Battle of Narva (1700)
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The Battle of Narva ( rus, Битва при Нарве ''Bitva pri Narve''; sv, Slaget vid Narva) on (20 November in the Swedish transitional calendar) was an early battle in the
Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swedi ...
. A
Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...
relief army under
Charles XII of Sweden Charles XII, sometimes Carl XII ( sv, Karl XII) or Carolus Rex (17 June 1682 – 30 November 1718 O.S.), was King of Sweden (including current Finland) from 1697 to 1718. He belonged to the House of Palatinate-Zweibrücken, a branch line of t ...
defeated a
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
n siege force three to four times its size. Previously, Charles XII had forced
Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish and Norwegian: ) was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (including the then Norwegian overseas possessions: the Faroe I ...
to sign the
Treaty of Travendal The Peace of Travendal was a peace treaty concluded at the outset of the Great Northern War on 18 August 1700 between the Swedish Empire, Denmark–Norway and Holstein-Gottorp in Traventhal.Weigley (2004), p.108 Denmark had to return Holstein-Go ...
.
Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
was not followed by further advances of the Swedish army into Russia; instead, Charles XII turned southward to expel
August the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as K ...
from
Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...
and Poland-Lithuania. Tsar
Peter the Great Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
of Russia took Narva in a
second battle The second (symbol: s) is the unit of time in the International System of Units (SI), historically defined as of a day – this factor derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes and finally to 60 seconds ...
in 1704.


Background

During the 17th century,
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
was less advanced technologically than the rest of Europe, a condition which extended to its armed forces.Peter The Great – Swift Despite this shortcoming,
Peter the Great of Russia Peter I ( – ), most commonly known as Peter the Great,) or Pyotr Alekséyevich ( rus, Пётр Алексе́евич, p=ˈpʲɵtr ɐlʲɪˈksʲejɪvʲɪtɕ, , group=pron was a Russian monarch who ruled the Tsardom of Russia from t ...
was keen to get "an adequate opening to the Baltic" by conquering parts of Sweden's Baltic provinces Russia lost during the
Time of Troubles The Time of Troubles (russian: Смутное время, ), or Smuta (russian: Смута), was a period of political crisis during the Tsardom of Russia which began in 1598 with the death of Fyodor I (Fyodor Ivanovich, the last of the Rurik dy ...
. However, there was a problem: while most states' armies of the time consisted of poorly trained militia and small contingents of mercenaries, Sweden had a professional army, one of the largest and most disciplined of northern Europe. The new Russian tsar, Peter I, would drastically modernize Russia in the coming years, but the army with which he traveled in 1700 was still poorly drilled. Preparing for war, he decided to form 31 new regiments. At the same time, in the spring of 1700, a revision of the officer corps was made whereby the majority of officers were sent into retirement or to garrison units where they were to serve without pay. A catastrophic shortage of command personnel (up to 70% at the company level) resulted. The vacancies were filled with young Moscow noblemen who had neither the experience of command, nor the experience of service in the infantry, nor regular military training—their traditional places were elite irregular cavalry or court service. Serious problems were also with non-commissioned officers—they were not veteran soldiers, but elected from new recruits.


Prelude

Russia made a military alliance with Frederick IV, King of
Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish and Norwegian: ) was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (including the then Norwegian overseas possessions: the Faroe I ...
; and
Augustus the Strong Augustus II; german: August der Starke; lt, Augustas II; in Saxony also known as Frederick Augustus I – Friedrich August I (12 May 16701 February 1733), most commonly known as Augustus the Strong, was Elector of Saxony from 1694 as well as Ki ...
, King of Poland–Lithuania and
elector of Saxony The Electorate of Saxony, also known as Electoral Saxony (German: or ), was a territory of the Holy Roman Empire from 1356–1806. It was centered around the cities of Dresden, Leipzig and Chemnitz. In the Golden Bull of 1356, Emperor Charles ...
, to wage war against Sweden whereupon three countries attacked Sweden from different directions. The Danish and Saxon armies acted indecisively, bounding themselves to unsuccessful sieges of fortresses. The Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth refused to support its king, and Russia waited for a peace treaty with the Ottoman Empire to transfer its struggle from south to north. Charles XII, assisted by the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...
and the
Dutch Navy The Royal Netherlands Navy ( nl, Koninklijke Marine, links=no) is the naval force of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. During the 17th century, the navy of the Dutch Republic (1581–1795) was one of the most powerful naval forces in the world an ...
, first landed in
Humlebæk Humlebæk is a town within the municipality of Fredensborg in North Zealand in Denmark, approximately 35 km north of Copenhagen. Humlebæk is located at the shore to Øresund and has a population of 9,758 (2022).
north of
Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...
and forced Denmark-Norway to leave the alliance in August 1700 (until 1709).Frost (2000), p.229 He then moved part of the Swedish army across the Baltic Sea to Estonia where it was joined by Estonian and Finnish regiments of the Swedish army.Swedish army at Lagena on 19/29 Nov of 1700 (Inspection of the Royal army the day before Narva battle)
/ref> During November, Russian troops surrounded the city of
Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
in Estonia (part of the Swedish Empire at the time), attempting to secure its surrender via
siege A siege is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition warfare, attrition, or a well-prepared assault. This derives from la, sedere, lit=to sit. Siege warfare is a form of constant, low-intensity con ...
. A Saxon-Polish army commanded by August II and Steinau was outside Riga in Swedish Livonia. The Saxon-Polish army, however, had gone into winter camp south of the river
Daugava , be, Заходняя Дзвіна (), liv, Vēna, et, Väina, german: Düna , image = Fluss-lv-Düna.png , image_caption = The drainage basin of the Daugava , source1_location = Valdai Hills, Russia , mouth_location = Gulf of Riga, Baltic Se ...
so Charles XII decided to deal with the more immediate Russian threat against Narva, which was under siege by Peter's forces.


High command

The Swedish army was commanded personally by Charles XII, assisted by
Lieutenant-General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...
Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld Count Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld (6 August 1651 – 29 January 1722) was a Swedish Field Marshal (''Fältmarskalk'') and Royal Councillor. He was mentor and chief military advisor to King Charles XII of Sweden, and served as deputy commander-in-c ...
Jeremy Black (1996), p. 111 and
General of the cavalry General of the Cavalry (german: General der Kavallerie) was a General officer rank in the cavalry in various states of which the modern states of German and Austria are successors or in other armies which used the German model. Artillery officers o ...
Otto Vellingk. During the
Scanian War The Scanian War ( da, Skånske Krig, , sv, Skånska kriget, german: Schonischer Krieg) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, ...
in 1675–1679 Vellingk already was a colonel and commanded a cavalry regiment, and Rehnskiöld rose from lieutenant to lieutenant-colonel. Both also had the experience of service in foreign armies: Vellingk served for 10 years in France, during which he rose to the rank of colonel, and Rehnskiöld participated in the Franco-Dutch War (1688—1697). From 1698 Vellingk was a governor in
Ingermanland Ingria is a historical region in what is now northwestern European Russia. It lies along the southeastern shore of the Gulf of Finland, bordered by Lake Ladoga on the Karelian Isthmus in the north and by the River Narva on the border with ...
and at the beginning of the Great Northern War commanded a small corps, sent to help besieged Riga. The Russian forces were commanded by Peter and
Charles Eugène de Croy Charles is a masculine given name predominantly found in English language, English and French language, French speaking countries. It is from the French form ''Charles'' of the Proto-Germanic, Proto-Germanic name (in runic alphabet) or ''*k ...
. Peter had left Narva just the day before and was therefore not present during the actual fighting. Trying to explain this act, some historians suggest that he did not expect an immediate attack on his well-fortified and numerically superior force or he was sure that such an attack would be easily repulsed. It is suggested that Peter wanted to speed up the arrival of reinforcements, address supply issues, and negotiate with Augustus. Some interpretations consider his departure from Narva the night before the battle as a cowardly act; most of Europe mocked the Tsar for his departure. However, some scholars believe this accusation has little merit, as reportedly the Tsar had placed himself in physical danger too many times for this departure to be an act of cowardice. Peter not only left the army on the eve of the battle, but also took with him the formal commander-in-chief—
Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...
Fyodor Golovin. The new commander-in-chief, de Croy, in fact, was not at all a Russian general—he was sent by August II with a diplomatic mission (he asked for an auxiliary Russian corps) and met with Peter in Novgorod only on . Due to a lack of experienced commanders, Peter retained de Croy with him; they reconnoitered the fortifications of Narva together, but de Croy did not hold any official post and never before commanded any unit of the Russian army. De Croy refused to accept the command several times and relented only after Peter personally "strengthened his resolve with a glass of wine". This happened only the day before the battle, and the official instruction for the transfer of command was dated , ''i.e.'' when the Swedish relief force arrived at Narva. The Russian army near Narva was divided into three main parts (''general'stvo''), commanded by Avtonom Golovin,
Trubetskoy The House of Trubetskoy (English), Трубецкие (Russian), Трубяцкі ( Belarusian), ''Trubecki'' (Polish), ''Trubetsky'' ( Ruthenian), Трубецький (Ukrainian), ''Troubetzkoy'' (French), ''Trubic'' (Croatian), ''Trubetski'' ...
and Weide. All of them were young men (born in 1667) and their combat experience was limited to the two sieges of the Turkish fortress of Azov, but they had served in Peter's favorite poteshnye voiska. More experienced generals were sent to command remote garrisons.Великанов В.С. Формирование генералитета русской армии в 1700–09 гг. // Русская военная элита. Сборник материалов научной конференции. — Севастополь: Изд-во «Шико-Севастополь», 2015. С. 97–111
/ref> A popular commander,
Sheremetev The House of Sheremetev (russian: Шереме́тевы) was one of the wealthiest and most influential noble families in Russia descending from Feodor Koshka who was of Old Prussian origin. History The family held many high commanding ran ...
, known for his successful actions against Turks, had no rank in the hierarchy of the regular army and was ordered to command the feudal levy cavalry. The Swedish artillery was commanded by experienced
Master-General of the Ordnance The Master-General of the Ordnance (MGO) was a very senior British military position from 1415 to 2013 (except 1855–1895 and 1939–1958) with some changes to the name, usually held by a serving general. The Master-General of the Ordnance was ...
. He had almost forty years of service in artillery and was an author of the first Swedish Artillery Regulation of 1690. Massie notes the excellent actions of the Swedish artillery in the skirmish at Pyhajoggi Pass, eighteen miles west of Narva. Under the screen of their dragoons the cannons were quickly deployed and suddenly opened fire on the clusters of Russian cavalry from a close distance. Since the Russians did not have any artillery at Pyhajoggi, they could not hold this advantageous position and had to retreat. The formal commander of Russian artillery was
Prince Alexander of Imereti A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...
, a young man of 26, a close companion of Peter in his entourage. His experience was limited to several months studying the theoretical foundations of gunnery in
The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...
in 1697. After his return to Moscow he soon received the highest artillery rank of General Feldzeugmeister (May 1700). There is much evidence of the extremely unsuccessful actions of Russian siege artillery against Narva.


Battle


Preparations

At the afternoon of Charles XII approached the village of Lagena, 7 miles from Narva, and made a final inspection of his army. Charles was not sure if Narva was still holding, so he ordered to give the Swedish recognition signal by cannon shots and then got the same response from the fortress. Earlier, the Sheremetev's cavalry joined the main forces. Thus, the Russian siege camp was warned about the approach of the enemy. De Croy carried out an inspection of the army and ordered to increase vigilance and prepare firearms, and to keep half of the army on alert throughout the night. On the morning of the next day, "before sunrise," it was ordered to give soldiers the charges and build the entire army. Among other instructions was the prohibition to open fire earlier than 20–30 steps to the enemy. On 19 ( OS) or 30 ( NS) November 1700Frost (2003), pp. 230, 232 (20 November in the Swedish transitional calendar), Charles XII positioned his 10,500 menSwedish BO in the battle of Narva, 19(20)/30 Nov 1700
/ref> (another 2,000 men were garrisoned in the city and would take part in the battle at a later stage) opposite the besieging Russian army of about 34,000 to 40,000 troops.Ericson (2003), p. 257Porfiriev (1958), p. 145 The Swedes approached the Russian army at 10 a.m. and began to prepare for an attack. Charles and his generals examined the Russian position, the soldiers stored the fascines to overcome the ditches, surrounding it. De Croy was concerned about the small size of the Swedish army and suspected that this was only the vanguard of the main forces. Sheremetev proposed to lead the army out of the entrenchment in the field and attack the Swedes, but was not supported by other generals. De Croy decided to leave the army stretched for and sandwiched between two rows of ramparts. The space between the ramparts was uneven: about on the right Russian flank, about in the center, and on the left flank – only . There were many barracks for soldiers between the ramparts, which made it difficult to maneuver. In the center of the Russian position was the Goldenhof Hill, fenced on all sides by barracks and sharpened stakes ( ''the chevaux de frise'') and adapted to all-around defence. Charles divided his infantry into two parts and directed them to the north and south of the Goldenhof Hill. On the right (southern) flank were 11 "field" battalions under the command of Vellingk. On the left (northern) flank were 10 "field" battalions under the command of Rehnskiöld, including small column of two battalions under the command of
Magnus Stenbock Count Magnus Stenbock (22 May 1665 – 23 February 1717) was a Swedish field marshal ('' Fältmarskalk'') and Royal Councillor. A renowned commander of the Carolean Army during the Great Northern War, he was a prominent member of the Sten ...
, where was Charles himself. Grenadiers with fascines marched in the vanguard of the infantry columns. The Swedish cavalry (≈4,300 men) covered the flanks of the infantry and had to prevent Russian attempts to exit the fortifications. The Swedish artillery (37 guns at all), located on a small rise, bombarded the places planned for the attack. The exact battle order of the Russian army is unknown – Russian documents are not preserved, and the Swedish data are contradictory. It is known that the "division" (''general'stvo'') of Trubetskoy was located in the center. It was the weakest part of the three main divisions: there was only two "regular" infantry regiments, and they were even worse drilled than the rest – they were formed as late as August 1700, and in September Trubetskoy already marched to Narva. Trubetskoy also had four weak regiments of local ''streltsy'' from Novgorod and
Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=pskov-ru.ogg, p=pskof; see also names in other languages) is a city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov Oblast, located about east of the Estonian border, on the Velikaya River. Population ...
garrisons and, may be, there was two regular infantry regiments temporarily separated from other divisions.


Action

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.Tucker, S.C., 2010, A Global Chronology of Conflict, Vol. Two, Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, LLC, 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. 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. 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. 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 In Euclidean geometry, a square is a regular quadrilateral, which means that it has four equal sides and four equal angles (90-degree angles, π/2 radian angles, or right angles). It can also be defined as a rectangle with two equal-length adj ...
, 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, but could not reconnect with the rest of the army.


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 wagon-trains also fell into the hands of the Swedes.Ullgren (2008), p.57Беспалов А. В. Северная война (1998), p.43 The Swedes and the Russians together repaired the Kamperholm Bridge through which capitulated troops crossed to the right bank of the
Narva River The river Narva ( et, Narva jõgi; russian: Нарва), formerly also Narova flows north into the Baltic Sea and is the largest Estonian river by discharge. A similar length of land far to the south, together with it and a much longer interm ...
. 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. 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.Великанов В.С. К вопросу о состоянии русской армии после нарвского поражения, зима 1700–1701 гг.
// Война и оружие: Новые исследования и материалы. Труды Седьмой Международной научно-практической конференции, 18–20 мая 2016 года. СПб.: ВИМАИВиВС, 2016. Ч. 2. С. 26–42.


Results

The Battle of Narva was a terrible defeat for the Russian army. The Swedes captured 10 generals and 10 colonels, and many Russian regimental officers were killed in battle. The Russian regimental rolls from January 1701 show that the total loss of personnel was about 25% (with a 57–68% loss in the two regular infantry regiments of Trubetskoy's "division"). In Golovin's "division" (excluding the two Guards regiments) only 250 of 356 officers survived. Weide's "division", however, fared somewhat better. The Russians also suffered heavy losses in armaments, as the Swedes captured 4050 muskets and 173 artillery pieces, including 64 siege cannons. Soon thereafter, the Swedes took an additional 22 mortars from a baggage train near ''Yam''. While the Russians had mostly replenished their personal weapons by the spring of 1701, the former Golovin and Weide "divisions" still lacked regimental artillery. If Charles had continued the campaign against Russia (as General Vellingk had suggested attacking Novgorod and Pskov), the Russian army very likely would have suffered another defeat.


Memory


Russian memorial

In 1900, 200 years after the battle of Narva, the Preobrazhensky and
Semyonovsky regiment The Semyonovsky Lifeguard Regiment (, ) was one of the two oldest guard regiments of the Imperial Russian Army. The other one was the Preobrazhensky Regiment. In 2013, it was recreated for the Russian Armed Forces as a rifle regiment, its na ...
s 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."


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 The Swedish Institute ( sv, Svenska institutet, ) is a government agency in Sweden with the responsibility to spread information about Sweden outside the country. It exists to promote Swedish interests, and to organise exchanges with other co ...
, it replaced an older memorial, erected in 1936, which disappeared during the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. The monument is surmounted by a "Swedish lion", his left paw resting on a ball engraved with the
Three Crowns Three Crowns ( sv, tre kronor, links=no) is the national emblem of Sweden, present in the coat of arms of Sweden, and composed of three yellow or gilded coronets ordered two above and one below, placed on a blue background. Similar designs are f ...
of Sweden. It stands on a pedestal of granite. The Latin inscription on the pedestal reads "''MDCC''" (1700) and "''Svecia memor''" ("Sweden remembers").Svenska institutet och Narva
File:Cross 1900.jpg, Russian memorial near Narva File:Svenska-lejonet.jpg, Swedish Lion Monument in Narva


Second siege

Four years after the battle of
Narva Narva, russian: Нарва is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in Ida-Viru County, Ida-Viru county, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which ...
, Peter I marched again in a new attempt to capture Narva. Marshal
Boris Sheremetev Count Boris Petrovich Sheremetev (russian: Граф Бори́с Петро́вич Шереме́тев, tr. ; – ) was an Imperial Russian diplomat and general field marshal during the Great Northern War. He became the first Russian count in ...
's force of 20,000 captured
Tartu Tartu is the second largest city in Estonia after the Northern European country's political and financial capital, Tallinn. Tartu has a population of 91,407 (as of 2021). It is southeast of Tallinn and 245 kilometres (152 miles) northeast of ...
on 24 June. Sheremetev then besieged Narva, where the garrison was under Commandant Major-General Henning Rudolf Horn af Ranzien and consisted of 3,800 infantry and 1,300 cavalry. The Russians captured Narva on 20 August 1704 and massacred some of its Swedish inhabitants before Peter I stopped them. Horn, several officers and a large number of Swedish soldiers were captured, with about 3,200 casualties while the Russians lost up to 3,000 men during the siege and the assault.Военный энциклопедический лексикон. Часть 9-я. СПб, 1845, с. 376


References


Further reading

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External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Narva (1700), Battle Of Battles of the Great Northern War Conflicts in 1700 1700 in Europe History of Narva Battles involving Sweden Battles involving Russia Battles in Estonia 17th century in Estonia Charles XII of Sweden 1700 in Sweden 1700 in Russia