The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-02-26
WHAT A SMALL ARMY DID.
EIGHT THOUSAND SWEDES DE-
 FEATED
Peter ths Great and Eighty Thousand
 Troops.

At a time when ruInors of war be-
 tween Russia and Japan and impending
 hostilities between other nations are on
 the daily programme of worlds inci-
 dents: when the strong and weak points
 of the armies and navies of the respec-
 tive powers are minutely discussed and commented upon by experts, and when
 the personalities of the rulers and gen.
 erals of the contending forces and the justice of their respective causes are
 daily submitted for public judgment and
 opinion, a short account of how Charles
 XII, the young King of Sweden. at the
 head of heroic little army of eight thousand loyal subjects, little over
 two hundred years ago, defeated Peter the Great of Russia and his army of eighty thousand will, no doubt, prove of general interest.
 History in this case, as in many ot1-
 CTS. proves that victory does not always
 attend the army numerically the stron-
 gest. but that success more often de- bends on resourcefulness, decision, quick 1 action and the fact of knowing how and l when to follow up advantages gained.
 The following incident further shows l that Charles XII, whom the great Vol taire called the most extraordinary
 man. perhaps, that ever appeared in the
 world, was not only a most generous and noble hearted foe, but also a most strenuous exponent of what has been
 styled in these latter days "shirt-sleeve ] diplomacy" He placed but little faith l in the nice and intricate peace proposi- tions of his own diplomatic representa- 1 tives and those of his enemies, and in sisted on conducting peace negotiations himself at the place where he had gained the victory. The following his torical incident also sI1owes the double dealings Of the Muscovite ambassadors
 attached to Charles court, who had
 sworn to preserve '.inviolable peace. I The founder of the Russian empire, Peter the Great, was ambitious of being
 a conqueror, and he wanted a port on the east side of the Baltic, to facilitate
 the execution of his numerous schemes.
 He wanted the Province of Ingris, to
 the northeast of Livonia. The Swedes
 were in possession of it, and from them i i therefore made a league with the King of Poland to wrest from young Charles XII all the territories bounded by the l Gulf of Finland, the Baltic Sea, Poland
 and Muscovy. Voltaire described the
 Swedes as well made, strong and ac-
 tive. and capable of enduring the great
 est fatigue, want and hunger. Born with a military genius and high spirit, they are more brave than industrious,
 having long neglected. and even at present but little cultivating, the arts
 of commerce.
 Realizing the danger which beset his country Charles, who formerly had
 been fond of gayety and dress, resigned his nagnifcenceA indulged no longer in sports and recreations, but hence forth never clad otherwise than as a: common soldier. He hardly ever assist ed at the council of state, but at this critical moment his councillors hap pened to hold a deliberation in his pres~ ence concerning the dangerous situation Of affairs. Some of the members pro- posed to avert the storm by negotia- tions, when all of sudden Charles arose, with an air of gravity and assur- ance, like a man of superior conse- quence who has chosen his side. Gen tlenen," said he, T am resolved never to begin an unjust war, nor ever to finish just one but by the destruction of my enemies. My resolution is fixed. I will attack the first that shall declare against me, and, after having con- quered him, I hope I shall be able to strike terror into the rest" The old councillors were astonished at this de- claration of their king, but they dared not reply. They received his orders for the war with admiration. Charles at once took the offensive, dispatched a fleet to Copenhagen, the Danish capital
 and defeated the army and navy of the King of Denmark, who was in league with Peter the Great against Charles in war which lasted less than six weeks. Charles was then eighteen years old Exactly at this time the King of Poland invested Riga, the cap- ital of Livonia and the Czar was ad- vancing on the east at the head of near ly a hundred thousand men. Riga was defended by the old Count Dalberg, a 1 Swedish general. who at the age of eighty, joined all the fire of youth to | the experience of sixty campaigns. He baff1ed all the efforts of the enemy. and the King of Poland, after despairing of being able to take the town, laid hold of an honorable pretext for raising the siege, which he did. The only thing that Charles had now to do toward the finishing of his first campaign was to march against his rival in glory, Peter 1 Alexiovitch. He was the more exasper- ated against him as there were still at l Stockholm three Muscovite ambassa
 dors who had lately sworn to the renew
 al of an inviolable peace. Possessed of
 the most ilcorruptible integrity, he could not conceive how legislator like
 the Czar should make jest of what
 ought to be held sacred. The Emperor
 of Muscovy had just published mani
 festo, in which he alleged as the reason of the war the little respect that had been shown him when he went incogni- to to Riga and the extravagant prices
 his ambassadors had been obliged to
 pay for provisions. Such were the mighty injuries for which he ravaged
 Ingria with eighty thousand men! At the head of this great army, he ap-
 peared before Narva on October 1, and
 Charles XII at once advanced to it's re-
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