Battle of Lesnaya

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The Battle of Lesnaya was fought on 9 October 1708 during the Swedish invasion of Russia in the Great Northern War. Russia was the sole remaining enemy of Sweden following the dissolution of the anti-Swedish coalition in 1706. Peter I of Russia led a flying corps (corps volant [ru]), supported by two additional divisions, to destroy a convoy under general Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt that was heading for the Swedish main army in Ukraine with reinforcements and supplies. Peter caught up with the convoy at the village of Lesnaya (Lyasnaya) in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, present-day Belarus. The Swedes were attacked in the rear at 11:00 as they were crossing the stream of Lesnyanka, at Lesnaya, heading for Propoysk (Slawharad) on the river Sozh behind which Charles XII's army was expected. The initial phase of the battle was fought over a forest clearing a distance from Lesnaya, where a Swedish outpost attempted to stall the attack. The Swedes were pushed back to the village after some hours...

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