Surrender at Perevolochna

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Perevolochna
Part of the
Dnieper along the two islands. Perovolocna is to the right, next to the Vorskla River.
Date30 June 1709 (O.S.)
1 July 1709 (Swedish calendar)
11 July 1709 (N.S.)
Location
Perevolochna, present-day Ukraine
48°49′00″N 34°07′00″E / 48.8167°N 34.1167°E / 48.8167; 34.1167
Result No fighting, Swedish surrender while Charles XII escapes to Bendery, in Moldova
Belligerents
Swedish Empire Russia Tsardom of Russia
Commanders and leaders
Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt  (POW) Alexander Menshikov
Strength
12,000[1]: 710 [a] 9,000[2]: 231 [b]
Casualties and losses
Entire army captured[2]: 246 [1]: 710 
Charles XII and Ivan Mazepa by the Dnieper

The surrender at Perevolochna was the capitulation of almost the entire Swedish army on 30 June 1709 (O.S.) / 1 July 1709 (Swedish calendar) / 11 July 1709 (N.S.). It signified the virtual annihilation of the once formidable Swedish army after the defeat at Battle of Poltava, and paved the way for the eventual Russian victory in the Great Northern War. After the Battle of Poltava, Charles XII escaped to Moldavia, a vassal state of the Ottoman Empire.

Background

Leaving Pushkaryovka around 7 PM on the 28th, the same day as their defeat, the remnants of the Swedish army head south following the west bank of the river

dragoons in pursuit.[2]
: 214 

The march resumed by 7 AM on the 29th, heading for Bjeliki, and Major-General Meijerfeldt is sent back to negotiate with the Tsar.[2]: 214  The convoy linked up with Lt. Col. Silfverhielm's 500 men at Kobeliaky in the late afternoon.[2]: 216  On 30 June, the convoy reached Tashtayka on the Dnieper where Axel Gyllenkrok had been sent earlier to prepare a crossing.[2]: 220  However, Gyllenkrok wanted Charles to stop at Kishenka, and decide if they should cross the Vorskla at the ford and head into the Crimea, or head further south and attempt a crossing of the Dnieper into Turkey.[2]: 218  Now the Swedes found the Dnieper river broad and swift, with few materials with which to build boats or a bridge.[2]: 222  Ivan Mazepa and his men along with Silfverhielm's men crossed on the few boats available.[2]: 222  Efforts to swim across ended in drowning for men and horse alike.[2]: 224 

The Swedish command convinced Charles to save himself by crossing the Dnieper and heading for

Ochakov, while the army, led by Lewenhaupt, would cross the Vorskla into the Crimea.[2]: 225  About 3,000 crossed that day and night with the king, mostly officers and members of the royal household.[2]
: 227 

The surrender

The dawn of the next morning brought news that a Russian corps of infantry, cavalry and artillery was deployed in a crescent shape, ready for battle, on the plateau above the river, about 9,000 men under the command of General

Menshikov.[2]: 231  The Cossacks, allied with the Russians, swept down to plunder the Swedish wagons.[2]: 233  The Russian army advanced and blocked the road to Kishenka and a Swedish escape.[2]: 233  The Swedish army now faced the sandhills and the Russian army on the plateau.[2]
: 234 

Lewenhaupt did not want to fight the Russians, instead sending the Prussian military attache to start truce negotiations.[2]: 234  After conferences and voting among the higher officers,[2]: 243  the Swedish army of 12,000[1]: 710  to 20,000 capitulated.[2]: 246  The king departed the southern river bank at 9:45 AM while the announcement of surrender was made at 11 AM.[2]: 236, 243  The Russians executed the Cossacks allied with the Swedes, who were unable to escape across the Dnieper.[3]: 294 

Effect on the war

The surrender was a contributing cause to the Russian victory in the

Bendery in what was then the Ottoman Empire.[1]
: 710 

Notelist

  1. ^ or up to 20,000[2]: 246 
  2. ^ All of Menshikov's forces numbered 20,000.[2]: 246 

References

This article contains content from the Owl Edition of Nordisk familjebok, a Swedish encyclopedia published between 1904 and 1926, now in the public domain.