Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - XIII. Reign of Charles XII, 1697–1718 - E. War with Russia Continued
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230 A History of Sweden
Rehnskold sought to collect all forces to protect the
king. "Our infantry is ruined/’ he called. "Lads, see
that you save the king." But immediately he was cap-
tured. Piper, too, was made a prisoner. The army was
broken and scattered. At last, however, separate divi-
sions of the cavalry made repeated attacks on the
enemy and so delayed their pursuit, thus enabling the
Swedish remnants to collect and move southward.
Hither arrived Charles. As long as any regiment was
under fire he could not be prevailed upon to withdraw
from the fight. His litter was shot to pieces, men fell
around him on all sides. Not until the hostile battal-
ions were scarce fifty paces away did he allow him-
self to be placed on a horse, and thus he barely escaped
capture, riding away "with his wounded leg resting on
the pommel of the saddle and the bandage loose and
dragging," as an eyewitness relates.
Exerting his utmost powers, the fever-stricken king
at length succeeded in collecting the remnants of his
army into an orderly retreat. But when they arrived
at the junction of the Dnieper and the Vorskla there
were only a few boats and barges to be had, and on
either side was a broad and swift river. At any time
the enemy might appear on the heights behind.
Charles did not wish to separate himself from his
faithful army, but finally the officers prevailed on the
half-conscious king to yield, Lewenhaupt promising to
lead the army across the Vorskla into the land of the
Tartars. Charles was then carried across the Dnieper
together with some two thousand of his men. Across
the scorching steppes the little party moved toward
the shores of the Black Sea, then in the possession of
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