Battle of Petschora

Petschora in 1701

Date	February 12, 1701 (O.S.) February 13, 1701 (Swedish calendar) February 23, 1701 (N.S.)
Location	Pechory, Russia
Result	Swedish victory

Belligerents

Swedish Empire

Tsardom of Russia

Commanders and leaders

Jacob Spens

unknown

Strength

2,100 men,
with 2,000 peasants

6,000 men

Casualties and losses

30 killed,
60 wounded

500 killed

The Battle of Petschora took place on February 23, 1701 near the village of Pechory, Russia during the second year of the Great Northern War. The Swedish army of about 2,100 men assisted by approximately 2,000 peasants under the command of Jacob Spens defeated a Russian force of about 6,000 men.

After the crushing defeat at Narva by Charles XII of Sweden, the Russian tsar Peter I of Russia gathered his forces near the Swedish borders at Pskov and Gdov in order to start a new offensive into the Swedish Livonia. Charles who suspected the offensive, gathered forces of his own under the command of Magnus Stenbock and Jacob Spens to cross the Russian border and destroy the two footholds of Izborsk and Petschora. Stenbock saw his force heavily outnumbered by the guarding Russian army at Gdov and so, forced to retreat, contented himself with burning and savaging the Russian lands in the area before crossing the Swedish border.

Spens arrived to his destination in late February and there sought to meet the Russian army in the open field. The two armies met outside the town of Petschora at 23 February. The Russians launched an attack on the peasants assisting the Swedes, causing riots in the lines. However, Spens then Counterattacked with his Swedish Lifeguard of Horse which drove the Russians to seek cover in the town under fierce fighting. The effective passages for cavalry attacks in the town became too narrow and Spens pulled them back in order for his infantry to break down their opponents. The Russians then fled into the houses shooting at the Swedes who in turn set the town on fire where many were burned alive. However, the main bulk of the Russians reached the monastery to escape the Swedish onslaught. The Swedes unsuccessfully stormed its surrounding walls which proved too hard without artillery. Spens aborted the operation while some Cossacks attacked his accompanying peasants. He, instead satisfied with burning the nearby villages and then returned to the Swedish border. The Swedes had lost 30 men killed and another 60 wounded in the fighting, the Russians on the other hand lost 500 men killed excluding the ones who were burnt to death in the town.

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Wikipedia