Despite the crushing defeat at Poltava in 1709, Charles XII of Sweden refused to negotiate for peace. Indeed, Sweden was able to land an army in Germany in 1712 and win a victory at Gadebusch. Most of the fighting of the war had to this point taken place outside of the Sweden's core territory. The anti-Swedish coalition decided to force Sweden to come to terms by invading Sweden from two directions, Denmark from the south and Russia from the eastern Finnish half. However, the Danish army was defeated at the battle of Helsingborg and the original plan was abandoned.
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| - Despite the crushing defeat at Poltava in 1709, Charles XII of Sweden refused to negotiate for peace. Indeed, Sweden was able to land an army in Germany in 1712 and win a victory at Gadebusch. Most of the fighting of the war had to this point taken place outside of the Sweden's core territory. The anti-Swedish coalition decided to force Sweden to come to terms by invading Sweden from two directions, Denmark from the south and Russia from the eastern Finnish half. However, the Danish army was defeated at the battle of Helsingborg and the original plan was abandoned.
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| Strength
| - 22(xsd:integer)
- 28(xsd:integer)
- 1500(xsd:integer)
- 2200(xsd:integer)
- 5400(xsd:integer)
- 9000(xsd:integer)
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| dbkwik:military/pr...iPageUsesTemplate
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| Partof
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| Date
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| Commander
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| Casualties
| - 118(xsd:integer)
- 233(xsd:integer)
- 555(xsd:integer)
- 577(xsd:integer)
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| Result
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| combatant
| - 23(xsd:integer)
- Tsardom of Russia
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| Place
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| abstract
| - Despite the crushing defeat at Poltava in 1709, Charles XII of Sweden refused to negotiate for peace. Indeed, Sweden was able to land an army in Germany in 1712 and win a victory at Gadebusch. Most of the fighting of the war had to this point taken place outside of the Sweden's core territory. The anti-Swedish coalition decided to force Sweden to come to terms by invading Sweden from two directions, Denmark from the south and Russia from the eastern Finnish half. However, the Danish army was defeated at the battle of Helsingborg and the original plan was abandoned. The Swedish army in Finland consisted almost entirely of Finnish soldiers, and was led by General Georg Henrik Lybecker. He was not a popular nor a successful commander. His previous attempted diversionary campaign against Saint Petersburg in 1708 had resulted in the Finnish army being severely mauled. In particular, he had been forced to abandon his cavalry while retreating, which would have dire consequences in the near future. Towards in April of 1713, Russian troops with General Apraksin in the lead and czar Peter I in the vanguard headed for Finland. An amphibious strategy employed by Apraksin allowed him to tie down the defending Finnish army with part of his force, while a second part would perform an outflanking maneuver by making a coastal landing behind the Finns. Helsinki and Porvoo fell early in May, and by August the Russians had advanced to Turku, with General Lybecker constantly falling back. His failure to defend Finland led to his replacement in September by General Armfeldt. Armfeldt took a strong position on an isthmus between the lakes Pälkänevesi and Mallasvesi in parish of Pälkäne to defend the next important town, Tampere. He arranged his infantry behind a river Kostianvirta connecting the two lakes across the isthmus, hence the alternative name of battle of Kostianvirta. Apraksin and the Russian army based itself in nearby Kantokylä. The strong Finnish position would be difficult to force with a frontal attack, so Apraksin applied the formula that had been so successfully used previously in the Finnish campaign.
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