Battle of Pälkäne The Battle of Pälkäne , sometimes called the Battle at Kostianvirta or Battle on the Pialkiane River ( ) was fought between the Russia n army under Admiral Fyodor Apraksin and the defending Finnish army of Sweden under General Carl Gustaf Armfeldt on 17 October 1713 , as part of the Great Northern War . It resulted in a Russian tactical victory , although General Armfeldt was able to withdraw his army in good order . Background . Despite the crushing defeat at Poltava in 1709 , Charles XII of Sweden refused to negotiate for peace . Indeed , Sweden was able to land an army in Germany in 1712 and win a victory at Gadebusch . Most of the fighting of the war had to this point taken place outside of the Sweden ' s core territory . The anti - Swedish coalition decided to force Sweden to come to terms by invading Sweden from two directions , Denmark from the south and Russia from the eastern Finnish half . However , the Danish army was defeated at the battle of Helsingborg and the original plan was abandoned . The Swedish army in Finland consisted almost entirely of Finnish soldiers , and was led by General Georg Henrik Lybecker . He was not a popular nor a successful commander . His previous attempted diversionary campaign against Saint Petersburg in 1708 had resulted in the Finnish army being severely mauled . In particular , he had been forced to abandon his cavalry while retreating , which would have dire consequences in the near future . Towards in April of 1713 , Russian troops with General Apraksin in the lead and czar Peter I in the vanguard headed for Finland . An amphibious strategy employed by Apraksin allowed him to tie down the defending Finnish army with part of his force , while a second part would perform an outflanking maneuver by making a coastal landing behind the Finns . Helsinki and Porvoo fell early in May , and by August the Russians had advanced to Turku , with General Lybecker constantly falling back . His failure to defend Finland led to his replacement in September by General Armfeldt . Armfeldt took a strong position on an isthmus between the lakes Pälkänevesi and Mallasvesi in parish of Pälkäne to defend the next important town , Tampere . He arranged his infantry behind a river Kostianvirta connecting the two lakes across the isthmus , hence the alternative name of " battle of Kostianvirta " . Apraksin and the Russian army based itself in nearby Kantokylä . The strong Finnish position would be difficult to force with a frontal attack , so Apraksin applied the formula that had been so successfully used previously in the Finnish campaign . The battle . Apraksin planned to divert the Finns with a frontal assault while Mikhail Galitzine led an amphibious landing behind the Swedish position by crossing lake Mallasvesi in the early morning of 6 October . When dawn broke the Russians were spotted by the Finns , who prepared for battle . The first wave of Galitzine ' s troops made a beach landing to the west of Apraksin ' s main front . The Finnish cavalry was still in quarters around the village of Mälkilä , but Armfeldt was able to get the cavalry moving . His intent was to pin and disorder the Russians with dismounted cavalry units and then strike with a mounted cavalry flank attack . However , because of the delay the Russians were able to organize themselves on the beachhead and the weak Finnish cavalry was unable to carry out its mission . In the east , Apraksin attempted to cross the channel using improvised rafts in three groups , with artillery support . However , the defending Finnish infantry were able to fend off the assaults . Apraksin kept pressing , mounting several attacks , including one where the Russian cavalry attempted to wade through the lakes to flank the Finnish infantry , with no success . While the stalemate continued in the east , the Russian western beachhead was reinforced with additional infantry . Armfeldt counterattacked with his infantry reserves , and was initially successful but with the underperforming Finnish cavalry and the increasing numerical superiority of the Russians Armfelt was repulsed ; the cavalry was routed . As the west part of the Finnish army withdrew in disorder , the eastern position became vulnerable to Galitzine ' s victorious troops . The Finnish infantry in the east were reluctant to leave as they had fought successfully during the day , but Armfeldt realized his position was untenable and started withdrawing . Harassed by Russian cavalry , the Finnish army abandoned their positions and the majority of their artillery . Aftermath . The Finnish army had suffered a defeat , and the performance of its cavalry had certainly been a disappointment . However , it did survive the engagement and withdrew to reorganize . Armfeldt and Galitzine would meet again in Isokyrö in February the next year .