Battle of Holowczyn The Battle of Holowczyn or Holofzin or Golovchin was fought between the Russia n army , led by Field Marshal Boris Sheremetyev , and the Swedish army , led by Charles XII of Sweden , only 26 years of age at the time . Despite difficult natural obstacles and superior enemy artillery , the Swedes were able to achieve surprise and defeat the numerically superior Russian forces . Reportedly it was Charles ' favorite victory . Prelude . After dealing with Saxony - Poland , Charles was ready to take on his remaining enemy in the Great Northern War : Russia . The best route into the Russian heartland was along the continental divide from Grodno to Minsk and Smolensk . From there , Moscow could be reached without having to cross any major rivers . Charles chose instead a straighter – but more difficult – route , over the Berezina and Drut rivers . The army was moved from its winter camp near Radoszkowice in June 1708 ; the movement was plagued by poor road conditions and weather . The unexpected choice of route made the Russians unsure of the Swedish intentions . In addition , with Peter I of Russia away the Field Marshal Boris Sheremetyev had to contend with the rivalry of Aleksander Menshikov . After a council of war , it was decided to draw the Russian defence line by the Dnieper River . In June and July the army was moved piecemeal towards Vabich , a marshy tributary of the Drut river . The main force of the Russian army was deployed around the village of Vasilki , east and across the Vabich from Holowczyn . The bridges across Vabich were fortified and defended with artillery . To the south , General Anikita Repnin deployed his force and fortified his position three kilometers to the southeast . Between the two fortified camps lay marshy territory that could not be fortified . The Swedes had observed the Russian deployment along the Vabich . Starting on the 30 ' th of June , Swedish regiment s started bivouacking on the heights west of Holowczyn . Charles and his followers noticed the gap in the fortifications , and decided on a plan of attack . Crossing the marshy area between the two Russian camp s would not only be an unsuspected move , but would also serve to divide the enemy force in two . To ensure success , the attack was to be carried out in the darkness of night . The battle . At midnight on the 4th of July the Swedes started moving quietly towards the river . Infantry carried fascine s to help them traverse the waterlogged ground before crossing the Vabich on leather pontoon bridges . However , heavy rainfall made the pontoons too heavy to carry ; they were left behind . At 2 : 30 the Russian alarm was raised as Swedish artillery started bombarding the opposite river bank . Swedish success would depend on how many troops could cross the river without the aid of pontoons before the enemy forces could arrive . Charles as so often led the charge personally , by wading across the water in front of his men . After forming with difficulty on the boggy far bank , the Swedes began to advance through the marsh . Meanwhile , fascines were laid on the river banks to assist the cavalry ' s crossing . Both the engineers and the Swedish vanguard began to be targeted by Repnin ' s artillery . General Repnin soon saw the danger of a Swedish wedge forming between the two Russian positions , and ordered his men to decamp and head north toward Sheremetyev . Five Swedish battalion s fought hard to prevent the Russian regiments from merging . Sheremetyev , hearing the sound of battle , dispatched reinforcements towards Repnin ' s position , but by now enough Swedish forces had arrived to prevent these reinforcements from joining Repnin . The latter was forced to retire his forces eastwards and southwards . Swedish cavalry by now had followed the infantry across the river , and scattered their Russian counterparts towards the south . At this point , Sheremetyev ' s forces were still waiting across the river from Holowczyn . They had been on full alert for hours , in the belief that the attack on Repnin was a feint and expecting the main Swedish attack to come from Holowczyn . Finally , Sheremetev took the initiative to attack the almost undefended Swedish camp to the west . However , when news of the Repnin ' s setback reached Sheremetev , he decided not to wait for a Swedish attack on his rear , but instead began retreating towards Shklov by the Dnieper . Aftermath . The victory provided the Swedes with a defensive line along the Dnieper and the area around Mogilev could be used as a base of operations in their campaign against Russia . However , since so many of the Russian troops were able to escape it was not a decisive strategic victory .