The Battle of Poltava took place. Battle of Poltava: Ministry of Defense of the Russian Federation
At the end of the autumn of 1708, after a grueling march that lasted more than three months, the Swedish troops needed serious rest. Charles XII decides to move towards Poltava. The Poltava garrison was small. It consisted of about 4,000 active military personnel and about 2,500 adult residents capable of defending the city. Therefore, the Swedes thought it would be an easy victory.
At the end of April, the Swedish army approached the city and began a siege. However, the calculations did not come true. For more than two months, the city’s defenders, under the command of Colonel Kelin, bravely repelled attacks. They gave us the opportunity to gain time. By the end of June, the Russian army approached the left bank of the Vorskla.
The Swedish king was seriously preparing for the battle with the Russians. They built powerful field fortifications. Peter I made a roundabout maneuver. He sent his troops up the river. A crossing was built outside the village of Chernyakhovo. This allowed us to find ourselves in the rear of the Swedish army. By decision of Peter I, a place near the village of Yakovtsy was chosen as the site of a future general battle. The most convenient path for the attack was between two dense forests, Budishchinsky and Yakovetsky. To organize a decent meeting, the Russians built eight redoubts with an interval of 300 meters between them. They became a serious obstacle to the Swedish troops. The Belgorod Infantry Regiment was located under the cover of the redoubt. His task was to staunchly defend the redoubt, destroy and exhaust the Swedes.
Peter placed 17 of the best cavalry regiments behind the redoubts. These regiments consisted of dragoons under the command of Menshikov. The main forces, which included 56 battalions, were located in a camp that was heavily fortified on all sides. In front of him was the main artillery.
The Swedes did not expect that the Russian army would appear so unexpectedly in the rear. They had to urgently rebuild. To clarify enemy positions, the Russians sent reconnaissance. She encountered a Swedish detachment. This was the vanguard that always accompanied the king. As a result of the shootout, the king was wounded in the leg.
On June 27 (July 8), 1709, early in the morning, the Swedish army went on the offensive. At the cost of huge losses, the Swedes captured all the redoubts. 6 Swedish infantry battalions and 10 squadrons were cut off. The Russian artillery fire was so strong that the Swedes began to hastily retreat to their positions. Five infantry regiments, supported by five dragoons, completely destroyed this army group. They managed to capture the commander of this group, General Schlippenbach.
The main forces of the enemy troops directed their attack through the redoubts. They were counterattacked by Russian artillery. Peter built his main forces successively in two lines. The camp was covered by 9 reserve battalions. The decisive attack began at 9 am. Both advancing armies drew closer. The battle turned into deadly hand-to-hand combat. A separate battalion of the Novgorod regiment was headed by Tsar Peter himself. He personally led them into the attack. The offensive was so successful that the Swedes could not resist. The Russian cavalry outflanked the Swedes. She struck them in the rear. This was the decisive moment of the entire battle. Soon the entire army fled from the battlefield.
King Charles suffered the most serious defeat. The Russians managed to capture 15,000 people. 9234 people were killed.
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Battle of Poltava |
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Near Poltava, Ukraine |
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Decisive victory for the Russian army |
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Opponents |
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Commanders |
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Carl Gustav Rehnschild |
Alexander Danilovich Menshikov |
Strengths of the parties |
General forces: |
General forces: |
Battle of Poltava- the largest battle of the Northern War between Russian troops under the command of Peter I and the Swedish army of Charles XII. It took place on the morning of June 27 (July 8), 1709, 6 versts from the city of Poltava on Ukrainian lands (Left Bank of the Dnieper). The decisive victory of the Russian army led to a turning point in the Northern War in Russia's favor and ended Sweden's dominance as the main military power in Europe.
After the Battle of Narva in 1700, Charles XII invaded Europe and a long war broke out involving many states, in which the army of Charles XII was able to advance far to the south, winning victories.
After Peter I conquered part of Livonia from Charles XII and founded the new fortress city of St. Petersburg at the mouth of the Neva, Charles decided to attack central Russia and capture Moscow. During the campaign, he decided to lead his army to Little Russia, whose hetman, Mazepa, went over to Karl’s side, but was not supported by the bulk of the Cossacks. By the time Charles's army approached Poltava, he had lost up to a third of the army, his rear was attacked by Peter's light cavalry - Cossacks and Kalmyks, and was wounded just before the battle. The battle was lost by Charles, and he fled to the Ottoman Empire.
Background
In October 1708, Peter I became aware of the betrayal and defection of Hetman Mazepa to the side of Charles XII, who negotiated with the king for quite a long time, promising him, if he arrived in Ukraine, up to 50 thousand Cossack troops, food and comfortable wintering. On October 28, 1708, Mazepa, at the head of a detachment of Cossacks, arrived at Charles’s headquarters. It was in this year that Peter I amnestied and recalled from exile (accused of treason based on Mazepa’s slander) the Ukrainian colonel Paliy Semyon (real name Gurko); Thus, the sovereign of Russia secured the support of the Cossacks.
From the many thousands of Ukrainian Cossacks (registered Cossacks numbered 30 thousand, Zaporozhye Cossacks - 10-12 thousand), Mazepa managed to bring only up to 10 thousand people, about 3 thousand registered Cossacks and about 7 thousand Cossacks. But they soon began to flee from the camp of the Swedish army. King Charles XII was afraid to use such unreliable allies, of which there were about 2 thousand, in battle, and therefore left them in the baggage train.
In the spring of 1709, Charles XII, being with his army on Russian territory, decided to resume the attack on Moscow through Kharkov and Belgorod. The strength of his army decreased significantly and amounted to 35 thousand people. In an effort to create favorable preconditions for the offensive, Karl decides to quickly capture Poltava, located on the right bank of the Vorskla.
On April 30, Swedish troops began the siege of Poltava. Under the leadership of Colonel A. S. Kelin, its garrison of 4.2 thousand soldiers (Tver and Ustyug soldier regiments and one battalion each from three more regiments - Perm, Apraksin and Fechtenheim), 2 thousand Cossacks of the Poltava Cossack Regiment (Colonel Ivan Levenets) and 2.6 thousand armed townspeople successfully repelled a number of assaults. From April to June, the Swedes launched 20 assaults on Poltava and lost more than 6 thousand people under its walls. At the end of May, the main forces of the Russian army, led by Peter, approached Poltava. They were located on the left bank of the Vorskla River opposite from Poltava. After Peter decided on a general battle at the military council on June 16, on the same day the advanced detachment of Russians crossed the Vorskla north of Poltava, near the village of Petrovka, ensuring the possibility of crossing the entire army.
On June 19, the main forces of the Russian troops marched to the crossing and crossed Vorskla the next day. Peter I camped his army near the village of Semyonovka. On June 25, the Russian army redeployed even further south, taking up a position 5 kilometers from Poltava, near the village of Yakovtsy. The total strength of the two armies was impressive: the Russian army consisted of 60 thousand soldiers and 102 artillery pieces. Charles XII had up to 37 thousand soldiers (including up to ten thousand Zaporozhye and Ukrainian Cossacks of Hetman Mazepa) and 41 guns (30 cannons, 2 howitzers, 8 mortars and 1 shotgun). A smaller number of troops took part directly in the Battle of Poltava. On the Swedish side there were about 8,000 infantry (18 battalions), 7,800 cavalry and about 1,000 irregular cavalry, and on the Russian side - about 25,000 infantry, some of whom, even being present on the field, did not take part in the battle. In addition, on the Russian side, cavalry units numbering 9,000 soldiers and Cossacks (including Ukrainians loyal to Peter) took part in the battle. On the Russian side, 73 artillery pieces were involved in the battle against 4 Swedish ones. The charges for the Swedish artillery were almost completely used up during the siege of Poltava.
On June 26, the Russians began to build a forward position. Ten redoubts were erected, which were occupied by two battalions of the Belgorod infantry regiment of Colonel Savva Aigustov under the command of Lieutenant Colonels Neklyudov and Nechaev. Behind the redoubts there were 17 cavalry regiments under the command of A.D. Menshikov.
Charles XII, having received information about the imminent approach of a large Kalmyk detachment to the Russians, decided to attack Peter’s army before the Kalmyks completely disrupted his communications. Wounded during a reconnaissance on June 17, the king transferred command to Field Marshal K. G. Renschild, who received 20 thousand soldiers at his disposal. About 10 thousand people, including Mazepa’s Cossacks, remained in the camp near Poltava.
On the eve of the battle, Peter I toured all the regiments. His short patriotic appeals to soldiers and officers formed the basis of the famous order, which demanded that soldiers fight not for Peter, but for “Russia and Russian piety...”
Charles XII also tried to raise the spirit of his army. Inspiring the soldiers, Karl announced that tomorrow they would dine in the Russian convoy, where great booty awaited them.
Progress of the battle
Swedish attack on the redoubts
At two o'clock in the morning on June 27, Swedish infantry moved out from near Poltava in four columns, followed by six cavalry columns. By dawn, the Swedes entered the field in front of the Russian redoubts. Prince Menshikov, having lined up his dragoons in battle formation, moved towards the Swedes, wanting to meet them as early as possible and thereby gain time to prepare for the battle of the main forces.
When the Swedes saw the advancing Russian dragoons, their cavalry quickly galloped through the gaps between the columns of their infantry and quickly rushed at the Russian cavalry. By three o'clock in the morning a hot battle was already in full swing in front of the redoubts. At first, the Swedish cuirassiers pushed back the Russian cavalry, but, quickly recovering, the Russian cavalry pushed the Swedes back with repeated blows.
The Swedish cavalry retreated and the infantry went on the attack. The tasks of the infantry were as follows: one part of the infantry had to pass the redoubts without a fight towards the main camp of the Russian troops, while the other part, under the command of Ross, had to take the longitudinal redoubts in order to prevent the enemy from firing destructive fire on the Swedish infantry, which was advancing towards the fortified camp Russians. The Swedes took the first and second forward redoubts. Attacks on the third and other redoubts were repulsed.
The brutal stubborn battle lasted more than an hour; During this time, the main forces of the Russians managed to prepare for battle, and therefore Tsar Peter ordered the cavalry and defenders of the redoubts to retreat to the main position near the fortified camp. However, Menshikov did not obey the tsar’s order and, dreaming of finishing off the Swedes at the redoubts, continued the battle. Soon he was forced to retreat.
Field Marshal Renschild regrouped his troops, trying to bypass the Russian redoubts on the left. After capturing two redoubts, the Swedes were attacked by Menshikov's cavalry, but the Swedish cavalry forced them to retreat. According to Swedish historiography, Menshikov fled. However, the Swedish cavalry, obeying the general battle plan, did not develop their success.
During the mounted battle, six right-flank battalions of General Ross stormed the 8th redoubt, but were unable to take it, having lost up to half of their personnel during the attack. During the left flank maneuver of the Swedish troops, a gap formed between them and Ross's battalions and the latter were lost from sight. In an effort to find them, Renschild sent 2 more infantry battalions to search for them. However, Ross's troops were defeated by Russian cavalry.
Meanwhile, Field Marshal Renschild, seeing the retreat of the Russian cavalry and infantry, orders his infantry to break through the line of Russian fortifications. This order is immediately carried out.
Having broken through the redoubts, the main part of the Swedes came under heavy artillery and rifle fire from the Russian camp and retreated in disarray to the Budishchensky forest. At about six o'clock in the morning, Peter led the army out of the camp and built it in two lines, with infantry in the center, Menshikov's cavalry on the left flank, and General R. H. Bour's cavalry on the right flank. A reserve of nine infantry battalions was left in the camp. Renschild lined up the Swedes opposite the Russian army.
Decisive battle
At 9 o’clock in the morning, the remnants of the Swedish infantry, numbering about 4 thousand people, formed in one line, attacked the Russian infantry, lined up in two lines of about 8 thousand each. First, the opponents engaged in gunfire, then began hand-to-hand combat.
Encouraged by the presence of the king, the right wing of the Swedish infantry fiercely attacked the left flank of the Russian army. Under the onslaught of the Swedes, the first line of Russian troops began to retreat. According to Englund, the Kazan, Pskov, Siberian, Moscow, Butyrsky and Novgorod regiments (the leading battalions of these regiments) succumbed to enemy pressure, according to Englund. A dangerous gap in the battle formation formed in the front line of the Russian infantry: the Swedes “overthrew” the 1st battalion of the Novgorod regiment with a bayonet attack. Tsar Peter I noticed this in time, took the 2nd battalion of the Novogorod regiment and, at its head, rushed into a dangerous place.
The arrival of the king put an end to the successes of the Swedes and order on the left flank was restored. At first, the Swedes wavered in two or three places under the onslaught of the Russians.
The second line of Russian infantry joined the first, increasing pressure on the enemy, and the melting thin line of the Swedes no longer received any reinforcements. The flanks of the Russian army engulfed the Swedish battle formation. The Swedes were already tired of the intense battle.
Charles XII tried to inspire his soldiers and appeared in the place of the hottest battle. But the cannonball broke the king's stretcher, and he fell. The news of the death of the king swept through the ranks of the Swedish army with lightning speed. Panic began among the Swedes.
Having woken up from the fall, Charles XII orders himself to be placed on crossed peaks and raised high so that everyone can see him, but this measure did not help. Under the onslaught of Russian forces, the Swedes, who had lost formation, began a disorderly retreat, which by 11 o'clock turned into a real flight. The fainting king barely had time to be taken from the battlefield, put into a carriage and sent to Perevolochna.
According to Englund, the most tragic fate awaited two battalions of the Uppland Regiment, which were surrounded and completely destroyed (out of 700 people, only a few dozen remained alive).
Losses of the parties
Menshikov, having received reinforcements of 3,000 Kalmyk cavalry in the evening, pursued the enemy to Perevolochna on the banks of the Dnieper, where about 16,000 Swedes were captured.
In the battle, the Swedes lost over 11 thousand soldiers. Russian losses amounted to 1,345 killed and 3,290 wounded.
Results
As a result of the Battle of Poltava, the army of King Charles XII was so drained of blood that it could no longer conduct active offensive operations. He himself managed to escape with Mazepa and hid in the territory of the Ottoman Empire in Bendery. The military power of Sweden was undermined, and in the Northern War there was a turning point in favor of Russia. During the Battle of Poltava, Peter used tactics that are still mentioned in military schools. Shortly before the battle, Peter dressed the experienced soldiers in the uniform of the young ones. Karl, knowing that the form of experienced fighters is different from the form of young ones, led his army against the young fighters and fell into a trap.
Cards
The actions of Russian troops from the moment of the attempt to liberate Poltava from Vorskla until the end of the Battle of Poltava are shown.
Unfortunately, this most informative diagram cannot be placed here due to its dubious legal status - the original was published in the USSR with a total circulation of about 1,000,000 copies (!).
Memory of an event
- At the site of the battle at the beginning of the 20th century, the museum-reserve “Field of the Poltava Battle” (now the National Museum-Reserve) was founded. A museum was built on its territory, monuments to Peter I, Russian and Swedish soldiers were erected, on the site of the camp of Peter I, etc.
- In honor of the 25th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava (which took place on the day of St. Sampson the Host) in 1735, the sculptural group “Samson Tearing the Lion’s Jaw,” designed by Carlo Rastrelli, was installed in Peterhof. The lion was associated with Sweden, whose coat of arms contains this heraldic beast.
Monuments in Poltava:
- Monument of Glory
- Monument at the resting place of Peter I after the battle
- Monument to Colonel Kelin and the valiant defenders of Poltava.
On coins
In honor of the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava, the Bank of Russia issued the following commemorative silver coins on June 1, 2009 (only reverses are shown):
In fiction
- A.S. Pushkin, “Poltava” - in the novel “Poltava Peremoga” by Oleg Kudrin (shortlist for the “Nonconformism-2010” award, “Nezavisimaya Gazeta”, Moscow) the event is considered, “replayed” in the genre of alternative history.
Images
Documentary film
- “The Battle of Poltava. 300 years later." — Russia, 2008
Art films
- Servant of Sovereigns (film)
- Prayer for Hetman Mazepa (film)
And with them the royal squads
They came together in the smoke among the plain -
And the battle broke out, the Battle of Poltava!..
Swede, Russian - stabs, chops, cuts;
Drumming, clicks, grinding,
The thunder of guns, the stomping, the neighing groan -
And death and hell on all sides.
A. S. Pushkin. Poltava.
June 27 (July 8) 1709 six miles from the city of Poltava in Little Russia (Left Bank Ukraine) the largest battle took place Northern War between Russian and Swedish troops, which ended with the defeat of Charles's Swedish army XII.
In April 1709 Swedish troops besieged the city of Poltava, which was defended by a small garrison under the command of Colonel A. WITH. Kelina. The Swedes launched daily attacks on the fortress. If the city was captured, a threat was created to Voronezh, a key base for supplying and forming the Russian army.
At the end of May 1709 The main forces of the Russian army under the command of Peter I . The Russian army, numbering 42 thousand people and 72guns, was located in a fortified camp that she created 5 km north of Poltava. Considering experience Battle of Lesnaya , the Russian army chose a small rugged space surrounded by forest to make it difficult for the enemy to maneuver. Peter took command of the first division, and distributed the other divisions among the generals. The cavalry was assigned A. D. Menshikov , command of the artillery was entrusted to Bruce.
About 20 thousand people and 4 guns (28 guns were left in the convoy without ammunition). The rest of the troops (up to 10 thousand people), including the Cossacks and Ukrainian Cossacks who fought on the side of Sweden, led by Hetman I.S.Mazepa, were in reserve. By the Swedish army, due to the wounding of Karl XII , commanded by Field Marshal Renschild. The infantry and cavalry were commanded by generals Levenhaupt and Kreutz.
At two o'clock in the morning 27 June (8 July) Swedish infantry moved in four columns towards the Russian redoubts, followed by six cavalry columns. After a stubborn two-hour battle, the Swedes managed to capture only two advanced redoubts. Renschild, trying to bypass the Russian redoubts on the left, regrouped his troops. At the same time, six right-flank battalions and several squadrons of generals Schlippenbach and Ross broke away from the main forces of the Swedes, retreated to the forest north of Poltava, where they were defeated by Menshikov’s cavalry.
Having broken through the redoubts, the main part of the Swedes came under heavy artillery and rifle fire from the Russian camp, and retreated in disarray to the Budishchensky forest.
At nine o'clock hand-to-hand combat began. Under pressure from superior forces, the Swedes began a retreat, which soon turned into a disorderly flight. A detachment of A.D. was sent in pursuit of the retreating people.Menshikov, who the next day overtook the enemy at Perevolochna on the Dnieper and forced the remnants of the Swedish army (16 thousand) under the command of A.D.Levenhaupt to capitulate. The Swedish king Charles XII and the Ukrainian hetman Mazepa with a small detachment fled to the territory of the Ottoman Empire.
During the Battle of Poltava, the Swedes lost over 9 thousand killed and over 18 thousand prisoners, while Russian losses were significantly less - 1 thousand 345people killed and 3 thousand 290 wounded.
The Russians were the first in the military science of the era to use field earthen fortifications, as well as fast-moving horse artillery. The decisive victory of the Russian army in the Battle of Poltava led to a turning point in the Northern War in Russia's favor and ended Sweden's dominance as the main military power in Europe. The ancient Russian lands went to Russia, and it firmly established itself on the shores of the Baltic Sea.
Lit.: Assanovich P. L. Emperor Peter the Great: Poltava. St. Petersburg, 1909; Bogdanovich P. N. Poltava Victoria. Buenos Aires, 1959; Borisov V. E., Baltiysky A. A., Noskov A. A., Battle of Poltava. 1709 - 27 June 1909. Sat. Art. St. Petersburg, 1909; Dyadichenko V. A. Battle of Poltava. Kiev, 1962; Zlain A.I. Battle of Poltava. M., 1988; Poltava. To the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava. Sat. Art. M., 1959;Telpukhovsky B. S. Northern War 1700-1721. M., 1946;State Historical and Cultural Reserve "Field of the Poltava Battle": website. B.d. URL:
By 11 a.m. on July 8, 1709, the formidable Swedish army had fled. The day had just begun, and the Russians were already celebrating victory - not victory, the defeat of the enemy - in the general battle of the Northern War, the battle of Poltava.
Interesting facts about the famous participants of the largest battle in the article on the site.
Peter I
1. On the eve of the Battle of Poltava, Peter I toured all the regiments. His short patriotic appeals to soldiers and officers formed the basis of the famous order, which demanded that soldiers fight not for Peter, but for “Russia and Russian piety...”.
After the Poltava victory, Peter I was declared “the first lieutenant general”
2. According to legend, during the Battle of Poltava, Peter I used tactical cunning. Shortly before the battle, he dressed the “veterans” of the Novgorod infantry regiment in the unpainted uniform of recruits. Charles XII, knowing from a defector that the form of experienced fighters differs from that of young ones, led his army against the latter and fell into a trap.
Peter I in the Battle of Poltava. Louis Caravaque, 1718
3. After the Poltava victory, Peter I was promoted to the rank of “first lieutenant general.” This promotion is not a mere formality. For the future emperor, the battle of Poltava became one of the most important events in his life and, with certain reservations, he could sacrifice his life if necessary. At one of the decisive moments of the battle, when the Swedes broke through the Russian ranks, Peter rode forward and, despite the targeted fire that the enemy fired at him, galloped along the infantry line, inspiring the fighters by personal example. According to legend, he miraculously escaped death: three bullets almost reached their target. One pierced the hat, the second hit the saddle, and the third hit the pectoral cross.
Charles XII
1. Charles XII, conducting reconnaissance before the Battle of Poltava, was wounded in the heel by a shot from a carbine. This injury refuted the legend about the invulnerability of the Swedish king and led to serious consequences - Charles XII controlled the army’s actions during the Battle of Poltava from a hastily constructed stretcher.
2. The decisive moment in the Battle of Poltava was the spread of rumors about the death of Charles XII: the cannonball hit the stretcher with the wounded king, and he miraculously survived. It quickly became clear that the rumor was exaggerated. The wounded Charles ordered himself to be raised like a banner, like an idol, on crossed spears. He shouted: “Swedes! Swedes! But it was too late: the exemplary army succumbed to panic and fled.
Before Poltava, Charles XII was wounded in the heel by a carbine shot
3. The defeat at Poltava turned out to be very painful for Charles XII. Poltava not only destroyed the military authority of the Swedish king, it dealt a decisive blow to the Swedish army, which never regained its former power. Even over Charles’s heirs the “shadow of Poltava” hovered. Three years after his death, in 1721, Sweden concluded the Peace of Nystadt with Russia on conditions more severe than those that the great commander refused in 1718.
“Charles XII and Ivan Mazepa after the Battle of Poltava”, Gustav Cederström
Ivan Mazepa
1. At the end of October 1708, Ivan Mazepa, taking the treasury with him, fled to Charles XII. But by the fact of his betrayal, the hetman, oddly enough, served Russia for the last time. It was he who persuaded the Swedish king not to go on a direct march to Moscow through Minsk and Smolensk, but to feast on the free bread of Poltava, besieging which the Swedes lost two months, as well as almost their entire gunpowder reserve. By the time of the Battle of Poltava they had only 4 guns left.
Pushkin's poem "Poltava" was originally supposed to be called "Mazepa"
2. Alexander Sergeevich Pushkin’s poem “Poltava” was originally supposed to be called “Mazepa”. The poet became interested in the story of the hetman, who went against Tsar Peter, even during his exile in Odessa. Pushkin’s biographical chronicle recorded that in January 1824, he and the Liprandi brothers specially came to Bendery to visit the place where the camp of Charles XII and Ivan Mazepa was located. I visited Varnitsa, met with 135-year-old Ukrainian Nikolai Iskra (who had once, as a child, visited the Swedes’ camp and seen the king), asked him about Mazepa, tried to find the hetman’s grave.
Subsequently, completing the poem “Poltava”, the poet recalled this episode:
And in vain there is a sad stranger
I would look for the hetman's grave:
Mazepa has been forgotten for a long time!
3. On the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the Battle of Poltava, ex-mayor of Moscow Yuri Luzhkov read a poem of his own composition, the main character of which was Hetman Mazepa and his modern fans.
Today the new Mazepas are trying to distort the truth,
To inflame and inflame enmity between Ukraine and Russia.
Anyone who now glorifies Mazepa risks only acquiring shame.
Come to your senses, new Mazepa, cross yourself on the domes!
Don't start doing the old dirty deeds again!
Alexander Menshikov
1. The closest associate and favorite of Peter I, Duke of Izhora Alexander Menshikov played a big role in the Battle of Poltava, where he commanded first the vanguard and then the left flank of the Russian army. Even before the main forces were brought into battle, he defeated the detachment of General Wolmar von Schlippenbach, capturing the latter. At the moment of the clash of troops, General Karl Roos attacked the corps, scattering it, which largely predetermined the victory of the Russian army. During the battle of Menshikov, three horses were killed.
Portrait of A. D. Menshikov, 1716 - 1720
2. For Poltava, Alexander Menshikov was named second field marshal general. In addition, the cities of Pochep and Yampol with extensive volosts were transferred to his possessions, increasing the number of his serfs by 43 thousand male souls. In terms of the number of serfs, he became the second owner of souls in Russia after the Tsar. At the ceremonial entry of Peter I into Moscow on January 1, 1710, Menshikov was at the Tsar’s right hand, which emphasized his exceptional merits.
During the Battle of Poltava near Alexander Menshikov, 3 horses were killed
3.
A crowd rushed after him
These chicks of Petrov's nest -
In the midst of earthly lot,
In the works of power and war
His comrades, sons;
And noble Sheremetev,
And Bruce, and Bour, and Repnin,
And, happiness, the rootless darling,
Semi-powerful ruler.
A. S. Pushkin “Poltava”, 1828
“Chicks of Petrov's nest” - this is how Pushkin called Boris Sheremetev, Yakov Bruce, Radion Bour, Anikita Repnin and Alexander Menshikov. The last name of the latter is not mentioned, replaced by a paraphrase“happiness, a rootless darling, / A semi-sovereign ruler”.
Karl Roos
1. During the Battle of Poltava, Major General Karl Gustav Roos commanded one of four infantry columns that suffered serious losses while trying to capture Russian redoubts. As a result, he lost control over the units subordinate to him, and his battalions were cut off from the main army. Peter I successfully used this circumstance, sending five infantry battalions and five cavalry regiments under the overall command of Prince Alexander Menshikov to the cut off Swedish units, which inflicted a crushing defeat on them. The remains of Roos' column in one of the trenches left by the Swedes near the Poltava Fortress surrendered to Lieutenant General Samuil Renzel.
Carl Gustav Roos
2. In December 1709, together with the rest of the prisoners, Karl Roos walked through the streets of the Russian capital during a triumphal procession organized by Peter I to commemorate the victory. After this, he was sent to Kazan, where he remained until the conclusion of the Treaty of Nystadt in 1721, which ended the Northern War.
In the spring of 1708, Charles XII invaded Russia. With him were 24 thousand infantry and 20 thousand cavalry. These were selected warriors who knew their job very well. In Europe there were legends about them as invincible soldiers. The Swedish king initially intended to go to Moscow through Smolensk, but this direction was covered by a strong army led by Boris Sheremetev. Charles XII turned south and went to Ukraine. He was in secret correspondence with the Ukrainian hetman Ivan Mazepa. Many among the Cossack elders were dissatisfied with the position of Ukraine within Russia. They believed that the liberties of the elders and Little Russian gentry were curtailed. The hardships of the Northern War also took their toll. 20 thousand Cossacks fought in the “Livonian region”. Ukrainian hetman Ivan Mazepa dreamed of Ukraine, a vassal of Sweden. Mazepa promised Charles XII apartments for the army, food, fodder (horse feed), and military support for the 30,000-strong Zaporozhye army.
FROM A REPORT ABOUT THE BATTLE OF POLTAVA
“And so, by the grace of the Almighty, the perfect Victoria, of whom little has been heard or seen like this, with easy difficulty against a proud enemy through His Royal Majesty, a glorious weapon and a personal brave and wise victory was won. For His Majesty truly showed his courage, wise generosity and military skill, without fearing any fear to his royal person, to the highest degree, and, moreover, his hat was pierced by a bullet. Under his lordship Prince Menshikov, who also showed his courage, three horses were wounded. At the same time, it should be known that of our infantry only one line, in which there were ten thousand, was in battle with the enemy, and the other did not reach that; for the enemies, having been refuted from our first line, ran and were thus beaten<…>News was received from those sent to bury the dead from the battle that at the battle site and around it they counted and buried the Swedish dead bodies of 8,519 people, except for those who were beaten in the chase through the forests in different places.”
“I ASK YOU TO COME TO MY TENT”
On the eve of the Battle of Poltava, King Charles XII, promising his officers and soldiers a quick victory, invited the Russian Tsar to a luxurious dinner in the tent. “He prepared many dishes; go where glory leads you.” Peter I actually organized a feast for the victors, where he invited captured Swedish generals. At the same time, not without irony, the Russian monarch said: “Yesterday my brother King Charles invited you to dine in my tent, but today he did not come and did not keep his word, although I really expected him. But when His Majesty did not deign to appear, then I ask you to come to my tent.”
ORDER FOR THE TRAITOR
After Poltava, Peter I sent the following order to Moscow: “Upon receiving this, immediately make a silver coin weighing ten pounds, and on it have Judas cut out, hanging himself on an aspen tree, and below are thirty pieces of silver lying with a bag with them, and on the back is this inscription: “ Cursed is the pernicious son Judas, who is choking for his love of money.” And for that coin, make a chain of two pounds, send it to us by express mail immediately.” This was the Order of Judas, made specifically for the traitor Hetman Mazepa.
Tests on the history of the Fatherland
VICTORY PARADE
The event turned out wonderful. The order of the parade can be judged from the engravings of P. Picard and A. Zubov.
The victorious sounds of twenty-four trumpeters and six timpani players who led the column flew from the Serpukhov Gate. The procession was opened by the Semenovsky Life Guards Regiment on horseback, led by Prince M.M. Golitsyn. The Semyonovites rode with unfurled banners and drawn broadswords.
Next were the trophies taken at Lesnaya, followed by Russian soldiers again, now through the snow, dragging 295 banners and standards captured at Lesnaya, Poltava and Perevolochnaya. (by the way, at the Victory Parade on June 24, 1945, 200 fascist banners and standards were thrown at the foot of the V.I. Lenin mausoleum). Such dragging of enemy captured banners across land and water (if it was in a port) became a kind of traditional part of victorious events in the Peter the Great era. Next came the Swedish prisoners. On December 21, a huge number of prisoners of war were paraded through the Russian capital - 22,085 Swedes, Finns, Germans and others taken during 9 years of war.
At first, the captured non-commissioned officers of the “Courland Corps” were taken on foot. After the victories at Lesnaya and Poltava, the Swedes were not considered a formidable enemy and, as a mockery, 19 sleighs of the “Samoyed King” of the half-crazy Frenchman Udder with the Nenets dressed in reindeer skins, drawn by reindeer and horses, were allowed behind them. Behind them were carried on horseback the stretchers of the Swedish king captured near Poltava. They were kept in the Armory for some time, until a fire in 1737 destroyed them...
After the Swedes came the grenadier company of the Preobrazhensky Regiment, again Swedish officers and trophies taken near Poltava. Then Levengaupta walked on foot along with Rehnskiöld and Chancellor K. Pieper.
Following the generals, Colonel Peter the Great himself of the Preobrazhensky Regiment rode on horseback in a uniform torn by fragments of Swedish cannonballs, in a saddle shot through by a Swedish bullet, and in a cocked hat pierced by it. He rode the same horse on which he led the second battalion of Novgorodians into the attack in difficult moments of the Battle of Poltava. Now Field Marshal General Alexander Menshikov was following the Tsar. The Preobrazhensky soldiers followed them and a huge convoy began.
Swedish regimental music was carried on 54 open carts, accompanied by 120 Swedish musicians. Among the trophies were silver kettledrums from the Swedish Life Regiment. By the “oral” command of Tsar Peter Alekseevich, as a sign of distinction in the Battle of Poltava and with the obvious traditional meaning of the commander’s kleynod of the leader, they were granted the field marshal general, His Serene Highness Prince A.D. Menshikov to the General or Life Squadron - the ancestor of the Horse Guards, becoming a precedent when the trophy turned into a military award. The prisoners were led through the city streets through all 8 triumphal gates, erected “to the shame and disgrace of the Swedes.”
Bells were ringing in all the churches, people were yelling, shouting curses, and in general, there was “such a roar and noise that people could hardly hear each other on the streets,” wrote Corporal Erik Larsson Smepust. However, all participants in the procession were treated to beer and vodka. The Swedish generals, as after the Battle of Poltava, were invited to a feast at Menshikov’s house. The Moscow Victory Parade, organized by Peter the Great, was one of the most magnificent during his reign. And it was held not only for the edification of one’s own and foreign contemporaries, but also for descendants. A tradition was born that must be preserved.
