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The Battle of Warsaw was a battle which took place near Warsaw on July 28–July 30 [O.S. July 18–20] 1656, between the armies of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Sweden and Brandenburg. It was a major battle in the Second Northern War between Poland and Sweden in the period 1655–1660, also known as The Deluge
The Battle of Narva (Russian: Битва при Нарве Bitva pri Narve; Swedish: Slaget vid Narva) on 30 November [O.S. 19 November] 1700 (20 November in the Swedish transitional calendar) was an early battle in the Great Northern War. A Swedish relief army under Charles XII of Sweden defeated a Russian siege force three to four times its size. Before, Charles XII had forced Denmark–Norway to sign the Treaty of Travendal. Narva was not followed by further advances of the Swedish army into Russia; instead, Charles XII turned southward to expel August the Strong from Livonia and Poland-Lithuania. Tsar Peter the Great of Russia took Narva in a second battle in 1704.By afternoon the Swedes had finished their preparations and moved forward at 2 p.m. At that moment it got colder, the wind changed, and the snowstorm blew directly into the eyes of the Russians.[26]:686 Some Swedish officers asked to postpone the attack until the end of the storm, but Charles saw his opportunity and advanced on the Russian army under cover of the weather.[3][42] The Swedes attacked with two highly dense shock groups, quickly approached the Russian positions and gave a volley, after which the Russians "fell like grass". At first, the Russians vigorously resisted: "They returned a heavy fire and killed many fine fellows", but within 15 minutes the Swedes filled the ditches with fascines, broke into the fortifications with cold steel arms, and "a terrible massacre" began.[46]
Acting according to the plan, the Swedes moved to the south and north along the fortification line, rolling up the Russian defense. They attacked inexperienced Russian regiments and crumbled them one by one. There was panic and chaos, Russian soldiers began killing foreign officers and de Croy with his staff hurried to surrender. Masses of panicking Russians troops rushed to the only Kamperholm Bridge over the Narova River, located at the northern edge of the defensive line. At one crucial point, the bridge collapsed under retreating Russian troops.[3]
On the right (northern) flank of the Russians, only two regiments of the future Guards (Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky) retained the battle order. They rebuilt in a square, arranged improvised barricades of wagons and stubbornly held on; part of the running soldiers joined them. Encouraging his troops, Karl personally led the attacks against this center of resistance, but they were repulsed, and a horse under Karl was killed. Most of the Russian commanders, including generals Golovin and Trubetskoy, managed to join this group despite the surrender of de Croy. On the left flank, General Weide was seriously wounded at the very beginning of the battle, but his "division" for the most part did not succumb to panic and even made a successful counterattack,[47] but could not reconnect with the rest of the army.[48][49]
Capitulation
After the first clash the high command of the Russian army lost its morale and decided to capitulate. The Swedes, in turn, were exhausted and could not finish off those parts of the Russians who did not succumb to panic and kept their ground. The right flank of the Russian army capitulated faster on a free exit with weapons and colours, but general Weide on the left flank capitulated later and was already forced to hand over weapons and banners. All the artillery and waggon-trains also fell into the hands of the Swedes.[13][50]
The Swedes and the Russians together repaired the Kamperholm Bridge through which capitulated troops crossed to the right bank of the Narva River. The highest Russian commanders remained with the Swedes, initially as hostages, in order to ensure the fulfillment of the terms of surrender. But later, Charles violated the treaty and kept them as prisoners. The Swedes explained this act by not receiving the treasury of the army.[51] Sheremetev with his cavalry marched to the south along the left bank of Narva river to Syrensk, crossed the river on the bridge there and thus escaped captivity.[52]
Results
The Battle of Narva was a terrible defeat for the Russian army. In total, the Swedes captured 10 generals and 10 colonels, and many officers of the regimental level were killed in battle. The regimental rolls, made in January 1701, show that the total loss of personnel was about 25% (and 57–68% in two infantry regiments of Trubetskoy's "division"). In the Golovin's "division" (without taking into account the two regiments of the Guards) there left only 250 officers out of 356, the state of the Weide's "division" was somewhat better. Heavy losses were also in armaments, especially in artillery. Swedes captured near Narva 173 pieces, including 64 siege cannons (and a bit later additional 22 mortars in a baggage train near Yam) and 4050 muskets. By the spring of 1701, the shortage of personal weapons was mostly replenished, but the former "divisions" of Golovin and Weide did not have regimental artillery at all. If Charles had continued the campaign against Russia (General Vellingk suggested to attack Novgorod and Pskov[53]), the Russian army very likely would have suffered another defeat.[52]
Memory
Russian memorial
In 1900, 200 years after the battle of Narva, the Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky regiments initiated the construction of a memorial to the Russian soldiers who had fallen in the Battle of Narva. The memorial consists of a granite pedestal with a cross on top, placed on a mound of earth. The inscription says: "Our heroic ancestors who fell in November 1700."[54]
Victory monument
On 20 November 2000 the Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs, Lena Hjelm Wallén inaugurated a new memorial monument to celebrate the victory. Erected with an economic contribution from the Swedish Institute, it replaced an older memorial, erected in 1936, which disappeared during the Second World War. The monument is surmounted by a "Swedish lion", his left paw resting on a ball engraved with the Three Crowns of Sweden. It stands on a pedestal of granite. The Latin inscription on the pedestal reads "MDCC" (1700) and "Svecia memor" ("Sweden remembers").[55]
