Battle of Golovchin

After signing an agreement with the Saxon Elector Augustus II , where he refused the crown of the Commonwealth (1706), the Swedish king Charles XII was about to defeat the main enemy in the war - Russia. The best route to the center of Russia lies through the continental dividing ridge from Grodno to Minsk and Smolensk: this is how you can reach Moscow without crossing the main rivers. Karl chose a more difficult path - in a straight line through the Berezina and Drut .

At the beginning of the 1708 campaign, the Swedish army was located in apartments between Vilno and Smorgon , the Russian - between Chashniki and Minsk . On June 5 (16), 1708 (June 6 according to the Swedish calendar), the Swedes, having strengthened to 38 thousand people, left the camp in Radoshkovichi near Minsk and slowly (due to bad weather and road conditions) moved to the Dnieper ^[4] .

Meanwhile, in the Russian camp, without the knowledge of Peter I, there was a tense rivalry between Field Marshal Sheremetev and His Grace Prince Menshikov . After the military council, it was decided to extend the Russian defensive line along the Dnieper .

In June-early July 1708, the main forces of the Russian army under the command of Field Marshal B.P. Sheremetev (infantry) and A.D. Menshikov (cavalry) were located in the Shklov area. The right-wing avant-garde under the leadership of L.N. Allart with the cavalry of G.K.Flug concentrated at Staroselye (southwest of Orsha ), the left ( G. von der Goltz and A.I. Repnin ) - at Golovchin.

At the end of June, the Swedish avant-garde under the command of King Charles XII himself approached Golovchin, but seeing the Russians' readiness to repel the attacks, he postponed the attack until the main forces arrived. This made it possible for Sheremetev and Flug to move closer to Golovchin, and Allart to move to Klimovichi .

By the beginning of the battle, the Russian army (totaling 40 thousand people) under the command of Field Marshal B. P. Sheremetev took a position on the left bank of the swampy Vabich River opposite Golovchin:

• the right flank - infantry under the command of Sheremetev himself and the cavalry under the command of A. D. Menshikov and G. K. Flug (13 infantry regiments and 11 cavalry regiments);
• center (separated from the right flank by a swamp) - 9 infantry regiments and 3 dragoon regiments under the command of A. I. Repnin ;
• the left flank (a mile away from the center) is the cavalry under the command of G. von der Goltz (10 dragoon regiments and 4 thousand Kalmyks and Cossacks).

Along the entire location of the Russian troops, a continuous line of fortifications was erected with 6 artillery batteries.

Observing the enemy’s movements, Charles XII and his advisers noticed that the swamp that divided the Russian army in two was not completely impassable, which made it possible to attack the Russians from an unexpected direction, to divide them and destroy them in parts. To guarantee success, the attack was decided to start at night.

Having allocated an insignificant detachment against B.P. Sheremetev, the Swedes decided to turn the main forces against the division of A.I. Repnin. The cavalry under the command of Field Marshal K. G. Renschild was instructed to act in the interval between the division of A. I. Repnin and the cavalry of G. von der Goltz against the flank of the latter. A strong battery (22 guns) was installed on the river bank on the night of July 3 under the command of Colonel Rudolf von Bünau; north - 6 guns to break the connection of the division of A. I. Repnin with the right flank of B. P. Sheremetev.

The darkness of the night, fog and rain hid from the Russians the preparations of the Swedish king.

In the early morning at 2:30 on July 3 (14), 1708 (July 4 according to the Swedish calendar), Swedish artillery opened fire on Russian positions, under the cover of which 9 squadrons and drabants crossed the Wabich River, having hardly crossed its marshy banks. At the same time, the Swedish king almost died: his horse got stuck in a swamp, and the Swedes barely pulled out the sinking king. Russian attempts to prevent the crossing were prevented by the fire of Swedish artillery.

As a result, transferring 5 regiments of his infantry through the swamp, Karl XII at 4:30 led her into the attack against the division of A.I. Repnin, who did not expect an attack from this side. Throwing 5 guns, the Russians retreated to the forest, from where they opened strong fire on the Swedes. When the fire ceased (the Russians shot all the cartridges ), the Swedes at about 6:30 attacked the Russian regiments in the forest and put them to flight. Major General V.I. von Schwenden and a number of other officers were killed in the battle. During this battle, the Russian army lost about 6 thousand soldiers, all artillery, equipment and a convoy.

However, Charles XII did not organize the persecution, and the remnants of the Repnin’s division retreated to Shklov. Meanwhile, the Renschild cavalry forged the Russian cavalry G. von der Goltz in battle. However, Goltz, seeing the retreat of the Repnin soldiers and fearing to be cut off from the main forces, in full order retreated to Mogilev . Sheremetev did not take part in the battle and, learning about Repnin's failure, retreated to Shklov ^[5] .

• The position, stretched along the front about 7 versts, did not correspond to the numerical strength of the defenders; it was extremely passive, while it was divided into three parts (the right flank was separated from the center by a swamp, the left by distance), which deprived the Russians of the opportunity to support each other.
• B.P. Sheremetev did not support A.I. Repnin, despite the fact that already after 2:30 it became clear the intention of the Swedes to attack Repnin's division.
• The retransmission at Repnin defended from the river. Wabich was more than a rifle shot, so the Russians could not hit the Swedes with fire when they crossed the river, while they did not try to attack them.
• In the forest, the soldiers of Repnin’s division were left to their own devices and quickly shot all the charges ^[2] .

Charles XII praised his own victory and ordered to knock out a medal with the inscription: “ Forests, swamps, strongholds and the enemy were defeated ” ^[6] . In Stockholm and Riga, three proclamations were printed on the victory at Golovchin. They are currently kept at Uppsala University Library: “Berättelse från Fält-Lägret vid Holowczyn” (Stokholm, 1708); Berätellse om slaget vid Holowczyn (Stokholm, 1708); “Tidning från Riga om slaget vid Mohilow” (Riga, 1708).

The Swedes won, not yet knowing that Golovchin would be their last major victory in this war. The Swedish historian Lundblad wrote about the battle: “Golovchin turned out to be the place over which the last star of happiness of Charles XII ascended” ^[7] .

The Russian army retreated beyond the Dnieper. On July 6 (17), 1708 (July 7 according to the Swedish calendar), Charles XII took Mogilev ^[4] . The Russian command at the military council in Shklov decided to withdraw the army to Gorky .

Decisions of the Russian Command

Soon Tsar Peter I. arrived at the camp of Russian troops from St. Petersburg . Generals G. von der Goltz, A. I. Repnin and I. I. Chambers were put on trial. The president of the tribunal over von der Goltz was Field Marshal B. P. Sheremetev; that trial ended in nothing.

Repnin was tried under the chairmanship of A. D. Menshikov . “For dishonest escape from the enemy” A.I. Repnin was sentenced to death. "The execution was replaced by an appeal with an obligation to reimburse the treasury for lost and damaged items:" weapons, wagons and guns ", which amounted, writes Whitworth ," a very significant amount equal to almost the condition of the convict ... " ^[8] As a result, Repnin was deprived of command over division and general rank (reinstated in the general rank a year after the victory at Lesnaya ). ^[9] Repnin’s division was received by Lieutenant General S. Renzel .

Lieutenant-General I.I. Chambers was deprived of ranks and command, the signs of the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called ^[10] were also removed from him, but taking into account his former excellent service, a military rank was returned to him a day or two ^[8] .

Russian soldiers wounded in the back were accused of escaping and executed.

Failure under Golovchin allowed the Russian command to study the weaknesses of the Russian army and prepare it for victory.

• A. B. Shirokorad. Myths and realities of the Battle of Poltava. 2010 year. Chapter 8. The beginning of the Russian campaign of Charles XII. with maps of the battles of Golovchin and of Good .

• Golovchino // Military Encyclopedia : [in 18 vol.] / Ed. V.F. Novitsky [et al.]. - SPb. ; [ M. ]: Type. t-va I. D. Sytin , 1911-1915.