Review:

Poltava
Osprey Campaign Series #34

by Dan Schorr

Written by Angus Konstam with 96 pgs + illus. and costing $14.00, this book is a disappointment. The information and color plates on the Russian Army are taken directly from the author's previous Osprey booklets on The Army of Peter the Great. The description and maps of the Battle of Poltava and its immediate aftermath are adequate, but the reader would be better served with Peter Englund's book, Poltava.

The description and maps of the Battle of Lesnaya border on pure fantasy. I doubt the author consulted any Swedish sources on this battle. The Swedish order of battle for this action is incomplete, and the division of Lewenhaupt's army into brigades is fiction. To the best of my knowledge no such division existed, at least none that I have been able to locate in Swedish sources.

In addition, all of the Swedish orders of battle in the book are handicapped by the annoying English habit of anglicizing foreign names which only adds to the confusion. The section on the Swedish Army is so marred by errors as to be virtually useless. It is obvious that the author has at best a superficial knowledge of the Swedish Army of the period.

The four color plates by David Rickman of Swedish soldiers are well executed, but it is clear that he was provided with incorrect information with which to work. All of the figures are shown in the Model 1706 coat which did not begin to come into use until 1710. The grenadier figure is shown with a stomach or waist cartridge box which in fact was never used. Grenadiers carried the same cartridge box as other infantry, and the grenade pouch was suspended around the neck and hung down the front of the coat. The grenadier cap illustrated bears the Arms of Estland (Estonia), three blue lions, on the small flap. There were no units from Estland present at Poltava. A cap like the one illustrated is in the Hermitage Museum, but was probably taken by the Russians at some other point in time.

The Swedish cavalry figure is shown with a blue vest which should be a leather one, and the infantry figures are shown with yellow cloth vests which should also be of leather. Finally, the karpus was not worn by Swedish cavalry troopers. Only regimental train personnel wore the karpus. Cavalrymen wore either a wide-brimmed, folded-up hat or a tricorn. Dragoons normally wore the same headgear as the cavalry; although, they were issued a karpus for off-duty wear to preserve the hat or tricorn, and some may have been worn in combat.

My recommendation is that if you haven't bought this book yet, don't. If you have, try to get your money back. There is better, more accurate information out there.

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