The battle of Poltava begins before dawn…

The battle of Poltava begins before dawn at 3:45 AM on June 28 (Swedish calendar), with the Swedes advancing boldly against the Russian fortified lines just north of Poltava.

The battle starts off in a traditional fashion, with the better trained Swedes pressing in on the Russians' redoubts, overrunning a few Russian defensive redoubts within the first fifteen minutes.

The Swedish seem to possess an advantage, but this is quickly nullified.

By dawn (at around 4:30 AM), the weather is unusually very hot and humid, with the rising sun obscured by smoke from cannon and musket fire.

The Swedish infantry, commanded by General Lewenhaupt, attempts to attack the Russians in their fortified camp just north of Poltava, but the Swedish advance soon falters, partly because the infantry has been ordered to withdraw and reorganize.

To make matters worse, one Swedish detachment, commanded by General Roos, has not been told about the overall plan and becomes isolated in the Russian defensive redoubts when a column of about four thousand Russian reinforcements reoccupies the fortified positions, trapping Roos and his twenty-six hundred man force at 6:15 AM.

Roos, with over a thousand casualties and ammunition running low, Roos is forced to surrender his command at 9:30 AM.

The bulk of the Swedish army had moved north at 8:30 AM to attack the Russian fortified camp, but has waited for Roos to return, unaware of his defeat.

The Russian infantry, led by Peter himself, moves out of its fortified camp as time goes by and forms two battle lines facing the Swedes massing just west of their camp, supported by overhead cannon fire from its camp.

Lewenhaupt orders the Swedish line to move forward at 9:45 AM: four thousand Swedish infantry against twenty thousand Russian infantry.

They advance and the Russians open fire on them, with their cannons creating a firestorm of shells.

When the Swedes are one hundred meters from the Russian line, the Russians aim and fire their muskets.

The Swedes, when they are thirty meters from the Russian line, fire one volley and charge with their musket and pikemen, actually pushing the Russians back slowly towards their camp, despite suffering heavy casualties.

The Swedes are on the verge of a breakthrough and need the cavalry of General Cruetz; unfortunately for the Swedes, it is disorganized.

The Russian line is longer than the Swedish line, and the Russian right flank, led by Menshikov, soon flanks the Swedish infantry.

Several Swede regiments are surrounded in a classic Cannae-style battle, as Bauer's Russian cavalry swarms around the Swedish army and attacks the Swedish rear guard.

Cruetz and the cavalry try to buy the infantry time to get away; several units attack the Russians head on, despite them forming into squares.

The Swedes by this stage have no organized bodies of troops to oppose the Russian infantry or cavalry.

Small groups of foot soldiers manage to break through and escape to the south, while most of the rest are overwhelmed and ridden down.

Seeing the defeat of his army from a stretcher in the rear, Charles orders the army to retreat at 11:00 AM.

The battle is over by noon as Russian cavalry mops up the stragglers on the battlefield and returns to their own lines.

Charles then gathers the remainder of his troops and baggage train, and retreats to the south later the same day, abandoning the siege of Poltava.

Rehnskiöld is captured.

Lewenhaupt leads the surviving Swedes and some of the Cossack forces to the Dnieper River, but is doggedly pursued by the Russian regular cavalry and three thousand Kalmyks.