saxons and the inactive Russian forces.

What if battles:

Holstein - August 1700: A real event but no actual fighting occurred here. It was essentially a
standoff between the Danish army against Sweden and their allies. The standoff was resolved
with the Swedish victory at Humlebæk forced the Danes to sue for peace.

Polish Campaign – 1702 – 1706

In the campaigns of 1700 and 1701 Sweden fought off the initial attacks by the coalition of
enemies they faced. Denmark-Norway was out of the war and all Swedish territory was now
free of hostile armies. The Swedes was now able to take the war to their remaining enemies.
The defeat of the Russian army at Narva had put them out of the picture, at least for a while,
and so the Swedes decided to defeat their other opponents – the Saxons and Poles.

The campaign that followed would be fought for traditional military objectives such as cities,
provinces, and fortresses. In addition, the Poles soon split into rival factions and so the two
sides would attract or lose Polish support depending on how the campaign was progressing.
Yet the most important aspect was what we could call public opinion. In this case the Swedes
were seeking to force Augustus II (“the Strong”), the Saxon elector and Polish King, to sue for
peace by shaming him with repeated defeats, and thereby force him to resign from Poland’s
elective kingship.

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Historical Battles:

Kliszów (July 19, 1702): The Swedish army of about 12,000 men marched into Poland seeking
a decisive battle. The Saxons were also seeking battle and stationed their army in northern
Poland near the Swedes. Soon the two armies were a short march from each other. The
Swedes were expecting reinforcements to arrive and set up a camp at Opietza. Meanwhile
the 16,000 Saxons were waiting for their 6,000 Polish allies at the town of Kliszów. Having
received their reinforcements on July 18, the Swedes decided to launch an attack on the
Saxons the following day. At the same time the Polish-Lithuanian force arrived.

Pułtusk (May 1, 1703): Following the battle at Kliszów the cracks in the Polish society were
revealed. Various factions within Polish society allied themselves together or with the Saxons
or Swedes. To exploit this situation the Swedish army moved to the Polish capital Warsaw.
Warsaw did not have any defenses and was not occupied by an army, so the Swedes took the
city without difficulty. Meanwhile the Saxon army had moved near to Saxony, where they
replaced their losses and built up their army. As the spring of 1703 arrived, the Saxons moved
to contest the Swedish control of Warsaw and sent a force of 8 cavalry regiments closer to the
capital. This put this group of Saxon cavalry within striking distance of the Swedes in Warsaw.
It was an opportunity that the Swedish King would not pass up. Field Marshal Adam Heinrich
von Steinau, who commanded the Saxon army, had no idea of the actual strength of the
Swedes and initially only expected a smaller battle. When he saw the entire Swedish cavalry
approaching, he assumed that the Swedish infantry was also present. He immediately had his
troops withdraw to Pułtusk.

Gemauerthof (July 26, 1705): As campaigning continued the situation in Poland started
turning against the Saxons. The Russians had been campaigning in the Baltic territories and
decided to send aid to help their Saxon allies. As part of this the Russian general Sheremetjev
led a mobile “flying column” of cavalry and infantry mounted on horses. This column would
move from the Baltic into Poland to aid the Saxons but would also pass near the Swedish army
in Courland under General Lewenhaupt. Defeating Lewenhaupt would eliminate a potential
threat to their supply lines but also seal their recent victories in the Baltic. Therefore, the
Russians moved to attack the Swedes around Gemauerthof.

Warsaw (July 31, 1705): After negotiations the Swedes and discontented Poles had reached
an agreement to remove the Saxon Augustus from the Polish throne and replace him with a
Swedish puppet king. This would be disastrous to the Saxons and their allies and equally
advantageous to the Swedes, so the Saxons and their allies had to do something to try and
disrupt these plans. By mid July 1705 the allied army under General Otto Arnold von Paykull
was approaching Warsaw looking for a chance to strike when suddenly the chance presented
itself. The main Swedish army had been drawn away from the area and only a small force
under the Swedish general Nieroth remained. Nieroth with about 2,000 Swedes was facing
more than 9,000 enemy cavalry, a great opportunity for the Saxons and their allies.

Fraustadt (February 13, 1706): In 1705 the situation for the Saxons and their allies
deteriorated. The Saxon elector was deposed as King of Poland and replaced by a Swedish
puppet king. This of course was not recognized by the Saxons and their allies but was a great
loss of prestige for them. Decisive action was needed to restore the situation before the
campaign was lost. In late 1705 the main Saxon army had withdrawn to Saxony to rebuild for
the upcoming crucial campaign. Meanwhile Russians had moved into Poland in force. The plan
was for the two armies to cooperate to confront and defeat the main Swedish army. While
the main Swedish army was occupied with attacking the Russians at Grodno, the Saxons aimed

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to crush General Rehnskiöld’s troops detached from the main Swedish field army. Rehnskiöld
was outnumbered by more than two to one by the main Saxon army and was also in danger
of getting isolated and cut off from the main Swedish army. So it was that despite the bitter
winter weather Rehnskiöld decided to take the initiative and attack the main Saxon army
which at that time was near the town of Fraustadt.

Kalisz (October 29, 1706): With the campaign in Poland winding down both sides were trying
to position themselves for the upcoming Russian campaign. In particular, they were seeking
to gain the support of the Poles and Lithuanians. Around the city of Kalisz, the Swedes have
assembled a combined army of Swedish (mainly various foreign units), pro Swedish Polish and
Lithuanian units under General Mardefelt. This army of perhaps 15,000 men was tasked with
holding the area and attracting recruits to the various parts of the army. Yet it was in an
exposed position away from all other friendly forces and within reach of a great deal of hostile
forces. So it was that a hostile coalition of forces would assemble at Kalisz to attack
Mardefelt’s force in the last battle of the campaign.

During the Polish Campaign there were also battles fought elsewhere. Some of these are
included as stand-alone scenarios in the game:

Jakobstadt (August 5, 1704): In the summer of 1704 Tsar Peter I marched to the Narva area
with a reorganized army to capture the city and occupy Swedish Ingria. After a long siege
followed by a three-fronted attack, the Russians captured Narva on 20 August 1704. Later that
month Tsar Peter I signed the Treaty of Narva, aligning the Sandomierz Confederation faction
of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with Russia against Sweden in the war. During this
period the Russian corps of Major General Korsak together with their Lithuanian allies under
Wisniowiecki and Oginski occupied the town of Jakobstadt on the Düna (Daugava) river and
made camp there. The exact number of troops are uncertain, but there were probably about
3500 Russians and 10000 Lithuanians present. The Swedish corps of Major General
Lewenhaupt together with their Lithuanian allies was ordered to move on Jakobstadt, and
attack and destroy the Russians and Polish-Lithuanians encamped there.

Poznań (August 19, 1704): Posen (Poznań) was the chief city and key point in Great Poland,
the northeastern part of the Republic where the Swedish cause had its greatest support.
However, despite this, unrest was great, and bands of King August II’s supporters ravaged the
region. In July, the Vojvoden of Posen, Stanislavs Lezszynski, was elected new King of Poland.
Immediately thereafter the Swedish main army broke up from its quarters with King Charles
XII at its head. The army headed south to catch up with King August. With the departure of
the main army, Major General August Johan Meijerfelt was dispatched to the relief of the city
with three cavalry regiments, a strength combined of 1,800 men. They arrived on 2nd August
and made camp in one of Posen’s suburbs. On 19th August a Swedish reconnaissance patrol
snapped up a Saxon deserter who reported that a large corps under General Johan Mathias
von der Schulenburg was approaching with the intention of attacking the Swedish force.

Poniec / Punitz (November 7, 1704): The Battle of Poniec (Punitz) marked the end of the
Swedish autumn campaign in Poland in 1704, that had started back in September with the
Swedish capture of Lemberg. Upon learning of the Polish recapture of Warsaw, the Swedish
army decided to move towards the capital, and hunt down the Polish King Augustus II, and
the Saxon army under General Schulenburg that accompanied him. When learning of this by
his scouts, the Polish king ordered a retreat towards Cracow. On the afternoon of November
7th (or October 28th according to the Swedish calendar) King Charles XII caught up with the
Saxon Army on the outskirts of the town of Poniec. The Swedes attacked and drove the enemy

24 | P a g e
before them at a brisk pace. The hunt went straight through the town, and Schulenburg, who
was with his main body on the other side of Poniec, had no other choice than to deploy for
battle.

What if battles:

There are several what-if variants of some of the battles included in the campaign. There are
also included two what-if variants of the Battle of Poniec. There are also included variants of
some of the battles with alternate OOBs.

Russian Campaign - 1708 - 1709

This was the main campaign of the war. Charles XII launching an attack into Russia with the
aim of removing Russia from the war once and for all. The Swedes enjoyed initial successes
before the campaign became a series of grinding battles as the Russians fought a war of
attrition and employed a scorched earth policy. The campaign culminating in the Battle of
Poltava when the worn-down Swedish army was decisively beaten by the Russians. Poltava is
generally seen as the turning point of the war. The Swedish main army was lost, and Charles
XII fled to Turkey with remnants of his army where he spent many years plotting to get the
Turks to attack Russia (which they did) and directing the Swedish war effort from afar. He
eventually returned to Sweden when the Turks got fed up his machinations. It is reputed that
Charles XII returned to Sweden with his favourite recipe for what would become the famous
Swedish meatballs.

Historical battles:

Holowczyn – The Swedes attacked and defeated Russian forces defending the Vabitch river.
This supposedly was Charles XIIs favourite battle.

Lesnaya – The Swedes attempted to reinforce and supply their main army with a supply
column led by Lewenhaupt. The column of some 4000+ wagons and troops were being
watched by the Russians. Czar Peter led a flying column of infantry and dragoons to ambush
the Swedes at a river crossing at Lesnaya. The Swedish defeat helped seal the fate of the main
Swedish army.

Koniecpol – a battle with pro-Swedish and pro-Russian Polish forces. Had the pro-Swedish
forces made it through they would have been able to reinforce the main Swedish army.

Malatitze – an attempt by the Russians to surprise and destroy a Swedish command

somewhat far forward of the main army. An ambitious plan, which while it failed,
demonstrated growing Russian confidence and capability.

Veprik – a small engagement, typical of the small battles that would wear the Swedes down.
An unsuccessful and costly assault on a fort commanded by a Scottish officer in Russian
service.

Baturyn – The Russian siege of the Cossack city in attempt to destroy Swedish Cossack allies
in what is now Ukraine. After an unsuccessful assault, a traitor let the Russians in who sacked
the city.

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Oposhnya – A Swedish cavalry assault on Russian Dragoons covering a river crossing.

Poltava – The decisive battle of the GNW. The Swedes attack the main Russian army at Poltava
in Ukraine. A daring – and desperate – assault on the Russian positions. Dogged by bad luck
from the start – Charles XII had been shot and was unable to take command of the army, the
early assault was delayed, the Russians had built a line of forts the Swedes didn’t know about,
a Swedish officer got hold of a map - and got his command lost, poor communication. The
Swedes fought valiantly and with no small degree of desperation - but to no avail. The Russians
knew how the Swedes would attack and allowed the Swedes to wear themselves out attacking
fortifications. Then deployed their superior numbers to finish them off.

What if battles:

Borodino – this assumes Swedish successes in the campaign game and marks the Russian
attempts to stop the Swedes.

Gorki – The Russians prepared for a defensive action here for a Swedish attack which wasn’t
launched. This scenario covers a Swedish assault.

The Second Battle of Narva – This battle is based on a Swedish defeat at Holowczyn and
reverses the original battle with the Swedes in the original Russian defences tackled by the
Russians.

There are also “What if” battles for the historical battles.

Finnish campaign – 1713 - 1714

Post Poltava, the Russians moved into Finland in force. The smaller Finnish army resisted but
was eventually defeated and Finland occupied by the Russians.

The campaign contains the following historical battles (and variations of these battles):

Pälkäne – October 1713 – The Finns took up a strong defensive position to await the Russian
attack. The Russians used rafts to cross adjacent lakes, flanked the Finnish positions were able
to force the Finns back.

Storkyro – February 1714 – The Finns took up a defensive position near Storkyro in winter.
The Russians aided by a local guide were able to flank the Finnish position. The Finns quickly
re-adjusted their positions and despite initial success were heavily defeated.

What if battles:
Kolari – November 1713 – This battle hypothesises a Russian defeat at Pälkäne and
subsequent retreat to the safety of the fortress of Vyborg. The Finns have pursued and
constantly harassed the retreating Russians.

Kristinestad – March 1714 - This battle hypothesises a Russian defeat at Storkyro, with
General Golitsyn deciding to retreat towards the coastal town of Kristinestad to await
reinforcements and supplies from the Russian navy or possible evacuation.

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Norwegian Campaign

The Swedes made two unsuccessful attempts to invade Norway in 1716 and 1718 - this
campaign covers the second 1718 campaign. By 1718 it was clear the Swedes had lost the
GNW and this was an attempt by Charles XII to reverse their losses by taking Norway. The
Swedish efforts to take Norway halted when Charles XII was shot and killed - the actual cause
of his death has remained a mystery/controversy to this day. Theories include being shot by a
Norwegian sharpshooter at an unfeasibly long range. Or being shot by his own officers for the
good of Sweden - as Charles XII seemed to want to keep going until Sweden was destroyed.
Finnish ballistic research from 2022 suggests Charles XII may have been hit in the head by
canister shot fired by Norwegian artillery.

The Norwegian campaign was gruelling for the Swedes who ended up retreating back across
the mountains into Sweden in the middle of winter. Cold, disease, hunger and the Norwegians
did for many of the soldiers. This retreat is commemorated every summer by a walk from
Norway to Jämtland in Sweden following the same route on the unfortunately named
Carolinian death march.

Historical battles:

Stene Redoubt – September 1718 - The Swedes bypassed the strong Norwegian defences at
Stene.

The other scenarios cover the many small engagements with Norwegians on the route to
Trondheim.

What if battles:

A series of scenarios covering Swedish attacks on Trondheim.

Other battles
(This covers all other battles not linked to any of the campaigns mentioned above)

Erastfer (January 9, 1702): During the first year of the war, Charles XII of Sweden was able to
defeat the Russian army at Narva in 1700, and then followed up this victory by pursuing August
the Strong to Saxony. Once the main Swedish army had left the Baltics, the Russian forces
were able to regroup, and started their first attempts of conquering the Baltic countries of
Livonia and Estonia. Left behind to defend this area was the rather small Swedish force under
the command of Major General Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach of about 5000 regulars and
3000 militia. In December 1701 Russian general Boris Sheremetev had got reinforcements and
gathered his troops for an assault on the Swedish defenders, who had gone into winter camp
at the small town of Erastfer.

Fjälkinge (January 23, 1710): In the beginning of the winter campaign of 1709-1710 in Scania
in Sweden, several hard battles and skirmishes took place around the city of Kristianstad. The
capture of this city was one of the objectives of the Danish invasion corps. The Battle of
Fjälkinge was a skirmish between retreating Swedish cavalry and the pursuing Danes.

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Helsingborg (March 10, 1710): This was the final and decisive battle of the Danish invasion of
Scania. The Danish army was attacked by a large Swedish army outside of Helsingborg.
Morning fog concealed the attacking Swedes and caught the Danes off guard. The battle
ended in disaster for the Danish army.

Wismar (December 5, 1711): After their defeat in the Battle of Helsingborg in 1710, the Danish
Army evacuated Scania. King Fredrik IV of Denmark then decided to turn his attention to the
Swedish possessions in Northern Germany. The fortress of Wismar was the first and nearest
goal, and a Danish army of 19,000 men was assembled in Holstein in the beginning of July to
open the new campaign. As the Danish shifted their focus to Stralsund instead, only a minor
force was left south of Wismar to guard the area. During the night of December 5, the Swedes
moved out of Wismar with a combined force of infantry, cavalry, and several pieces of
artillery, to attack the right flank of the Danish. The Danish commander got word of the
coming attack and ordered his men to saddle up and get ready.

Gadebusch (December 20, 1712): During 1712, all of Sweden's dominions south of the Baltic
Sea, apart from forts, had been conquered by the allies Denmark, Saxony, and Russia. While
a Danish army moved in the region of Hamburg, a large Russian-Saxon force stood south of
Stralsund. The Swedish general Stenbock could hardly attack this force with a frontal assault
but hoped that by moving west towards Mecklenburg it could be encircled or scattered. The
Danish army together with some Saxon cavalry formed into battle line at the town of
Wakenstädt, south of Gadebusch. The Swedes attacked the allied center with their infantry
and with artillery up front, as the cavalry moved around the allied flanks. The battle lasted
until dusk when the allies left the field.

Stresow (November 16, 1715): During the Great Northern War Sweden tried its utmost to
keep its possessions in Northern Germany. In 1715 the three fortified harbors of Stralsund,
Wismar and Stettin were still in Swedish hands. Possession of Rügen was vital for Stralsund,
the most important of the fortresses, which could only receive supplies from there. The
Swedes, therefore, had a garrison of about 4,500 men on the island. A combined allied force
of Danes, Saxons and Prussians landed at the town of Gross Stresow on Rügen on November
15, and immediately dug in and fortified the area. The following night, the Swedes led by King
Charles XII in person, attacked the allies’ fortified camp.

Stäket (August 13, 1719): After the death of Charles XII of Sweden at Fredriksten in 1718, the
Swedish armies had pulled back from all fronts. Surrounded by hostiles, it was clear that a
peace treaty would not be forthcoming without large territorial losses. An attempt was made
to play the adversaries against each other, but Russia forced the issue by building and
equipping a large Baltic fleet with orders to pillage and harass the eastern Swedish seaboard.
On August 13, 1719, a Russian force landed on both sides of Stäket (or Baggenstäket), a sound
that led towards the capital of Stockholm. The area was defended by a few Swedish
“tremänning” companies in hastily made redoubts and defensive works. Some Swedish ships
were also nearby and would help in the defense. Several Swedish infantry battalions were
ordered to Stäket to help stop the Russians, arriving at dusk.

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Notes on the armies

Sweden/Finland
When we speak of the Swedish army, we are talking about an army composed of Swedes but also
Finns and soldiers from the various areas of the Swedish empire like Estonia and Livonia. For most of
the war the Swedish army was generally respected and feared by their opponents due to their
effectiveness in battle and at times, ruthlessness.

The Swedish main army was typically well led, organised, trained, and equipped - their provincial
armies less so. As the war dragged on, the quality of the Swedish army declined as the quality of their
opponents improved.

There were two basic types of troops, the first being regulars (“värvade”) who were full time soldiers
which included the Guards, garrison troops and technical specialists like artillery. This also includes
units raised for the war in the areas controlled by Sweden which didn’t have the “Indelningsverket”
system.

The other troop type was raised under a system called “Indelningsverket” in Sweden and
“Ruotujakolaitos” in Finland. Each province was assessed and, dependent on the population, wealth
etc. was obliged to provide a defined number of units of infantry and or cavalry.

Typically, farms in a Province were to join forces and equip an infantryman. Those farms were called
a Rote. The soldier was given some land and a house or “Torp” to live when not on duty - while the
rest of the men in the rote escaped conscription.

The cavalry was conscripted in a similar way with each Rusthåll (same as a Rote) providing a horse and
horseman. Providing a cavalry man with horse and equipment gave the Rusthål tax breaks and avoided
conscription.

You can see these “Torps” (wooden houses) throughout Sweden today, many Swedes continue to live
in them during the year. The idea being that each soldier fed and looked after themselves when they
weren’t training. This gave the Swedes a pool of trained soldiers ready to mobilise quickly and was
much cheaper than full time soldiers. A dead soldier had to be replaced by the province thereby
keeping the army re-supplied with troops.

To expand the army temporary “Männing” regiments were also raised – these raised additional troops
on top of the existing Indelningsverket system. So, a Rote would provide an infantryman for the
Södermanland Regiment and replace this individual should they be killed. This Rote may also be
grouped with three other Rote to provide, between them - an infantryman for the Södermanland och
Östgöta Tremännings Regiment – recruited across two provinces. This Rote could also be grouped with
five other Rota to provide infantry for a Femmänning Regiment. This also happened with cavalry
regiments.

Swedish units tended to be a description of the area they were raised in and of the kind of unit they
were – like the Södermanland och Östgöta Tremännings Regiment. You will notice that many of these
names don’t fit into the unit boxes in the game, and has had to be abbreviated in different ways.

It was a system which was able to maintain the Swedish units in the field for as sustained period.

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Units

Infantry Battalions were usually 600 men strong in 4 companies. Regiments had 1 to 4 battalions –
usually two battalions. Regulations required infantry were equipped with pike and musket until almost
the end of the war on a 1/3 pike, 2/3 musket ratio – unless pikes weren’t available.

Cavalry and Dragoons were usually between 800 – 1000 men strong and usually operated in two
squadron groupings of about 250 men. They were equipped with swords, pistols, and carbines for self-
defence. Dragoons did not dismount to fight and operated all senses the same as cavalry.

Infantry and cavalry units were also raised in Swedish occupied territory.

Leadership – The main Swedish army had an outstanding leader in King Charles XII. For other officers,
social status and rank were not always an impediment to progressing up the ranks. Charles XII aimed
to promote on the basis of merit, so many of the top Swedish commanders started their careers as
troopers or privates. So generally, there is good leadership in the Swedish army however there were
exceptions.

Tactics

Another strength of the Swedish army lay in a standardised doctrine. This doctrine had been
developed under previous Swedish monarchs.

Infantry

Tactics were standardised, aggressive and based on shock – called Gå-På (literally - go on). Basically,
the battalion would advance in step and in silence towards the enemy enduring their fire. At about 70
paces, half of the musketeers would volley into the enemy and the march would continue. At about
20 paces the remaining musketeers would volley, the pike men would level their pikes, the musketeers
draw their swords and charge at the enemy. A very effective tactic against poor quality or unsteady
opponents who usually broke before contact - but one which could lead to high casualties against a
determined opponent. Should an attack fail – it would be repeated until you were successful or
defeated.

Game changes: these tactics are reflected by giving the Swedish and Finnish units the following:

• A melee bonuses – to reflect the impact of the Gå-På tactics.

• An increased movement rate as the Swedes marched in cadence (in step)
• Swedish units usually have higher morale.
• Swedish leaders having higher leadership and command values.
• Swedish Gå-På infantry have reduced fire factor to represent the lower proportion
of muskets in a unit.

Cavalry

Swedish cavalry tactics were also based on shock. Squadrons attacked in an “arrow” formation with
the squadron leader at the apex (this may also explain the excellent promotion opportunities for
soldiers). The Squadron would manoeuvre “knee to knee and boot to boot” hitting the enemy at the
gallop. A more aggressive doctrine then their opponents.

Game changes: these tactics are reflected by giving the Swedish and Finnish units the following:

• Swedish cavalry get a melee bonus.

30 | P a g e
 • Swedish cavalry and dragoons employed the same tactics. Dragoons were dragoons
in name only. Swedish dragoons and cavalry would not normally dismount – there
were exceptions like at the Battle of Stresow.
• Swedish units usually have higher morale. The Guard cavalry and dragoons have the
highest morale.

Artillery

When used, the artillery could be quite effective such as at Gadesbusch and Holowczyn. Technical
innovations allowed the light Swedish artillery to keep pace with the infantry. However generally
nothing different to most other armies.

• Swedish light guns have higher movement rates.

The GNW could be quite a vicious conflict and the Swedes were feared. As a background to the main
campaigns a counter-insurgency was often conducted with many examples of what would now be
classed as war crimes committed by all sides. The Swedes had a particular contempt for the Russians
and frequently massacred prisoners. At Fraustadt the Russians turned their coats inside out to show
the red lining to look like Saxon infantry. After the battle, several hundred Russian prisoners were
killed by the Swedes.

Summary

As a generalisation, the Swedish main army was very good - well trained, led with very effective tactics.
Other provincial Swedish armies could be more varied in quality. The fact that many of their opponents
weren’t as good made them look even better – the classic quality versus quantity.

However, as the war dragged on – this advantage narrowed as their opponents become more
experienced and the Swedes declined in quality. Defeat at Poltava in 1709 saw the gradual decline of
the Swedish military.

Denmark
At the time of the GNW, Norway was under Danish rule, so in the game Norwegian units are part of
the Danish army. However, they will be treated separately in this document.

The Danish army could be considered a capable army but was somewhat unlucky in the GNW, losing
most of the key engagements with the Swedes. The Danish infantry were considered to be solid while
the cavalry was more average.

Leaders

The Danes had some capable commanders.

Infantry

The Danes had abandoned the pike and were musket equipped, relying primarily on firepower to
defeat an opponent. Danish regiments consisted of 11-20 companies split into 2-3 battalions. On
paper, Grenadiers companies had 112 men and line companies had 81 men of all ranks. Largely thanks
to the Danish monarch renting out their regiments, the crown found it necessary to raise a militia in
1701 of eight infantry regiments and two dragoon regiments. Conscripts served for six years and
worked on the farm with occasional drill in peacetime, despite this, militia service proved to be
unpopular.

31 | P a g e
Game changes: these tactics are reflected by giving Danish infantry the following:

• The Guards and Grenadier regiments have higher morale than other regiments.
• Danish leaders are generally classed as competent with some capable leaders.

Cavalry

Cavalry employed more of a controlled charge than the Swedes. Cavalry regiments were supposed to
have six companies of 57 men of all ranks and Dragoon regiments had six companies of 67 men of all
ranks.

Game changes: these tactics are reflected by giving Danish units the following:

• Danish dragoons can dismount.

• Danish elite cavalry and dragoons get a melee bonus.

Artillery

No special rules.

Norway
In 1700 the Kingdoms of Norway and Denmark were united in a personal union under

the King, Fredrik 4. Each maintained its own separate military establishment; although,

officers moved freely between them. Although the Norwegian Army had a few enlisted (“Geworbne”)
units, it was primarily a conscript army, in contrast to the Danish Army, which was predominantly an
enlisted army. Conscription was based on the farming population.

Most of the Norwegian units were kept in Norway to defend the country against any possible Swedish
invasions, but some were sent to Denmark for service there. Norwegian regiments were involved in
the defense of Zealand in 1700 and were also part of the invasion of Northern Germany in 1715.

Leaders

Mainly of average quality.

Infantry

The Norwegian infantry was organized in the same way as the Danish infantry and were of the same
quality as the regular infantry. All regiments had 9 conscripted companies, except for the
Trondhjemske Regiment which had 10. In addition, the regiments also had 3 reserve companies,
except for the Bergenhusiske and Trondhjemske Regiments, which had 5 each. Each company had
between 8-12 grenadiers. The strength of the regiments and companies varied because of the varying
size and population of the regimental and company districts.

• Norwegian infantry is armed with muskets and of average quality (C quality)

Cavalry

Most of the Norwegian cavalry were dragoons, which can dismount and fight at foot. These are of
average quality.

Artillery

32 | P a g e
As the Danish artillery.

Special troops

Norway also had some special types of troops, i.e., ski troops and jägers (called “fyrrør” in the
Norwegian Army). In 1711 two companies of these special troops were raised. Those selected were to
be "the best and healthiest men". Recruits were promised Lance Corporal pay and a "claim or right to
lease a farm after the war". Enlistment would be for the duration of the war. These units were used
primarily for reconnaissance, security, and cross-border operations, and were probably considered
elite. Only the ski units are part of the game (1718 Campaign).

Game changes: these tactics are reflected by giving Norwegian ski units the following:

• These troops have higher quality (B) and also higher movement rate in the winter
scenarios.

Russia
The other main protagonist. The Russian army under Czar Peter I started the war in a very poor state
and with a performance on the battlefield that matched. Czar Peter I began a programme of
modernising the Russian military. Over the period of the war the Russian military gained experience
and grew in competency.

Peter I had initially sought Western Europe military expertise. The Russians eventually stopped trying
to copy Western European tactics and adapted their tactics to play to their strengths. They knew the
Swedes would attack and how they would attack and developed tactics to counter them. The Russians
exploited their superiority in numbers – “quantity has a quality all of its own” – and used the Russian
weather, Dragoons and mounted infantry in flying columns and the vast spaces to grind the Swedes
down. The Russians were able to counter Swedish tactics quite effectively by the end of the war.

The Russian army at the end of the GNW was a different beast to the one that started it.

Leaders

Initially Peter I obtained the service of foreign leaders for regiments. This caused problems i.e.,
language issues, mistrust of the “foreigner” in charge - for example. Recognising the issues with
leadership, Peter looked to Russians for officers to provide Russian solutions to deal with the Swedes.
By the end of the war the Russian army had enough experienced and sufficiently competent officers
who understood their troops and how to defeat the enemy.

Infantry

At the start of the war the Russian army was a mishmash of medieval type levies, Streltsi and some
new regiments being formed by the Czar. Poor morale, inadequate training, lack of experience,
poor/inadequate/ineffective leadership led to very poor performances early, for example at Narva.

Gradually the reforms took hold and new regiments were formed, equipped, and trained. There is an
increasing amount of Russian research starting to be accessible in English – Boris Megorsky is a good
example. Even Russian research on the army for most of the war can be patchy due to limited or no
records. The Russians also hold a lot of information on captured Swedish uniforms/flags etc which is
useful.

33 | P a g e
Russian units were equipped primarily with muskets, but the front row was supposed to have every
other soldier armed with a pike. Like the Swedes it wasn’t always possible to equip every soldier with
a pike or they were abandoned for practical reasons for a campaign and the later years of the GNW.

The organisation of the Russian infantry and dragoons changed over the war in terms of numbers of
companies and strength. Typically, infantry regiments had around 1200-1300 men in two battalions
and dragoons had 5 squadrons each of two companies and a strength of between 1000-1200 men for
each regiment. As the war progressed, the size of the Russian military grew so that by the end of the
war, some 105 infantry and 37 dragoon regiments had been raised. Regiments and casualties were
replaced largely by conscription.

The two Guard regiments and the Ingermanlandski regiments were the more experienced and better
units. Most other Russian infantry will have a D grade but compensate for this with superior numbers.

Game changes: these tactics are reflected by giving Russian infantry the following:

• The two Guards and Ingermanlandski regiments have higher morale. Most infantry
are graded “D”
• Most leaders are average or below.

Other

Russians utilised Cossacks and similar to harass and wear down opponents. See Polish/Lithuanian
section.

Saxony
The Saxons proved to be one of the most persistent of Sweden's enemies.

They were one of the original members of the anti-Swedish coalition. At this time the Elector of Saxony
was also the King of Poland, so some of the troops were recruited in Poland, also at times the Polish
army operated with the Saxon army. In the first phase of the war, up to 1707 they campaigned mostly
in Poland and suffered a string of defeats. In 1707 they were forced out of the war as Charles the XII
of Sweden launched an invasion of Saxony.

Following the catastrophic Swedish defeat at Poltava in 1709 they re-entered the war, but with not so
much vigour as before. At first, they just sent mounted contingents, from 1713 they also committed
infantry but not on the previous scale.

Under King Augustus the Strong (“Strong” allegedly due to his large numbers of illegitimate children –
some 350+). The army of Saxony was quite capable but was going through a bad patch during the
GNW. Recruitment issues, poor morale, a large number of inexperienced troops, understrength
regiments etc which generally led to average or underwhelming performances.

Saxon troops had their moments – at Punitz for example, the Saxony infantry beat off the Swedish
cavalry and forced a draw on the Swedish infantry.

Leaders

Saxon leaders were generally capable, and with some better officers.

Infantry

The infantry was armed with muskets, and are generally of a C grade, while Guards etc can be rated
higher. No additional rules. Infantry units had 15 companies of 150 men each – on paper.
34 | P a g e
Cavalry

Cavalry and dragoons who dismount. C or D grades, some units for example the Guards have higher
grades. Mounted units had 12 companies of 58 men per company.

Game changes:

• Elite cavalry may have melee bonuses.

Artillery

The Saxon artillery was capable - No additional rules.

Poland and Lithuania

The participation of Poland- Lithuania in the Great Northern War was not planned or desired by the
Poles and Lithuanians. This though did not stop it from being a disaster for them. At this time the
country was an elective monarchy, but the monarch had relatively weak powers. The King in 1700 was
Augustus of Saxony and it was this that led to their involvement in the war.

Initially when the war started Augustus of Saxony determined to just participate in the war as head of
Saxony only. He did not enjoy the support of the Poles and Lithuanians for his war. So, during the 1700
the Saxon army was based and operated in neutral Poland in its campaign against the Swedes.
Understandably a situation that could cause some problems which indeed it proved so to do. For
following the successful elimination of Denmark from the war and the Battle of Narva in 1700 the
Swedes turned to knocking Saxony out of the war. Unfortunately, this meant invading Poland as that
was where the Saxon army was.

The Swedish invasion came at a very bad time for the Poles. The army was in disarray and had been
reduced as the Poles and Lithuanians had not expected a war. In addition, there were many divisions
within society, a situation which only increased as some factions turned to the invading Swedes for
support. Initially it was hoped that the opposing armies could just be left to fight it out. But of course,
now they were doing so on Polish and Lithuanian territory! The turning point was the Swedes replacing
Augustus as monarch with their own candidate.

This forced everyone to choose sides and led to what was in effect a civil war in Poland and Lithuania.
The first major action the Poles were engaged in was in 1702 at Kliszow. In which the unilateral
retirement from the battle led to the allied defeat. The following years saw a long campaign by the
Swedes and their Polish allies to force Saxony out of the war. This they finally managed in 1706 but
this did not improve the situation as the civil war continued.

The turning point was in 1708 and 1709. As the main Swedish army moved east to launch the Russian
campaign, they turned against them. In November 1708 the decisive battle of the civil war happened
at Koniecpol. The defeat of the pro Swedish forces at this battle hardened the anti-Swedes and
convinced many neutrals and wavers that their cause was doomed. In 1709 this was reinforced by the
news of the disastrous, for the Swedes, Battle of Poltava. There was still plenty of fighting left to be
done but the Swedish army left in Poland to support the pro Swedes withdrew and Russian forces
moved to support the anti-Swedes.

Peace was concluded between Sweden and Poland-Lithuania on December 27th, 1719. But it was not
with the same nation that had existed before the war. Before the war Poland-Lithuania had been a
strong nation but events during the Great Northern War had fatally weakened her. It was to be a long
time before the end finally came but after this experience Poland-Lithuania was never the same again.

35 | P a g e
Cavalry

Hussars: These are armoured (heavily armoured) heavy cavalry armed with lance, pistols, carbines,
and swords! They charge at the gallop and should generally be Veteran’s . Hussars were in regiments
with Pancerni banners.

Pancerni: These are also supposed to be armoured but not as much as the Hussars. They would have
pistols, carbines, and swords, plus possibly bows and spears. Pancerni would be Trained with possibly
some veterans – bodyguard, Hetman’s own banner, etc.

Hussars were always in mixed units with Pancerni, but some regiments could be all Pancerni.

Cossacks (Kozack): These are unarmoured light skirmishing horse. They could have bows, carbines,
spears, swords or pretty much anything. But they fought in open order and skirmished.

Dragoons: These, and ‘Rajtar’s’, were ‘foreign’ regiments, i.e., they were Poles/Lithuanians but using
foreign tactics. So, these are basically standard dragoon units from the time. Polish/Lithuanian
dragoons frequently dismounted and fought on foot.

Rajtar is the Lithuanian name for standard western style heavy cavalry. Again, these were
Poles/Lithuanians but using foreign tactics, but these are similar to western ‘Horse’, ‘Cavalry’ or
‘Cuirassier’ regiments. Both dragoons and Rajtar would ‘charge’ at the trot, and possible fire pistols as
they did this, when mounted.

Noble Levy: These are a kind of mounted feudal levy armed with whatever they happened to have.
These units are strong contenders for the ‘worst troops existing’ at the time.

Infantry

These would be Trained. They most likely used rank firing but may still have had some pikes as well.

Game changes:

• Hussars – Armour and melee bonuses.

• Pancerni – Armour and melee bonuses,
• Cossacks (Kozacks) – higher movement rates.
• Dragoons – can dismount
• Rajtar – melee bonus
• Noble levy (inc Russian Noble Levy) poor quality – no additional changes or
redeeming qualities.

Artillery – no additional changes

Infantry – no changes

Weapon Types

The letter at the beginning of each of these entries correlates to the value used in the various game
files. That is, weapons.dat, the various PDT files & the OOB files. The text label after it is what you
see in the game interface and in the PDT file Help Menu display.
• A - 3-4 Pounder – regimental guns – quite common in the GNW.
• B - 6 Pounder – field guns.
• C - 12 Pounder – more your siege weapon.

36 | P a g e
 • D - Mortar – another siege weapon.
• E - Howitzer – employed in small numbers – Some Russian dragoons had howitzers.
• F - Musket-LB – Musket (Less Bayonet) for trained skirmishers like Norwegian Skiloper or not
available for some units, for example Militia – which didn’t help morale.
• G - Musket – units without pike like the Danes who had adopted the Dutch doctrine of using
firepower to overwhelm an opponent. On occasion, some Swedish/Finnish units had no
pikes available and were equipped solely with muskets. They still employed Gä Pä tactics
but were generally less effective without the pikes.
• H - Musket Axe – these are units equipped with a musket and long handled axe which could
also serve as a musket rest. Russian Streltsy use this combination for example.
• K - Musket Pike – This represents the two thirds musket and one third pike combination of
Swedish units. The Gä Pä tactics elide on this mixture of firepower and shock delivered via
the pike.
• L - Lance – the primary weapon of Polish winged Hussars for example.
• M - Musket Pike-FP – This stands for Musket and Pike (Few Pikes). The Russian doctrine was
to have 20% of the front row of infantry equipped with a pike. While no longer used in most
European armies the pike was retained by some armies to provide a degree of protection
against cavalry in the theatres of the GNW.
• N - Pistol Sword – for cavalry who still practiced less aggressive tactics where firepower was
still an element of a cavalry charge. The residual influence of caracole type tactics.
• O - Bow Sword – used by irregulars i.e. Cossack types.
• Q - Mixed Weapons – for militia, mobs etc who have no standardised equipment or training
which is reflected in their performance.
• S - Sword – the primary weapon of cavalry.
• T - Spear Bow – used by irregulars i.e. Cossack types.
• Z - Sword Carbine – for dragoons.

Further Notes
(for those elements not covered elsewhere)

How Morale was determined

The grades allocated to units was based on an assessment of their training, leadership and morale at
that stage of the war. So, a Guards Regiment would be expected to be an A grade, we also considered
their performance in battle and adjusted accordingly. So, at the Battle of Veprik the Russian infantry
would be typically expected to be a D grade, however their performance was more akin to superior
troops, so they were upgraded to a B.

A: Elite troops: These troops are well trained, well led, experienced and perform very effectively on
the battlefield. Examples include the Swedish Guards and other Guard units. Troops may not meet
the above criteria but their performance in battle warrants an A grade.

B: Superior troops: These are well trained, experienced and reliable troops. Most Swedish units fall
into this category. Troops may not meet the above criteria but their performance in battle warrants a
B grade.

C: Good troops: These are troops who are trained, with some experience and usually perform well.
Most troops fall into this category, for example Danish and Saxony line infantry. Troops may not meet
the above criteria but their performance in battle warrants a C grade.

37 | P a g e
D: Poorer quality troops: These are troops whose morale and drill doesn't match up to the other
armies and are less reliable. They can fight well enough if managed carefully. The Russians are the
most common D troops. Troops may not meet the above criteria but their performance in battle
warrants a D grade.

E: Very poor troops: These are troops with limited training, usually poorly led and with wavering
morale - generally unwilling to spill their blood for the cause. These are usually levies or militias.
Troops may not meet the above criteria but their performance in battle warrants an E grade.

F: Shockingly poor troops: Troops whose morale is so low they have absolutely no intention of
remaining on the battlefield. Only a handful of units get this grade and generally earlier on in the
conflict. The Russian Provincial cavalry at Narva are a good example of F grades – fleeing the battlefield
before the Swedes had even turned up. Troops may not meet the above criteria but their performance
in battle warrants an F grade.

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Websites
https://www.tacitus.nu/gnw/

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in_den_schwedischen_Streitkr%C3%A4ften

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053

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300-ars-markering

https://mia.no/ullensaker/nordiske-krig

http://www.battle.poltava.ua/english/history.htm

https://spec.tass.com/poltava/reeducating-the-nation/

https://www.leagueofaugsburg.com/

https://www.nb.no/karl-xii-kart/omfelttogene.htm

https://www.wfgamers.org.uk/

https://web.archive.org/web/20181128082400/http:/northernwars.site40.net/

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pobezhdena.html

http://www.hhogman.se/regementen_start.htm

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