Battle of Erastfer | |||||||
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Part of the Great Northern War | |||||||
![]() The Battle of Erastfer by Mitrophan Grekov (1914) | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Strength | |||||||
3,470 men, 6 artillery pieces[1] |
18,087 men, 20 or 30 artillery pieces[1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
Swedish estimate: 700 killed, 350 captured[2] Russian estimate: 3,000 killed, 150 – 400 captured 4 cannons, 8 banners[3] |
1,000 killed[4][5] 2,000 wounded[2] |
The Battle of Erastfer (also Battle of Errestfer, Battle of Erastvere) took place on 29 December 1701 (O.S.) / 30 December 1701 (Swedish calendar) / 9 January / 1702 (N.S.) near Erastfer in eastern Swedish Livonia (present-day Erastvere in Estonia) between a Russian force of around 13,000 regulars along with 6,000 irregulars led by general Boris Sheremetev[4] and a Swedish force of about 3,470 men (at least 1,000 men were absent from the ranks for various reasons on the day of the battle, resulting in an actual fighting force of about 2,200–2,470 men), under the command of Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach.[1] The Swedes were defeated, with a loss of 1,000 men killed and captured along with all their artillery pieces.[6] The Russians sustained about 1,000 killed[4] along with another 2,000 wounded (according to a Russian soldier who later admitted, after being captured by the Swedes, to 3,000 total losses).[6]