Battle of Karuse The Battle of Karuse or Battle on the Ice was fought on February 16 , 1270 between the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and the Livonian Order on the frozen Baltic Sea between the Muhu Island and the mainland . The Lithuanians achieved a decisive victory . The battle , named after the Karuse village , was the fifth - largest defeat of the Livonian or Teutonic Orders in the 13th century . Almost all that is known about the battle comes from the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle , which devoted 192 lines to describe the battle . Background . The Livonian Brothers of the Sword , a crusading military order established in 1202 , set out to conquer and convert to Christianity indigenous peoples of present - day Latvia and Estonia . They subjugated the Semigallians by 1250 . However , after the Livonian defeats in the 1259 Battle of Skuodas and the 1260 Battle of Durbe , the Semigallians rebelled . Traidenis , who became Grand Duke of Lithuania in 1269 or 1270 , supported the rebellion . In winter 1270 , the Livonian Order invaded Semigalia . However , after learning that a large Lithuanian army also invaded the region , Master Otto von Lutterberg decided to retreat to Riga . The Lithuanians marched north reaching as far as the Saaremaa Island . They were able to reach the island because the Baltic Sea was frozen . The Lithuanian army plundered the area taking much war loot . It is unclear whether Semigallians joined the Lithuanians and participated in this campaign – contemporary sources do not mention them , but later sources such as " Jüngere Hochmeisterchronik " and Dionysius Fabricius always mention their participation . Master Lutterberg gathered a large army of Livonian knights , soldiers from Bishopric of Dorpat , Bishopric of Ösel – Wiek , Danish Estonia , as well as local tribes of Livs and Latgalians . The Order was well - prepared for the battle : for a year it was recruiting soldiers for an expedition into Semigalia . The Livonian army marched north to meet the Lithuanians near the Saaremaa Island . The armies met on the frozen Moon Sound ( probably near Virtsu ) on the feast day of Juliana of Nicomedia . Battle . The Livonian army positioned for the battle : troops from Danish Estonia , commanded by king ' s viceroy Siverith , formed the right flank ; Livonian knights , commanded by Master Luttenber , formed the center ; soldiers from the Bishoprics formed the left flank . The Lithuanians arranged their sleighs as a barricade . Likely a vanguard unit covered construction of the improvised barricade so that the knights could not see it . When the knights attacked , Lithuanians retreated behind their sleighs and the Livonian cavalry ran into the barricade . As horses got stuck in between the sleighs , the horses and their riders were struck by Lithuanian spears . A small number of Livonian knights managed to break through the barricade and the left and right flanks joined the fighting , but that was not enough to overcome strong Lithuanian formation . The Lithuanians achieved a decisive victory : 52 knights , including the Master Lutterberg , and some 600 low - ranking soldiers were killed while bishop Hermann of Ösel - Wiek was gravely injured and barely managed to escape . According to the Livonian Rhymed Chronicle , 1600 Lithuanians were killed , but that information is very doubtful and most likely inflated by pro - Livonian bias . Aftermath . Vice - Master Andreas von Westfalen , who acted as a Master before proper elections could be held , decided to restore lost morale of the knights by winning a quick victory . In the middle of 1270 he learned about another Lithuanian raid into Livonia and hurried his soldiers to seek out the enemy . While the knights were resting , the Lithuanians attacked their camp and killed Andreas and twenty more knights . It is sometimes known as the Battle of Padaugava , and was the tenth - largest defeat of the Teutonic Knights in its own right . Traidenis scored another victory in 1279 during the Battle of Aizkraukle .