Battle of Warsaw ( 1705 ) The Battle of Warsaw ( also known as Battle of Rakowitz ) took place on 31 July 1705 near Warsaw . Swedish forces under Carl Nieroth defeated the Polish - Lithuanian - Saxonian forces under Otto Arnold von Paykull . Background . Part of the Great Northern War constituted a civil war in Poland ( 1704 – 1709 ) , between the forces of the Warsaw Confederation , supporting the pretender king Stanisław Leszczyński , and the Sandomierz Confederation , supporting king August II the Strong . Sweden supported Leszczyński against August , and sent a contingent of troops to Leszczyński ' s aid , under Carl Nieroth . In July 1705 the Saxon commander Otto Arnold von Paykull and his allies from the Warsaw Confederation decided to take on the numerically inferior Swedish forces loyal to Leszczyński . The battle was part of the campaign plan created by Johann Patkul and Otto Arnold von Paykull to crush Charles XII ' s army with overwhelming odds in a gathered allied offensive , which was to be executed in order ; the Russian general Boris Sheremetev would engage the Swedish general Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt in Courland and there beat him to secure the march under Georg Benedict Ogilvy , towards the strongly fortified Grodno . Here Ogilvy was believed able to withstand Charles long enough for the Saxon stationed army under Johann Matthias von der Schulenburg to flank through Krakow , and subsequently engage the Swedes from behind – creating a strategic " hammer and anvil " strike , together with Ogilvy ' s frontal ' Grodno ' troops . At the same time , Paykull would gather a force of Saxons , Poles and Lithuanians and march towards Warsaw to interrupt the coronation of pretender king Stanisław Leszczyński . The plan was executed in July 1705 by Peter I , and with a superior force of 120 , 000 allied soldiers against only 40 , 000 Swedes who were able to stand between their achievements , the Russians launched their first assault according to the plan . General Sheremetev immediately engaged Lewenhaupt at the battle of Gemauerthof on 26 July . However , the Swedish general was able to repulse the attack , suffering heavy casualties , before withdrawing to Riga . Paykull then marched with his combined Saxon - Polish - Lithuanian army against Carl Nieroth ' s force protecting Warsaw . The two armies clashed near Warsaw , just five days after the battle of Gemauerthof . Opposing forces . The Swedish forces consisted of three cavalry regiments and a small force of 60 infantrymen . The total size of the Swedish army under Carl Nieroth was around 2 , 000 men . The Polish - Lithuanian - Saxon army consisted of 3 , 500 Saxon cuirassier s and 6 , 000 Polish cavalrymen . Its main commander was the Saxonian general Otto Arnold von Paykull ; the Polish - Lithuanian forces were led by Stanisław Chomętowski , Stanisław Rzewuski , Adam Mikołaj Sieniawski , Michał Serwacy Wiśniowiecki and Stanisław Ernest Denhoff . Initial skirmishes . The Swedes sent out two reconnaissance forces of 180 men each , and a detachment of 20 men from one of them led by Bonde stumbled into a unit of 500 men in the front ranks of the Polish army at dusk on 30 July . The unit was attempting to cross the Vistula River . Bonde ordered a sudden charge on the unit that was crossing the river , but it failed and resulted in a massacre due to the large disparity in numbers between the two forces . Later , the remaining 160 cavalrymen in the reconnaissance force repeated the assault on 5 , 000 crossing Poles without success . However , some cavalrymen were able to return to alert the rest of the Swedish army . Main confrontation . On 31 July , the two armies faced each other outside Warsaw . Nieroth decided to charge the numerically superior Polish force . The charge was split up into two wings because the Swedish army was partly encircled . The Swedish order of battle was made of ' Upplands tremännings Regiment ( 400 men ) ' on the right , ' Smålands Cavalry Regiment ( 740 men ) ' in the center and ' Östgöta Cavalry Regiment ( 800 men ) ' on the Swedish left flank . The 60 Swedish infantrymen from the ' Skaraborgs Infantry Regiment ' hid in a field of tall rye so that they could execute surprise attacks on the Saxons later on . The initial Swedish charge made by the Smålands cavalry regiment was so successful that they managed to rout 3 , 000 Lithuanian cavalrymen , pursuing and harassing them for 20 kilometers . However , the other Swedish regiments ran into trouble after early successes ; Paykull ordered an attack through the center of the Swedish lines against the flanks and rear of the Swedish forces . Six Saxon squadrons suddenly swung to the left through the center and charged Upplands cavalry in the flank as they were advancing , causing disorder in the unit . The Swedish Östgöta cavalry on the left flank , however , then charged the bulk of the Saxon cavalry , attempting to sweep through the center , but were halted as the 3 , 000 Saxons defended themselves long enough for the Poles to regroup . The Poles rapidly executed " attack - on - attack " maneuvers in the flank and rear of the Swedish regiment which was engaging the Saxons to the front . Astonishingly , the heavily outnumbered Östgöta cavalry then managed to attack with such ferocity that the Saxons were forced to retreat and regroup . The Swedish Upplands regiment on the right flank had managed to repulse the Saxons attacking the flank and , together with Östgöta regiment , they now renewed the attack on the Saxons . The Swedish infantrymen who were hidden in the tall rye then also launched a surprise attack , firing on the regrouping Saxons , soon after which the allied army was defeated . End of the battle . Swedish casualties were some 150 killed and 150 wounded , against 500 dead and 1 , 000 wounded Saxons and Poles . Some 300 Poles had also drowned in the Vistula River under pursuit by the Smålands cavalry . Captured allied forces included General von Paykull . The Swedes also captured important documents including letters about the ' Johann Patkul and Otto Arnold von Paykull campaign ' against the Swedes , which informed of a possible attack by Peter I against Warsaw to dethrone the Polish king Stanisław Leszczyński . Charles XII then moved with his army to secure Leszczyński ' s coronation and foil the enemy tactic .