In the article Cruel lesson. The Russian and Swedish armies in the Battle of Narva were told a little about the state of the Swedish army at the end of the 17th century. Charles XII received this perfectly organized and capable of solving the most difficult tasks from his predecessors and until the beginning of the Northern War he was practically not interested in its state and level of combat training. And in the future, this king did not bring practically anything new either to her organization or to tactics: he used his army as a ready-made tool, and, having accomplished a number of feats, eventually destroyed it. It is not without reason that many researchers are extremely critical of the military leadership talents of Charles XII - some, perhaps, are more critical than he deserves. So, Voltaire, for example, recognizing Karl as the most amazing of people, said about him:
"A brave, desperately brave soldier, nothing more."
And Gerrier considered him a worthless strategist, saying that the only plan of Charles XII in all his campaigns "was always the desire to beat the enemy wherever he met." And with the Swedish army of those years it was not very difficult.
Father's gift
As we remember from the above article, the first step in the formation of the regular Swedish army was made by the Lion of the North - Gustav II Adolf, who, the first in the world, implemented the idea of recruiting.
And King Charles XI, the father of our hero (great-grandfather of the Russian Emperor Peter III), replaced periodic recruitment kits with the constant obligation of peasants to maintain the personnel of the royal army (allotment system). It happened in 1680. Then the land in Sweden and Finland was divided into plots (indelts), in which groups of peasant households, called "roteholl", were allocated: each of these groups had to send one soldier to the king and bear the costs of his maintenance. And a group of peasant households, which contained one cavalryman, was called "rusthall". The recruit's family was given a plot of land by the indelta as compensation. The soldiers of each province were brought together in regiments bearing its name - for example, Uppland. Weapons and necessary equipment were issued by the state.
In peacetime, rank-and-file of the Swedish army were called up to a training camp once a year, the rest of the time they worked in their area, or were hired by neighbors. But the officers and non-commissioned officers and in peacetime received a salary, which was paid to them by the peasants assigned to them by a group of households. They lived in houses specially built for them. Such a house was called "bostel".
During the war, the Indelts sent a new recruit to the king, who underwent training to fill the ranks of their regiment. In total, if necessary, up to five recruits could be recruited from each indelta: from the third in a row, temporary wartime regiments were formed, which bore the name not of the province, but of their commander, the fourth served to replace losses, the fifth were used to form new regiments.
Thus, it was Charles XI who made the Swedish army the most modern and perfect combat vehicle in Europe.
The efficiency of the allotment system was so high that it existed until the 19th century.
Swedish historian Peter Englund in his work “Poltava. The story of the death of one army writes about the state of affairs in the country and the state of the army, which was at the disposal of Charles XII:
“Never before in its history has the country been more combat-ready. Charles XI's persistent reforms resulted in the country having a large, well-trained and armed army, an impressive navy, and a new military funding system that could withstand huge initial costs.”
We all know Karl XI from childhood from the book of the writer Salma Lagerlef "Niels's Journey with Wild Geese" and her Soviet film adaptation - the cartoon "The Enchanted Boy": this is the very monument that chased Niels through the streets of Karlskrona at night.
This is a book illustration for the fairy tale by S. Lagerlöf:
And here's what these sculptures actually look like:
Old Man Rosenbom (Gubben Rosenbom) is a wooden sculpture from the mid-18th century at the Admiralty Church of Karlskrona. Under Rosenbohm's hat there is a slot for coins, in his hand is a sign on which it is written:
“Passer-by, stop, stop!
Come to my weak voice!
Raise my hat
Put a coin in the slot!"
And in the Soviet cartoon, a statue of Rosenbohm was erected near a tavern, apparently in order not to confuse the minds of young viewers and to avoid accusations of "religious propaganda."
Charles XI was the first of the Swedish kings to proclaim himself autocratic and "in front of anyone on earth, not responsible for his actions." Unlimited power passed to his son and allowed him to wage the Northern War, regardless of the Riksdag and public opinion. And it cost Sweden a lot. A not too populated country lost during the war years from 100 to 150 thousand young and healthy men, which put it on the brink of a demographic catastrophe.
Swedish army in the Northern War: composition and size
Entering the Northern War, Charles XII had an army of 67 thousand people, and 40% of his soldiers were mercenaries.
What was the structure and composition of his army?
The number of professional Swedish soldiers under Charles XII reached 26 thousand people (18 thousand infantrymen and 8 thousand cavalrymen), another 10 thousand were supplied by Finland (7 thousand infantrymen and 3 thousand cavalry).
In addition to the indelt regiments, the Swedish army included a "regiment of the noble banner" (which was supposed to be financed by aristocrats) and estate dragoon regiments, the maintenance of which was the responsibility of the small landed nobles and priests (Skonsky and Upplandsky).
Hired soldiers were recruited in the Ostsee provinces (Estland, Livonia, Ingermanland) and in the German possessions of the Swedish kingdom - in Pomerania, Holstein, Hesse, Mecklenburg, Saxony.
It was believed that the German regiments are worse than the Swedish and Finnish, but better than the Ostsee.
But the artillery was underestimated by both Charles XI and his much more famous son. Both kings believed that with the correct conduct of the battle, the guns simply would not keep up with the infantry, and even more so the cavalry, and used them mainly in the siege of fortresses, or for fire on the enemy hiding behind the trenches.
This underestimation of the role of artillery played a large role in the defeat of the Swedish army near Poltava: in this battle, the Swedes used only 4 guns, and, according to various sources, there were from 32 to 35.
The number of sailors under Charles XII reached 7,200 people: 6,600 Swedes and 600 Finns. Before the start of the Northern War, the Swedish navy consisted of 42 battleships and 12 frigates.
The elite of the Swedish army were guards units: the Life Guards Foot Regiment (three battalions of 700 people each, then four battalions) and the Horse Life Regiment (3 squadrons of about 1,700 people).
However, the most privileged and famous combat unit of the Swedes was at that time a detachment of drabants. This unit was created back in 1523 - by the decree of King Gustav I, but it was most famous under Charles XII. The number of drabants never exceeded 200, but usually there were only 150. Each private drabant was considered equal in rank to an army captain. The commander of the drabants was the king himself, his deputy, with the rank of lieutenant commander, was Major General Arvid Horn.
Other officers in the Drabant detachment were a lieutenant (colonel), a quartermaster (lieutenant colonel), six corporals (lieutenant colonels), and six vice corporals (majors).
The Protestant officers who were famous for their bravery with a height of 175 to 200 cm could become Drabants (at that time they should have seemed to all giants). Since Charles XII was very reluctant to give permission for marriage even to army officers, all drabants were single.
Unlike the court guards of other countries, the Swedish drabants were not "toy soldiers" performing only ceremonial and representative functions. In all battles, they fought in the most dangerous areas. Drabants became famous in the battles of Humlebek (1700), Narva (1700), Dune (1701), Klishov (1702), Pulutsk (1703), Puntse (1704), Lvov (1704), Grodno (1708), Golovchino (1708) …
Particularly indicative was the battle at Krasnokutsk (February 11, 1709), when, not listening to the king's orders, the dragoons of the German recruited regiment Taube ran, unable to withstand the blows of the Russian cavalry. Karl, who was fighting with his Drabants, was almost surrounded, but in the end they overturned the Russians and pursued them for a long time. In this desperate wheelhouse, 10 Drabants were killed, fighting alongside the king.
It is not surprising that when Karl was asked not to move away from the main forces, so as not to endanger his life, he always replied:
"When at least nine people of my squad are with me, no force will prevent me from getting where I want."
There were legends about the courage and deeds of the Drabants in Sweden. One of them became especially famous - Gintersfelt. It was said that he could lift a cannon on his shoulder and once, having driven under the arches of the city gates, grabbing an iron hook with his thumb, lifted himself up with the horse.
The number of drabants was constantly decreasing, only a hundred fought in the battle of Poltava, but, under their blow, then the Pskov regiment backed away. Lieutenant Karl Gustav Hord led their attack. In the battle, 14 drabants were killed and four were wounded. Six drabants were captured, where everyone treated them with underlined respect, persuading them to become instructors and teachers of Russian officers.
In Bendery there were 24 drabants with the king. On February 1, 1713, during the tragicomic “battle” of Charles XII with the janissaries, which went down in history as “kalabalyk”, the drabant Axel Eric Ros saved the life of his king three times (this was described in the article “Vikings” against the Janissaries. The Incredible Adventures of Charles XII in the Ottoman Empire).
And in 1719, at the time of Karl's death, only a few Drabants remained alive.
Apparently, imitating Charles XII, Peter I, before the coronation of Catherine I (in May 1724), created a company of drabants, of which he appointed himself captain. Then this company was renamed the "cavalier". And later, messengers and orderlies were called drabants in the Russian army.
The fighting qualities of the army of Charles XII
Swedish troops were trained as shock units aimed at solving offensive tasks. Since the effectiveness of muskets of those years was low (the reloading process was long, and the effective range of the shot did not exceed, at best, 100, but more often 70 steps), the main emphasis was placed on a massive strike using cold weapons. The armies of other states at this time lined up in lines, which fired alternately, standing still. The Swedes went on the offensive in four ranks, which followed one after the other, and the soldiers of the last of them did not have muskets. They did not stop under fire, and continued to walk until they were fifty meters from the enemy. Here the first two ranks fired a volley (the first - from their knees, the second - while standing) and immediately retreated behind the third and fourth. The third line fired from a distance of 20 meters, literally mowing down the enemy's ranks. Then the caroliners rushed into hand-to-hand combat. And then the Swedish cavalry entered the battle, which overturned the disorganized ranks of the enemy and completed the rout.
This method of fighting required from the soldiers good training, strict discipline and high fighting spirit - with all these indicators, the Swedes of those years were in complete order. The regimental priests convinced the soldiers that their life and death were in the hands of God, and nothing depended on the enemy, nor on the commanders, nor on themselves. And therefore, one should simply honestly fulfill one's duty, completely entrusting oneself to Divine predestination. Failure to attend church sermons or services was considered a violation of military discipline, and they could be shot for blasphemy.
The soldiers of the Swedish army even had a special prayer:
"Give me and all those who will fight with me against our enemies, straightforwardness, luck and victory, so that our enemies will see that You, Lord, are with us and are fighting for those who rely on You."
And before the battle, the whole army sang a psalm:
“With hope for help, we call the Creator, Who made land and sea
He strengthens our hearts with courage, Otherwise, grief would await us.
We know we act for sure
The foundation of our business is strong.
Who can overturn us?"
Charles XII brought the Swedish offensive tactics to the point of absurdity. He never made orders in case of retreat and did not assign his troops a rallying point to which they would have to go in case of failure. Retreat signals were prohibited even during maneuvers and exercises. Anyone who retreated was considered a deserter, and the soldiers before the battle received a single command from Karl:
"Forward, guys, with God!"
The little Prince
In the Scandinavian sagas, the twin brothers of the protagonist are often mentioned: Vapenbroder - "brother in arms", or Fosterbroder - "brother in education". Charles XII also had his own Vapenbroder - Maximilian Emanuel, Duke of Württemberg-Winnental, who at the age of 14 arrived at his camp near Pultusk in the spring of 1703. Karl immediately gave the young duke, weary of a long journey, a test, which consisted of many hours of detouring the Swedish outposts. Maximilian withstood this exhausting leap with honor, and already on April 30 he participated in the Battle of Pultusk. Since then, he has always been next to his idol, the Swedish soldiers gave him the nickname Lillprinsen - "The Little Prince".
Maximilian took part in Charles' campaigns to Lithuania, Polesie, Saxony and Volhynia. He participated in the capture of Thorn and Elbing, one of the first to enter Lvov. And once he saved Charles XII, who almost drowned while crossing the river.
After the conclusion of the Altranstedt Peace Treaty in 1706, he visited his homeland for the last time, spending 5 weeks in Stuttgart, and then went with Karl on a tragic campaign that ended in the battle at Poltava.
On June 18, 1708, the prince was wounded while crossing the Berezina. With an unhealed wound on July 4, he took part in the Battle of Golovchin. He managed to get the rank of Colonel of the Skonsky Dragoon Regiment. In the Battle of Poltava, he fought on the left flank, with the last hundred cavalrymen remaining with him, he was surrounded, captured and was initially mistaken for Charles XII by the Russians.
Peter I was very merciful to Prince Maximilian, and soon released him. But the young duke fell ill on the road and died in Dubno, not reaching Württemberg. He was buried in Krakow, but then his remains were transferred to the church in the Silesian city of Pitchen, which is now part of Poland and is called Byczyna.
"Vikings" of King Charles XII
How did Charles XII feel about the soldiers and officers of his magnificent army?
On the one hand, he was remembered by the Caroliners for his generosity. So, in 1703, a wounded captain received 80 Riksdaler, a wounded lieutenant - 40, a wounded private - 2 Riksdaler. The awards to servicemen who were not injured were halved.
The king received funds for the army from two sources. The first was its own people: taxes for all segments of the population were constantly increasing, and government officials under Charles XII did not receive their salaries for months - like state employees in Yeltsin's Russia. The second source of income was the population of the conquered areas.
In the spring of 1702, Karl instructed General Magnus Stenbock, who was sent to collect contributions to Volhynia:
"All Poles that you come across, you must … ruin so that they will remember the visit to the goat for a long time."
The fact is that the surname Stenbock in Swedish means "stone goat".
And the king wrote to Karl Rönschild:
“If, instead of money, you take any things, then you must evaluate them below the cost in order to raise the contribution. Anyone who hesitates in delivery or is in general guilty of something should be punished cruelly and without mercy, and their houses burned. If they begin to make excuses that the Poles have already taken everything from them, then they should once again be forced to pay, and twice against others. The places where you meet resistance must be burned, whether the residents are guilty or not."
It should be said that Karl Gustav Rönschild, whom Englund called "an extremely competent military leader" but "unfriendly and arrogant", did not really need this kind of instruction. With his cruelty, he stood out even against the background of his, by no means kind-hearted "colleagues". It was on his order that all Russian prisoners were killed after the Battle of Fraustadt.
On the other hand, himself leading an extremely strict and ascetic lifestyle, Charles XII did not pay any attention to the plight of his soldiers, suffering from hunger, cold and disease.
“What else did they expect? This is the service,”the king apparently thought.
And since he fully shared with his soldiers and officers all the difficulties of the field life, his conscience was clear.
And in November, Karl usually slept in the tent left from his grandfather (even if there was an opportunity to stay in some house), often on hay, straw or spruce branches. Hot cores were used as a source of heat, and even if they did not help, Karl escaped the cold by horseback riding. He did not take off his boots for weeks, did not change a wet suit, and sometimes they did not recognize the king in him, referring to one of the officers of the suite. The king did not drink wine, his usual food was bread and butter, fried bacon and mash, he ate on tin or zinc dishes.
But for some reason the soldiers did not feel any better from this.
Magnus Stenbock wrote in 1701:
“When attacking Augdov, the Swedes had to spend 5 days in the open air. 3 people froze to death on the last night; Eighty officers and soldiers froze their arms and legs, and the rest were so numb that they were not able to operate with a gun. In my entire detachment, no more than 100 people are fit for service."
Colonel Posse complains:
“Despite all kinds of hardships and such cold that the water freezes in the huts, the king does not want to let us into winter quarters. I think that if he had only 800 people left, he would have invaded Russia with them, not caring what they would live with. And if someone is killed, then he takes it just as little to heart, as if it were a louse, and never regrets such a loss. This is how our king looks at the matter, and I can already foresee what end awaits us."
Curse of Narva
There is ample evidence that Charles XII did not like victories that were won "with little blood." And so he seemed to be playing "giveaway", throwing his troops into battle in the most unfavorable circumstances, and he himself risked his life many times. The fact that this leads to unjustified losses did not embarrass or upset the king at all. After the battle of Narva in November 1700 (it was described in the article Cruel Lesson. The Russian and Swedish armies in the Battle of Narva), he considered the Russians weak and therefore "uninteresting" opponents. Therefore, he concentrated all his efforts on the war with King Augustus.
And his rival, Peter I, wasted no time, and the Russian troops inflicted more and more serious and sensitive blows on the Swedes. However, not only Charles XII, but all the "military experts" of Europe did not attach due importance to these successes.
Meanwhile, on December 30, 1701, the Russian army under the command of B. Sheremetev won the first victory in the Battle of Erestfer.
In July 1702, captured Arkhangelsk fishermen Ivan Ryabov and Dmitry Borisov, forced to act as pilots, ran aground two enemy frigates - right in front of the newly built coastal battery. After 10 hours of shelling, the Swedes abandoned the damaged ships, on which the Russians found 13 cannons, 200 cannonballs, 850 strips of iron, 15 pounds of lead and 5 flags. Borisov was shot by the Swedes, Ryabov jumped into the water, reached the shore and was imprisoned for violating the order to go to sea.
Around the same time, the Swedes were defeated at Gummelshof.
On October 11, 1702, Noteburg was taken by storm (renamed Shlisselburg), and in the spring of 1703 the fortress of Nyenskans was taken, located at the confluence of the Okhta and Neva - now Russia controlled the Neva in its entire course. In mid-May 1703, a fortress was laid at the mouth of this river, from which a new city and a new capital of the state, St. Petersburg, grew.
In May of the same year, Russian soldiers, put on 30 boats, under the command of Peter and Menshikov, captured two Swedish ships at the mouth of the Neva. It was in honor of this victory that a medal was struck in Russia with the inscription: "The unprecedented happens."
In June 1703, 6 Russian regiments, including Preobrazhensky and Semyonovsky, repulsed an attack by a 4,000-strong Swedish detachment that attacked Russian forces from Vyborg in the area of the mouth of the Neva - Swedish losses amounted to about 2,000 people.
As a result of these actions, at the end of 1703 Russia regained control over Ingria, and in the summer of 1704 the Russian army entered Livonia: Dorpat and Narva were taken.
In May 1705, 22 Swedish warships landed troops on the island of Kotlin, where the Russian naval base of Kronstadt was being built. The soldiers of the local garrison under the command of Colonel Tolbukhin threw the Swedes into the sea, and the Russian squadron of Vice Admiral Cornelius Cruis drove away the Swedish fleet.
On July 15, 1705, Swedish troops under the command of Levengaupt at Gemauerthof defeated Sheremetev's army, but the Swedish general did not dare to pursue the Russians and withdrew to Riga.
In 1706, the Russian-Saxon army was defeated at the battle of Fraunstadt (February 13), but won the battle at Kalisz (October 18), and General Mardenfeld, who commanded the Swedish troops, was captured then.
In the fall of 1708, the Swedes tried for the last time to knock the Russians out of the mouth of the Neva, attacking St. Petersburg under construction with a 13,000-strong corps commanded by General Georg Lübecker. Russian troops, under the command of Admiral F. M. Apraksin, repulsed this attack. Before leaving, the Swedish cavalrymen killed 6 thousand horses, which they could not put on the ships.
All these years, the Swedish army has lost the most experienced and trained soldiers and officers. The recruits supplied by the Indelts could not serve as full replacements. The state became impoverished. All segments of the population became poor - the nobility, clergy, artisans and peasants. The effective demand fell, and therefore trade fell into decay. There was not enough money even for the proper maintenance of warships.
And the Russian army at this time was rapidly progressing and gaining combat experience. Despite the difficulties, industrial modernization yielded results.
But as long as Sweden had her formidable army and experienced commanders, the situation did not seem completely bad. It seemed that a few more high-profile victories (of which no one doubted) - and a profitable peace would be concluded, which would reward the Swedes for all the hardships and hardships.
In Europe, everyone was also confident in the victory of Charles XII. When his army went on the last Russian campaign for her, pamphlets appeared in Saxony and Silesia, in which, on behalf of the Dnieper River, it was said that the Russians were ready to flee at the sight of the hero-king. And at the end the Dnieper even exclaimed: "May the water level rise in me from Russian blood!"
Peter I, although he considered it a "miracle of God" that both Karl and all European ill-wishers of Russia, "overlooked" its strengthening, was very serious, and also admitted the possibility of defeat. By his order, dilapidated fortifications were hastily put in order in Moscow, his son Alexei supervised these works (the prince was 17 years old at that time, but he managed).
Everything changed in 1709, when Karl's Swedish army and Levengaupt's corps were defeated and lost to Sweden, the best Swedish generals were captured, and the king himself, for some unknown reason, was "stuck" in the Ottoman Empire for several years. Sweden still frantically resisted, giving almost the last young and healthy men to the army, but she was already on the road leading to inevitable defeat.
The Russian campaign of Charles XII and the death of his army will be discussed in the next article.
