Evacuation of Kolkanpää

Battle of Kolkanpää
Part of Great Northern War
DateOctober 16, 1708 (O.S.)
October 17, 1708 (Swedish calendar)
October 27, 1708 (N.S.)
LocationKolkanpää, Swedish Empire,
present–day Russia
Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Swedish Empire Tsardom of Russia
Commanders and leaders
Henrik Mattias von Seulenberg Fyodor Apraksin
Strength
600–800 men[1] 3,000–3,500 men[2]
Casualties and losses
600–800 killed, wounded and captured[1] 50 killed,
220 wounded[3]
Campaigns
Battles
Treaties

The Evacuation of Kolkanpää took place between October 18 and 27, 1708 close to Kolkanpää, in the Swedish Empire during the Great Northern War. The Swedes under the command of Georg Lybecker were evacuating their Finnish based army consisting of up to 11,279 men back to Finland, after their failed campaign in Swedish Ingria in an attempt to recover land previously lost to Russia.[4] Fyodor Apraksin, the Russian commander in the area, decided to interrupt the evacuation with between 3,000 and 3,500 men.[2] He decided to wait until only a portion, between 600 and 800 Saxon ex-prisoners recruited into Swedish service, remained on the beaches not yet evacuated, before commencing attack with all his troops.[1] After several assaults the Saxons were soon overwhelmed and almost all of them were cut down or captured by the end of the battle.[4] The Russians had lost about 50 killed and 220 wounded.[3] The Swedes were also forced to slaughter about 4,000 of their horses which could not be evacuated so they would not fall into Russians hands.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Christer Kuvaja. Krigen kring Östersjön, del 4: Karolinska krigare 1660–1721. Schildts Förlags Ab, Helsingfors, 2008. p. 186
  2. 1 2 Dorrell, Nicholas. The Dawn of the Tsarist Empire: Poltava & the Russian Campaigns of 1708—1709, Partizan Press (2009). p. 126
  3. 1 2 ПОЛКОВОДЦЫ ПЕТРА I: Шереметев Борис Петрович Апраксин Федор Матвеевич Боур Родион Христианович Репнин Никита Иванович Брюс Яков Виллимович Меншиков Александр Данилович Голицын Михаил Михайлович
  4. 1 2 Peter From, Katastrofen vid Poltava. Lund (2007). pp. 183–184


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