Battle of Kletsk (1706)

Battle of Kletsk
Part of the Great Northern War
Kletsk and the bridge going over the marshes – Tamaš Makoǔski
Date 19 April 1706 (O.S.) 20 April 1706 (Swedish calendar) 30 April 1706 (N.S.) Location Kletsk, present-day Belarus Result Swedish victory
Belligerents
Swedish Empire	Tsardom of Russia
Commanders and leaders
Carl Gustaf Creutz	Semjon Nepljujev [ru] Danylo Apostol
Strength
1,500 cavalry[1]	4,700 infantry and cavalry 4 artillery pieces[1]
Casualties and losses
15 dead 20 wounded[2]	500 dead (Russian claim)[3] 2,025 dead (Swedish claim) 72 captured[1]

The Battle of Kletsk took place on 30 April 1706 (Gregorian calendar), in- and outside the city of Kletsk, Belarus during Charles XII's Polish campaign of 1701–1706, in the Great Northern War. The Swedish forces were led by Carl Gustaf Creutz who defeated a larger Russian–Cossack force under the command of Semjon Nepljujev and Danylo Apostol. Many of the Russian and Cossack regiments participating in the battle were wiped out and ceased to exist as fighting units.^[1][4] Some historians consider the main reason for the defeat to be the actions of the Ukrainian Cossacks, who immediately turned into a blameless flight at the sight of the Swedish attacks, disrupting the formation of the Russian units behind them.^[5]