In the beginning of the Great Northern War,
it seemed that Sweden was isolated by its enemies that would soon win the conflict. However, by the middle of 1702, it proved
to be anything but, as Charles XII, the soldier King of Sweden, had defeated all of his initial
opponents in battle and was close to total domination. As the Swedish victories mounted, so did her
enemies’ eagerness to dismantle the empire. Just as the king of Poland Augustus II was
licking his wounds after the defeat at Klissow, the Russian bear came out of its winter slumber
and began planning its next attack. The good news is that you don’t need a time
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in an epic fashion by downloading Epic War: Thrones via the link in the description! Following the battle of Klissow, the Swedish
army advanced towards Kraków, while Augustus fled to Sandomierz. The governor of Kraków was unwilling to surrender
his city without a fight, however, he changed his mind after a Swedish display of force
in front of the city walls. A couple of weeks later, a 12000-strong Swedish
army from Pomerania arrived in Kraków as well. Augustus, seeing the gravity of the situation,
left Sandomierz with 4000 cavalry and advanced towards Warsaw to re-take it. He had hoped to call for another Diet and
gather military and financial support from the nobility. The Diet did not go according to his plans
though, as an increasing number of noblemen voiced their dissatisfaction with the fact
that Augustus involved the Commonwealth in the war. Several noblemen even threatened to openly
back Charles in the conflict. Growing more desperate, Augustus sent countless
envoys to the Swedish King in the autumn of 1702, however, Charles would not accept any
of the terms that were offered. Fearing that all of his offers to Charles
would go unanswered, Augustus begged for the aid of his liege via the electorate of Saxony,
the Holy Roman Emperor. Leopold I acquiesced, though his motives were
not as selfless as they seemed, as the treaty he offered Charles stipulated that Sweden
and Poland would end all hostilities and that all Saxon troops would leave to join the Imperial
Army in the War of the Spanish Succession. The young King dismissed even this offer,
as he was determined to defeat Augustus completely. By 1703, Augustus was forced to flee Warsaw
again, while Charles continued consolidating his position in Poland. Although we have neglected this theatre of
the war for some time, it is time to return to Ingria and Estonia. As Charles turned southwards after the Battle
of Narva, tsar Peter was given some much needed time to reinforce and improve the Russian
army. Boris Sheremetev, the only Russian commander
to have escaped after the Battle of Narva, was given command over the Russian forces
in the North. Small raids into Estonia and Ingria were conducted
regularly during 1701, but they were not decisive by any means. The first serious attempt to probe the Swedish
defenses in the area was made in September, when Sheremetev led a 7000 strong army into
Estonia. However, Von Schlippenbach intercepted the
Russian advance with a three times smaller army and defeated Sheremetev at Rauge. Sheremetev made another attempt with a much
larger army under him, and advanced into Estonia again in January 1702. Schlippenbach, this time outnumbered 6-to-1,
gave battle at Erastfer, and was forced to retreat after sustaining heavy casualties. After Erastfer, the Russians faced almost
no significant opposition in the area and were able to advance deep into Ingria. In the autumn of 1702, the main Russian army,
under the command of Peter himself, reached the Swedish fort of Noteborg. As the Russians had lost all of their artillery
at the Battle of Narva, two years prior, they made an extraordinary effort to replace their
lost and outdated artillery pieces, even going as far as to melt down church bells for material. The new Russian artillery core was quite effective. The Swedish garrison of Noteborg, though mounting
a serious defense, was forced to surrender after heavy bombardment and continuous assaults. The Swedish commander gave Peter the key to
the city, which symbolized that Noteborg was the key to the Neva river. Peter, recognizing that as well, renamed the
city to Schlusselburg and placed it under the command of his most trusted general, Menshikov. The siege, though relatively short, left the
Russian army exhausted and the Tsar’s desire to repair and improve the fort gave them some
time to recover. Charles was aware of the situation in the
north, however, he did not see the Russian advances as a significant threat and continued
pursuing his goals in Poland. As the campaigning season of 1703 began, the
Russian army left Schlusselburg and advanced towards the mouth of the river Neva. The mouth of the river was guarded by a fort
called Nyenschantz. Hearing that the Russian army was approaching,
the Swedish garrison burned the fort to the ground. Peter the Great captured what was left of
Nyenschantz on the 1st of May and on the 27th, decided to found a new city there, Russia’s
future capital – St Petersburg. In order to build the superior city and the
fortresses around it, tens of thousands of serfs were forcefully brought to St Petersburg. Along with them, Peter also invited many architects,
engineers and shipwrights from Western Europe to help him build the city of his dreams. These extraordinary efforts seem to have paid
off, as by 1704, St Petersburg began sprawling outwards from the main fortress and two new
fortresses were built alongside it. There were several Swedish attempts at reconquering
the city in the next few years, however, all of them were unsuccessful. Back in Poland, Charles managed to obtain
the support of enough of the Polish nobility to have Stanislaw Leszczynski crowned as the
new King. On the other hand, Augustus still mounted
a significant resistance as he controlled the majority of the Polish army. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth subsequently
descended into chaos, as the Sandomierz Confederation, led by Augustus and the Warsaw Confederation,
led by Stanislaw began fighting a brutal civil war. Due to the chaotic nature of the conflict,
forts and cities continuously changed hands between the two confederations and Sweden,
and it is difficult to discern who controlled several parts of the Commonwealth at different
points in time. In the summer of 1704, the Swedish fort of
Narva fell to the Russian army, after a much more effective blockade and siege than 4 years
earlier. And it was at Narva that Peter signed a treaty
with Augustus, granting the Saxon monarch significant subsidies, 12000 Russian soldiers
and lands in Ruthenia in exchange for staying in the war. Over the next year, the Russians and Saxons
had devised a strategy to defeat the Swedish army and expel Charles from Poland. The Grodno campaign, as it later became known,
aimed to capture the Swedish forces in a pincer movement with a three-sided offensive from
Lithuania, Ruthenia and Saxony. Charles was not sitting idly either, and by
the summer of 1705, he had convinced the Diet in Warsaw to start working on a peace treaty
and to crown Stanislaw as King. As what was going on in Warsaw was seen as
a possible catastrophe for Augustus’ war effort, not to mention the fact that it represented
a significant hit to his pride, he knew that he had to act quickly. A large Saxon cavalry force was sent to assault
Warsaw and stop the coronation of Stanislaw. Augustus’ reckless endeavor ended in a complete
disaster, as the force was defeated by a much smaller Swedish army and its commander was
captured. Furthermore, the Saxon commander also divulged
the strategic intentions of Augustus and his allies, allowing the Swedes to thoroughly
prepare for the upcoming Grodno campaign. As the majority of Livonia and Estonia were
under Russian control by the beginning of the campaign, the main Russian army along
with large Saxon and Polish-Lithuanian contingents set up for winter quarters at the fort of
Grodno in Ruthenia. They expected a quick victory over the Swedish
army after the campaigning season of 1706 began, however, they did not even get the
chance to try. Much like his predecessor, Gustavus Adolphus,
Charles force marched his army in the dead of winter and arrived at Grodno on the 24th
of January. Lacking the artillery to assault the fort,
Charles opted to cross the frozen Neman river and blockade the city. Seeing that the young King was preparing to
encircle them, Augustus immediately left with 5000 men, hoping to reinforce his army in
Saxony. Peter, unwilling to bring the rest of his
army to relieve the siege, ordered Menshikov to leave the fort with the cavalry as soon
as possible. Grodno fell in April and the Russians lost
more than a third of their initial force. They would have lost even more had Charles
not misjudged the direction of Menshikov’s retreat. Unable to pursue the Russian army through
the thick marshlands of Polesia, Charles went westwards to seek a battle with the Saxons. As Charles was busy with the siege, Augustus
had prepared to advance towards Warsaw. He led a 7000 strong cavalry force, while
the main body of the Saxon-Polish army was commanded by Schulenburg. A third Saxon army under Brause was also advancing
from Kraków. Schulenburg crossed the Oder on the 8th of
February and advanced towards the town of Slawa in Silesia. While this was taking place, Rheinschild was
resting in his winter quarters, which extended from Kostyn to the border with Brandenburg. No sooner had he learned of the Saxon advance,
he assembled his army and began marching towards the Oder. After discovering the movements of both Schulenburg
and Brause, Rheinschild deduced that the two of them planned to avoid open battle with
him and join forces at Poznan. To avoid any surprises, the Swedish commander
retreated the same way from which he came and made sure to spread the word at every
town and village that he was retreating and hoping to avoid open battle. Rheinschild’s “information warfare”
proved successful, as Schulenburg gave credit to the rumors of a Swedish retreat and decided
to pursue the Swedish army instead of advancing towards Poznan. The Saxon general believed that the mere presence
of his superior army would be enough to rout the Swedish force. With this strategy, Rheinschild achieved two
things: he drew Schulenburg’s army away from any allied forces and was able to choose
a site of battle that was optimal for the Swedish army’s size and composition. Upon both armies reaching Fraustadt, on the
13th of February, Rheinschild started arraying his army in battle formation. It was at this point that Schulenburg realized
that he had been deceived, however, he had to give battle as it would have been scandalous
for him to retreat with such a superior force. The Saxon force was around 20000 strong, with
around 10000 Saxon and 6000 Russian infantry and 4000 Saxon cavalrymen. Schulenburg assembled his infantry into two
columns between the villages of Jagersdorf and Roersdorf, and in front of it he placed
31 cannons, 44 mortars and a chevaux de frise. 2000 Saxon horsemen were placed on the either
wing. Rheinschild had only 9400 men at his disposal,
with 3700 infantry and 5700 cavalry. He placed his cavalry on the flanks and the
majority of his infantry in a single line in the center, while some Caroleans were also
mixed among the cavalry. Axel Sparre commanded the infantry in the
center, while Hummerhielm led the left and Rheinschild himself was in charge of the right. As the Swedish army advanced, the Saxons waited
until their enemies were at about 100 paces distance, when they fired all of their cannons
and mortars. Although the Swedish army suffered some casualties
during this barrage, they did not give the Saxons enough time for another one, as the
center and left started their charge. The Swedish center’s advance was, at first,
checked by the chevaux de frise, however, after less than 15 minutes, the Swedish forces
broke through. The Swedes, who were expertly trained at hand
to hand combat, charged their Saxon counterparts with swords and did not fire a single shot. In spite of being under constant fire, the
ferocious Carolean onslaught forced the Saxons to retreat towards the village of Birzen. The Swedish wings had even more success, as
the numerically inferior Saxon cavalry began fleeing after just several minutes of fighting. Only a handful of cavalry on the Saxon right,
led by Colonel Kospoth, mounted a desperate defense, however, they were surrounded and
broken after the rest of their wing fell. The Swedish right afterwards came upon the
6000 Russian soldiers. The Russians had their uniforms turned inside
out, as Schulenburg knew that they were inexperienced and that Rheinschild would target them. Their weakness was revealed though - the Russians
fired only one volley at the Swedes, before throwing down their arms and retreating behind
the wall of spikes. After removing the chevaux de frise there,
Rheinschild chased down the entire Russian force and massacred them all. As all of the Saxon cavalry had fled, their
Swedish counterparts were now free to surround the remainder of the army on all sides. Much like Hannibal almost 2 millenia before
him, Rheinschild executed a double envelopment perfectly, forcing the remainder of the Saxon
army to surrender. And with that, the entire Saxon army, raised
with so much toil, care and expense, and which was twice the size of the Swedish army, had
been defeated in less than an hour’s time. The Saxons lost more than 7000 men during
the battle itself, and had almost all of the rest imprisoned, with the total losses amounting
to about 15000 to 16000. The Swedes lost around 400 men and had also
around 1000 men injured. Augustus’ biggest problem, however, was
that the road to Saxony now lay wide open and undefended. Augustus, who linked up with Brause and had
12000 men at his disposal, was only 80km away from Fraustadt when the battle took place. Shocked at the news of his grand army’s
complete defeat at the hands of an inferior Swedish force, Augustus hastily retreated
to Kraków. Since Peter the Great was unwilling to send
his army to even relieve the siege of Grodno, there wasn’t any hope of Russian aid for
them either. After his victory at Grodno, Charles XII turned
West to prepare for the upcoming invasion of Saxony. In the next few months, Augustus desperately
tried to negotiate a peace with Charles, even offering to split up the Commonwealth between
himself and Stanislaw. As autumn began, the Swedish armies marched
into Saxony and quickly occupied Leipzig. Without any other options, Augustus agreed
to all Swedish demands, and signed the treaty of Altranstadt. According to the treaty, he would renounce
all of his claims to the Polish and Lithuanian crowns, annul treaties with Russia and extradite
the Swedish traitor, Johann Patkul. In order to humiliate his personal enemy,
Charles also forced Augustus to congratulate Stanislaw on his victory and coronation. In only 6 years, the young and capable Charles
XII eliminated two of his three enemies. The time had finally come that he would turn
his attention to Russia. The Great Northern War was entering its most
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