On This Day In History: Peter The Great Defeats Charles XII Of Sweden At The Battle Of Poltava – On June 28, 1709

AncientPages.com - On June 28, 1709, Peter the Great defeated Charles XII of Sweden at the Battle Of Poltava.

The battle of Poltava was the turning point in the Northern War (1700–21) between Sweden and Russia. It was the crucial victory of Peter I, the Great of Russia, over Charles XII of Sweden in the Great Northern War.

The battle ended Sweden’s status as a significant power and marked the beginning of Russian dominance in Eastern Europe

The battle was fought north and west of Poltava, west of the Vorskla River, in Ukraine, between 80,000 Russian troops under Peter the Great and the general Prince Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov and 17,000 Swedes under Charles XII.

The Swedish invasion of Russia had already failed the previous winter, with the loss of their primary supply column to the Russians and their failure to receive expected reinforcements. Despite the severe shortages of men, artillery, and powder, Charles continued the war and besieged Poltava in May 1709. The Russians assembled their forces to raise the siege.

Both Peter I and Charles XII regrouped their forces and ordered their troops to advance.

Intense Russian artillery fire again created chaos in the Swedish ranks, and soon the Swedes were routed.

Charles XII and Mazepa at the Dnieper River after Poltava by Gustaf Cederström

But Charles lacked mobility because he had been injured a few days before, and his secondary commanders either lacked daring or failed to understand his plan.

The Russian counterattack, with 40,000 troops, killed or captured almost the entire Swedish army, except for Charles and 1,500 followers, who escaped south into Turkish-occupied territory.

Over 9,300 died, and nearly 2,900 were taken prisoner. The Russian army suffered 1,345 dead and 3,290 wounded.

According to the capitulation agreement, Cossacks under Swedish command were handed over to the Russians. Most were executed on the spot, and the rest exiled to Siberia.

AncientPages.com