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A History of the World Battle by Battle

Trafalgar 21 October 1805

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Cullen BurkeOctober 25, 2018
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Arsuf 7 September 1191

Cullen BurkeNovember 15, 2018
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Crecy 26 August 1346 A.D.

Cullen BurkeAugust 22, 2018
Battle of Poltava - July 8, 1709 ▪️ ‘…Charles planned an invasion of the Russian heartland, allying himself with Ivan Mazepa, Hetman of the Ukrainian Cossacks. The size of the invading Swedish army was peeled off as Charles left Leszczyński with some 24,000 German and Polish troops, departing eastwards from Saxony in late 1707 with some 35,000 men, adding a further 12,500 under Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt marching from Livonia. Charles left the homeland with a defense of approximately 28,800 men, with a further 14,000 in Swedish Finland as well as further garrisons in the Baltic and German provinces. After securing his "favorite" victory in the Battle of Holowczyn, despite being outnumbered over three to one against the new Russian army, Charles opted to march eastwards on Moscow rather than try to seize Saint Petersburg, founded from the Swedish town of Nyenskans five years earlier. Peter the Great managed, however, to ambush Lewenhaupt's army at Lesnaya before Charles could combine his forces, thus losing valuable supplies, artillery and half of Lewenhaupt's men. Charles' Polish ally, Stanisław Leszczyński, was facing internal problems of his own. Charles expected the support of a massive Cossack rebellion led by Mazepa in Ukraine, with estimates suggesting Mazepa of being able to muster some 40,000 troops, but the Russians subjugated the rebellion and destroyed its capital Baturin before the arrival of the Swedish troops. The harsh climate took its toll as well, as Charles marched his troops for winter camp in Ukraine. By the time of the decisive Battle of Poltava, Charles had been wounded, one-third of his infantry was dead, and his supply train was destroyed. ’ - Wiki ▪️ Art by Gustaf Olof Cederstrom ▪️ #history#historic#history4u#war#warfare#battle#warhistory#military#militaryhistory#podcast#podcasting#peterthegreat#charlesvii#sweden#russia#imperialrussia#russianempire#greatnorthernwar#poltava#1700’s#europeanhistory
Battle of Poltava - July 8, 1709 ▪️ ‘…Charles arrived around eight a.m. with a squadron of Drabants and began riding along the bank at the water’s edge to inspect the men and their positions. Some of the Russians from the force which had been driven back remained on one of the numerous islands in midstream, and they began to fire at the party of Swedish officers across the water. The musket range was short and a Drabant was shot dead in his saddle. Charles, without the slightest care for his own safety, continued his slow ride at the water’s edge. Then, his inspection finished, he turned his horse to ride back up the bank. His back was to the enemy, and at that moment he was hit in the left foot by a Russian musket ball. The ball struck his heel, piercing the boot, plunging forward through the length of the foot, smashing a bone and finally passing out near the big toe. Count Stanislaus Poniatowski, a Polish nobleman accredited to Charles XII by King Stanislaus, who was riding next to the King, noticed that he was hurt, but Charles commanded him to keep quiet. Although the wound must have been excruciatingly painful, the King continued his tour of inspection as if nothing had happened. It was not until eleven a.m., almost three hours after being hit, that he returned to his headquarters and prepared to dismount. By this time, the officers and men near him had noticed his extreme pallor and the blood dripping from his torn left boot. Charles tried to dismount but the movement caused such agony that he fainted.’ - Robert K. Massie ▪️ Art by ▪️ #history#historic#history4u#war#warfare#battle#warhistory#military#militaryhistory#podcast#podcasting#peterthegreat#charlesvii#sweden#russia#imperialrussia#russianempire#greatnorthernwar#poltava#1700’s#europeanhistory
Battle of Poltava - July 8, 1709 ▪️ ‘…Charles was knight errant and berserker in one. He lived for war, loved its hardships and adventures even more than victory itself, and the more impossible the odds against him, the more eagerly he accepted them. Wrapped in an impenetrable reserve, his faith in himself was boundless, and his power of self-deception unlimited- nothing seemed to him to be beyond his reach. The numerical superiority of his enemy; the strength of his position; the weariness of his troops; their lack of armament or supplies; foundering roads, mud, rain, frost and scorching sun appeared to him but obstacles set in his path by Providence to test his genius. Nothing perturbed him, every danger and hazard beckoned him on. High-spirited, but always under self-control, faithful to his word and a considerate disciplinarian, from the moment he took the field he became a legend to his men, un étandard vivant which endowed them with a faith in his leadership that has never been surpassed. His fearlessness was phenomenal, his energy prodigious, and added to these qualities he possessed so quick a tactical eye that one glance was sufficient to reveal to him the weakest point in his enemy’s line or position, which at once he attacked like a thunderbolt. Such was the boy king whose Baltic provinces the self-indulgent Augustus and the boorish Peter over their wine-cups had decided to filch and divide between themselves.’ - J.F.C Fuller ▪️ Art by Julius Kronberg ▪️ #history#historic#history4u#war#warfare#battle#warhistory#military#militaryhistory#podcast#podcasting#peterthegreat#charlesvii#sweden#russia#imperialrussia#russianempire#greatnorthernwar#poltava#1700’s#europeanhistory
Battle of Poltava - July 8, 1709 ▪️ “The Swedish Empire, although not comparable with the huge areas and populations that we today associate with such empires as Rome, the Mongols or the Russian and British, was nevertheless a formidable force to be reckoned with during the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. Her rise to the imperium can be traced back to the middle of the sixteenth century when, along with Russia, Poland and Denmark, Sweden also took advantage of the vacuum in the Baltic created after the collapse of the Teutonic Knights.2 The power struggle that resulted netted Sweden Livonia from Poland, West Pomerania and some of East Pomerania, Bremen, Verden and Wismar. She acquired Halland, Jämtland, Härjedalen and the Gotland and Ösel islands from Denmark, together with Skåne, Bohuslän and Blekinge, while Russia ceded Ingria and Lexholm, which effectively cut her off from the Baltic Sea.” - Graham J.Morris February 2006 ▪️ Art by ▪️ #history#historic#history4u#war#warfare#battle#warhistory#military#militaryhistory#podcast#podcasting#peterthegreat#charlesvii#sweden#russia#imperialrussia#russianempire#greatnorthernwar#poltava#1700’s#europeanhistory#historyofwarfare
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