The Great Northern War saw Peter’s opponent Charles XII of Sweden mustering immediate forces of more than 30,000 – and the Swedish king was confident, maybe overconfident, that he could deal with anything the Russians offered. On 6 September 1707, Charles travelled to Dresden to see Augustus II, the former King of Poland, now replaced by Stanislaus I and demoted to Elector of Saxony. Then he crossed his Rubicon, turning eastwards – towards Moscow – with his sights set on an invasion of Russia. He moved first into Silesia, then Poland, where much land had been wasted by Cossacks and Kalmucks. Halting at Posen, he ordered a fortified camp built, where he would spend the next two months waiting for winter’s frosts to harden roads waterlogged by autumn rains.
Quitting camp on 6 December, Charles marched onwards to the Vistula, Poland’s largest river, where he waited another month for temperatures to drop further, and for ice to form, so wagons and artillery could cross with minimal loss. Charles’ route east was tricky, via the forests of Masovia (mid-north-east Poland), but his intention was clear: to turn the Russian position on the Narew. Ten days’ march saw him clear the forests and attain the Lithuanian plains. Come 7 February 1708, Charles, accompanied by an escort of 600, had crossed the Niemen to enter Grodno, evacuated by its Russian garrison hours earlier. The march continued, reaching Smorgonie, then heading south- east to Radoszkowicze where another camp was built. Now more than halfway between Dresden and Moscow, Charles’ troops needed rest, food, and fodder.
An impetuous decision?
Prior to the summer campaign, Charles commanded General Adam Lewenhaupt to advance with the supply train from Courland (on the Baltic’s shores) to join his main army: that was 12,500 on the hoof. Another 14,000 men under Lieutenant-General Georg Lybecker were told to march from Finland on St Petersburg. Charles had a decision to make: did he stalk the Russian army, or recover the Baltic provinces he’d lost while occupied by his attempts to defeat Augustus II in Poland? He chose, perhaps impetuously, to pursue Peter’s forces – although this meant extending supply lines and stretching troop numbers, distance, and time. Charles reckoned invading Russia and defeating its army was the only way to force Peter to a lasting peace on Swedish terms.
Pilgrimage cities