Prut march

The victory of the Russians in the Battle of Poltava determined the end of the Northern War. The Russian army showed all its might, some European countries voluntarily switched sides. However, the euphoria after the victories of the Russian fleet in the Baltic did not last as long as desired. Soon it was replaced by the threat of a new war already in the south of the country. The Crimean Khan and the ruling circles of Turkey did not forget about the defeats in the Azov campaigns and wanted to take revenge. Carl XII, who was in Turkey, also applied to this, and Venice also tried such European countries as Austria, France, and England. Strong Russia was not needed by anyone. In 1710, her ambassador, PA Tolstoy, the Turks were imprisoned in a local prison, and Russia was immediately declared war.

In the winter of 1711, the Prut march entered the active stage. The Crimean Khan moved swiftly towards Kharkov, but his raid was immediately repulsed. Also defeated were the forces of the Tatars, Poles and some Zaporozhians from the territory of the Right-Bank Ukraine.

The Russian army continued the Prut march, moving to the south. This direction was chosen in connection with the expectation of the assistance promised by Dmitry Cantemir, the Moldovan ruler, Brankovan, the Wallachian ruler, as well as Augustus II and the Austrian Serbs. In total, on the side of the Russians, an army of 80,000 men was to be assembled. In addition, on May 15, BP Sheremetev's regiments were to approach the Dniester from Riga.

However, these plans were not destined to come true. First, more than 10 days late Sheremetev. And by this time the Turkish army, which numbered one hundred twenty thousand people, had already built bridges across the Danube. Brankovan forbade the Serbs to pass through his lands and issued plans to the Russian Vizier of Turkey. Dmitry Cantemir still joined Sheremetev's detachment, but with an extremely small squad. And August II did not send anyone at all. The situation was further aggravated by Sheremetev's disobedience. He, contrary to the order of the emperor, did not leave the main forces near the Dniester, but sent a fifteen thousandth army to the Danube in order to prevent the Turks from appearing there. Discovering that the Turks already settled on the Danube, Sheremetev directed the Prut march down along the Prut River. Peter 1 sent another horse corps to the Danube. But only towards the beginning of June the main Russian troops concentrated on the Dniester and surrounded the bridge around it.

Thus, the troops of the empire lost both time and the ability to maneuver freely. Nevertheless, the Prut march continued even on bare, scorched steppes, in terrible conditions. Peter 1 himself recalled how from the lack of water the soldiers had a nose, mouth and ears.

At the end of June, bridges were built across the Prut, and exhausted troops entered Iasi. Cantemir promised to supply them with bread (which ended even near the Dniester), but because of the poor harvest he could only send oxen and rams. Not to get to the Danube for the Russians meant to remain without the support of the Slavic peoples. There was no intelligence at the proper level. As a result, the Russian troops were surrounded by three times the enemy's forces. The battle itself began on 9 July. The enemies also did not have a common opinion on how to wage a war. The Swedes offered to take the opponents izmorom, and the vizier preferred to start the fight. After the Ottomans suffered heavy losses during the battle, their warriors refused to fight on July 10. Negotiations took two days. On July 11, PP Shafirov came out from the Turks to Peter the Great and reported on the terms of the peace signed. According to him, the Russians undertook to return the Azov Turks and destroy Taganrog. Also, Russia had to miss Charles II in Sweden and not touch the Polish problems.

On the whole, the Prut march of Peter the Great suffered a tragic failure, but cost a small loss and the surrender of Turkey to PP Shafirov and Mikhail, the son of Sheremetev, as hostages. Since then, Peter I has significantly limited the number of foreigners in their regiments.