The Battle of Sokolka took place on April 23, 1709, near the town of
Poltava,
Ukraine, during the ninth year of the
Great Northern War. The
Swedish army of close to 3,000 cavalry under the command of
Carl Gustaf Kruse and 3,500 Cossacks of
Kost Gordiyenko and
Ivan Mazepa launched a surprise attack on a Russian camp of about 3,000 cavalrymen and 2,000 Cossacks under
Karl Evald von Rönne. Although encamped and taken by surprise, the Russians were immediately alerted and successfully counterattacked, cutting their way through the enemy forces, and eventually escaped, having captured 4 guns left behind by the fleeing Zaporozhian Cossacks and a number of prisoners.[6] The battle was fought in
fog, both sides claimed victory.[7] It was one of the encounters shortly before the decisive
battle of Poltava which would seriously cripple the Swedish chances of victory in the war.[1]
References
^
abcd(in Swedish) Harold Oscar Prytz (1867). Historiska upplysningar om Svenska och Norska arméernas regementer och kårer jemte flottorna under ledning. P. 326.
^Davies B. Empire and Military Revolution in Eastern Europe: Russia's Turkish Wars in the Eighteenth Century. Bloomsbury Publishing. 2011. P. 97
^(in Russian) Широкорад А. Б. Мифы и реалии Полтавской битвы. М.: ACT, 2010. P. 174.
^(in Russian) Широкорад А. Б. Мифы и реалии Полтавской битвы. М.: ACT, 2010. P. 175.
^(in Russian) Письма и бумаги Императора Петра Великого, Т. IX, вып. 2, стр. 828-829
^(in Russian) Беспалов А. В. Битвы Великой Северной войны.,М.: 2005. P. 256
^(in Russian) Широкорад А. Б. Мифы и реалии Полтавской битвы. М.: ACT, 2010. P. 174.
Literature
Peter From, Katastrofen vid Poltava (2007), Lund, Historiska media.