| Battle of Valkininkai | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theGreat Northern War | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Swedish Empire Pro-Leszczyński forces |  Tsardom of Russia Sandomierz Confederation | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Carl Gustaf Dücker Józef PotockiJan Kazimierz Sapieha the Elder | Christian Felix BauerMichał Serwacy WiśniowieckiGrzegorz Antoni Ogiński | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 1,000 Swedes[1] Several thousand Poles and Lithuanians | 1,600 Russians[2] 3,000 Poles and Lithuanians[1] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 60 wounded, unknown number of killed[1] | 50 killed and 100 wounded Russians[2] 70 killed and 70 wounded Poles and Lithuanians[3] | ||||||
 | |||||||
TheBattle of Valkininkai took place at 6 March 1706 close to the town ofValkininkai in theGrand Duchy of Lithuania during theGreat Northern War.
A Swedish detachment of 1,000 dragoons sent out byCharles XII of Sweden fromGrodno underCarl Gustaf Dücker[1] sought to meet up with a larger Polish contingent underJózef Potocki andJan Kazimierz Sapieha the Elder at Valkininkai, before marching towardsVilnius in order to secure the Swedish connection toSwedish Livonia which had been disturbed by Russian forces ever since theBattle of Gemauerthof.[4] However, at the same time an allied force of about 4,600–7,000 Russians, Poles and Lithuanians underChristian Felix Bauer,Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki andGrzegorz Antoni Ogiński marched in their direction in order to beat the pro-Swedish Poles and Lithuanians before regrouping with their Swedish allies.[5] The Swedish and Russian–Polish forces soon, rather unexpectedly, stumbled upon each other outside of the town where a fierce fight took place. The Swedes repulsed two attacks executed by their enemies, before withdrawing a distance away to some woods, in order to initiate a third attack prepared by the allied forces. Meanwhile, the battle was witnessed from a distance away by the Swedish–friendly Poles and Lithuanians who had yet to participate in the fighting. The Swedes soon, however, counterattacked on their own and managed to beat the allied forces from the field, after which the Poles and Lithuanians on the Swedish side decided the intervene and pursued the allies for a distance. The battle resulted in more than 60 wounded Swedes[5] and up to 50 killed and 100 wounded Russians[2] and another 70 killed and equally many wounded Poles and Lithuanians siding with the Russians.[3] The Swedes soon arrived at Vilnius where they captured a large bulk of Russian supplies.[5]