Battle
1709 battle of the Swedish invasion of Russia
The Battle of Opishnia (or Oposhnia) took place on 8 February 1709 (New Style), during the Poltava campaign in the Northern War in Ukraine
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Text from the Wikipedia article “Battle of Oposhnya”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
The Battle of Opishnia (or Oposhnia) took place on 8 February 1709 (New Style), during the Poltava campaign in the Northern War in Ukraine
After the costly siege of Veprik the Swedes under Charles XII of Sweden started an offensive against the Russian army in the area. The intention of this offensive was not clear to the Russians, so they subsequently had to spread their main forces out to cover possible attack directions. One of these forces was the troops under Otto Rudolf von der Schaumburg positioned at Opishnia on the river Vorskla to block any attempt by the Swedes to cross the river.
Charles intended to surprise Schaumburg and his 6,000 cavalry and force them off the location. He led 2,000–2,500 cavalry for this task and managed to catch the Russians completely off guard while they were having dinner. Charles immediately charged with his men and swept the Russian forces out of the town followed by a hot pursuit on foot. During the battle, Russian generals Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov and Karl Evald von Rönne also showed up.
In this action the Russians lost more than 450 men, the Swedes only 19. Perhaps more importantly however, the Swedes could now cross the river Vorskla. The offensive continued for a while and Charles reached Krasnokutsk where he forced another Russian army on the run.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Battle of Opishnia”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.