In the autumn of 1701 Charles XII of Sweden had soundly beaten each and every of his enemies in what later would turn out to be the first year of the Great Northern War. Denmark had surrendered after the successful landing on Zealand, the Russian army was crushed at the battle of Narva and the Saxon army had retreated all the way back to their homeland after the Duna Crossing.

However, he had only managed to get a peace treaty with Denmark, while with the other two he was still at war, and Tsar Peter as well as King August of Saxony were not interested in any serious negotiations at this stage.

Charles, not wanting to loose the initiative, decided to pursue his enemies one at a time into their own countries and reach a decision by crushing their main armies in a pitched battle. The only question was which enemy he should start with and in the end the choice fell on August. This has, by many historians, been considered to be one of Charles's most fatal decisions, and the root of his final downfall.

This is easy to say when one knows the end of the story but no one denies that there were many good reasons for this decision at the time it was taken:

1) The Saxon army had showed a much more professional behaviour than the Russian and appeared to be a more dangerous enemy
2) The Polish support for August was questionable and a military success against his lorccs would perhaps result in his immediate downfall
3) An advance against Moscow from the Baltic provinces would include severe supply problems.

Start of the Polish Campaign

Early in 1702 the Swedish army entered Polish territory. The news struck like a bomb at the Polish Parliament which was gathered in Warsaw. A lot of anger was turned not against at the Swedes, but against King August, who had thrown the free republic of Poland into this dangerous game. But in the disorder which broke out after this, August managcd to get a decision to send a communique which - in the name of the republic - would ask the Swedish king to stop his march against Warsaw.

This was only a way to buy some time since later on he could make the parliament decide to mobilise the Crown Army and again allow Saxon forces to enter the republic's territory. In the mean time the Swedish army started to march towards Warsaw after some initial skirmishes with August's Lithuanian allies. They entered the city May 14th without any resistance from either Poles nor Saxons. August had fell the city some time before the Swedes arrived and installed himself at Krakow - the other capital of the Polish Republic.

The March on Krakow

When Charles XII was informed that August had escaped to Krakow and that the Polish Crown army was gathering in Lvov he decided to capture August with an advance in three columns: General Gyllenstierna should march with the Swedish Corps in Pomerania through Silesia and form the right wing of the advance, Major General Morner's Corps (6000 men) should break up from Vilno and form the left wing by marching over Lublin and Kazimierz. The king's army (9000 men) would form the centre and march south from Warsaw directly towards Krakow.

Charles waited a few weeks in Warsaw to give some time to Gyllenstierna and Morner to get underway but the Swedes had difficulties with the communications and on June 20th the Swedish main army broke camp even though they still had not heard anything from Gyllenstirna.

Strong Saxon forces had arrived to Krakow on the 12th to 14th and more were to come. On the 26th, when the Swedish main force arrived to Radoszyce, about 100 km north of Krakow, the staff was informed that Gyllenstierna was much delayed from Pomerania and would not arrive in the coming weeks.

Charles made up his mind that he would not wait for Gyllenstierlla, but would attack the Saxon army together with Morner before they joined with the Polish Crown army. The time was running out however, and as the Swedish King was informed on the 28th that Morner had reached Lublin, he learnt the same day that 4000 Saxons marched towards Kazimierz in order to hinder the Swedes to join their forces.

Charles turned south-east to meet Morner, but at the same time, August advanced north-east from Krakow with the Saxon main army which now numbered 16000 men. On the 5th of July August was at Pinczow and at the same time Swedish main f'orce reached Kielce about 50 km to the north. August had received a message from the Polish commander Lubomirski that the crown army was on its way and that he should wait to attack the enemy before they had arrived. The Saxon advance continued slowly and on July 6th they reached Kliszow where they stopped to wait for the Poles. The next day, Charles arrived at Obice with the Swedish main force and was now situated only 9 km from the Saxon camp.

Both commanders now waited for reinforcements. The tension was very high in the Swedish camp as they could expect an attack anytime from the Saxons which outnumbered them with almost 2 to 1. There was a small skirmish on the 8th where the Swedes took some prisoners that informed the king that the Crown Army would arrive in the next few days.

Late in the evening the same day, Morner finally arrived with his corps which was starved out and totally exhausted by the long and hard march it had undertaken. The Swedish king decided that they would attack the Saxons on the next day. This was met by protests from his staff since Morner's men needed at least one day of rest, but the king was determined. They had to attack before the Crown army arrived, not only for tactical, but for political reasons. If the Swedes had never lifted any arms against the Poles themselves there would have geen a greater chance that the Poles would have changed sides and turned against August.

The Battle

At 9 o'clock in the morning on July the 9th, the Swedish army started their advance against the Saxon positions. The march went slowly as the advance route was confined by two forests. The Saxons were completely unaware of the Swedish advance, since they were still waiting for the Crown Army's arrival and had no thought of that the small Swedish force would go over to the offensive.

The Battlefield

The battlefield of Kliszow is confined to the west of the Nida river and has quite marshy banks which broaden out to the east 3 km south of Kliszow and also to the south of the field. To the north is an area of forests which the Swedes were now passing through. At the northern part of the field there are two streams running westwards out in the Nida river. These had very marshy banks in the 18th century and were very difficult for any troops to pass through. The main part of the Saxon army had deployed on a ridge stretching south west from the village of Kliszow.

It was in many respects a good position with the left flank protected by the Nida river, the right flank secured by a large forest at Hajdaszek, and the streams protecting any advance from the north.

11 a.m. to 1 p.m. At 11 the first reports came in to August and his staff that a Swedish force was approaching. At first it was considered to be a smaller cavalry detachment, perhaps only out scouting and no measures were taken. At noon the Crown army suddenly arrived to the Saxon camp and were placed on the far right of the Saxon line. Unknowing of this fact the Swedish king was surveying the northern of the two streams and the Saxon northern position.

He concluded that a frontal assault was impossible and decided to make a turn left of the streams with the whole army and attack the Saxon right wing. In this way he would be able to close all retreat routes for the Saxon army and get his decisive battle. He considered the stream to be such an impassable obstacle that it would protect his left flank during this risky manoeuvre.

Large Version of Map at right (slow download: 98K)

At 12.30 the alarm was finally given in the Saxon camp. At this stage the Swedish columns were streaming down on each side of the village of Borczyn. But as the Saxons were hastily deploying their units they received another surprise. The whole Swedish line turned to the right and started to march towards the slope between Vierzbica and Kije.

The Saxon guns opened fire against the marching Swedes but the distance was too great for the fire to be effective. But August did not stand passively to watch the Swedish march. Soon he decided that his right wing with the Saxon and Polish Cavalry would envelop the Swedish front while his left wing fell in the Swedish rear. Apparently the Saxons had prepared themselves for a crossing of the streams for in a short while several crossings over the Rembow-stream had been made with the help of fascines.

The Swedish left wing 1-3 p.m.

After the Swedes had begun their flank march the King had moved to the front of the column and left Renskiold with the command of the right wing. But suddenly the whole Polish Crown army appeared behind Kije, directly in front of the Swedish column. This was a hard blow to the Swedish plans, but now the twenty-year old king acted with coolness that strongly impressed the elder and experienced colleagues of the staff.

Immediately it was decided that a battle line of cavalry and infantry should be formed to meet the imminent attack of the enemy cavalry. Von Liewen and Stenbock was ordered to detach five battalions from the centre and they brought forward one battalion each of Uppland's, Varmland's, Vastmanland's, Dalarna and Kalmar regiments.

The well drilled infantry made the manoeuvre at the double and in a very short time a solid Swedish line of cavalry mixed with infantry was formed with the right flank secured by the stream one was rounding and the left flank resting on the edge of thc forest stretching out south of the Village of Horki. But now the second disastrous news met King Charles. He was informed that the Saxons had marched over the stream at Rembow with their whole left wing and were forming up for an attack on the Swedish rear.

The young King saw the situation as a historic parallel and answered his ADC Taube with the same words that Alexander had answered Parmenio at the battle of Gaugamela: "Let them go where they want, they will soon have to go back again!"

Large Version of Map at right (slow download: 106K)

The time was now 2 PM. The Swedish left wing continued its advance towards the Saxon and Polish cavalry. The Polish artillery fired at the Swedish lines and the Duke of Holstein was mortally wounded. Shortly after that the Poles started their charge. The Saxon cavalry had difficulties with their advance since the Poles - trying to avoid the forest east of the Swedes did not leave enough space for their allies.

The Swedes halted to meet the charge. The musketeers levelled their muskets and took aim at the charging cavalry. The Poles, well equipped and extremely well mounted noblemen, were an impressive sight for both officers and men in the Swedish force which can be read in several accounts from the battle. The attack fell on the left part of the Swedish line. The first Swedish volley went off and some disorder broke out in the Polish lines, but the charge still went on.

When the second volley erupted from the Swedish infantry which also held up a forest of pikes against the decimated and disordered Polish horse and the Swedish Cavalry started their counter charge, the whole Polish army turned around and disappeared from the field! There was no chance for the poorly mounted Swedish cavalry to make any successful pursuit and they were recalled back after a short while.

The Saxon dragoons under Flemming had attacked left of the Polish army through bad terrain and had had a hard fight with the Skanska cavalry regiment but had been pushed back. When their whole right flank opened after the Crown Army had left the field, the retreat turned into a rout. This action was the first meeting between Saxon and Swedish cavalry tactics for thc day.

A Swedish eyewitness recalls that the Saxons used mostly firepower but the Swedes attackcd without even firing a first salvo to close in with the enemy as fast as possible and let their swords do the work. "And even if several or our troopers fell at first, the enemy was always overthrown when we go into contact with them".

The Centre 1-3 p.m.

When the fight on the left wing turned over to the Swedes' favour, Major-general Posse was ordered to advance with the 13 remaining centre battalions over the Vierzbica marsh. This part of the battlefield was a blind spot for the Saxon artillery and the crossing was made without any notable losses. The left-most battalions met some squadrons of Flemming's cavalry, but these retreated after a short skirmish.

After the Saxon and Polish cava1ry forces were broken, the right flank of the Saxon infantry was open and Posse started to wheel his line to the right. Von der Schulenburg had already discovered the difficult situation for the Saxon centre and he moved the fight of his line back so that he formed a backward hook which rested on the swamp north west of Kokot. The Saxon line was also reinforced with field works and regimental artillery. It seemed that the Swedish Foot Guards would get a hard fight on this part of the field.

The Swedish Right Wing 1-3 p.m.

At Rembow Steinau's cavalry squadrons were energetically crossing the stream and starting to envelop the Swedish right. The Saxons lined up to attack the Swedish cavalry from the front, flank and rear simutaneously. The situation was getting serious for the Swedes, but General Renschiold acted with great skill and firmness. General lieutenant Spens was ordered to turn 180 degrees on the spot with the squadrons in the second line and meet the attack on the rear. The Major General Horn and Morner were ordered to meet the attack from the front with the units which were already deployed in the first line. The rest of the cavalry which was just arriving probably the Guard Dragoon Regiment, two squadrons of the Horse Guards, and the Drabants was turned against the Saxons on the Swedish right flank.

The Swedes lost no time and charged immediately as soon as his squadrons had come into order. The Saxon attacks at the front and on the flank were also met by Swedish charges. The Saxons were heavily surprised by the Swedish tactic of not firing but directly charging at the gallop with drawn sabres. At the first clash the foremost Saxon squadrons were ovenhrown and since this charge was swiftly followed up by the Swedes the Saxon had no time to regroup and drew the other squadrons with them in the withdrawal which turned into a rout.

A Saxon squadron tried to escape into the village of Borczyn but was surrounded and cut down, another part of the Saxon cavalry tried to escape in the direction of Vierzbica but rode into General Vellingk, who was on his way from the Swedish left wing to reinforce Renschiold with three squadrons from the Skanska cavalry regiment.

21 Swedish squadrons had in a short time thrown back or routed 34 Saxon squadrons. Much of this was due to the effectiveness of the Swedish tactics against caracoling cavalry, but it was Renschiold's cool and skillful handling of this tool which created this victory which has been called the most splendid Swedish cavalry action ever.

3 p.m..to 5 p.m..

At three o'clock, the situation on the battlefield as seen from the Swedish positions can be summarised as follows:

Renschiold was gathering his squadrons north of Rembov in order to begin a new attack on the remnants of Steinau's shattered cavalry wing which had escaped and was now being rallied north of the Rembov marsh. Posse's force had reached the solid ground north of Kokot and was preparing an attack on the Saxon centre while the Swedish left wing was forming after smashing what was left of the Saxon right south of Kije.

August had truly lost the initiative and the Saxons were now struggling to reform to meet the expected Swedish attacks.

Renschiold vs. Steinau

Renschiold marched his squadrons over the Saxon fascines in the Rembov marsh, he made a turn to the east in order to get between Steinau's remaining squadrons and the Saxon centre. He then ordered general Spens to form up the four Ostgota squadrons for an attack against the Saxon centre while he turned right with the rest of the force to throw Steinau in the Nida and the marshes west of Kliczow.

The Saxon cavalry general had now got his squadrons into order and did not wait for the Swedish charge but started an attack against Renschiold at the same moment. The cavalry forces clashed together east of Rembov and the Saxons who now felt as if they were fighting for their lives fought hard and courageously. After a long and bloddy struggle the Saxons were beaten again. A large part of the Saxon troopers were forced out in the marshes west of Kliczow were they were killed, but the majority managed to escape over the ford south of Rembov to the west bank of the Nida.

Posse vs. Shulenburg

Posse started the attack on the Saxon centre a short while after 3 p.m. He marched with his eight battalions westwards from Kokot, charging the Saxon line somewhat obliquely from the right. Vellingk was coming up with Sodra Skanska cavalry and Narke-Varmlands regiment to reinforce his right.

Shulenburg, so far passively waiting for the Swedish attack, content with making the backward turn of his right and bombarding the Swedes with his regimental guns, now saw that he could envelop the Swedish right and ordered the left of his line to advance.

A short while after they started their advance they were hit in the flank by Spens' squadrons which Renschiold had detached from his cavalry wing. Meanwhile, Posse's battalions charged the centre. The guard battalions were not stopped by the Saxon field works. After they had fired their salvos they tried as fast as possible to close in with the enemy and the somewhat surprised officers had to hold back some of the men in order to not loose the battle line.

The Saxons' first line broke after a short while from the heavy onslaught by the Swedish guard. The Swedes then turned around the Saxon regimental pieces and started to fire at the Saxon second line and soon Schulenburg's force started to rout. Shulenburg did not give up however, and he told his officers to try to rally their men at the Kulaki heights where the Saxon heavy artillery pieces still were standing.

The Saxon Retreat

August now saw that both his wings and his centre were beaten and he realised that he had lost the day and gave the order that the remnants of the army should withdraw to Pinczow. The confusion in the army was so severe at this stage so that no orderly retreat was possible. King Charles and the left wing were also on the way to close the retreat route to the south.

The sources are very sparse regarding the final fight at the Saxon camp on the Kulaki heights probably the confusion must have been so strong that nobody had any overview of what really happened. Some regiments tried to make a renewed stand - amongst those were Steinau's regiment and the Saxon Guard, but after a short struggle they laid down their weapons. The majority of the Saxon iniantry which was not taken prisoner was forced out in the marshes where many found their death by drowning or Swedish musketry.

The Swedish victory seemed total at this stage. The whole Saxon baggage-train fell in Swedish hands together with the 46 cannons. 2000 Saxons were taken prisoners and the Saxon wounded and fallen left on the battlefield were estimated at 2000 (this figure excludes those drowned in the marshes). Swedish losses were 300 dead and 500-800 wounded.

The Aftermath

One of the weak points of the Swedish doctrine with a small, fast-marching elite force turned up again after the Battle of Kliszow which appeared to be a total victory for the Swedes. Still, the whole force had been engaged in hard fighting the whole day the cavalry was too exhausted for a pursuit of the beaten enemy. This resulted in that August could rally the shattered remains of his army, and with reinforcements of 10,000 men already on their way from Saxony, he could soon field an army which he could keep his influence in a large part of Poland. It would take another five years before Charles had really neutralised his cousin by removing him from the Polish throne and invading his homeland.

Great Northern War Section

Great Northern War Introduction
Great Northern War Historical Overview
Great Northern War Battle of Kliszow
Great Northern War Battle of Kliszow Order of Battle
Great Northern War Rules
Great Northern War Miniature Figures

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