Narva, Battle of

During the Great Northern War, Swedish victory over the Russians 30 November 1700 at Narva, a fortified town then in northwest Russia 120 km/75 mi west of St Petersburg (now in Estonia).

The small Swedish garrison in the town was besieged by a force of about 50,000 Russians. On hearing that Charles XII of Sweden was approaching with an army to relieve the town, the Russians retired to an entrenched camp at Novgorod (now Ivangorod, Russia), a few miles away. Launching his attack in a snowstorm, Charles' force of 8,000 Swedes broke into the entrenchments and after a three-hour hand-to-hand battle, smashed the Russian left wing, defeated their cavalry, and drove the Russians from their position, leaving over 10,000 dead.