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After having seen the Russians being beaten at Narva and pulling back across the Düna, king August realised that the war was probably lost. He asked the Swedes for Peace and accepted the harsh conditions. This left Tsar Peter with no other option than suing for peace himself. Losing Novgorod to the Swedes and being forced to pay large indemnities put him in a weak position at home as well.

He then decided it was time to exact revenge on August who in his eyes had betrayed him. A punitive expedition corps was put together, under the joint command of Sheremetjev and Menshikov, and sent into Lituania. Menshikov had most of the cavalry under his command and was doing the major part of the raiding, while Sheremetjev was to keep an eye on any advancing Saxons.

Meanwhile, Field Marshal von Steinau had organized a force to drive out the marauding Russians and was heading eastwards.

Sheremetjev positioned his army across the road that the Saxon’s would most certainly use. He then spent some time preparing his defenses. The village in the centre was fortified and a Streltsi unit was put in it to hold off any advance in that sector. The Russian right flank was secured on the River bank while a redoubt was constructed to guard the left flank.

The battle started with both sides advancing their main infantry forces towards each other. After the initial cannonades the12 lb battery that was accompanying the Saxon centre decided to run away, and never returned to the battle.

Other Saxon batteries opened up on the Streltsi unit defending the village, but failed to cause any damage. On the cavalry flank the Cossacks and the Kalmuks rode into the Saxon cavalry and harassed them from all sides. Von Trampe overreacted somewhat and soon the entire cavalry wing was disorganised.

The 1^st battalion Polish guards on the right flank of the main infantry force pushed forwards and soon slammed into the first line of Russians, whom they drove away, with the help of the Beichlingen battalion. Bechlingen’s however took some punishment and recoiled after a while. Meanwhile, on the other end of the line the Saxon battalions managed to silence the Russian guns, but where then halted, leaving the right wing very vulnerable. The 2^nd guards battalion on the extreme left suffered heavy casualties fighting some Russian grenadiers and was forced backwards, emphasising the echelon even more.

In the Centre the bombardment continued for almost two hours before Droste ordered his battalions forward. The guns had not managed to damage the Streltsi however and Droste’s battalions, once sent into the village would remain fighting there for the remainder of the battle.

The Saxon Cavalry rode around the battlefield chasing the irregular cavalry but failing to do any harm. After a while two units of cuirassiers became involved in a hopeless assault on the Russian redoubt, but fortunately managed to survive the exchange. Trampe took personal command of the Chevalier guards and led them in a sweeping manoeuvre round the Russian flank.

After waiting very long the Russian cavalry finally began to move. In two waves they attacked the flank of the Saxon infantry line. The hammered Beichlingen battalion fled before a charge by the Moskovski Dragoons but these were then in turn beaten trying to capture a Saxon 3lb battery. The Polish 1^st Guards battalion was caught simultaneously in the front and the flank by cavalry and was cut down where it stood. At this point the battle looked lost for the Saxons. But seeing the Moskovksi dragoons flee was enough to make the remainder of the Russian cavalry make it for safety, and to raise morale of the pressured Saxon infantry centre. The fleeing battalions rallied and reformed, and the Field Marshal’s own regiment were instrumental in stopping the second wave of Russian assaults. The Russian generals tried to stop the cavalry rout but did not manage more than temporarily to do so.

Then things went from bad to worse for the Russians. The Russian infantry broken in the first assault wave had rallied and were heading back towards the centre of the action when Droste appeared in their flank leading the Chevalier guards. The Russians, still somewhat shaken by the bitter fighting they had been in only an hour ago, believed that the entire Saxon cavalry wing had worked its way past the redoubt or were in the process of doing so and panicked. With the second infantry assault also wavering and screams of “Save Yourselves” coming from the ranks, Sheremetjev sounded the retreat.

Steinau’s army remained on the field as victors, but the army was too tired, and the cavalry too dispersed to mount any successful pursuit. The bulk of the casualties had been taken by the guards, the first battalion being more or less wiped out by the Russian cavalry and the second battalion had also taken quite a beating when it annihilated both the Russian grenadiers and their supporting artillery.

The Russians losses were actually less than the Saxon. Apart from losing all the artillery, some 9 3-pounders and 4 12-pounders, only one of the Narvski battalions and Repnins Grenadier battalion took heavy losses.

As the Saxon commander I can only say that it was a battle I did not really deserve to win. Of course the Russian player made a fatal error when he left his Column of rallied units without orders while it was flanked by a cavalry unit. Anything but a DF would have been ok – but he rolled one and lost the battle… But apart from that I did not manage to accomplish much. The Guards pushed forward too fast, while the left flank was pushed back. This left the flank of the Guards’ wide open and only a few lucky die rolls saved the infantry line from being totally torn up. The Guards paid dearly though…

Another thing. Don’t assault villages with Line Infantry – especially not Trained line infantry. You will need a DS to Close and since you will be disordered you will be rolling as if Green – i.e. needing a 3 or less to successfully get stuck in. Shooting your opponent away is an option, but again it will take time, given the protection offered by the village. I know I should know – I wrote the rules – but when you are standing there its very easy to make such mistakes. As it was I didn’t manage to get any flank support for my infantry line because of this and the Russian cavalry reserve could cut me down, as they did…

Most important lesson. Don’t overreact when light cavalry get close (or behind you)… Some intelligent use of Kalmuks and Cossacks by my opponent, and too much splitting up on my part, virtually rendered my cavalry wing useless. I ended up lucky that they didn’t get blown to bits while trying to storm the redoubt… In the end I abandoned my cavalry and led the Chevalier Guards unit on a long ride, which in the end won me the battle, but that was pure luck…

A Saxon-Russian Battle