Battle of Pultowa.
Here it was that Peter expected him; he had disposed the several
divisions of his army at convenient distances for joining each other,
and marching all together against the besiegers: he had visited the
countries which surround the Ukraine; namely the duchy of Severia,
watered by the Desna, already made famous by his victory: the country of
Bolcho, in which the Occa has its source; the deserts and mountains
leading to the Palus Mæotis; and lately he had been in the neighbourhood
of Azoph, where he caused that harbour to be cleansed, new ships to be
built, and the citadel of Taganroc to be repaired. Thus did he employ
the time that passed between the battles of Lesnau and Pultowa, in
preparing for the defence of his dominions. As soon as he heard the
Swedes had laid siege to the town, he mustered all his forces; the
horse, dragoons, infantry, Cossacks, and Calmucks, advanced from
different quarters. His army was well provided with necessaries of every
kind; large cannon, field pieces, ammunition of all sorts, provisions,
and even medicines for the sick: this was another degree of superiority
which he had acquired over his rival.
On the 15th day of June, 1709, he appeared before Pultowa, with an army
of about sixty thousand effective men; the river Worsklaw was between
him and Charles. The besiegers were encamped on the north-west side of
that river, the Russians on the south-east.
Peter ascends the river above the town, fixes his barges, marches over
with his army, and draws a long line of intrenchments, (July 3.) which
were begun and completed in one night, in the face of the enemy. Charles
might then judge, whether the person, whom he had so much despised, and
whom he thought of dethroning at Moscow, understood the art of war. This
disposition being made, Peter posted his cavalry between two woods, and
covered it with several redoubts, lined with artillery. Having thus
taken all the necessary measures, (July 6.) he went to reconnoitre the
enemy's camp, in order to form the attack.
This battle was to decide the fate of Russia, Poland, and Sweden, and of
two monarchs, on whom the eyes of all Europe were fixed. The greatest
part of those nations, who were attentive to these important concerns,
were equally ignorant of the place where these two princes were, and of
their situation: but knowing that Charles XII. had set out from Saxony,
at the head of a victorious army, and that he was driving his enemy
every where before him, they no longer doubted that he would at length
entirely crush him; and that, as he had already given laws to Denmark,
Poland, and Germany, he would now dictate conditions of peace in the
Kremlin of Moscow, and make a new czar, after having already made a new
king of Poland. I have seen letters from several public ministers to
their respective courts, confirming this general opinion.
The risk was far from being equal between these two great rivals. If
Charles lost a life, which he had so often and wantonly exposed, there
would after all have been but one hero less in the world. The provinces
of the Ukraine, the frontiers of Lithuania, and of Russia, would then
rest from their calamities, and a stop would be put to the general
devastation which had so long been their scourge. Poland would,
together with her tranquillity, recover her lawful prince, who had been
lately reconciled to the czar, his benefactor; and Sweden, though
exhausted of men and money, might find motives of consolation under her
heavy losses.
But, if the czar perished, those immense labours, which had been of such
utility to mankind, would be buried with him, and the most extensive
empire in the world would again relapse into the chaos from whence it
had been so lately taken.
There had already been some skirmishes between the detached parties of
the Swedes and Russians, under the walls of the town. In one of these
rencounters, (June 27.) Charles had been wounded by a musket-ball, which
had shattered the bones of his foot: he underwent several painful
operations, which he bore with his usual fortitude, and had been
confined to his bed for several days. In this condition he was informed,
that Peter intended to give him battle; his notions of honour would not
suffer him to wait to be attacked in his intrenchments. Accordingly he
gave orders for quitting them, and was carried himself in a litter.
Peter the Great acknowledges, that the Swedes attacked the redoubts,
lined with artillery, that covered his cavalry, with such obstinate
valour, that, notwithstanding the strongest resistance, supported by a
continual fire, the enemy made themselves masters of two redoubts. Some
writers say, that when the Swedish infantry found themselves in
possession of the two redoubts, they thought the day their own, and
began to cry out--Victory. The chaplain, Norberg, who was at some great
distance from the field of battle, amongst the baggage (which was indeed
his proper place) pretends, that this was a calumny; but, whether the
Swedes cried victory or not, it is certain they were not victorious. The
fire from the other redoubts was kept up without ceasing, and the
resistance made by the Russians, in every part, was as firm as the
attack of their enemies was vigorous. They did not make one irregular
movement; the czar drew up his army without the intrenchments in
excellent order, and with surprising dispatch.
The battle now became general. Peter acted as major-general; Baur
commanded the right wing, Menzikoff the left, and Sheremeto the centre.
The action lasted about two hours: Charles, with a pistol in his hand,
went from rank to rank, carried in a litter, on the shoulders of his
drabans; one of which was killed by a cannon-ball, and at the same time
the litter was shattered in pieces. He then ordered his men to carry him
upon their pikes; for it would have been difficult, in so smart an
action, let Norberg say as he pleases, to find a fresh litter ready
made. Peter received several shots through his clothes and his hat; both
princes were continually in the midst of the fire, during the whole
action. At length, after two hours desperate engagement, the Swedes were
taken on all sides, and fell into confusion; so that Charles was obliged
to fly before him, whom he had hitherto held in so much contempt. This
very hero, who could not mount his saddle during the battle, now fled
for his life on horseback; necessity lent him strength in his retreat:
he suffered the most excruciating pain, which was increased by the
mortifying reflection of being vanquished without resource. The Russians
reckoned nine thousand two hundred and twenty-four Swedes left dead on
the field of battle, and between two and three thousand made prisoners
in the action, the chief of which was cavalry.
Charles XII. fled with the greatest precipitation, attended by the
remains of his brave army, a few field-pieces, and a very small quantity
of provisions and ammunition. He directed his march southward, towards
the Boristhenes, between the two rivers Workslaw and Psol, or Sol, in
the country of the Zaporavians. Beyond the Boristhenes, are vast
deserts, which lead to the frontiers of Turkey. Norberg affirms, that
the victors durst not pursue Charles; and yet he acknowledges, that
prince Menzikoff appeared on the neighbouring heights, (July 12.) with
ten thousand horse, and a considerable train of artillery, while the
king was passing the Boristhenes.
Fourteen thousand Swedes surrendered themselves prisoners of war to
these ten thousand Russians; and Levenhaupt, who commanded them, signed
the fatal capitulation, by which he gave up those Zaporavians who had
engaged in the service of his master, and were then in the fugitive
army. The chief persons taken prisoners in the battle, and by the
capitulation, were count Piper, the first minister, with two secretaries
of state, and two of the cabinet; field-marshal Renschild, the generals
Levenhaupt, Slipenbak, Rozen, Stakelber, Creutz, and Hamilton, with
three general aides-de-camp, the auditor-general of the army,
fifty-nine staff-officers, five colonels, among whom was the prince of
Wirtemberg; sixteen thousand nine hundred and forty-two private men and
non-commissioned officers: in short, reckoning the king's own domestics,
and others, the conqueror had no less than eighteen thousand seven
hundred and forty-six prisoners in his power: to whom, if we add nine
thousand two hundred and twenty-four slain in battle, and nearly two
thousand that passed the Boristhenes with Charles, it appears, plainly,
that he had, on that memorable day, no less than twenty-seven thousand
effective men under his command.[78]
Charles had begun his march from Saxony with forty-five thousand men,
Levenhaupt had brought upwards of sixteen thousand out of Livonia, and
yet scarce a handful of men was left of all this powerful army; of a
numerous train of artillery, part lost in his marches, and part buried
in the morasses; he had now remaining only eighteen brass cannon, two
howitzers, and twelve mortars; and, with inconsiderable force, he had
undertaken the siege of Pultowa, and had attacked an army provided with
a formidable artillery. Therefore he is, with justice, accused of having
shewn more courage than prudence, after his leaving Germany. On the side
of the Russians, there were no more than fifty-two officers and one
thousand two hundred and ninety-three private men killed; an undeniable
proof, that the disposition of the Russian troops was better than those
of Charles, and that their fire was infinitely superior to that of the
Swedes.
We find, in the memoirs of a foreign minister to the court of Russia,
that Peter, being informed of Charles's design to take refuge in Turkey,
wrote a friendly letter to him, intreating him not to take so desperate
a resolution, but rather to trust himself in his hands, than in those
of the natural enemy of all Christian princes. He gave him, at the same
time, his word of honour, not to detain him prisoner, but to terminate
all their differences by a reasonable peace. This letter was sent by an
express as far as the river Bug, which separates the deserts of the
Ukraine from the grand seignior's dominions. As the messenger did not
reach that place till Charles had entered Turkey, he brought back the
letter to his master. The same minister adds further, that he had this
account from the very person who was charged with the letter.[79] This
anecdote is not altogether improbable; but I do not meet with it either
in Peter's journals, or in any of the papers entrusted to my care. What
is of greater importance, in relation to this battle, was its being the
only one, of the many that have stained the earth with blood, that,
instead of producing only destruction, has proved beneficial to mankind,
by enabling the czar to civilize so considerable a part of the world.
There have been fought more than two hundred pitched battles in Europe,
since the commencement of this century to the present year. The most
signal, and the most bloody victories, have produced no other
consequences than the reduction of a few provinces ceded afterwards by
treaties, and retaken again by other battles. Armies of a hundred
thousand men have frequently engaged each other in the field; but the
greatest efforts have been attended with only slight and momentary
successes; the most trivial causes have been productive of the greatest
effects. There is no instance, in modern history, of any war that has
compensated, by even a better good, for the many evils it has
occasioned: but, from the battle of Pultowa, the greatest empire under
the sun has derived its present happiness and prosperity.