Battle of Erastfer

Battle of Erastfer
Part of the Great Northern War

The Battle of Erastfer by Mitrophan Grekov (1914)
Date29 December 1701 (O.S.)
30 December 1701 (Swedish calendar)
9 January 1702 (N.S.)
Location
Erastfer, Swedish Livonia
(present-day Erastvere, Estonia)
57°58′N 26°47′E / 57.967°N 26.783°E / 57.967; 26.783
Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Sweden Swedish Empire Russia Tsardom of Russia
Commanders and leaders
Sweden Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach Russia Boris Sheremetev
Strength
3,470 men,
6 artillery pieces[1]		 18,087 men,
20 or 30 artillery pieces[1]
Casualties and losses
Swedish estimate: 700 killed,
350 captured[2]
Russian estimate: 3,000 killed, 150–400 captured
4 cannons, 8 banners[3]		 1,000 killed[4][5]
2,000 wounded[2]

The Battle of Erastfer (also Battle of Errestfer, Battle of Erastvere) took place on 29 December 1701 (O.S.) / 30 December 1701 (Swedish calendar) / 9 January / 1702 (N.S.) near Erastfer in eastern Swedish Livonia (present-day Erastvere in Estonia) between a Russian force of around 13,000 regulars along with 6,000 irregulars led by general Boris Sheremetev[4] and a Swedish force of about 3,470 men (at least 1,000 men were absent from the ranks for various reasons on the day of the battle, resulting in an actual fighting force of about 2,200–2,470 men), under the command of Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach.[1] The Swedes were defeated, with a loss of 1,000 men killed and captured along with all their artillery pieces.[6] The Russians sustained about 1,000 killed[4] along with another 2,000 wounded (according to a Russian soldier who later admitted, after being captured by the Swedes, to 3,000 total losses).[6]

  1. ^ a b c Northern Wars: Battle of Erastfehr: 30 December 1701 Archived 4 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ a b Nordisk familjebok, Uggleupplagan. 7. (1907). p. 738.
  3. ^ Егоршина 2023, p. 45.
  4. ^ a b c Peter the Great's Unknown War, Vjatšeslav Krassikov
  5. ^ История русской армии.– Москва: Эксмо, 2023. – 768с.–(Подарочные издания. Российская императорская библиотека). IBSN 978-5-699-42397-2. P.45
  6. ^ a b Otto Sjögren, W. A. V. Schlippenbachs lifländska här (Historisk tidskrift för år 1896). p. 307–309