The Dawn of the Tsarist Empire:
The Russian Campaigns of 1708-1709
This page is dedicated to an overview of a book written by one of the club members about the Russian Campaign of 1708-09. The book contains details of all the battles in the campaign, including some covered for the first time in English. It also contains many OOB's, maps and other material - this includes the fullest OOB of the battle of Poltava yet. Much of this material is unavailable in any other publication in English. It is a modern look at this decisive campaign and the battles within using up to date research from many different languages.
Gamers, historians and all with an interest in this campaign should find something of interest.
Dust Cover
The Great Northern War was a decisive war in Eastern Europe and the Russian campaign of 1708 - 1709 was the decisive campaign of the war. These changed the power structure in Eastern Europe and thus the world generally, a change that persists to this day. The campaign is often portrayed as a totally one sided affair. A flawed, Swedish king stubbornly leads his doomed army to inevitable defeat at Poltava.
This book looks at how true this view really is. It examines all four theatres in the campaign and all of the larger engagements, rather than concentrating on the main armies and engagements. It uses sources from all of the parties involved andnew research to provide fresh insight into this fascinating campaign and the battles in it. The book provides many interesting details for the first time in English and challenges many of the accepted views of this war.
List of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1: The Course of the War (1700 to 1707)
The Opening Campaigns (1700 - 1701)
Saxony or Russia? (Late 1701/Early 1702)
Poland (1702 to 1705):
The Baltic provinces and Finland (1701 to 1705)
Victory in Poland and Saxony Occupied (1706 to 1707)
The Lull before the Storm (1707)
Chapter 2: The Armies
The Swedish Army
Recruitment:
Organisation:
The Russian Army
Army Composition:
Unit Organisation:
The Polish and Lithuanian Armies:
The Cossacks:
Tactical Overview
Chapter 3: Plans and Preparations
The Swedish Royal Army at Grodno: King Charles XII
Lewenhaupt's Army at Riga
Lybecker's Army in Finland
Pro Swedish Polish and Lithuanian forces
Krassow's Corps in Poland
Main Russian Army: Tsar Peter and General Sheremetev
Apraksin's Army (based at St. Petersburg)
Bauer's Command (based around Dorpat)
Pro Russian Polish and Lithuanian forces
Golitsyn's Command at Kiev
Chapter 4: The Opening Moves and Holowczyn.
The Battle of Holowczyn, July 4th 1708
Organisation of the Russian Army.
Swedish Attacking Force.
Chapter 5: Where is Lewenhaupt?
The Swedish Royal Army July to September 1708.
The Russian Army at Gorki or Horka
The Battle of Malatize or Dobroe, 31st August 1708.
The Action at Rajovka (Raevka or Kadine), September 10th 1708
Chapter 6: From Riga to ruin. Lewenhaupt's Army, March to October 1708
The Battle of Lesnaja, September 29th 1708
Swedish Forces:
Russian Forces:
The Battle
The Aftermath
Chapter 7: The Finnish Army Fiasco.
Lybecker's Campaign, August to October 1708
Chapter 8: The March to Severia and the Ukraine, October to December 1708
Chapter 9: The Polish tide turns, Poland and Lithuania in 1708
The Battle of Koniecpol, November 21st 1708
Chapter 10: The Countdown, January 1709 to June 1709
Action at Oposhnya, January 29th 1709
The Campaign in Poland, January to June 1709.
The Actions at Lachowce and Wisniowce, April 12th and May 23rd 1709
Chapter 11: The Battle of Poltava, June 28th 1709: Part 1: The Armies and Battlefield.
The Swedish Army at the Battle of Poltava
The Russian Army at the Battle of Poltava
The Battlefield:
Chapter 12: The Battle of Poltava, June 28th 1709: Part 2: The Battle
The Opening Stages
The Small Redoubts
Roos' Ordeal
The Issue is decided
The Siege is broken
Defeat and retreat
Chapter 13: The end of the road, Perevolochna
Chapter 14: The Aftermath and the end of the war
Chapter 15: Could the Swedes have won?
Where to get the Book
The book is available from the following sources. These are the ones we know of and there are probably also many more. If you sell this book and would like to add a link then please contact us.