x Charles’s plan for the battle seems daring, even foolhardy. His
available resources were about 8,000 infantry, 7,000 cavalry, and
four small cannons. He proposed to rush this small force past the
lines of redoubts before dawn, then assault the main Russian camp.
x Things began to go wrong almost at once. The infantry was
supposed to lead, with the cavalry following close behind, but the
two groups lost contact, and the infantry had to pause until the
cavalry was located and brought forward, delaying the attack.
x Worse, the Swedes were detected by the redoubts, which opened
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away were able to stay focused and hurry past, but those closer to
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x Had the Swedish units continued moving forward after subduing the
redoubts, they might have prevailed. But a group of six battalions,
one-third of the entire Swedish infantry, under the command of
General Roos, stopped altogether and became enmeshed in a brutal
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x Meanwhile, the remaining infantry and the cavalry forged past the
redoubts onto the plain in front of the Russian camp. Charles’s
forces had been badly mauled in passing the redoubts, but it
seemed that they could proceed with the plan. Charles began to
assemble and organize his forces in preparation for an assault on
the main Russian camp. But he now realized that a third of his
infantry was missing.
x Roos had stubbornly continued to assault the third redoubt in
a series of futile attacks. Having lost 40 percent of his men, he
withdrew to a nearby wood, where the Russians pounced. After
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down to 20 percent of his original men. He surrendered.
x Back out on the plain, every minute the Swedes delayed, they lost
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