Battle Of Saločiai (1703)
Battle
The Swedish Army crossed the river Mūša, and then deployed on the top of a hill. The allied army of Lithuanians and Russians deployed with the Lithuanians on their right flank and the Russians on the left. The Russian units under commander Oginski were veterans from Russian wars with the Ottomans. They placed supply wagons in front of them to ward off a potential Swedish cavalry charge. In contrast, the Lithuanians on the right flank were recruits. Commander Lewenhaupt knew that if he stayed at his defensive position on the hill he would be overrun by his enemies superior numbers. He elected for a hyper-aggressive strategy of attacking the allies. His two flanks marched forwards towards the enemy. The Russians on the Swedish right flank (The Allied left flank) shot at the Swedes. Since the Swedish were climbing a hill at the top of which was the Russian force, the Russian volleys were ineffective. In contrast, Swedish shots were quite deadly. On the other side of the battle, the green Lithuanians faced veteran Swedish Grenadiers. Chaos fell in the Lithuanian lines, and they were routed. Their commander managed to briefly regain control of the Lithuanian units, and they smashed into the Swedish right flank, who were now fighting both contingents of the allied army. The Swedish left flank was reorganizing their units when they realized the dire situation that the right flank was in. They charged at the Lithuanians again and destroyed them with grenades. Swedish pikemen boasted having particularly long pikes, which outranged the Russians and therefore allowed for Swedish units to kill Russian soldiers while taking no casualties. This happened at Saločiai.
References
- ^ "Caleb de Frumeries berättelse om expeditionen till Litauen 1703 och slaget vid Saladen". Members.tripod.com. Retrieved 2015-05-21.
- ^ https://web.archive.org/web/20131204224024/http://www.lewenhaupt.com/start/default.asp?ItemID=105. Archived from the original on December 4, 2013. Retrieved April 21, 2012.
{{cite web}}
: Missing or empty|title=
(help) - ^ The military history of Charles XII, King of Sweden. Gustavus Adlerfeld, Carl Maximilian Emanuel Adlerfelt. p.208