Battle in the Great Northern War
|
---|
- Denmark and Holstein-Gottorp (1700)
- Swedish Baltic dominions
- Courland and Western Lithuania
- Poland
and
Saxony
- Russia
and Eastern Lithuania
- Sweden proper (including
Finland
)
- Moldavia
- Swedish German dominions
- Mecklenburg and Holstein-Gottorp
- Norway
- Naval battles
- Treaties
|
The
Battle of Petschora
took place on February 23, 1701 near the village of
Pechory
,
Russia
during the second year of the
Great Northern War
. The
Swedish army
of about 2,100 men assisted by approximately 2,000 peasants under the command of
Jacob Spens
defeated a Russian force of about 6,000 men.
Prelude
[
edit
]
After the
crushing defeat at Narva
by
Charles XII of Sweden
, the Russian tsar
Peter I of Russia
gathered his forces near the Swedish borders at
Pskov
and
Gdov
to start a new offensive into the
Swedish Livonia
. Charles who suspected the offensive, gathered forces of his own under the command of
Magnus Stenbock
and Jacob Spens to cross the Russian border and destroy the two footholds of
Izborsk
and
Petschora
. Stenbock saw his force heavily outnumbered by the guarding Russian army at Gdov and so, forced to retreat, contented himself with burning and savaging the Russian lands in the area before crossing the Swedish border.
[2]
Fighting at Petschora
[
edit
]
Spens arrived at his destination in late February and there sought to meet the Russian army in the open field. The two armies met outside the town of Petschora on 23 February. The Russians launched an attack on the peasants assisting the Swedes, causing riots in the lines. However, Spens then
Counterattacked
with his Swedish
Lifeguard of Horse
which drove the Russians to seek cover in the town under fierce fighting. The effective passages for cavalry attacks in the town became too narrow and Spens pulled them back for his
infantry
to break down their opponents. The Russians then fled into the houses shooting at the Swedes who in turn set the town on fire where many were burned alive. However, the main bulk of the Russians reached the
monastery
to escape the Swedish onslaught. The Swedes unsuccessfully stormed its surrounding walls which proved too hard without
artillery
. Spens aborted the operation while some
Cossacks
attacked his accompanying peasants. He, instead satisfied with burning the nearby villages and then returned to the Swedish border.
[2]
The Swedes had lost 30 men killed and another 60 wounded in the fighting, the Russians on the other hand lost 500 men killed excluding the ones who were burnt to death in the town.
[1]
Aftermath
[
edit
]
The Russian
Tsar
presumed the
reconnaissance
operation to be a step in a full scale Swedish invasion and so gave orders for no Russians to retreat any further than the Pskov?Gdov line which he reinforced along with Izborsk and Petschora where he built fortresses.
[2]
However, Charles who were stuck at
Laiuse
because of the ongoing winter, later broke up with his army having been in winter quarters and started his march towards the south, against the
Saxons
under
Augustus II
whom he estimated being the greatest current threat. After a while, the Swedish and Saxon armies met in the
battle of Duna
where the Swedish king, after a bold landing, managed to cross the river and force his opponents to retreat, leaving all of
Courland
open for
occupation
.
[4]
Later, while entering the
Polish?Lithuanian Commonwealth
on the chase after king Augustus?who were also the ruler of the commonwealth?the Russians started their offensive deep into the
Swedish overseas
, which they would
seize 20 years later
, during the end of the war. However, the same year, in 1701, they first encountered the Swedish
general
Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach
in the
battle of Rauge
where
Boris Sheremetev
?one of Peters' foremost generals?was defeated, which would only be the beginning of Peters' ambition for an "
open window to the west
".
[5]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
Laidre, Margus. 198?199
- ^
a
b
c
d
Grigorjev & Bespalov. pp. 80?81
- ^
Goelgel, Naundorff. pp. 528
- ^
Laidre, Margus. pp. 220
- ^
Sundberg (2010).
Sveriges krig 1630-1814
. p. 206?263.
Literature
[
edit
]
- Margus Laidre (1996). Segern vid Narva: Borjan till en stormakts fall.
- Boris Grigorjev & Aleksandr Bespalov (2012). Kampen mot overmakten. Baltikums fall 1700?1710.
- Goelgel, Naundorff. Historisch-politisch- und geographische Beschreibung des Konigreichs Schweden, Volym 1. Riegel (1708).