11 - Peter the Great by Jacob Abbott

Few figures in history are as renowned as Peter the Great, often hailed as the architect of modern Russian civilization. His legacy captures the imagination of many, particularly young people, largely due to his adventurous journey to Holland. There, he immersed himself in the world of shipbuilding, even rolling up his sleeves to work in a local shipyard. The very workshop where Peter honed his skills still stands in Saardam, near Amsterdam, albeit in a state of decay. To protect this historical gem, it has been encased in a larger brick structure, drawing curious visitors from around the globe each year. The captivating story of Peter the Great, underscored by his hands-on approach to learning, offers profound insights and lessons for everyone.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Chapter ten of Peter the Great. This is a LibriVox recording.
All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
by russ Lemker Peter the Great by Jacob Abbot, Chapter ten,

(00:23):
the Battle of Narva. The reader will perhaps recollect how
desirous Peter had long been to extend his dominions towards
the west, so as to have a sea port under
his control on the Baltic Sea. For at that time,
when he succeeded to the throne, the eastern shores of
the Baltic belonged to Poland and to Sweden, so that

(00:44):
the Russians were confined in a great measure in their
naval operations to the waters of the Black and Caspian
Seas and to the rivers flowing into them. You will
also recollect that, when at the commencement of his tour
he arrived at the town of Riga, which stands at
the head of the Gulf of Riga, a short branch
of the Baltic, he had been much offended at the

(01:06):
refusal of the governor of the place, acting under the
orders of the King of Sweden to allow him to
view the fortifications there. He then resolved that Riga and
the whole province of which it was the capital, should
one day be his the year after he returned from
his travels, that is, in sixteen ninety nine, the country
being by that time restored to its ordinary state of

(01:28):
repose after the suppression of the rebellion. He concluded that
the time had arrived for carrying his resolution into effect.
So he set a train of negotiations on foot for
making a long truce with the Turks, not wishing to
have two wars on his hands at the same time.
When he had accomplished this object, he formed a league

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with the kingdoms of Poland and Denmark to make war
upon Sweden. So exactly were all his plans laid that
the war with Sweden was declared on the very next
day after the truce of the Turks was concluded. The
king of Sweden at this time was Charles the twelfth.
He was a mere boy, being only at that time

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eighteen years of age, and he had just succeeded to
the throne. He was, however, a prince of remarkable talents
and energy, and in his subsequent campaigns against Peter and
his allies. He distinguished himself so much that he acquired
great renown and finally took his place among the most
illustrious military heroes in history. The first operation of the

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war was the siege of the city of Narva. Narva
was a port on the Baltic The situation of it,
as well as that of the other places mentioned in
this chapter, is seen on the adjoining map, which shows
the general features of the Russian and Swedish frontier as
it existed at that time. Narva, as appears by the map,

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is situated on the sea coast, near the frontier, much
nearer than Peter expected that by the conquest of this
city he should gain access to the sea and so
be able to build ships which would aid him in
his ulterior operations. He also calculated that when Narva was
in his hands, the way would be open for him

(03:16):
to advance on Riga. Indeed, at the same time, while
he was commencing the siege of Narva, his ally, the
King of Poland, advanced from his own dominions to Riga,
and was now prepared to attack that city. At the
same time that the Czar was besieging Narva in the meantime,
while the news of these movements was sent by couriers

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to the King of Sweden, and the conduct of Peter
in this suddenly making war upon him and invading his
dominions made him exceedingly indignant. The only cause of quarrel
which Peter pretended to have against the king was the
uncivil treatment which he had received at the hands of
the governor of Riga in refusing to allow him to
see the fortifications when he passed through that city on

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his tour. Peter had, it is true, complained of this insult,
as he called it, and had set commissioners to Sweden
to demand satisfaction, and certain explanations had been made, though
Peter professed not to be satisfied with them. Still, the
negotiations had not been closed, and the government of Sweden

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had no idea that the misunderstanding would lead to war. Indeed,
the commissioners were still at the Swedish court continuing the
negotiations when the news arrived that Peter had at once
brought the question to an issue by declaring war and
invading the Swedish territory. The King immediately collected a large
army and provided a fleet of two hundred transports to

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convey them to the scene of the action. The preparations
were made with great dispatch, and the fleet sailed for Riga.
The news, too, of this war occasioned great dissatisfaction among
the governments of Western Europe. The government of Holland was
particularly displeased on account of the interference and interruption which
the war would occasion to all their commerce in the

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Baltic They immediately determined to remonstrate with the Czar against
the course which he was pursuing, and they induced King
William of England to join them in the remonstrance. They also,
at the same time sent a messenger to the King
of Poland, urging him by all means to suspend his
threatened attack on Riga until some of the measures could

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be taken for accommodating a quarrel. Riga was a very
important commercial port, and there were a great many wealthy
Dutch merchants there whose interests the Dutch government were very
anxious to protect. The King of Sweden arrived at Riga
with his fleet at just about the same time that
the remonstrance of the Dutch government reached The King of

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Poland who was advancing to attack it Augustus, for that
was the name of the King of Poland. Finding that
now since so great a force had arrived to succor
and strengthen the place, there was no hope for success
in any other of his operations against it, concluded to
make a virtue of necessity, and so he drew off
his army and sent word to the Dutch government that

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he did so in compliance with their wishes. The King
of Sweden had, of course, nothing now to do but
to advance from Riga to Narva and attack the army
of the Tsar. This army was not, however, commanded by
the Czar in person. In accordance with what seems to
have been his favorite plan in all his great undertakings,

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he did not act directly himself as the head of
the expedition, but putting forward another man, an experienced and
skillful general, as responsible commander. He took himself a subordinate
position as a lieutenant. Indeed, he took a pride in
entering the army at one of the very lowest grades,
and so advancing, by a regular series of promotions through

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all the ranks of service. The person whom the Czar
had made commander in chief at the Siege of Narva,
was a German office. His name was General Kroy. General
Kroy had been many weeks before Narva at the time
when the King of Sweden arrived at Riga, but he
had made little progress in taking the town. The place

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was strongly fortified, and the garrison, though comparatively weak, defended
it with great bravery. The Russian army was encamped in
a very long strong position just outside the town. As
soon as the news of the coming of the King
of Sweden arrived, the Csar went off into the interior
of the country to hasten a large reinforcement which had

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been ordered, and at the same time General Kroy sent
forward large bodies of men to lay in ambuscade along
the roads and defiles through which the King of Sweden
would have to pass on his way from Riga. But
all these excellent arrangements were entirely defeated by the impetuous
energy and the extraordinary tact and skill of the King

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of Sweden, although his army was very much smaller than
that of the russiansmediately set out on his march to Narva.
But instead of moving along the regular roads, and so
falling into the ambuscade which the Russians had laid for him,
he turned off into back and circuitous byways so as
to avoid the snare altogether. It was in the dead

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of winter, and the roads which he followed, besides being
rough and intricate, were obstructed with snow, and the Russians
had thought little of them, so that at last, when
the Swedish army arrived at their advanced posts, they were
taken entirely by surprise. The advanced posts were driven in,
and the Swedes pressed on the Russians, flying before them

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and carrying confusion to the posts in the rear. The
surprise of the Russians and the confusion consequent upon it,
were greatly increased by the state of the weather, for
there was a violent snow storm at the time, and
the snow blowing into the Russians faces prevented their seeing
what the numbers were of the enemy, so suddenly assaulting them,
or taking any effectual measures to restore their own ranks

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to order when once deranged. When at length the Swedes,
having thus driven in the advanced posts, reached the Russian
camp itself, they immediately made an assault upon it. The
camp was defended by a rampart and by a double ditch,
But on went the assaulting soldiers over all the obstacles,
pushing their way with their bayonets and carrying all before them.

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The Russians were entirely defeated and put to flight. In
a route like this, the conquering army, maddened by rage
and by all the other dreadful excitements of the conquest,
press on furiously upon their flying and falling foes and
destroy them with their bayonets in immense numbers before the
officers can arrest them. Indeed, the officers do not wish

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to arrest them until it is sure that the enemy
is so completely overwhelmed that their rallying again is utterly impossible.
In this case, twenty thousand of the Russian soldiers were
left dead upon the field. The Swedes, on the other hand,
and lost only two or three thousand. Besides those who
were killed, immense numbers were taken prisoners. General Croy and

(10:09):
all the other principal generals in command were among the prisoners.
It is very probable that if Peter had not been
absent at the time, he would himself have been taken two.
The number of prisoners was so very great that it
was not possible for the Swedes to retain them, on
account of the expense and trouble of feeding them and
keeping them warm at that season of the year. So

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they determined to detain the officers only, and to send
the men away. In doing this, besides disarming the men,
they adopted a very whimsical expedient for making them helpless
and incapable of doing mischief. On their march. They cut
their clothes in such a manner that they could only
be prevented from falling off by being held together by

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both hands. And the weather was so cold, the ground
moreover being covered with snow, that the men could only
save themselves from perishing by keeping their clothes around them.
In this pitiful plight, the whole body of prisoners were
driven off like a flock of sheep by a small
body of Swedish soldiery, for a distance of about a
league on the road toward Russia, and then left to

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find the rest of the way themselves. The Czar, when
he heard the news of that terrible disaster, did not
seem much disconcerted by it. He said that he expected
to be beaten at first by the Swedes. They have
beaten us once, said he, and they may beat us again,
but they will teach us in time to beat them.

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He immediately began to adopt the most efficient and energetic
measures for organizing a new army. He set about raising
recruits in all parts of the empire. He introduced many
new foreign officers into his service and to provide artillery.
After exhausting all the other resources at his command, he
ordered the great bells of many churches and monasteries to

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be taken down and cast into care. End of chapter ten,
the Battle of Narva recorded by russ Lemker