Nope, I recall this.
Which makes them even more vulnerable to Charles once he has peace with Denmark and has consolidated his position in the PLC (eariler than OTL for reasons Alex has outlined)
No GNW (or “Peter goes South”)
- Thread starter alexmilman
- Start date
Which makes them even more vulnerable to Charles once he has peace with Denmark and has consolidated his position in the PLC (eariler than OTL for reasons Alex has outlined)
Little Northern War starts
5. LNW starts
Danish-Saxonian alliance is formed as in OTL and initial moves are the same as in OTL.
**********************************
1. In February 1700 August without declaration of war ordered the Saxon troops to besiege Riga and the troops from Courland are joining.
They took parts of the external defenses, Kobronskansts
and Dünamünde
but without a siege artillery just kept positions outside Riga and, after receiving news about coming Swedish reinforcements, retreated in May leaving the garrisons in both fortifications.
2. Denmark entered the war in March and in August was forced to sign peace with Charles.
**********************
By the early 1700 Peter had an army which (on paper) looks as following: 2600 - Guards [1] , 41,560 cavalry [2] , 75,000 infantry , 14,000 garrisons and, in theory, up to 100,000 irregulars (Ukrainian Cossacks, Cossacks of Don, Kalmuks, Tatars, etc.). Total number of the available pieces of the field artillery was enormous: more than 400 3- and 3.5-pounders made in Sweden, not counting the Russian production and those bought in Germany. Even with a big part of the domestic production so far going to the Azov flotilla, there was neither need nor a possibility to deploy all of them simultaneously [3] so his active field artillery had 60 3-pounders 18 6-pounders, 12 8-pounders, 3 12-pounders, 4 1-pud и 3 1/2-pud howitzers. For much more he simply did not well-trained crews. Plus, each regiment had its own 2 3 pounders. The field artillery administratively was forming an Artillery Regiment but creation of the standard battery units did not happen, yet. 3.5 pound guns had been found inefficient and either used in the fortifications or melted to provide material for the new ones fitting Bruce’s system.
On paper the army looked impressive but most of the regiments were on the early stages of training and this applies both to the infantry and cavalry.
With the cavalry situation was especially difficult because most of it had been cadres from the old regiments and irregular noble militia used to the …er… “barbaric” tactics. At the sight of an enemy (unless they were scared enough to just flee) they’d broke the ranks and gallop in a disorderly fashion, sword in hand, shouting at the top of their lungs making any control impossible because officers’ commands simply would not be heard [4]. Both in the case of success and a failure it was close to impossible to rally them. The first task, as Peter saw it, was to break the bad habit and, being himself, he approached the issue in a typically draconic fashion [5]. Shouting during attack had been forbidden under fear of the execution of the commanders and decimation of the guilty units. Attack sword in hand was explicitly forbidden: the dragoons had to use their firearms standing or advancing in a slow trot and use swords exclusively for sekf-defense. Firing, except for the close encounters, had to be done only in the salvos.
Approach to the infantry was similar. It had to rely exclusively upon the “orderly” firepower. “Orderly” meant firing salvos by the platoons or tge whole line as fast as possible and without aiming. Some of the Peter’s commanders who had experience of the European wars had been pointing to the inefficiency of this practice but Peter was unmovable: unless his experience shows otherwise, Russian troops must follow the common European practices and that’s it. This opinion had been formalized by the first military regulations written, on Peter’s order by Weide (who actually was a very competent officer: his regulations provided a comprehensive structure for the Russian army and had been based upon analysis of the existing European practices observed during his travel abroad): the main task is training of the army because only a trained army can be victorious. Army’s strength is in its organization and training must consist in learning to act in formations and firing in orderly fashion.
The soldiers had the bayonets, mostly plug but some regiments, starting from the Guards, already had the muskets with the socket bayonets and their number kept growing. But they were not taught a bayonet fight, it had to be used exclusively as a weapon for a passive self defense. Soldiers had to be taught:
1. To recognize a right foot from the left.
2. To learn musket exercises with a stress upon the fast loading (each step on command) and unaimed firing.
3. To learn marching in formation and automatically perform the formation changing commands.
4. They also had to be taught that staying under the enemy’s fire is much less dangerous than disobeying their commanders.
5. Almost forgot, last but not least, they had to learn how to put on and wear a costume which was absolutely alien to them, how to march in the shoes (which none of them had been wearing before) without turning their feet into the bloody mess. Well, they also had to grow the shoulder-length hair and keep them presentable.
In the process of teaching the new soldiers all these exciting things it was discovered that getting a conscripted peasant all the way from his village to the regiment is not as simple as it looked on paper:
1. On a first stage of the process these peasants under the armed guard had been marched to the assembly points in the local administrative centers where, due to the absence of the special accommodations, they had been put in chains and held in the local prisons.
2. While immediately after the conscription they were supposed to start receiving the soldiers’ rations, the assigned money had been routinely stolen by the officers in charge and the same goes for the quality time spent in prison waiting for the next step by which time a considerable percentage of the recruits had been dying from starvation and anti-sanitary conditions or, if they were lucky enough, managing to escape never to be seen by the authorities afterwards (unless caught at highway robbery, theft or some other crime).
3. When officer from a regiment finally arrived and made a final pick (rejecting those in a bad shape) the process continued: they had been transported (in chains or not) under a string guard with the same food issues and, if the waiting continued for a long time, dressed unsuitably for a season. Only in the regiment they were getting a descent food, bathing and clothes.
As a result, optimistically, at least 30% of the recruited peasants had not been making it to the army (by some estimates only 1 in 3 made it) and the rest had been either dying or “disappearing”. So the owners had been suffering losses while the state was not getting soldiers. Attempts to remedy the problem had been typical for the time (from severe flogging and all the way to execution of the officials caught on misbehaving) but, as was much later told to Peter by his Procurator General, “if you want to execute all criminals, you’ll fund yourself without the subjects”. So there were some improvements but the system remained wasteful.
Following the prevailing standard of the time, the tactics was linear so the initiative of the subordinate commanders has to be limited not to disrupt integrity of a line. Why did Peter bothered to create the grenadier units is one of the historic mysteries. Of course, they looked kind of cute with their high hats but how one was supposed to throw grenades (see picture below) while in a formation (and without a risk to hurt his fellow soldiers) is a question to which I have no answer. Well, without the little mysteries like that history would be no fun.
It is often considered to be a boring issue but when you have an army and the fleet, you have to feed their members during the peace and war. Skipping the part related to the peace time [6], at a war time the army was expected to use combination of the magazines and supply trains carrying few weeks worth of supplies. One one hand, this was expected to lessen reliance upon the magazine system with a resulted greater freedom of the long-distance marches [7] but OTOH was forcing army to have a baggage train with the tens of thousands wagons. It was expected than in (an unlikely) case when the army would have to operate in the densely populated “civilized” areas size of such a train cut be cut due to the possibility to obtain (by purchase or confiscations) provision in the area of operations and, if needed, to create movable field magazines (like the Western armies were doing). In general, system of the purchases was considered preferential because, besides giving the Commissariat officers an opportunity to enrich themselves [8] 😂, it did not unnecessary alienate the local population thus simplifying a process. [9]
System of living entirely off the land, as was demonstrated by the previous wars, allowed a greater maneuvering opportunities but also could cause severe problems when the area of operations was exhausted.
With all these resources and problems known, Peter had to decide upon his course of actions generally defined by the Russian-Swedish treaty of a mutual help. To interfere on his own initiative? To wait until being asked? How many forces to commit and where? Their composition, who will be in charge, etc. As the first step, he let Charles know that he is ready to fulfill his obligations and, without too much of a fanfare, started creating magazine in Pskov and marching some of his best prepared troops in this direction…,
Garrisons in Kolsky Ostrog and Archangelsk had been strengthened by the streltsy regiments and artillery in the case of a possible Danish naval attack with the order to strengthen the existing fortifications and to build additional earthwork forts at the mouths of the Kola and Northern Dvina rivers.
__________________
[1] Formally, Preobrazensky and Semenivsky regiments are not, yet, called this way but they are already elite troops by their composition (even a big part of the rank soldiers are nobles), equipment (the best available of everything) and training and performance during the Azov campaigns.
[2] So far, exclusively dragoons. The cuirassiers are only in the plans due to the unavailability of the horses (only few of those bough abroad already arrived).
[3] Of course, Peter is thinking before doing but some processes are really hard to stop after they started (and this applies not just to “scratching the itchy places and eating a tasty food” 😜) and stopping the manufactures which just started picking up the steam may have worse consequences than having reserve of the artillery barrels.
[4] Ironically or not, exactly this style of a cavalry attack survived in the Russian cavalry through WWI and RCW while the orderly charges by the knee-to-knee formations had been long gone.
[5] Making him to think does not imply that he become Mother Theresa.
[6] It started with a demagoguery position that “population must feed its defenders” (meaning direct supply of the natural products) to a more rational system of the purchases at a fixed price and creation of the magazines at the places of troops’ dislocation.
[7] Keep in mind that Peter was preparing his army primarily for the future war with the Ottomans/Crimea, which means operations in the areas where creation of the magazines was difficult or almost impossible (like in a middle of an open steppe).
[8] As was commented in OTL by Suvorov (who served in the commissariat on the early stages of his career) “if someone served in the intendancy for two years, this person can be executed without a trial”.
[9] A special case was the intentional devastation of the area as was done in OTL in Livonia by Sheremetev’s army. The purpose was both to scare the locals and to deprive the Swedes from a supply sources if they are going to launch a counter offensive: the Russian troops always coukd retreat to their own territory.
Danish-Saxonian alliance is formed as in OTL and initial moves are the same as in OTL.
**********************************
1. In February 1700 August without declaration of war ordered the Saxon troops to besiege Riga and the troops from Courland are joining.
They took parts of the external defenses, Kobronskansts
and Dünamünde
but without a siege artillery just kept positions outside Riga and, after receiving news about coming Swedish reinforcements, retreated in May leaving the garrisons in both fortifications.
2. Denmark entered the war in March and in August was forced to sign peace with Charles.
**********************
By the early 1700 Peter had an army which (on paper) looks as following: 2600 - Guards [1] , 41,560 cavalry [2] , 75,000 infantry , 14,000 garrisons and, in theory, up to 100,000 irregulars (Ukrainian Cossacks, Cossacks of Don, Kalmuks, Tatars, etc.). Total number of the available pieces of the field artillery was enormous: more than 400 3- and 3.5-pounders made in Sweden, not counting the Russian production and those bought in Germany. Even with a big part of the domestic production so far going to the Azov flotilla, there was neither need nor a possibility to deploy all of them simultaneously [3] so his active field artillery had 60 3-pounders 18 6-pounders, 12 8-pounders, 3 12-pounders, 4 1-pud и 3 1/2-pud howitzers. For much more he simply did not well-trained crews. Plus, each regiment had its own 2 3 pounders. The field artillery administratively was forming an Artillery Regiment but creation of the standard battery units did not happen, yet. 3.5 pound guns had been found inefficient and either used in the fortifications or melted to provide material for the new ones fitting Bruce’s system.
On paper the army looked impressive but most of the regiments were on the early stages of training and this applies both to the infantry and cavalry.
With the cavalry situation was especially difficult because most of it had been cadres from the old regiments and irregular noble militia used to the …er… “barbaric” tactics. At the sight of an enemy (unless they were scared enough to just flee) they’d broke the ranks and gallop in a disorderly fashion, sword in hand, shouting at the top of their lungs making any control impossible because officers’ commands simply would not be heard [4]. Both in the case of success and a failure it was close to impossible to rally them. The first task, as Peter saw it, was to break the bad habit and, being himself, he approached the issue in a typically draconic fashion [5]. Shouting during attack had been forbidden under fear of the execution of the commanders and decimation of the guilty units. Attack sword in hand was explicitly forbidden: the dragoons had to use their firearms standing or advancing in a slow trot and use swords exclusively for sekf-defense. Firing, except for the close encounters, had to be done only in the salvos.
Approach to the infantry was similar. It had to rely exclusively upon the “orderly” firepower. “Orderly” meant firing salvos by the platoons or tge whole line as fast as possible and without aiming. Some of the Peter’s commanders who had experience of the European wars had been pointing to the inefficiency of this practice but Peter was unmovable: unless his experience shows otherwise, Russian troops must follow the common European practices and that’s it. This opinion had been formalized by the first military regulations written, on Peter’s order by Weide (who actually was a very competent officer: his regulations provided a comprehensive structure for the Russian army and had been based upon analysis of the existing European practices observed during his travel abroad): the main task is training of the army because only a trained army can be victorious. Army’s strength is in its organization and training must consist in learning to act in formations and firing in orderly fashion.
The soldiers had the bayonets, mostly plug but some regiments, starting from the Guards, already had the muskets with the socket bayonets and their number kept growing. But they were not taught a bayonet fight, it had to be used exclusively as a weapon for a passive self defense. Soldiers had to be taught:
1. To recognize a right foot from the left.
2. To learn musket exercises with a stress upon the fast loading (each step on command) and unaimed firing.
3. To learn marching in formation and automatically perform the formation changing commands.
4. They also had to be taught that staying under the enemy’s fire is much less dangerous than disobeying their commanders.
5. Almost forgot, last but not least, they had to learn how to put on and wear a costume which was absolutely alien to them, how to march in the shoes (which none of them had been wearing before) without turning their feet into the bloody mess. Well, they also had to grow the shoulder-length hair and keep them presentable.
In the process of teaching the new soldiers all these exciting things it was discovered that getting a conscripted peasant all the way from his village to the regiment is not as simple as it looked on paper:
1. On a first stage of the process these peasants under the armed guard had been marched to the assembly points in the local administrative centers where, due to the absence of the special accommodations, they had been put in chains and held in the local prisons.
2. While immediately after the conscription they were supposed to start receiving the soldiers’ rations, the assigned money had been routinely stolen by the officers in charge and the same goes for the quality time spent in prison waiting for the next step by which time a considerable percentage of the recruits had been dying from starvation and anti-sanitary conditions or, if they were lucky enough, managing to escape never to be seen by the authorities afterwards (unless caught at highway robbery, theft or some other crime).
3. When officer from a regiment finally arrived and made a final pick (rejecting those in a bad shape) the process continued: they had been transported (in chains or not) under a string guard with the same food issues and, if the waiting continued for a long time, dressed unsuitably for a season. Only in the regiment they were getting a descent food, bathing and clothes.
As a result, optimistically, at least 30% of the recruited peasants had not been making it to the army (by some estimates only 1 in 3 made it) and the rest had been either dying or “disappearing”. So the owners had been suffering losses while the state was not getting soldiers. Attempts to remedy the problem had been typical for the time (from severe flogging and all the way to execution of the officials caught on misbehaving) but, as was much later told to Peter by his Procurator General, “if you want to execute all criminals, you’ll fund yourself without the subjects”. So there were some improvements but the system remained wasteful.
Following the prevailing standard of the time, the tactics was linear so the initiative of the subordinate commanders has to be limited not to disrupt integrity of a line. Why did Peter bothered to create the grenadier units is one of the historic mysteries. Of course, they looked kind of cute with their high hats but how one was supposed to throw grenades (see picture below) while in a formation (and without a risk to hurt his fellow soldiers) is a question to which I have no answer. Well, without the little mysteries like that history would be no fun.
It is often considered to be a boring issue but when you have an army and the fleet, you have to feed their members during the peace and war. Skipping the part related to the peace time [6], at a war time the army was expected to use combination of the magazines and supply trains carrying few weeks worth of supplies. One one hand, this was expected to lessen reliance upon the magazine system with a resulted greater freedom of the long-distance marches [7] but OTOH was forcing army to have a baggage train with the tens of thousands wagons. It was expected than in (an unlikely) case when the army would have to operate in the densely populated “civilized” areas size of such a train cut be cut due to the possibility to obtain (by purchase or confiscations) provision in the area of operations and, if needed, to create movable field magazines (like the Western armies were doing). In general, system of the purchases was considered preferential because, besides giving the Commissariat officers an opportunity to enrich themselves [8] 😂, it did not unnecessary alienate the local population thus simplifying a process. [9]
System of living entirely off the land, as was demonstrated by the previous wars, allowed a greater maneuvering opportunities but also could cause severe problems when the area of operations was exhausted.
With all these resources and problems known, Peter had to decide upon his course of actions generally defined by the Russian-Swedish treaty of a mutual help. To interfere on his own initiative? To wait until being asked? How many forces to commit and where? Their composition, who will be in charge, etc. As the first step, he let Charles know that he is ready to fulfill his obligations and, without too much of a fanfare, started creating magazine in Pskov and marching some of his best prepared troops in this direction…,
Garrisons in Kolsky Ostrog and Archangelsk had been strengthened by the streltsy regiments and artillery in the case of a possible Danish naval attack with the order to strengthen the existing fortifications and to build additional earthwork forts at the mouths of the Kola and Northern Dvina rivers.
__________________
[1] Formally, Preobrazensky and Semenivsky regiments are not, yet, called this way but they are already elite troops by their composition (even a big part of the rank soldiers are nobles), equipment (the best available of everything) and training and performance during the Azov campaigns.
[2] So far, exclusively dragoons. The cuirassiers are only in the plans due to the unavailability of the horses (only few of those bough abroad already arrived).
[3] Of course, Peter is thinking before doing but some processes are really hard to stop after they started (and this applies not just to “scratching the itchy places and eating a tasty food” 😜) and stopping the manufactures which just started picking up the steam may have worse consequences than having reserve of the artillery barrels.
[4] Ironically or not, exactly this style of a cavalry attack survived in the Russian cavalry through WWI and RCW while the orderly charges by the knee-to-knee formations had been long gone.
[5] Making him to think does not imply that he become Mother Theresa.
[6] It started with a demagoguery position that “population must feed its defenders” (meaning direct supply of the natural products) to a more rational system of the purchases at a fixed price and creation of the magazines at the places of troops’ dislocation.
[7] Keep in mind that Peter was preparing his army primarily for the future war with the Ottomans/Crimea, which means operations in the areas where creation of the magazines was difficult or almost impossible (like in a middle of an open steppe).
[8] As was commented in OTL by Suvorov (who served in the commissariat on the early stages of his career) “if someone served in the intendancy for two years, this person can be executed without a trial”.
[9] A special case was the intentional devastation of the area as was done in OTL in Livonia by Sheremetev’s army. The purpose was both to scare the locals and to deprive the Swedes from a supply sources if they are going to launch a counter offensive: the Russian troops always coukd retreat to their own territory.
Last edited:
I think for good reason these are the obvious targets, they're easy to defend [1], they will give a significant increase in the Swedish national budget [2] and Courland will give Riga some strategic depth and a bigger hinterland.
[1] Royal Prussia simply by increasing the fortification of Danzig, I doubt the Swedes will care much about the rest of province.
[2] As a pure guess, I expect these territories would double the Swedish national budget.
I think just basic aping of a western fashion, no? I think Alexander I turned a number of dragoon regiments into Horse Jager regiments in 1812 (nothing better to do just then), so it seemed to have been a hereditary Romanov trait.
The Hell, as usually, was in the details. On December 7, 1812 aka when campaign was over and the French had been out of Russia, some of the dragoon regiments had been reformed: 2 - to the cuirassiers, 1- to the hussars, 8 - to the uhlans and 8 to the Horse Jagers. The action was not bizarre at all. During the war of 1812 the cuirassiers suffered very heavy losses while the experience demonstrated their usefulness in a battle. The war also indicated shortage of the Russian regular light cavalry, especially one with a broader specialization than the hussars and uhlans, capable of scouting but also fighting in the battles, participating in the fighting inside the cities, etc. Napoleon’s Horse Jagers proved to be quite useful. The idea itself was nothing new in the Russian army: the first such regiments had been created by Potemkin and then abolished by Paul. 36 dragoon regiments of the Russian army proved to be excessive for the wars of the early XIX (there was no need for a cavalry to act dismounted) so some of the best dragoon regiments had been converted to the Horse Jagers (their uniforms had been much less fancy than those of the French ones but who can beat Nappy in that area? 😜).
Last edited:
Don’t know about doubling but while Riga (the biggest port on the Baltic) was pretty much controlling the Lithuanian exports, Danzig was handling those of Poland
I really should know better than try to show off bit of knowledge without any foundation, and thank you for the informative post as always!
No problem and thanks for bringing up an interesting question. To quote from “Vatel”, “today I learned something new”: prior to your post I had no clue myself. 😂
While I can’t find the source, I remember reading that Livonia made up something like half the Swedish state’s income with Estonia, Pomerania, Scania and Bremen-Verden making up most of the rest. Sweden proper and Finland gave very little to the national budget, but instead supplied the soldiers.
Choosing a general…
6. Choosing a general….
“How nice is to be a general,
It is very nice to be a general,
I can not name you a better job!
I will definitely become a general,
I will surely become a general,
If I manage to outlive my corporal!”
An old song
With the war being almost a certainty (Charles not being an easily forgiving type) and the best Russian troops quietly moving to the border, Peter had to make a decision regarding their leader. Unlike Charles, he did not imagine himself as a head of an army [1] and his choice of the generals had been quite limited:
Generalissimo Shein died in February 1700 being disgraced for not torturing the captured rebellious Streltsy effectively enough.
General Patrick Gordon, veteran of the Russian regular army (not the brightest apple on a tree but a lot of experience, even if seriously outdated one), died in 1699.
Lefort, a complete nincompoop but Peter’s #1 drinking buddy, which qualified him for the rank of a full general and admiral of the Russian navy, also died in 1699.
Another Peter’s favorite, Feodor Golovin (“brilliant” diplomat: consequences of the Nerchinsk Treaty he signed with China had been remedied only in the second half of the XIX), fieldmarshal who did not lead the troops in any war, admiral-general who never commanded a fleet, head of Peter’s diplomatic service, the 1st Count in Russia (the title had been granted by the Hapsburg Emperor on Peter’s request) , the first recipient of the Order of St. Andrew… even OTL Peter was not naive enough to give him an active command.
Hiring a foreign general was, of course, possible but would involve high risks in the terms of a loyalty and even ability to communicate with the troops.
The trustworthy foreign officers already on the Russian service (like Weide) were of the relatively low ranks and would have authority problems.
Which left Peter with one practical option, which actually was the best one, Boris Sheremetev:
1. Member of the very top level Russian aristocracy so nobody in Russia (Peter including) would look at him condescendingly.
2. Unquestionably loyal to the dynasty. During the troublesome times of Sophia regency stood away from all factions. No chances that he is going to start playing silly political games. Also, due to the fact that he kept staying away from the domestic political intrigues and was on the good terms with pretty much everybody who was somebody, there was a good chance that nobody is going to try to screw him. Especially if Peter is going to stay in Russia but close enough to the theater taking care of the necessities.
3. Both during the Crimean campaigns of Vasily Golitsyn and Peter’s Azov campaigns commanded the independent armies with a noticeable success (significant enough to be noticed and recognized abroad).
4. Diplomat with a good international experience.
5. After Azov campaigns asked Peter’s permission for traveling abroad as a private person (the 1st and by that time the only one Russian aristocrat who expressed such a wish). During the travel was received with the great honors by the Emperor, the Pope, the Duke of Tuscany, Senate of Venice and Maltese Order (had some unpleasant “issues” while traveling across the PLC which may contribute to him having the right attitudes in a coming war). Was the first Orthodox person awarded a rank of Commander of the Order and had been proudly wearing the order’s cross (shown on all his portraits). Upon the return visited Peter in the German dress and shaved, which made Peter ecstatic.
6. As a commander was highly respected by the Russian officers both for his military abilities and for a descent treatment of the subordinates which was anything but typical.
7. What was rare, the foreigners had been commenting on his good manners (“the best mannered person in Russia”). Dignified behavior and self-respect were extremely rare in a country where standard behavior was extreme rudiness to those below and extreme subservience with those above you.
8. Not a military genius but rather a level-headed commander who would try to keep risk to his troops to a minimum while trying to gain as much as possible.
Taking into an account that most probably he would have to cooperate with the Swedes who considered Russians ‘Asiatic’, the Maltese Cross (even if it was a Catholic award) should produce some cooling down effect and so should his general style of behavior including moderation in drinking[2].
When the choice being made, Peter discussed with the newly appointed army commander the goals of the coming campaign.
The official goal had been quite clear and straightforward as defined : to help Charles in his campaign aimed to kicking the Saxons out of his territory, at the moment this meant relief of Riga (Saxon troops still had been holding forts outside the city and it looked like their army is going to march to the city again. Quite obviously that, unless asked otherwise, the Russian troops would do better operating as a separate force on the Swedish flank: with their supply train based system they simply would not be able to march with the same speed as the Swedes (and living off the Swedish land could cause both the discipline issues and unhappiness of Charles). This way they would be able to apply pressure on the Saxons’ right flank forcing them to retreat even if the Swedes have problems with the frontal attack on their positions (it was expected that the Saxon troops are going more or less to repeat the same thing they did earlier).
The unofficial goal was trickier and achieving it would greatly depend upon Sheremetev’s both military and diplomatic skills. Of course, the treaty assumed exclusively unselfish brotherly help but, even if the principle “free cheese available only in the mouse traps” was not yet formulated, Peter always was fond of its substance. 😜 The trick was to figure out what is wanted (🧀) and it (a) should be of a tangible value to Peter while (b) not raising serious objections from Charles (who may harbor some illusions regarding Peter’s unselfishness and should not be completely disillusioned on this account for the sake of the future joined ventures). The next step would be to get physical possession of (🧀) but not in a way which would look like this is the main goal (which is, of course to help Brother Charles) and finally to convince Charles that agreeing to leave (🧀) in Peter’s possession is actually a way to punish the Perfidious One [3] and also serves Charles’ own interests. Not an easy task taking into an account that Charles may look somewhat idealistic but definitely is not an idiot.
After thorough investigation of a map (🧀) was found and now it was Sheremetev’s task to get it….
_______________
[1] During the Azov campaigns he modestly opted for the position of a pain in everybody’s butt, which was much more fun leaving plenty of time for his favorite occupations of playing an artillerman, drinking parties and giving the valuable advices to everybody while not carrying any responsibility. In the 1st campaign there were 3 independent commanders (two of whom had no generalship experience whatsoever but had been Peter’s close confidants), which contributed to its spectacular failure, and for the second he choose an supreme commander, voyevoda Shein, gave him a rank of generalissimo and proceeded with his favorite occupations.
[2] In OTL, as a show of a personal respect, Peter exempted him from a mandatory drinking on his “assemblies”.
[3] Strange as it may sound, in this specific case this is NOT Britain.
“How nice is to be a general,
It is very nice to be a general,
I can not name you a better job!
I will definitely become a general,
I will surely become a general,
If I manage to outlive my corporal!”
An old song
With the war being almost a certainty (Charles not being an easily forgiving type) and the best Russian troops quietly moving to the border, Peter had to make a decision regarding their leader. Unlike Charles, he did not imagine himself as a head of an army [1] and his choice of the generals had been quite limited:
Generalissimo Shein died in February 1700 being disgraced for not torturing the captured rebellious Streltsy effectively enough.
General Patrick Gordon, veteran of the Russian regular army (not the brightest apple on a tree but a lot of experience, even if seriously outdated one), died in 1699.
Lefort, a complete nincompoop but Peter’s #1 drinking buddy, which qualified him for the rank of a full general and admiral of the Russian navy, also died in 1699.
Another Peter’s favorite, Feodor Golovin (“brilliant” diplomat: consequences of the Nerchinsk Treaty he signed with China had been remedied only in the second half of the XIX), fieldmarshal who did not lead the troops in any war, admiral-general who never commanded a fleet, head of Peter’s diplomatic service, the 1st Count in Russia (the title had been granted by the Hapsburg Emperor on Peter’s request) , the first recipient of the Order of St. Andrew… even OTL Peter was not naive enough to give him an active command.
Hiring a foreign general was, of course, possible but would involve high risks in the terms of a loyalty and even ability to communicate with the troops.
The trustworthy foreign officers already on the Russian service (like Weide) were of the relatively low ranks and would have authority problems.
Which left Peter with one practical option, which actually was the best one, Boris Sheremetev:
1. Member of the very top level Russian aristocracy so nobody in Russia (Peter including) would look at him condescendingly.
2. Unquestionably loyal to the dynasty. During the troublesome times of Sophia regency stood away from all factions. No chances that he is going to start playing silly political games. Also, due to the fact that he kept staying away from the domestic political intrigues and was on the good terms with pretty much everybody who was somebody, there was a good chance that nobody is going to try to screw him. Especially if Peter is going to stay in Russia but close enough to the theater taking care of the necessities.
3. Both during the Crimean campaigns of Vasily Golitsyn and Peter’s Azov campaigns commanded the independent armies with a noticeable success (significant enough to be noticed and recognized abroad).
4. Diplomat with a good international experience.
5. After Azov campaigns asked Peter’s permission for traveling abroad as a private person (the 1st and by that time the only one Russian aristocrat who expressed such a wish). During the travel was received with the great honors by the Emperor, the Pope, the Duke of Tuscany, Senate of Venice and Maltese Order (had some unpleasant “issues” while traveling across the PLC which may contribute to him having the right attitudes in a coming war). Was the first Orthodox person awarded a rank of Commander of the Order and had been proudly wearing the order’s cross (shown on all his portraits). Upon the return visited Peter in the German dress and shaved, which made Peter ecstatic.
6. As a commander was highly respected by the Russian officers both for his military abilities and for a descent treatment of the subordinates which was anything but typical.
7. What was rare, the foreigners had been commenting on his good manners (“the best mannered person in Russia”). Dignified behavior and self-respect were extremely rare in a country where standard behavior was extreme rudiness to those below and extreme subservience with those above you.
8. Not a military genius but rather a level-headed commander who would try to keep risk to his troops to a minimum while trying to gain as much as possible.
Taking into an account that most probably he would have to cooperate with the Swedes who considered Russians ‘Asiatic’, the Maltese Cross (even if it was a Catholic award) should produce some cooling down effect and so should his general style of behavior including moderation in drinking[2].
When the choice being made, Peter discussed with the newly appointed army commander the goals of the coming campaign.
The official goal had been quite clear and straightforward as defined : to help Charles in his campaign aimed to kicking the Saxons out of his territory, at the moment this meant relief of Riga (Saxon troops still had been holding forts outside the city and it looked like their army is going to march to the city again. Quite obviously that, unless asked otherwise, the Russian troops would do better operating as a separate force on the Swedish flank: with their supply train based system they simply would not be able to march with the same speed as the Swedes (and living off the Swedish land could cause both the discipline issues and unhappiness of Charles). This way they would be able to apply pressure on the Saxons’ right flank forcing them to retreat even if the Swedes have problems with the frontal attack on their positions (it was expected that the Saxon troops are going more or less to repeat the same thing they did earlier).
The unofficial goal was trickier and achieving it would greatly depend upon Sheremetev’s both military and diplomatic skills. Of course, the treaty assumed exclusively unselfish brotherly help but, even if the principle “free cheese available only in the mouse traps” was not yet formulated, Peter always was fond of its substance. 😜 The trick was to figure out what is wanted (🧀) and it (a) should be of a tangible value to Peter while (b) not raising serious objections from Charles (who may harbor some illusions regarding Peter’s unselfishness and should not be completely disillusioned on this account for the sake of the future joined ventures). The next step would be to get physical possession of (🧀) but not in a way which would look like this is the main goal (which is, of course to help Brother Charles) and finally to convince Charles that agreeing to leave (🧀) in Peter’s possession is actually a way to punish the Perfidious One [3] and also serves Charles’ own interests. Not an easy task taking into an account that Charles may look somewhat idealistic but definitely is not an idiot.
After thorough investigation of a map (🧀) was found and now it was Sheremetev’s task to get it….
_______________
[1] During the Azov campaigns he modestly opted for the position of a pain in everybody’s butt, which was much more fun leaving plenty of time for his favorite occupations of playing an artillerman, drinking parties and giving the valuable advices to everybody while not carrying any responsibility. In the 1st campaign there were 3 independent commanders (two of whom had no generalship experience whatsoever but had been Peter’s close confidants), which contributed to its spectacular failure, and for the second he choose an supreme commander, voyevoda Shein, gave him a rank of generalissimo and proceeded with his favorite occupations.
[2] In OTL, as a show of a personal respect, Peter exempted him from a mandatory drinking on his “assemblies”.
[3] Strange as it may sound, in this specific case this is NOT Britain.
Last edited:
A short interlude: 🧀 and its whereabouts
7. A short interlude: 🧀 and its whereabouts
Actually, finding a desirable 🧀 was not a computer science [1] because it was just there for everybody to see and, in the present situation, a very low hanging fruit [2]. The map below is for a little bit earlier period so some of the Polish territories are already Russian but look at the bright red spot on the top right part (and ignore smaller spots on the left because they mean trouble).
This is Województwo inflanckie in Polish or Ducatus Livoniae in Latvian or Inflanty Voivodeship or Livonian Voivodeship, also known as Polish Livonia (so many names for such a small territory), a part of the PLC jointly owned by the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania populated mostly by the Latvians and, since the early XVII, a very popular theater of the wars between Sweden, PLC and Russia. The rest of tge Voiovodship are small towns and old crumbling castles.
Its “center” (located at its bottom) is Dyneburg, now Daugavpils but also known as Dünaburg, Даўґаўпілс (Daŭgaŭpils), Дзвінск (Dzvinsk), Düünaburg, Väinalinn, Väinänlinna, Daugpilis, Daugpiļs, Даугавпилс, historically: Невгин (Nevgin), Динабург (Dinaburg), Борисоглебск (Borisoglebsk 1656–67), Двинск (Dvinsk) and even דענענבורג, דינאַבורג and דווינסק. Pick whatever name you prefer.
If you have absolutely nothing else to do, you can make a search for Dynaburg fortress and find it absolutely unimpressive
Don’t search for Dvinsk fortress because you’ll get a map of a powerful Russian fortress built in the XIX century
So, now (in 1700) this is an obsolete fortification manned by the Saxon garrison, which provides the Russians with a perfect excuse to make it a target of their initial attack. The city is strategically important because it is located on the Daugava River (also Daugova, Dzwina, Western Dvina, Западная Двина, Заходняя Дзвіна) in the mouth of which Riga is located (in the region in question number of the names is in a reverse proportion to the size and importance of the geographic object so Riga is just “Riga” or “Rīga”). Potentially, it may improve the trade route between Pskov (where a major fair is being held) and Riga especially if Sweden grabs Courland thus securing both banks of the river and guaranteeing a safe navigation. So, no conflict of the interests (at least so far) and potential profit for both sides. Of course, if situation permits, Peter may want to get a tiny little bit greater piece of land …. which is going to to provide him with a nice secure border all the way up to the Dvina flow with Witebsk as a tete-de-pont. But he may not so there is no need to overburden Charles with the excessive knowledge [3].
_____________
[1] First, because the CS (and the computers) did not exist in 1700 and second, IMO (backed by more than 4 decades in the area) the CS is hardly a “science”. Well, never mind. 😉
[2] Or, to be consistent in my terminology, a piece of a 🧀 which somebody hanged on a lowest branch of some local tree and left unattended. Question to all specialists in the Latvian flora: maybe there is some local variety of a cheese which is growing on the trees? It seems that the unwarranted attempt to be metaphoric got me totally confused. 😢 OK, to make it simple enough for me to understand, finally, what I’m trying to say, there was a piece of the territory which Peter could grab with a minimal military and political trouble.
[3] Of course, South remains the main long-term direction but if there is going to be a war why not use the opportunities?
Actually, finding a desirable 🧀 was not a computer science [1] because it was just there for everybody to see and, in the present situation, a very low hanging fruit [2]. The map below is for a little bit earlier period so some of the Polish territories are already Russian but look at the bright red spot on the top right part (and ignore smaller spots on the left because they mean trouble).
This is Województwo inflanckie in Polish or Ducatus Livoniae in Latvian or Inflanty Voivodeship or Livonian Voivodeship, also known as Polish Livonia (so many names for such a small territory), a part of the PLC jointly owned by the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania populated mostly by the Latvians and, since the early XVII, a very popular theater of the wars between Sweden, PLC and Russia. The rest of tge Voiovodship are small towns and old crumbling castles.
Its “center” (located at its bottom) is Dyneburg, now Daugavpils but also known as Dünaburg, Даўґаўпілс (Daŭgaŭpils), Дзвінск (Dzvinsk), Düünaburg, Väinalinn, Väinänlinna, Daugpilis, Daugpiļs, Даугавпилс, historically: Невгин (Nevgin), Динабург (Dinaburg), Борисоглебск (Borisoglebsk 1656–67), Двинск (Dvinsk) and even דענענבורג, דינאַבורג and דווינסק. Pick whatever name you prefer.
If you have absolutely nothing else to do, you can make a search for Dynaburg fortress and find it absolutely unimpressive
Don’t search for Dvinsk fortress because you’ll get a map of a powerful Russian fortress built in the XIX century
So, now (in 1700) this is an obsolete fortification manned by the Saxon garrison, which provides the Russians with a perfect excuse to make it a target of their initial attack. The city is strategically important because it is located on the Daugava River (also Daugova, Dzwina, Western Dvina, Западная Двина, Заходняя Дзвіна) in the mouth of which Riga is located (in the region in question number of the names is in a reverse proportion to the size and importance of the geographic object so Riga is just “Riga” or “Rīga”). Potentially, it may improve the trade route between Pskov (where a major fair is being held) and Riga especially if Sweden grabs Courland thus securing both banks of the river and guaranteeing a safe navigation. So, no conflict of the interests (at least so far) and potential profit for both sides. Of course, if situation permits, Peter may want to get a tiny little bit greater piece of land …. which is going to to provide him with a nice secure border all the way up to the Dvina flow with Witebsk as a tete-de-pont. But he may not so there is no need to overburden Charles with the excessive knowledge [3].
_____________
[1] First, because the CS (and the computers) did not exist in 1700 and second, IMO (backed by more than 4 decades in the area) the CS is hardly a “science”. Well, never mind. 😉
[2] Or, to be consistent in my terminology, a piece of a 🧀 which somebody hanged on a lowest branch of some local tree and left unattended. Question to all specialists in the Latvian flora: maybe there is some local variety of a cheese which is growing on the trees? It seems that the unwarranted attempt to be metaphoric got me totally confused. 😢 OK, to make it simple enough for me to understand, finally, what I’m trying to say, there was a piece of the territory which Peter could grab with a minimal military and political trouble.
[3] Of course, South remains the main long-term direction but if there is going to be a war why not use the opportunities?
Winter in Estonia
8. Winter in Estonia and campaign starts
“King thinks only about the war. He is not paying attention to the advices of other people and it looks like he is acting upon the direct instructions from the God.” M. Stenbock
After being forced to agree to the peace with Denmark, which made him furious because the main goal of kicking Denmark so hard that it could no represent a danger in a near future, Charles sailed to Pernau and then set his headquarters near destroyed Lais castle to soend winter there waiting for arrival of the new troops needed for the campaign against August: after one victory had been “stolen” from him by the diplomats, he could not let them to steal another one and refused to listen to the peace initiatives proposed by the ambassadors of the Emperor Leopold I and Louis XIV. Actually, at least the French attempts ended soon enough because WoSS was going to start and Louis, out of fear that Sweden is going to join the emperor and his allies, would prepare him to remain in the North. OTOH, Britain and the Netherlands still wanted Charles to join them but their behavior during war with Denmark (refusal to engage, together with the Swedes, the Danish fleet and destroy it and then their role in conclusion of a peace which Charles did not want), gave Charles a pause.
Geopolitical situation after the Peace of Travendal really was not too rosy. Charles still had undestroyed Danish fleet at his rear which made him dependent upon a good will of the Brits and the Dutch who already got Denmark involved on their side in coming WoSS. It had been argued that by making peace with August Charles would relieve himself from dependency upon unreliable guarantees of the maritime powers and had a complete freedom in his foreign policy [1]. But it is possible that the French ambassador was right when he wrote: “I seriously think that King of Sweden is afraid to run out of the enemies if he’ll make peace with August.” And, of course, especially with a friendly Russia (and secure “Easter flank”), he could expect to get much more from defeating August then from maintaining a status quo.
Life in Lais proved to be quite entertaining for Charles with hunting and other winter entertainings. Not so much for his troops most of which had been placed in the nearby, rather poor, villages suffering from all types of shortages and the illnesses caused by the congested dwellings (it does not look like Charles cared too much). Situation was aggravated by a complete inability of an elderly governor Axel De La Gardie to solve any organizational problems.
As far as the preparations to war had been involved, things were not too good either due to the shortage of money. Ambassador of Leopold on his way back to Vienna was encouraging August to conduct war more eagerly. French ambassador was reporting to Louis:
“Nobility of the provinces Livonia, Estonia and Ingria are unhappy with the Swedish government, which, after taking away most if their privileges and properties, still mistrust them and suspects them being the secret enemies. For more then a half a year everything needed for supply of the troops is thank from them without a pay or even a promise to pay so they are just waiting for an appropriate moment for starting a rebellion and openly express the regret that last year King August could not penetrate deeper into the country… The military located there did not receive their salaries for more than a year… there are no hospitals, there are shortages of food … Sometimes the soldiers are getting a lot of a bad bread and salted meat and somethimes they are getting nothing… illnesses are getting stronger and the death spares nobody including King’s inner circle: his cousin Adolph died two days ago …. in most regiments no more than a third of the people are ready for action. During the last three months the King can’t raise more than 6,000 soldiers.”[2]
However, by May of 1701 Charles got approximately 10,000 reinforcements from Sweden and was ready to “visit” King August. “Thank God, it starts smelling like the summer there and, with God's help, we hope to start marching soon and attend to our business.” [3] Charles met the newly arrived troops at Derpt and from here on June 27, 1701 he marched South wearing the costume which was going to become his trademark.
And, no wig! Which was a true innovation.
Upon receiving the news, Sheremetev ordered his army quietly allocated along the border to start marching as well. The forward magazines prepared in Opochka and Ostrov allowed to cut size of the train and speed up the march.
The Saxons still had been staying near Riga doing little but holding two nearby fortresses.
_________
[1] “Freedom” as in doing what? British-Dutch position made a new war with Denmark close to impossible leaving as the options either entering WoSS as somebody’s puppet or to stay home abandoning any active foreign politics (time of Bernadotte did not come, yet).
[2] Of course, this was reported during the winter of 1700-1701 when Charles was staying in Livonia near Lais castle. In this TL the area is not being destroyed by the Russian raids so situation with food should be somewhat better but not with the money. Anyway, a little bit of an extra drama should not hurt the story (without the problems the victories are less impressive). 😂
[3] From Charles’ letter to his younger sister.
“King thinks only about the war. He is not paying attention to the advices of other people and it looks like he is acting upon the direct instructions from the God.” M. Stenbock
After being forced to agree to the peace with Denmark, which made him furious because the main goal of kicking Denmark so hard that it could no represent a danger in a near future, Charles sailed to Pernau and then set his headquarters near destroyed Lais castle to soend winter there waiting for arrival of the new troops needed for the campaign against August: after one victory had been “stolen” from him by the diplomats, he could not let them to steal another one and refused to listen to the peace initiatives proposed by the ambassadors of the Emperor Leopold I and Louis XIV. Actually, at least the French attempts ended soon enough because WoSS was going to start and Louis, out of fear that Sweden is going to join the emperor and his allies, would prepare him to remain in the North. OTOH, Britain and the Netherlands still wanted Charles to join them but their behavior during war with Denmark (refusal to engage, together with the Swedes, the Danish fleet and destroy it and then their role in conclusion of a peace which Charles did not want), gave Charles a pause.
Geopolitical situation after the Peace of Travendal really was not too rosy. Charles still had undestroyed Danish fleet at his rear which made him dependent upon a good will of the Brits and the Dutch who already got Denmark involved on their side in coming WoSS. It had been argued that by making peace with August Charles would relieve himself from dependency upon unreliable guarantees of the maritime powers and had a complete freedom in his foreign policy [1]. But it is possible that the French ambassador was right when he wrote: “I seriously think that King of Sweden is afraid to run out of the enemies if he’ll make peace with August.” And, of course, especially with a friendly Russia (and secure “Easter flank”), he could expect to get much more from defeating August then from maintaining a status quo.
Life in Lais proved to be quite entertaining for Charles with hunting and other winter entertainings. Not so much for his troops most of which had been placed in the nearby, rather poor, villages suffering from all types of shortages and the illnesses caused by the congested dwellings (it does not look like Charles cared too much). Situation was aggravated by a complete inability of an elderly governor Axel De La Gardie to solve any organizational problems.
As far as the preparations to war had been involved, things were not too good either due to the shortage of money. Ambassador of Leopold on his way back to Vienna was encouraging August to conduct war more eagerly. French ambassador was reporting to Louis:
“Nobility of the provinces Livonia, Estonia and Ingria are unhappy with the Swedish government, which, after taking away most if their privileges and properties, still mistrust them and suspects them being the secret enemies. For more then a half a year everything needed for supply of the troops is thank from them without a pay or even a promise to pay so they are just waiting for an appropriate moment for starting a rebellion and openly express the regret that last year King August could not penetrate deeper into the country… The military located there did not receive their salaries for more than a year… there are no hospitals, there are shortages of food … Sometimes the soldiers are getting a lot of a bad bread and salted meat and somethimes they are getting nothing… illnesses are getting stronger and the death spares nobody including King’s inner circle: his cousin Adolph died two days ago …. in most regiments no more than a third of the people are ready for action. During the last three months the King can’t raise more than 6,000 soldiers.”[2]
However, by May of 1701 Charles got approximately 10,000 reinforcements from Sweden and was ready to “visit” King August. “Thank God, it starts smelling like the summer there and, with God's help, we hope to start marching soon and attend to our business.” [3] Charles met the newly arrived troops at Derpt and from here on June 27, 1701 he marched South wearing the costume which was going to become his trademark.
And, no wig! Which was a true innovation.
Upon receiving the news, Sheremetev ordered his army quietly allocated along the border to start marching as well. The forward magazines prepared in Opochka and Ostrov allowed to cut size of the train and speed up the march.
The Saxons still had been staying near Riga doing little but holding two nearby fortresses.
_________
[1] “Freedom” as in doing what? British-Dutch position made a new war with Denmark close to impossible leaving as the options either entering WoSS as somebody’s puppet or to stay home abandoning any active foreign politics (time of Bernadotte did not come, yet).
[2] Of course, this was reported during the winter of 1700-1701 when Charles was staying in Livonia near Lais castle. In this TL the area is not being destroyed by the Russian raids so situation with food should be somewhat better but not with the money. Anyway, a little bit of an extra drama should not hurt the story (without the problems the victories are less impressive). 😂
[3] From Charles’ letter to his younger sister.
Last edited:
A @alexmilman timeline regarding Pyotr the not-so Velikiy. Oh that is a treat! And the information on the era delivered with humor, typical of Mr Alex.
I look forward to read more and more of this !!!!!
I look forward to read more and more of this !!!!!
AFAIK, at least in the XVIII century “Velikiy”/“Great” usually implied that you (or somebody on your behalf) was really nice to a group of the French social parasites self-identified as the “philosophers” (perhaps because they had rather …er…. “philosophic” attitude to the source of their income [1]), so alt-Peter still may end up with that title (ditto for the case if this title was officially granted by the Russian Senate). 😂
OTOH, he may still end up with some significant achievements: after all smoking and Western dress are already in so the “civilizing mission” is pretty much accomplished. Few more Western style buildings in Moscow, rename Boyar Duma into Senate and “prikazes” into “collegiums”, add few military victories, establish Academy of Sciences (it is not necessary to keep funding it afterwards) and you are on the top of the candidates’ list even without playing a carpenter or a dentist [2].
________
[1] Not a precise quote from Sheridan’s “The Duenna” but something along the lines: “… but if people are putting money in ,y pocket…”
[2] Part of Peter’s inheritance were 3 big bags of the teeth he personally extracted, which surely qualified him as at least “Great Dentist”. The modern dentists are definitely not up to the same standard. My dentist is practicing in the most Halloweenish part of the Salem, MA, which is the most Halloweenish place in the US (not sure how the witch trials made it such but this is a fact). For the whole month the tourists (in the Halloween garb and normal clothes) from most of the US are gathering just at the front of his office not quite sure how to entertain themselves. I offered him to on the front window a suitable ad: “Halloween special! Tooth extraction and root canal without anesthesia! Great discounts!” Surely, this would be a financial bonanza (no other dentists on that street) but he did not jump to the opportunity (and I did not even ask for any share in the profits…). 🤬
The man is clearly a closet barbarian. What will Peter think?
I had to look up the Peace of Travendal because I was trying to work out how the Danes started the war and then a few mo9nths later were forced to make a peace the Swedes didn't want. The answer of course being that the British/Dutch wanted the Protestant states to play nice and loan them their armies for the upcoming WotSS rather than bashing each other. One can sympathise with Charles's bruised royal dignity.
So Peter has a plan to snip off Polish Livonia which he hasn't necessarily shared with his ally, and Augustus would appear to be in way over his head. I'd have expected him to at least try a rapid reverse ferret when the Russians came in and the Danes dropped out, but then I doubt that either Charles or Peter would have listened.
Despite the "Russian" approach to conscription, Peter's new army, while inexperienced, doesn't sound too bad by the standards of the 1700s. Desertion, hunger, disease, corruption, rote tactics and silly uniforms seem to have been SOP for pretty much everyone, unless a particularly talented general or minister temporarily got things under control.
The first victories
9. The first victories
With a war, which nobody bothered to declare properly [1], getting into its active phase, the theater looked as following (late June of 1701):
1. Saxon army of approximately 12 - 13,000 with 36 pieces of the field artillery was staying across the river from Riga to no obvious purpose because it is too small (and lacking the siege artillery) for an effective siege [2]. Some if these troops had been garrisoning two captured fortifications near Riga and the rest had been guarding the left bank of the Daugava River between Riga and Kokenhausen (Koknese, Kukenois, Kokenhuza, Tsarevich-Dmitriev - the place was/is really small, hence so many names, see previous post for the explanation) not knowing where exactly the Swedes are going to try to cross the river. There was also a small Saxon garrison in Dynaburg, upriver, not that any unpleasantries had been expected there. August was having a quality time in Warsaw not unduly bothering himself with raising more troops and sending them to the theater of war.
2. Charles started his march from Derpt with approximately 20, 000 [3]. His army had to march 250 km to Riga in a very hot summer so he did not rush it and also had to move in a way which would prevent the Saxon commander from figuring out where exactly between Riga and Kokenhausen he is planning to cross the river.
3. Sheremetev of 20,000 [4] regulars, 10 infantry and 10 dragoon regiments with 60 artillery pieces (20 regimental 3-pounders, 30 3-pounders, and 10 6-pounders) and 2,000 irregulars (Cossacks and Kalmuks) had been marching from its positions between Ostrov and Opochka to Dynaburg with the rendezvous point at Rezekne (city small enough to have 6 names), which meant march of 120 - 150 km. Few day marches behind Sheremetev’s army followed a siege train [5] of the 18- and 24-pound cannons and 6-pound mortars accompanied [6] by a modest convoy of 6 infantry regiments (including the Guards and Russian oldest Butyrsky Regiment), a cuirassier regiment, and 3 dragoon regiments. With all these people marching anyway, there was also a big wagon train carrying couple weeks worth of the supplies (for all troops including Sheremetev’ army). In charge of this …er… <whatever> was Prince Anikita Repnin, one of the top Russian aristocrats, person of a great prudence [7] . Swedish liaison officer wrote about him “General Repnin is a man in his forties; he does not understand much in the military matters but likes to learn and very respectful….” [8].
What else can be said about this siege train? Not too much except that that the bombardier company of the Preobrazensky Regiment included two lieutenants called Peter Mikhailov [9] and Alexander Menshikov (which means that the baggage train had been carrying a lot of the booze for celebration of the future victories).
As it should be clear from all of the above, logically, the Saxon idea of staying near Riga under these circumstances should be considered a pure lunacy because with the available forces Steinau simply could not prevent both Charles and Sheremetev from crossing Daugava and was going to have 20,000 enemies (chose which ones) at his rear and the same number at his front. But this is not as the things looked like both for the Saxons and Swedes because the Russians “did not count”. From Steinau’s point of view, even few hundred Saxon troops behind the pathetic fortifications of the Dynaburg were more than enough to keep these barbarians forever. And, Charles was not going to let himself to be robbed of a victory by the trifles like “strategic considerations”, especially in a view of the obvious fact that even few hundred Saxon troops… etc.
So while the sides that did matter (Swedes and Saxons) had been happily engaged in the maneuvering on both sides of the Daugava (Charles trying to deceive Steinau regarding the point of crossing and Steinau trying not to be deceived), Sheremetev reached Dynaburg. After a short bombardment, the Russian troops, during a half an hour night assault, entered the fortress. Unlike 1656 when all defenders had been killed , this time they were simply taken prisoners (a clear sign that in the past five decades Russia became much more civilized). Now Steinau could finally get an idea but he did not, with a resulting Crossing of the Düna which firmly established Charles’ reputation as a military genius.
The Saxons had been retreating to the neutral Prussia. Charles with the Swedish cavalry had been pursuing them, joined by the Russian cavalry regiments, but without a noticeable success.
Courland was an obvious and easy pick: there were not troops and the Duke, whom August made a generalissimo, fled to Berlin. Occupation of the rich duchy had been solving two tasks: supply problem for the Swedish troops and annoying August. So, in July Swedish army occupied the duchy, population was forced to pay contribution and soon afterwards Charles started turing it into the Swedish territory: population was ordered to swear loyalty to the King of Sweden, the clergy had to pray for his health, newly-appointed tax collectors started collecting taxes for Charles.
It goes without saying that on the 🧀 territory the same things happened for the benefit of the Tsar of Russia [10] (agreement of the Poles was neither asked and nor really required: Saxon garrisons in the area were enough of an excuse and if somebody was unhappy, this was not Peter’s problem). Sheremetev was made fieldmarshal. Siege train (and most of the “convoy”) had been left in the area because Peter had certain creative ideas for implementation of which it would be very convenient (if not really necessary) if Charles committed an act of a fundamental geopolitical foolishness, which Peter fully expected him to make. Within less than a month, on August 9, 1701, Peter was not disappointed. Actually, he was quite ecstatic and send Charles his renewed assurances of the continued brotherly love and complete support of his new and absolutely brilliant idea. With a much lesser fanfare he started moving some of his so far uncommitted regiments toward Ukraine….
__________________
[1] Even if just because it was not quite clear to whom this war should be declared. After the peace with Denmark the German princes asked Charles not to march to Saxony because August attacked Riga as King of Poland but now the Poles declared that the PLC has nothing to do with the activities of the Elector of Saxony and that the PLC is true to the Peace of Oliva. The Russian participation was, for a while, overlooked so there were no protests sent Peter’s way. Not that this would do any good, anyway.
[2] And perhaps because some time earlier August, who was always short of money, allegedly got 10,000 thalers from the merchants of Riga for not causing damage to the city by bombardment. Quite possible that this was just a nasty rumor incompatible with August’s royal dignity: unless at that time he was in a really desperate financial situation, the alleged sum looks offensively small.
[3] In OTL he left in Ingria and Karelia 6,000 plus troops under command of colonel Schlippenbach to guard the Southern Livonia against the Russians, which left him marching with 18,000. Not all of these troops would be assembled at Derpt in this TL and even would be necessary for the actions against numerically (and not only) inferior Saxons so Charles’ army is just slightly bigger.
[4] In OTL 20,000 Russian troops under command of A. Repnin had been sent to help the Saxons while Sheremetev was operating in Livonia so the number is the same but commander is better and the goals are different.
[5] Just in case Dynaburg’s garrison consisted of the suicidal maniacs and perhaps for a pure fun as well.
[6] So that nobody would steal them and, perhaps, to be sure that along the road they would not be bartered or forgotten or something…
[7] In OTL in 1700 he was marching to Narva when the s—t happened and safely retreated to Novgorod. In 1701 he was sent to help Saxons at Riga and, after watching from a safe distance them being beaten, safely returned to Russia (leaving few hundreds of his soldiers to defend some redoubt, all of them had been killed by the Swedes). After that mostly was operating as a second in command with a reasonable degree of success.
[8] In OTL, this was written by Steinau before Battle of Daugava.
[9] He loved sieges and a loud noice in general.
[10] Of course, there was certain disappointment due to the absence of the sieges and ability to make a loud “boom!” but upon the return to Moscow a huge celebration was arranged with a massive guns salute and extensive fireworks, so it was OK.
With a war, which nobody bothered to declare properly [1], getting into its active phase, the theater looked as following (late June of 1701):
1. Saxon army of approximately 12 - 13,000 with 36 pieces of the field artillery was staying across the river from Riga to no obvious purpose because it is too small (and lacking the siege artillery) for an effective siege [2]. Some if these troops had been garrisoning two captured fortifications near Riga and the rest had been guarding the left bank of the Daugava River between Riga and Kokenhausen (Koknese, Kukenois, Kokenhuza, Tsarevich-Dmitriev - the place was/is really small, hence so many names, see previous post for the explanation) not knowing where exactly the Swedes are going to try to cross the river. There was also a small Saxon garrison in Dynaburg, upriver, not that any unpleasantries had been expected there. August was having a quality time in Warsaw not unduly bothering himself with raising more troops and sending them to the theater of war.
2. Charles started his march from Derpt with approximately 20, 000 [3]. His army had to march 250 km to Riga in a very hot summer so he did not rush it and also had to move in a way which would prevent the Saxon commander from figuring out where exactly between Riga and Kokenhausen he is planning to cross the river.
3. Sheremetev of 20,000 [4] regulars, 10 infantry and 10 dragoon regiments with 60 artillery pieces (20 regimental 3-pounders, 30 3-pounders, and 10 6-pounders) and 2,000 irregulars (Cossacks and Kalmuks) had been marching from its positions between Ostrov and Opochka to Dynaburg with the rendezvous point at Rezekne (city small enough to have 6 names), which meant march of 120 - 150 km. Few day marches behind Sheremetev’s army followed a siege train [5] of the 18- and 24-pound cannons and 6-pound mortars accompanied [6] by a modest convoy of 6 infantry regiments (including the Guards and Russian oldest Butyrsky Regiment), a cuirassier regiment, and 3 dragoon regiments. With all these people marching anyway, there was also a big wagon train carrying couple weeks worth of the supplies (for all troops including Sheremetev’ army). In charge of this …er… <whatever> was Prince Anikita Repnin, one of the top Russian aristocrats, person of a great prudence [7] . Swedish liaison officer wrote about him “General Repnin is a man in his forties; he does not understand much in the military matters but likes to learn and very respectful….” [8].
What else can be said about this siege train? Not too much except that that the bombardier company of the Preobrazensky Regiment included two lieutenants called Peter Mikhailov [9] and Alexander Menshikov (which means that the baggage train had been carrying a lot of the booze for celebration of the future victories).
As it should be clear from all of the above, logically, the Saxon idea of staying near Riga under these circumstances should be considered a pure lunacy because with the available forces Steinau simply could not prevent both Charles and Sheremetev from crossing Daugava and was going to have 20,000 enemies (chose which ones) at his rear and the same number at his front. But this is not as the things looked like both for the Saxons and Swedes because the Russians “did not count”. From Steinau’s point of view, even few hundred Saxon troops behind the pathetic fortifications of the Dynaburg were more than enough to keep these barbarians forever. And, Charles was not going to let himself to be robbed of a victory by the trifles like “strategic considerations”, especially in a view of the obvious fact that even few hundred Saxon troops… etc.
So while the sides that did matter (Swedes and Saxons) had been happily engaged in the maneuvering on both sides of the Daugava (Charles trying to deceive Steinau regarding the point of crossing and Steinau trying not to be deceived), Sheremetev reached Dynaburg. After a short bombardment, the Russian troops, during a half an hour night assault, entered the fortress. Unlike 1656 when all defenders had been killed , this time they were simply taken prisoners (a clear sign that in the past five decades Russia became much more civilized). Now Steinau could finally get an idea but he did not, with a resulting Crossing of the Düna which firmly established Charles’ reputation as a military genius.
The Saxons had been retreating to the neutral Prussia. Charles with the Swedish cavalry had been pursuing them, joined by the Russian cavalry regiments, but without a noticeable success.
Courland was an obvious and easy pick: there were not troops and the Duke, whom August made a generalissimo, fled to Berlin. Occupation of the rich duchy had been solving two tasks: supply problem for the Swedish troops and annoying August. So, in July Swedish army occupied the duchy, population was forced to pay contribution and soon afterwards Charles started turing it into the Swedish territory: population was ordered to swear loyalty to the King of Sweden, the clergy had to pray for his health, newly-appointed tax collectors started collecting taxes for Charles.
It goes without saying that on the 🧀 territory the same things happened for the benefit of the Tsar of Russia [10] (agreement of the Poles was neither asked and nor really required: Saxon garrisons in the area were enough of an excuse and if somebody was unhappy, this was not Peter’s problem). Sheremetev was made fieldmarshal. Siege train (and most of the “convoy”) had been left in the area because Peter had certain creative ideas for implementation of which it would be very convenient (if not really necessary) if Charles committed an act of a fundamental geopolitical foolishness, which Peter fully expected him to make. Within less than a month, on August 9, 1701, Peter was not disappointed. Actually, he was quite ecstatic and send Charles his renewed assurances of the continued brotherly love and complete support of his new and absolutely brilliant idea. With a much lesser fanfare he started moving some of his so far uncommitted regiments toward Ukraine….
__________________
[1] Even if just because it was not quite clear to whom this war should be declared. After the peace with Denmark the German princes asked Charles not to march to Saxony because August attacked Riga as King of Poland but now the Poles declared that the PLC has nothing to do with the activities of the Elector of Saxony and that the PLC is true to the Peace of Oliva. The Russian participation was, for a while, overlooked so there were no protests sent Peter’s way. Not that this would do any good, anyway.
[2] And perhaps because some time earlier August, who was always short of money, allegedly got 10,000 thalers from the merchants of Riga for not causing damage to the city by bombardment. Quite possible that this was just a nasty rumor incompatible with August’s royal dignity: unless at that time he was in a really desperate financial situation, the alleged sum looks offensively small.
[3] In OTL he left in Ingria and Karelia 6,000 plus troops under command of colonel Schlippenbach to guard the Southern Livonia against the Russians, which left him marching with 18,000. Not all of these troops would be assembled at Derpt in this TL and even would be necessary for the actions against numerically (and not only) inferior Saxons so Charles’ army is just slightly bigger.
[4] In OTL 20,000 Russian troops under command of A. Repnin had been sent to help the Saxons while Sheremetev was operating in Livonia so the number is the same but commander is better and the goals are different.
[5] Just in case Dynaburg’s garrison consisted of the suicidal maniacs and perhaps for a pure fun as well.
[6] So that nobody would steal them and, perhaps, to be sure that along the road they would not be bartered or forgotten or something…
[7] In OTL in 1700 he was marching to Narva when the s—t happened and safely retreated to Novgorod. In 1701 he was sent to help Saxons at Riga and, after watching from a safe distance them being beaten, safely returned to Russia (leaving few hundreds of his soldiers to defend some redoubt, all of them had been killed by the Swedes). After that mostly was operating as a second in command with a reasonable degree of success.
[8] In OTL, this was written by Steinau before Battle of Daugava.
[9] He loved sieges and a loud noice in general.
[10] Of course, there was certain disappointment due to the absence of the sieges and ability to make a loud “boom!” but upon the return to Moscow a huge celebration was arranged with a massive guns salute and extensive fireworks, so it was OK.
Last edited:
The man is clearly a closet barbarian. What will Peter think?
I had to look up the Peace of Travendal because I was trying to work out how the Danes started the war and then a few mo9nths later were forced to make a peace the Swedes didn't want. The answer of course being that the British/Dutch wanted the Protestant states to play nice and loan them their armies for the upcoming WotSS rather than bashing each other. One can sympathise with Charles's bruised royal dignity.
So Peter has a plan to snip off Polish Livonia which he hasn't necessarily shared with his ally, and Augustus would appear to be in way over his head. I'd have expected him to at least try a rapid reverse ferret when the Russians came in and the Danes dropped out, but then I doubt that either Charles or Peter would have listened.
Well, each of the allies gets his share: Charles - Courland and Peter - Polish Livonia. No reason for any of them to complain. Of course, the PLC is formally not at war but how exactly would this matter? 😂
Yes, Peter was trying to make his army a typical “European” one so nothing really unusual there. Of course, he is choosing not the best models to follow but it this TL he is going to make the right conclusions soon enough while in OTL he kept stepping on the same pitchfork time and again.