August 19, 2025 • 27 mins
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.
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Chapter thirteen 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 Abbott, chapter thirteen,
(00:25):
the Battle of Poltawa. In the meantime, while these transactions
had been taking place among the Russians, the King of
Sweden had been gradually making his way toward the westward
and southward into the very heart of the Russian dominions.
The forces of the Emperor, which were not strong enough
(00:45):
to offer him battle, had been gradually retiring before him.
But they had devastated and destroyed everything on their way
in their retreat, so as to leave nothing for the
support of the Swedish army. They broke up all the
bridges too, and obstructed the roads by every means in
their power, so as to impede the progress of the
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Swedes as much as possible, Since they could not wholly
arrest it. The Swedes, however, pressed slowly onward. They set
off to great distances to procure forage for the horses
and food for the men. When they found the bridges down,
they made detours and crossed the rivers at fording places.
(01:29):
When the roads were obstructed, they removed the impediments if
they could, and if not, they opened new roads. Sometimes,
in these cases, their way led them across swampy places
where no solid footing could be found, and then the
men would cut down an immense quantity of bushes and
trees growing in the neighborhood and make up the branches
(01:51):
into bundles called fascines. They would then lay these bundles
close together on the surface of the swamp, and then
level them off on the top by loose branches, and
so make a road firm enough for the army to
march over. Things went on this way until at last
the farther progress of King Charles was arrested, and the
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tide of fortune was turned wholly against him by a
great battle, which was fought at a place called Poltawa.
This place, which, after so protracted a struggle at length,
suddenly terminated. The contest between the king and the czar,
of course, attracted universal attention at the time, for Charles
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and Peter were the greatest potentates and warriors of their age,
and the struggle for power, which had so long been
waged between them, had been watched with great interest through
all the stages of it by the whole civilized world.
The Battle of Pultowa was, in a word, one of
(02:52):
those great final conflicts by which, after a long struggle,
the fate of an empire is decided. It of course,
greatly attracted the attention of mankind, and has since taken
its place among the most renowned combats of history. Poltawa
is a town situated in the heart of the Russian territories,
three or four hundred miles north of the Black Sea.
(03:15):
It stands on a small river which flows to the
southward and westward into the Dneeper. It was at that
time an important military station, as it contained great arsenals,
where large stores of food and of ammunition were laid
up for the use of Peter's army. The King of
Sweden determined to take this town. His principal object in
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desiring to get possession of it was to supply the
wants of his army by the provisions that were stored there.
The place was strongly fortified, and it was defended by
a garrison, but the king thought that he should be
able to take it, and he accordingly advanced to the walls,
invested the place closely on every side, and commenced a siege.
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The name of the general in command of the largest
body of Russian forces near the spot was Mensakov, and
as soon as the King of Sweden had invested the place,
Mensakov began to advance toward it in order to relieve it.
Then followed a long series of maneuvers and partial combats
between the two armies, the Swedes being occupied with the
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double duty of attacking the town and also defending themselves
from Mensakov, while Mansakov, on the other hand, was intent
first on harassing the Swedes and impeding as much as
possible their siege operations, and secondly on throwing succors into
the town. In this contest, Menzakov was, on the whole
most successful. He contrived one night to pass a detachment
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of his troops through the gates of Poltawa into the
town to strengthen the garrison. This irritated the King of
Sweden and made him more determined and reckless than ever
to press the siege. Under this excitement, he advanced so
near the walls one day in a desperate effort to
take possession of an advanced part of the works, that
he exposed himself to a shot from the ramparts, and
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was badly wounded in the heel. This wound nearly disabled him.
He was obliged by it to confine himself to his tent,
and to content himself with giving orders from his couch
or litter, where he lay helpless and in great pain,
and in a state of extreme mental disquietude. His anxiety
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was greatly increased in a few days in consequence of
intelligence which was brought into his camp by the scouts
that Peter himself was advancing to the relief of Pultawa
at the head of a very large army. Indeed, the
tidings were that this great force was close at hand.
The king found that he was in danger of being surrounded,
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nor could he well hope to escape the danger by
a retreat, for the broad and deep River de Nieper,
which he had crossed to come into the siege of Pultawa,
was behind him, and if the Russians were to fall
upon him while attempting to cross it, he knew very
well that his whole army would be cut to pieces.
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He lay restless on his litter in his tent, his
thoughts divided between the anguish of the wound in his
heel and the mental anxiety and distress produced by the
situation that he was in. He spent the night in
great perplexity and suffering. At length toward morning he came
to the desperate resolution of attacking the Russians in their
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camp inferior, as his own numbers were now to theirs.
He accordingly sent a messenger to the field Marshal, who
was chief officer in command under himself, summoning him to
his tent. The field Marshal was aroused from his sleep,
for it was not yet day, and immediately repaired to
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the King's tent. The King was lying on his couch,
quiet and calm, and with an air of great serenity
and composure. He gave the martial orders to beat to
arms and march out to attack the Czar in his
entrenchments as soon as daylight should appear. The field Marshal
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was astonished at this order, for he knew that the
Russians were now far superior in numbers to the Swedes,
and he supposed that the only hope of the king
would be to defend himself where he was in his
camp or else to attempt a retreat. He, however, knew
that there was nothing to be done but to obey
his orders. So he received the instructions which the king
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gave him, said that he would carry them into execution,
and then retired. The king then at length fell into
a troubled sleep and slept until the break of day.
By this time the old camp was in motion. The Russians, too,
who in their entrenchments had received the alarm, had aroused
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themselves and were preparing for battle. The Czar himself was
not the commander. He had prided himself as the reader
will recollect, in entering the army at the lowest point,
and in advancing regularly, step by step through all the grades,
as any officer would have done. He had now attained
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the rank of major general, and though as tsar he
gave orders through his ministers to the commander in chief
of the armies, directing them in general what to do,
still personally in camp and in the field of battle,
he received orders from his military superior there, and he
took pride and pleasure in the subordination to his superior's authority,
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which the rules of the service required of him. He, however,
as it seems, did not always entirely lay aside his
imperial character while in camp. For in this instance, while
the men were formed in array and before the battle commenced,
he rode to and fro among their lines, encouraging the
men and promising as their sovereign, to bestow rewards upon
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them in proportion to the valor which they should severally
display in the coming combat. The King of Sweden too
was raised from his couch, placed upon a litter, and
in this manner carried along the lines of his own army.
Just before the battle was to begin, he told the
men that they were about to attack an enemy more
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numerous than themselves, but that they must remember that at Narva,
eight thousand Swedes had overcome one hundred thousand Russians in
their own entrenchments, and what they had done once, he said,
they could do again. The battle was commenced very early
in the morning. It was complicated at the beginning, with
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many marches, counter marches and maneuvers in which the several
divisions of both the Russian and Swedish armies and the
garrison of Pultawa all took part. In some places, and
at some times the victory was on one side, and
at others on the other. King Charles was carried in
his litter into the thickest of the battle, where after
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a time he became so excited by the contest that
he insisted on being put upon a horse. The attendants
accordingly brought a horse and placed him carefully upon it,
But the pain of his wound brought on faintness, and
he was obliged to be put back in his litter again.
Soon after this, a cannon ball struck the litter and
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dashed it to pieces. The king was thrown out upon
the ground. Those who saw him fall supposed that he
was killed, and they were struck with consternation. They had
been almost overpowered by their enemies before, but they were
now wholly dis heartened and discouraged, and they began to
give way and fly in all directions. The king had, however,
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not been touched by the ball which struck the litter.
He was at once raised from the ground by the
officers around him, and borne away out of the immediate danger.
He remonstrated earnestly against being taken away, and insisted upon
making an effort to rally his men, but the officers
soon persuaded him that for the present at least all
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was lost, and that the only hope for him was
to make his escape as soon as possible across the
river and thence over the frontier into Turkey, where he
would be safe from pursuit and could then consider what
it would be best to do. The king at length
reluctantly yielded to these persuasions and was borne away. In
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the meantime, the Czar himself had been exposed to great
danger in the battle, and like the King of Sweden,
he had met with so very narrow escapes. His hat
was shot through with a bullet which half an inch
lower would have gone through the Emperor's head. General Mansukov
had three horses shot from under him. But notwithstanding these dangers,
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the Tsar pressed on into the thickest of the fight,
and was present at the head of his men when
the Swedes were finally overwhelmed and driven from the field. Indeed,
he was among the foremost who pursued them, and when
he came to the place where the royal litter was
lying broken to pieces on the ground, he expressed great
concern for the fate of his enemy, and seemed to
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regret the calamity which had befallen him, as if Charles
had been his friend. He had always greatly admired the
courage and the military skill which the King of Sweden
had manifested in his campaigns, and was disposed to respect
his misfortunes. Now that he had fallen. He supposed that
he was unquestionably killed, and he gave orders to his
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men to search everywhere over the field for the body,
and to guard it, when found, from any further violence
or injury, and to take charge of it that it
might receive an honorable burial. The body was of course
not found, for the king was alive, and, with the
exception of the wound in his heel, uninjured. He was
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borne off from the field by a few faithful adherents,
who took him in their arms when the litter was
broken up. As soon as they had conveyed him in
this manner, out of immediate danger, they hastily constructed another
litter in order to bear him farther away. He was, himself,
of course, extremely unwilling to go. He was very earnest
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to make an effort to rally his men and if possible,
save his army from total ruin. But he soon found
that it was in vain to attempt this. His whole
force had been thrown into utter confusion, and the broken
battalions flying in every direction were pursued so hotly by
the Russians, who, in their exultant fury, slaughtered all whom
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they could overtake, and drove the rest headlong in a
state of panic and dismay, which was wholly uncontrollable. Of course,
some escaped, but great numbers were taken prisoners. Many of
the officers, separated from their men, wandered about in search
of the king, being without any rallying point, until they
could find him. After suffering many cruel hardships and much
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exposure in the lurking places where they attempted to conceal themselves,
great numbers of them were hunted out by their enemies
and made prisoners. In the meantime, those who had the
king under their charge urged his majesty to allow them
to convey him with all speed out of the country.
The nearest way of escape was to go westward to
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the Turkish frontier, which, as has already been said, was
not far distant, though there were three rivers to cross
on the way, the Deneper, the Bog and the Denister.
The king was very unwilling to listen to this advice.
Peter had several times sent a flag of truce to
him since he had entered into the Russian dominions, expressing
(15:12):
a desire to make peace and proposing very reasonable terms
for Charles to accede to. To all these proposals, Charles
had returned the same answer as at first, which was
that he should not be ready to treat with the
Czar until he arrived at Moscow. Charles now said that
before abandoning the country altogether, he would send a herald
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to the Russian camp to say that he was now
willing to make peace on the terms which Peter had
before proposed to him, if Peter was still willing to
adhere to them. Charles was led to hope that this
proposal might perhaps be successful from the fact that there
was a portion of his army who had not been
engaged at Pultawa that was still safe, and he had
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no doubt that a very concern biterable number of men
would succeed in escaping from Pultawa. And joining them. Indeed,
the number was not small of those whom the king
had now immediately around him, For all that escaped from
the battle made every possible exertion to discover and rejoin
the king, and so many straggling parties came that he
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soon had under his command a force of one or
two thousand men. This was, of course, but a small
remnant of his army. Still, he felt that he was
not wholly destitute by means and resources for carrying on
the struggle in case Peter should refuse to make peace,
So he sent a trumpeter to Peter's camp with this message.
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But Peter sent back word that his majesties assent to
the terms of peace which he had proposed to him
came too late. The state of things had, now, he said,
entirely changed, and as Charles had ventured to penetrate into
the Russian country without properly considering the consequences of his rashness,
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he must now think for himself how he was to
get out of it. For his part, he added, he
had got the birds in the net, and he should
do all in his power to secure them. After due
consultation among the officers who were with the king. It
was finally determined that it was useless to think for
the present of any further resistance, and the king at
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last reluctantly consented to be conveyed to the Turkish frontier.
He was too ill from the effects of his wound
to ride on horseback, and the distance was too great
for him to be conveyed on a litter, so they
prepared a carriage for him. It was a carriage which
belonged to one of his generals, and which by some
means or other, had been saved in the flight of
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the army. The route which they were to take led
across the country where they were scarcely any roads, and
a team of twelve horses was harnessed to draw the
carriage which conveyed the king. No time was to be lost.
The confused mass of officers and men who had escaped
from the battle and had succeeded in rejoining the king
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were marshaled into something like a military organization, and the march,
or rather the flight, commenced. The King's carriage, attended by
such a guard as could be provided for, it went
before and was followed by the remnant of the army.
Some of the men were on horseback, others were on foot,
and others still sick or wounded, were conveyed in little
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wagons of the country, which were drawn along in a
very difficult and laborious manner. This mournful train moved slowly
on across the country, seeking of course the most retired
and solitary ways to avoid pursuit, and yet harassed by
the continual fear that the enemy might at any time
come up with them. The men all suffered exceedingly from
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want of food and from the various other hardships incident
to their condition. Many became so worn out by fatigue
and privation that they could not proceed, and were left
by the roadside tides to fall into the hands of
the enemy or to perish of want and exhaustion, while
those who still had strength enough remaining pressed despairingly onward.
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But little less was to be pitied than those who
were left behind. When at length the expedition drew near
to the Turkish borders, the king sent forward a messenger
to the Pasha in command on the frontier, asking permission
for himself and his men to pass through the Turkish
territory on his way to his own dominions. He had
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every reason to suppose that the Pasha would grant this request,
for the Turks and Russians had long been enemies, and
he knew very well that the sympathies of the Turks
had been entirely on his side in this war. Nor
was he disappointed in his expectations. The Pasha received the
messenger very kindly and offered him food and supplied all
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his wants. He said moreover that he would not only
give the King leave to enter and pass through the
Turkish territories, but he would give him efficient assistance in
crossing the river which formed the frontier. This was indeed
necessary for a large detachment of Russian army, which had
been sent in pursuit of the Swedes, was now coming
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close upon them, and there was danger of their being
overtaken and cut to pieces, or taken prisoners before they
should have time to cross the stream. The principal object
which the Czar had in view in sending a detachment
in pursuit of the fugitives was the hope of capturing
the king himself. He spoke of this his design to
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the Swedish officers, who were already his prisoners saying to
them jocosely, for he was in an excellent humor with
everybody after the battle. I have a great desire to
see my brother, the king and to enjoy his society,
so I have sent to bring him. You will see
him here in a few days. The force dispatched for
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this purpose had been gradually gaining upon the fugitives and
was now very near, and the Pasha, on learning the facts,
perceived that the exigency was very urgent. He accordingly sent
off at once up and down the river to order
all the boats that could be found to repair immediately
to the spot where the King of Sweden wished to cross.
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A considerable number of boats were soon collected, and the
passage was immediately commenced. The King and his guards were
brought over safely, and also a large number of the
officers and men. But the boats were after all so
few that the operation proceeded slowly, and the Russians, who
had been pressing on with all speed, arrived at the
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banks of the river in time to interrupt it before
all the troops had passed, and thus about five hundred
men fell into their hands. They were all made prisoners,
and the king had the mortification of witnessing the spectacle
of their capture from the opposite bank, which he had
himself reached in safety. The king was immediately afterward conveyed
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to Bender, a considerable town not far from the frontier,
where for the present he was safe, and where he
remained quiet for some weeks, in order that his wound
might have opportunity to heal. Peter was obliged to content
himself with postponing for a time the pleasure which he
expected to derive from the enjoyment of his brother's society.
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The portion of the Swedish army which remained in Russia
was soon after this surrounded by so large a Russian
force that the general in command was forced to capitulate,
and all his troops were surrendered as prisoners of war. Thus,
in all a great number of prisoners, both officers and men,
fell into Peter's hands. The men were sent to various
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parts of the Empire and distributed among the people, in
order that they might settle permanently in the country and
devote themselves to the trades or occupations to which they
had been trained in their native land. The officers were
treated with great kindness and consideration. Peter often invited them
to his table and conversed with them in a very
free and friendly manner in respect to the usages and
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customs which prevailed in their own country, especially those which
related to the military art. Still, they were deprived of
their swords and kept close prisoners. One day, when some
of these officers were dining with Peter in his tent,
and he had been for some time conversing with them
about the organization and discipline of the Swedish army, and
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had expressed great admiration for the military talent and skill
which they had displayed in the campaigns which they had fought.
He at last poured out some wine and drank to
the health of his masters in the art of war.
One of the officers who was present asked who they
were that his Majesty was pleased to honor with so
great a title. It is yourselves, gentlemen, replied the Czar
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the Swedish generals. It is you who have been my
best instructors in the art of war. Then replied the officer,
is not your Majesty a little ungrateful to treat the
masters to whom you owe so much so severely Peter
was so much pleased with the readiness and wit of
this reply that he ordered the swords of the officers
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all to be restored to them. It is said that
he even unbuckled his own sword from his side and
presented it to one of the generals. It ought, perhaps
to be added, however, that the habit of drinking to excess,
which Peter seems to have formed early in life, had
before this time become quite confirmed, and he often became
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completely intoxicated at his convivial entertainments, so that it is
not improbable that the sudden generosity of the Czar on this
occasion may have been due in considerable degree to the
excitement produced by the brandy which he had been drinking.
Although the swords of the officers were thus restored to them,
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they were themselves still held as prisoners until arrangements could
be made for exchange them. In order, however, that they
might all be properly provided for, he distributed them around
among his own generals, giving to each Russian officer the
charge of a Swedish officer of his own rank, granting
of course to each one a proper allowance for the
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maintenance and support of his charge. The Russian generals were
severally responsible for the safe keeping of their prisoners, but
the surveillance in such cases is never strict, for it
is customary for the prisoners to give their parole of
honor that they will not attempt to escape, and then
they are allowed, within reasonable limits, their full personal liberty,
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so that they live more like the guests and companions
of their keepers than as their captives. The King of
Sweden met with many remarkable adventures and encountered very serious
difficulties before he reached his own kingdom, but it would
be foreign to the subject of this history to relate
them here. As to Mazeppa, he made his escape too,
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with the King of Sweden across the frontier. The Czar
offered a very large reward to whoever should bring him back,
either dead or alive, but he was never taken. He
died afterward at Constantinople at a great age. One of
the most curious and characteristic results which followed from the
Battle of Pultawa was the promotion of Peter in respect
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to his rank in the army. It was gravely decided
by the proper authorities after drue deliberation that in consequence
of the vigor and bravery which he had displayed on
the field, and of the danger which he had incurred
in having had a shot go through his hat, he
deserved to be advanced a grade in the line of promotion,
so he was made a major general. Thus ended the
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Great Swedish Invasion of Russia, which was the occasion of
the greatest, and indeed of almost the only serious danger
from any foreign source, which threatened the dominions of Peter
during the whole course of his reign. End of Chapter thirteen,
the Battle of Poltawa. Recording by russ Lemker of Edina, Minnesota,
Chapter thirteen 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 Abbott, chapter thirteen,
(00:25):
the Battle of Poltawa. In the meantime, while these transactions
had been taking place among the Russians, the King of
Sweden had been gradually making his way toward the westward
and southward into the very heart of the Russian dominions.
The forces of the Emperor, which were not strong enough
(00:45):
to offer him battle, had been gradually retiring before him.
But they had devastated and destroyed everything on their way
in their retreat, so as to leave nothing for the
support of the Swedish army. They broke up all the
bridges too, and obstructed the roads by every means in
their power, so as to impede the progress of the
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Swedes as much as possible, Since they could not wholly
arrest it. The Swedes, however, pressed slowly onward. They set
off to great distances to procure forage for the horses
and food for the men. When they found the bridges down,
they made detours and crossed the rivers at fording places.
(01:29):
When the roads were obstructed, they removed the impediments if
they could, and if not, they opened new roads. Sometimes,
in these cases, their way led them across swampy places
where no solid footing could be found, and then the
men would cut down an immense quantity of bushes and
trees growing in the neighborhood and make up the branches
(01:51):
into bundles called fascines. They would then lay these bundles
close together on the surface of the swamp, and then
level them off on the top by loose branches, and
so make a road firm enough for the army to
march over. Things went on this way until at last
the farther progress of King Charles was arrested, and the
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tide of fortune was turned wholly against him by a
great battle, which was fought at a place called Poltawa.
This place, which, after so protracted a struggle at length,
suddenly terminated. The contest between the king and the czar,
of course, attracted universal attention at the time, for Charles
(02:32):
and Peter were the greatest potentates and warriors of their age,
and the struggle for power, which had so long been
waged between them, had been watched with great interest through
all the stages of it by the whole civilized world.
The Battle of Pultowa was, in a word, one of
(02:52):
those great final conflicts by which, after a long struggle,
the fate of an empire is decided. It of course,
greatly attracted the attention of mankind, and has since taken
its place among the most renowned combats of history. Poltawa
is a town situated in the heart of the Russian territories,
three or four hundred miles north of the Black Sea.
(03:15):
It stands on a small river which flows to the
southward and westward into the Dneeper. It was at that
time an important military station, as it contained great arsenals,
where large stores of food and of ammunition were laid
up for the use of Peter's army. The King of
Sweden determined to take this town. His principal object in
(03:39):
desiring to get possession of it was to supply the
wants of his army by the provisions that were stored there.
The place was strongly fortified, and it was defended by
a garrison, but the king thought that he should be
able to take it, and he accordingly advanced to the walls,
invested the place closely on every side, and commenced a siege.
(04:04):
The name of the general in command of the largest
body of Russian forces near the spot was Mensakov, and
as soon as the King of Sweden had invested the place,
Mensakov began to advance toward it in order to relieve it.
Then followed a long series of maneuvers and partial combats
between the two armies, the Swedes being occupied with the
(04:26):
double duty of attacking the town and also defending themselves
from Mensakov, while Mansakov, on the other hand, was intent
first on harassing the Swedes and impeding as much as
possible their siege operations, and secondly on throwing succors into
the town. In this contest, Menzakov was, on the whole
most successful. He contrived one night to pass a detachment
(04:51):
of his troops through the gates of Poltawa into the
town to strengthen the garrison. This irritated the King of
Sweden and made him more determined and reckless than ever
to press the siege. Under this excitement, he advanced so
near the walls one day in a desperate effort to
take possession of an advanced part of the works, that
he exposed himself to a shot from the ramparts, and
(05:14):
was badly wounded in the heel. This wound nearly disabled him.
He was obliged by it to confine himself to his tent,
and to content himself with giving orders from his couch
or litter, where he lay helpless and in great pain,
and in a state of extreme mental disquietude. His anxiety
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was greatly increased in a few days in consequence of
intelligence which was brought into his camp by the scouts
that Peter himself was advancing to the relief of Pultawa
at the head of a very large army. Indeed, the
tidings were that this great force was close at hand.
The king found that he was in danger of being surrounded,
(05:57):
nor could he well hope to escape the danger by
a retreat, for the broad and deep River de Nieper,
which he had crossed to come into the siege of Pultawa,
was behind him, and if the Russians were to fall
upon him while attempting to cross it, he knew very
well that his whole army would be cut to pieces.
(06:19):
He lay restless on his litter in his tent, his
thoughts divided between the anguish of the wound in his
heel and the mental anxiety and distress produced by the
situation that he was in. He spent the night in
great perplexity and suffering. At length toward morning he came
to the desperate resolution of attacking the Russians in their
(06:40):
camp inferior, as his own numbers were now to theirs.
He accordingly sent a messenger to the field Marshal, who
was chief officer in command under himself, summoning him to
his tent. The field Marshal was aroused from his sleep,
for it was not yet day, and immediately repaired to
(07:01):
the King's tent. The King was lying on his couch,
quiet and calm, and with an air of great serenity
and composure. He gave the martial orders to beat to
arms and march out to attack the Czar in his
entrenchments as soon as daylight should appear. The field Marshal
(07:22):
was astonished at this order, for he knew that the
Russians were now far superior in numbers to the Swedes,
and he supposed that the only hope of the king
would be to defend himself where he was in his
camp or else to attempt a retreat. He, however, knew
that there was nothing to be done but to obey
his orders. So he received the instructions which the king
(07:44):
gave him, said that he would carry them into execution,
and then retired. The king then at length fell into
a troubled sleep and slept until the break of day.
By this time the old camp was in motion. The Russians, too,
who in their entrenchments had received the alarm, had aroused
(08:06):
themselves and were preparing for battle. The Czar himself was
not the commander. He had prided himself as the reader
will recollect, in entering the army at the lowest point,
and in advancing regularly, step by step through all the grades,
as any officer would have done. He had now attained
(08:28):
the rank of major general, and though as tsar he
gave orders through his ministers to the commander in chief
of the armies, directing them in general what to do,
still personally in camp and in the field of battle,
he received orders from his military superior there, and he
took pride and pleasure in the subordination to his superior's authority,
(08:53):
which the rules of the service required of him. He, however,
as it seems, did not always entirely lay aside his
imperial character while in camp. For in this instance, while
the men were formed in array and before the battle commenced,
he rode to and fro among their lines, encouraging the
men and promising as their sovereign, to bestow rewards upon
(09:16):
them in proportion to the valor which they should severally
display in the coming combat. The King of Sweden too
was raised from his couch, placed upon a litter, and
in this manner carried along the lines of his own army.
Just before the battle was to begin, he told the
men that they were about to attack an enemy more
(09:37):
numerous than themselves, but that they must remember that at Narva,
eight thousand Swedes had overcome one hundred thousand Russians in
their own entrenchments, and what they had done once, he said,
they could do again. The battle was commenced very early
in the morning. It was complicated at the beginning, with
(10:00):
many marches, counter marches and maneuvers in which the several
divisions of both the Russian and Swedish armies and the
garrison of Pultawa all took part. In some places, and
at some times the victory was on one side, and
at others on the other. King Charles was carried in
his litter into the thickest of the battle, where after
(10:23):
a time he became so excited by the contest that
he insisted on being put upon a horse. The attendants
accordingly brought a horse and placed him carefully upon it,
But the pain of his wound brought on faintness, and
he was obliged to be put back in his litter again.
Soon after this, a cannon ball struck the litter and
(10:45):
dashed it to pieces. The king was thrown out upon
the ground. Those who saw him fall supposed that he
was killed, and they were struck with consternation. They had
been almost overpowered by their enemies before, but they were
now wholly dis heartened and discouraged, and they began to
give way and fly in all directions. The king had, however,
(11:09):
not been touched by the ball which struck the litter.
He was at once raised from the ground by the
officers around him, and borne away out of the immediate danger.
He remonstrated earnestly against being taken away, and insisted upon
making an effort to rally his men, but the officers
soon persuaded him that for the present at least all
(11:30):
was lost, and that the only hope for him was
to make his escape as soon as possible across the
river and thence over the frontier into Turkey, where he
would be safe from pursuit and could then consider what
it would be best to do. The king at length
reluctantly yielded to these persuasions and was borne away. In
(11:52):
the meantime, the Czar himself had been exposed to great
danger in the battle, and like the King of Sweden,
he had met with so very narrow escapes. His hat
was shot through with a bullet which half an inch
lower would have gone through the Emperor's head. General Mansukov
had three horses shot from under him. But notwithstanding these dangers,
(12:15):
the Tsar pressed on into the thickest of the fight,
and was present at the head of his men when
the Swedes were finally overwhelmed and driven from the field. Indeed,
he was among the foremost who pursued them, and when
he came to the place where the royal litter was
lying broken to pieces on the ground, he expressed great
concern for the fate of his enemy, and seemed to
(12:38):
regret the calamity which had befallen him, as if Charles
had been his friend. He had always greatly admired the
courage and the military skill which the King of Sweden
had manifested in his campaigns, and was disposed to respect
his misfortunes. Now that he had fallen. He supposed that
he was unquestionably killed, and he gave orders to his
(13:00):
men to search everywhere over the field for the body,
and to guard it, when found, from any further violence
or injury, and to take charge of it that it
might receive an honorable burial. The body was of course
not found, for the king was alive, and, with the
exception of the wound in his heel, uninjured. He was
(13:21):
borne off from the field by a few faithful adherents,
who took him in their arms when the litter was
broken up. As soon as they had conveyed him in
this manner, out of immediate danger, they hastily constructed another
litter in order to bear him farther away. He was, himself,
of course, extremely unwilling to go. He was very earnest
(13:42):
to make an effort to rally his men and if possible,
save his army from total ruin. But he soon found
that it was in vain to attempt this. His whole
force had been thrown into utter confusion, and the broken
battalions flying in every direction were pursued so hotly by
the Russians, who, in their exultant fury, slaughtered all whom
(14:06):
they could overtake, and drove the rest headlong in a
state of panic and dismay, which was wholly uncontrollable. Of course,
some escaped, but great numbers were taken prisoners. Many of
the officers, separated from their men, wandered about in search
of the king, being without any rallying point, until they
could find him. After suffering many cruel hardships and much
(14:30):
exposure in the lurking places where they attempted to conceal themselves,
great numbers of them were hunted out by their enemies
and made prisoners. In the meantime, those who had the
king under their charge urged his majesty to allow them
to convey him with all speed out of the country.
The nearest way of escape was to go westward to
(14:51):
the Turkish frontier, which, as has already been said, was
not far distant, though there were three rivers to cross
on the way, the Deneper, the Bog and the Denister.
The king was very unwilling to listen to this advice.
Peter had several times sent a flag of truce to
him since he had entered into the Russian dominions, expressing
(15:12):
a desire to make peace and proposing very reasonable terms
for Charles to accede to. To all these proposals, Charles
had returned the same answer as at first, which was
that he should not be ready to treat with the
Czar until he arrived at Moscow. Charles now said that
before abandoning the country altogether, he would send a herald
(15:35):
to the Russian camp to say that he was now
willing to make peace on the terms which Peter had
before proposed to him, if Peter was still willing to
adhere to them. Charles was led to hope that this
proposal might perhaps be successful from the fact that there
was a portion of his army who had not been
engaged at Pultawa that was still safe, and he had
(15:58):
no doubt that a very concern biterable number of men
would succeed in escaping from Pultawa. And joining them. Indeed,
the number was not small of those whom the king
had now immediately around him, For all that escaped from
the battle made every possible exertion to discover and rejoin
the king, and so many straggling parties came that he
(16:19):
soon had under his command a force of one or
two thousand men. This was, of course, but a small
remnant of his army. Still, he felt that he was
not wholly destitute by means and resources for carrying on
the struggle in case Peter should refuse to make peace,
So he sent a trumpeter to Peter's camp with this message.
(16:39):
But Peter sent back word that his majesties assent to
the terms of peace which he had proposed to him
came too late. The state of things had, now, he said,
entirely changed, and as Charles had ventured to penetrate into
the Russian country without properly considering the consequences of his rashness,
(16:59):
he must now think for himself how he was to
get out of it. For his part, he added, he
had got the birds in the net, and he should
do all in his power to secure them. After due
consultation among the officers who were with the king. It
was finally determined that it was useless to think for
the present of any further resistance, and the king at
(17:22):
last reluctantly consented to be conveyed to the Turkish frontier.
He was too ill from the effects of his wound
to ride on horseback, and the distance was too great
for him to be conveyed on a litter, so they
prepared a carriage for him. It was a carriage which
belonged to one of his generals, and which by some
means or other, had been saved in the flight of
(17:42):
the army. The route which they were to take led
across the country where they were scarcely any roads, and
a team of twelve horses was harnessed to draw the
carriage which conveyed the king. No time was to be lost.
The confused mass of officers and men who had escaped
from the battle and had succeeded in rejoining the king
(18:03):
were marshaled into something like a military organization, and the march,
or rather the flight, commenced. The King's carriage, attended by
such a guard as could be provided for, it went
before and was followed by the remnant of the army.
Some of the men were on horseback, others were on foot,
and others still sick or wounded, were conveyed in little
(18:24):
wagons of the country, which were drawn along in a
very difficult and laborious manner. This mournful train moved slowly
on across the country, seeking of course the most retired
and solitary ways to avoid pursuit, and yet harassed by
the continual fear that the enemy might at any time
come up with them. The men all suffered exceedingly from
(18:47):
want of food and from the various other hardships incident
to their condition. Many became so worn out by fatigue
and privation that they could not proceed, and were left
by the roadside tides to fall into the hands of
the enemy or to perish of want and exhaustion, while
those who still had strength enough remaining pressed despairingly onward.
(19:09):
But little less was to be pitied than those who
were left behind. When at length the expedition drew near
to the Turkish borders, the king sent forward a messenger
to the Pasha in command on the frontier, asking permission
for himself and his men to pass through the Turkish
territory on his way to his own dominions. He had
(19:29):
every reason to suppose that the Pasha would grant this request,
for the Turks and Russians had long been enemies, and
he knew very well that the sympathies of the Turks
had been entirely on his side in this war. Nor
was he disappointed in his expectations. The Pasha received the
messenger very kindly and offered him food and supplied all
(19:50):
his wants. He said moreover that he would not only
give the King leave to enter and pass through the
Turkish territories, but he would give him efficient assistance in
crossing the river which formed the frontier. This was indeed
necessary for a large detachment of Russian army, which had
been sent in pursuit of the Swedes, was now coming
(20:10):
close upon them, and there was danger of their being
overtaken and cut to pieces, or taken prisoners before they
should have time to cross the stream. The principal object
which the Czar had in view in sending a detachment
in pursuit of the fugitives was the hope of capturing
the king himself. He spoke of this his design to
(20:31):
the Swedish officers, who were already his prisoners saying to
them jocosely, for he was in an excellent humor with
everybody after the battle. I have a great desire to
see my brother, the king and to enjoy his society,
so I have sent to bring him. You will see
him here in a few days. The force dispatched for
(20:52):
this purpose had been gradually gaining upon the fugitives and
was now very near, and the Pasha, on learning the facts,
perceived that the exigency was very urgent. He accordingly sent
off at once up and down the river to order
all the boats that could be found to repair immediately
to the spot where the King of Sweden wished to cross.
(21:14):
A considerable number of boats were soon collected, and the
passage was immediately commenced. The King and his guards were
brought over safely, and also a large number of the
officers and men. But the boats were after all so
few that the operation proceeded slowly, and the Russians, who
had been pressing on with all speed, arrived at the
(21:34):
banks of the river in time to interrupt it before
all the troops had passed, and thus about five hundred
men fell into their hands. They were all made prisoners,
and the king had the mortification of witnessing the spectacle
of their capture from the opposite bank, which he had
himself reached in safety. The king was immediately afterward conveyed
(21:56):
to Bender, a considerable town not far from the frontier,
where for the present he was safe, and where he
remained quiet for some weeks, in order that his wound
might have opportunity to heal. Peter was obliged to content
himself with postponing for a time the pleasure which he
expected to derive from the enjoyment of his brother's society.
(22:18):
The portion of the Swedish army which remained in Russia
was soon after this surrounded by so large a Russian
force that the general in command was forced to capitulate,
and all his troops were surrendered as prisoners of war. Thus,
in all a great number of prisoners, both officers and men,
fell into Peter's hands. The men were sent to various
(22:39):
parts of the Empire and distributed among the people, in
order that they might settle permanently in the country and
devote themselves to the trades or occupations to which they
had been trained in their native land. The officers were
treated with great kindness and consideration. Peter often invited them
to his table and conversed with them in a very
free and friendly manner in respect to the usages and
(23:02):
customs which prevailed in their own country, especially those which
related to the military art. Still, they were deprived of
their swords and kept close prisoners. One day, when some
of these officers were dining with Peter in his tent,
and he had been for some time conversing with them
about the organization and discipline of the Swedish army, and
(23:25):
had expressed great admiration for the military talent and skill
which they had displayed in the campaigns which they had fought.
He at last poured out some wine and drank to
the health of his masters in the art of war.
One of the officers who was present asked who they
were that his Majesty was pleased to honor with so
great a title. It is yourselves, gentlemen, replied the Czar
(23:50):
the Swedish generals. It is you who have been my
best instructors in the art of war. Then replied the officer,
is not your Majesty a little ungrateful to treat the
masters to whom you owe so much so severely Peter
was so much pleased with the readiness and wit of
this reply that he ordered the swords of the officers
(24:11):
all to be restored to them. It is said that
he even unbuckled his own sword from his side and
presented it to one of the generals. It ought, perhaps
to be added, however, that the habit of drinking to excess,
which Peter seems to have formed early in life, had
before this time become quite confirmed, and he often became
(24:34):
completely intoxicated at his convivial entertainments, so that it is
not improbable that the sudden generosity of the Czar on this
occasion may have been due in considerable degree to the
excitement produced by the brandy which he had been drinking.
Although the swords of the officers were thus restored to them,
(24:55):
they were themselves still held as prisoners until arrangements could
be made for exchange them. In order, however, that they
might all be properly provided for, he distributed them around
among his own generals, giving to each Russian officer the
charge of a Swedish officer of his own rank, granting
of course to each one a proper allowance for the
(25:15):
maintenance and support of his charge. The Russian generals were
severally responsible for the safe keeping of their prisoners, but
the surveillance in such cases is never strict, for it
is customary for the prisoners to give their parole of
honor that they will not attempt to escape, and then
they are allowed, within reasonable limits, their full personal liberty,
(25:39):
so that they live more like the guests and companions
of their keepers than as their captives. The King of
Sweden met with many remarkable adventures and encountered very serious
difficulties before he reached his own kingdom, but it would
be foreign to the subject of this history to relate
them here. As to Mazeppa, he made his escape too,
(26:03):
with the King of Sweden across the frontier. The Czar
offered a very large reward to whoever should bring him back,
either dead or alive, but he was never taken. He
died afterward at Constantinople at a great age. One of
the most curious and characteristic results which followed from the
Battle of Pultawa was the promotion of Peter in respect
(26:26):
to his rank in the army. It was gravely decided
by the proper authorities after drue deliberation that in consequence
of the vigor and bravery which he had displayed on
the field, and of the danger which he had incurred
in having had a shot go through his hat, he
deserved to be advanced a grade in the line of promotion,
so he was made a major general. Thus ended the
(26:49):
Great Swedish Invasion of Russia, which was the occasion of
the greatest, and indeed of almost the only serious danger
from any foreign source, which threatened the dominions of Peter
during the whole course of his reign. End of Chapter thirteen,
the Battle of Poltawa. Recording by russ Lemker of Edina, Minnesota,
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