Battle of Grodno (1706)

Battle of Grodno Part of Great Northern War Grodno and its fortifications on a 1655 plan Date January 15, 1706 Location Hrodna, present-day Belarus Result Swedish tactical victory Belligerents Swedish Empire Tsardom of Russia Commanders and leaders Charles XII Georg Benedict Ogilvy Strength 20,000 men 23,000 men Casualties and losses less than 100 men during the blockade of Grodno 8,000 during the blockade 9,000 during the retreat total: About 17,000 dead[1][2]

Great Northern War Campaigns Denmark Russia and the Baltic provinces Poland-Lithuania/Saxony Ottoman Empire Sweden and Northern Germany Norway Finland Battles 1st Riga 1st Tönning Humlebæk 1st Narva Petschora Düna Rauge Erastfer Darsūniškis Vilnius Kliszów Hummelshof Nöteborg Saladen Pultusk Systerbäck Wesenberg Thorn Jakobstadt Posen 2nd Narva Punitz Gemauerthof Warsaw Praga 1st Grodno Fraustadt Kletsk Kalisz 2nd Grodno Holowczyn Neva Malatitze Rajovka Lesnaya Desna Koniecpol Veprik Oposhnya Krasnokutsk–Gorodnoye Sokolki Poltava Perevolochna 2nd Riga 2nd Vyborg Pruth Campaign Helsingborg Køge Bay Gadebusch 2nd Tönning Bender Finland Hogland Pälkäne Storkyro Gangut Stralsund Fehmarn Rügen Stresow Dynekilen Göteborg Strömstad Fredriksten Carolean Death March Ösel Stäket Grengam Treaties Charles XII invasion of Poland Düna Darsūniškis Vilnius Kliszów Saladen Pultusk Thorn Jakobstadt Posen Punitz Gemauerthof Warsaw Praga Grodno Fraustadt Kletsk Kalisz

The Battle of Grodno (1706) refers to the battle during the Great Northern War. Grodno was a city of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at this time.

Background

Battle

The blockade of Grodno by the 20,000 men strong Swedish army took place between January and March 1706. In the city there were about 23,000 Russian troops under the command of general-fieldmarshall Ogilvy as well of general Repnin. On January 13, 1706 the Swedish army coming from Poland crossed the Neman River and squeezed out the Russian cavalry units of Menshikov towards Minsk, cutting of all connections to Russia for the Hrodna garrison. The situation of the Russian troops was made even more difficult after the allied Polish-Lithuanian king Augustus II quickly left Hrodna in Polish direction, taking four Russian dragoon regiments with him. As a result, the Hrodna garrison was left without cavalry which was necessary for reconnaissance and food supplies.

After putting Hrodna under siege, the Swedes occupied Nesvizh and besieged Lyakhavichy. Meanwhile, the Russian garrison of Hrodna suffered big trouble from the lack of food as well as from diseases. This took the lives of about 8,000 soldiers. After the blockade of his main troops in Hrodna Peter the Great had only 12,000 men in Belarus. Being in Minsk with this army he communicated with the besieged garrison via a poruchik named Yakovlev who made his way to Hrodna dressed as a Polish peasant. Besides that 14,000 Ukrainian cossacks of Mazepa were ordered to constantly engage the enemy. Peter I didn't want to have an open battle with Charles XII so far from Russia. Because of that he ordered the Hrodna garrison to hold out until spring when the rivers get free of ice. Then they had to retreat behind the Neman towards Brest and further to the Dnieper what they successfully did until May 1706.

Charles estimated the direction of the Russian retreat wrongly, expecting them to retreat eastwards where he placed his main forces. Having discovered the surprisingly rapid Russian retreat towards south-west too late, he started the pursuit, hoping to catch up the Russians via the Polesia swamps shortcut. However, they proved to be impassable and Charles had to give up the pursuit of the Russians and to seek a battle with the Saxons first.

See also

• Campaign of Grodno
• Charles XII invasion of Poland

References

Sources

• Николай Шефов. Битвы России. Военно-историческая библиотека. М., 2002.
• Russian Army at Grodno 1706