Battle of Kliszów

Contemporary drawing of the battle of Kliszów

Date	July 8, 1702 (O.S.) July 9, 1702 (Swedish calendar) July 19, 1702 (1702-07-19) (N.S.)
Location	South of Kielce, Poland
Result	Swedish victory

Belligerents

Commanders and leaders

Charles XII
Frederick IV of Gottorp †
Rehnskiöld
Vellingk
Liewen

Augustus II
Steinau
Schulenburg
Flemming
Lubomirski

Strength

12,000:

8,000 foot,
4,000 horse,
4 three-pounder guns

24,000:

7,500 Saxon foot,
9,000 Saxon horse,
46 artillery pieces
660 Polish foot,
6,640 Polish horse,
4 or 5 cannon

Casualties and losses

1,100:

300 killed,
800 wounded

4,400:

1,800 killed,
900 wounded,
1,700 captured

Notes

^[a] The Swedish army in the battle had an official paperstrength of 16,230 men with 4 four–pounder guns, but in reality only between 10,000 and 12,000 men (two thirds being infantry) was fit for combat due to famine, disease and exhaustion.
^[b] The Saxon army in the battle had an official paperstrength of 22,230 men with 46 artillery pieces, but in reality only between 15,000 and 18,000 men (more than half being cavalry) was fit for combat due to famine, disease and exhaustion. The Polish–Lithuanian force had an official paperstrength of about 12,000 men with 4 or 5 artillery pieces. However, at least a third of these were civilians and not combat personal giving the total number between 6,000 and 8,000 men, mainly cavalry.
^[c] The Swedes had 300 men killed and between 500 and 900 wounded, with 800 wounded being the widely accepted number. Furthermore, two men had been captured, one of them being an officer. One standard was also lost.
^[d] The combined Saxon–Polish–Lithuanian army had around 2,000 men killed on the battlefield, more precisely about 1,800 men according to some sources. More men was killed during the retreat but their figure is unknown. About 1,700 men were captured, of which 1,100 were unharmed. In total, about 1,500 Saxons and Poles were wounded. The Saxons lost all their artillery, war chest and King August's entire baggage as well as 60 standards and banners.

12,000:

24,000:

1,100:

4,400:

The Battle of Kliszów (Klissow) (Klezow) took place on July 8 (Julian calendar) / July 9 (Swedish calendar) / July 19, 1702 (Gregorian calendar) near Kliszów, Poland-Lithuania, during the Great Northern War. The numerically superior Polish-Saxon army of August II the Strong, operating from an advantageous defensive position, was defeated by a Swedish army half its size under the command of King Charles XII.

August the Strong, Elector of Saxony, King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania, had in 1699 planned a three-fold attack on the Swedish Empire together with Peter the Great, Tsar of Russia and Frederik IV of Denmark-Norway. The plan failed when Frederik was forced out of the war in 1700, after the Swedish landing on Humlebæk.Charles XII of Sweden in the same year, defeated the Russian army in the battle of Narva. After Narva, Charles XII evicted August the Strong's forces from Swedish Livonia through the battle of Düna and pursued him into the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Charles occupied an undefended Warsaw on 14 May 1702 and marched west.