The History of Peter the Great, Emperor of Russia

The year began with the Russians on the 1st of September. Peter ordered, that it should for the future commence the first day of January, as among the other nations of Europe. This alteration was to take place in the year 1700, at the beginning of the century, which he celebrated by a jubilee, and other grand solemnities. It was a matter of surprise, to the common people, how the czar should be able to change the course of the sun. Some obstinate persons, persuaded that God had created the world in September, continued their old style: but the alteration took place in all the public offices, in the whole court of chancery, and in a little time throughout the whole empire. Peter did not adopt the Gregorian calendar, because it had been rejected by the English mathematicians; but which must, nevertheless, be one day received in all countries.

Ever since the 5th century, the time when letters first came into use amongst them, they had been accustomed to write upon long rolls, made either of the bark of trees, or of parchment, and afterwards of paper; and the czar was obliged to publish an edict, ordering every one, for the future, to write after our manner.

The reformation now became general. Their marriages were made formerly after the same manner as in Turkey and Persia, where the bridegroom does not see his bride till the contract is signed, and they can no longer go from their words. This custom may do well enough among those people, where polygamy prevails, and where the women are always shut up; but it is a very bad one in countries where a man is confined to one wife, and where divorces are seldom allowed.

The czar was willing to accustom his people to the manners and customs of the nations which he had visited in his travels, and from whence he had taken the masters who were now instructing them.

It appeared necessary that the Russians should not be dressed in a different manner from those who were teaching them the arts and sciences; because the aversion to strangers, which is but too natural to mankind, is not a little kept up by a difference of dress. The full dress, which at that time partook of the fashions of the Poles, the Tartars, and the ancient Hungarians, was, as we have elsewhere observed, very noble; but the dress of the burghers and common people resembled those jackets plaited round the waist, which are still given to the poor children in some of the French hospitals.54 In general, the robe was formerly the dress of all nations, as being a garment that required the least trouble and art; and, for the same reason, the beard was suffered to grow. The czar met with but little difficulty in introducing our mode of dress, and the custom of shaving among his courtiers; but the people were more obstinate, he found himself obliged to lay a tax on long coats and beards. Patterns of close-bodied coats were hung up in public places; and whoever refused to pay the tax were obliged to suffer their robes and their beards to be curtailed: all this was done in a jocular manner, and this air of pleasantry prevented seditions.

It has ever been the aim of all legislators to render mankind more sociable; but it is not sufficient to effect this end, that they live together in towns, there must be a mutual intercourse of civility. This intercourse sweetens all the bitterness of life. The czar, therefore, introduced those assemblies which the Italians call ridotti. To these assemblies he invited all the ladies of his court, with their daughters; and they were to appear dressed after the fashions of the southern nations of Europe. He was even himself at the pains of drawing up rules for all the little decorums to be observed at these social entertainments. Thus, even to good breeding among his subjects, all was his own work, and that of time.

To make his people relish these innovations the better, he abolished the word golut, slave, always made use of by the Russians when they addressed their czar, or presented any petition to him; and ordered, that, for the future, they should make use of the word raab, which signifies subject. This alteration in no wise diminished the obedience due to the sovereign, and yet was the most ready means of conciliating their affections. Every month produced some new change or institution. He carried his attention even to the ordering painted posts to be set up in the road between Moscow and Woronitz, to serve as mile stones at the distance of every verst; that is to say, every seven hundred paces, and had a kind of caravanseras, or public inns, built at the end of every twentieth verst.

While he was thus extending his cares to the common people, to the merchants, and to the traveller, he thought proper to make an addition to the pomp and splendour of his own court; for though he hated pomp or show in his own person, he thought it necessary in those about him; he therefore instituted the order of St. Andrew,55 in imitation of the several orders with which all the courts of Europe abound. Golowin, who succeeded Le Fort in the dignity of high admiral, was the first knight of this order. It was esteemed a high reward to have the honour of being admitted a member. It was a kind of badge that entitled the person who bore it to the respect of the people. This mark of honour costs nothing to the sovereign, and flatters the self-love of a subject, without rendering him too powerful.

These many useful innovations were received with applause by the wiser part of the nation; and the murmurings and complaints of those who adhered to the ancient customs were drowned in the acclamations of men of sound judgment.

While Peter was thus beginning a new creation in the interior part of his state, he concluded an advantageous truce with the Turks, which gave him the liberty to extend his territories on another side. Mustapha the Second, who had been defeated by prince Eugene, at the battle of Zeuta, in 1697, stripped of the Morea by the Venetians, and unable to defend Azoph, was obliged to make peace with his victorious enemies, which peace was concluded at Carlowitz, (Jan. 26, 1699,) between Peterwaradin and Salankamon, places made famous by his defeats. Temeswaer was made the boundary of the German possessions, and of the Ottoman dominions. Kaminieck was restored to the Poles; the Morea, and some towns in Dalmatia, which had been taken by the Venetians, remained in their hands for some time; and Peter the First continued in possession of Casaph, and of a few forts built in its neighbourhood.

It was not possible for the czar to extend his dominions on the side of Turkey, without drawing upon him the forces of that empire, before divided, but now united. His naval projects were too vast for the Palus Mæotis, and the settlements on the Caspian Sea would not admit of a fleet of men of war: he therefore turned his views towards the Baltic Sea, but without relinquishing those in regard to the Tanais and Wolga.

CHAP. XI

War with Sweden. – The battle of Narva.

1700.

A grand scene was now opened on the frontiers of Sweden. One of the principal causes of all the revolutions which happened from Ingria, as far as Dresden, and which laid waste so many countries for the space of eighteen years, was the abuse of the supreme power, by Charles XI. king of Sweden, father of Charles XII. This is a fact which cannot be too often repeated, as it concerns every crowned head, and the subjects of every nation. Almost all Livonia, with the whole of Esthonia, had been ceded by the Poles to Charles XI. king of Sweden, who succeeded Charles X. exactly at the time of the treaty of Oliva. It was ceded in the customary manner, with a reservation of rights and privileges. Charles XI. shewing little regard to these privileges, John Reinhold Patkul, a gentleman of Livonia, came to Stockholm in 1692, at the head of six deputies from the province, and laid their complaints at the foot of the throne, in respectful, but strong terms.56 Instead of an answer, the deputies were ordered to be imprisoned, and Patkul was condemned to lose his honour and his life. But he lost neither, for he made his escape to the country of Vaud, in Switzerland, where he remained some time; when he afterwards was informed, that Augustus, elector of Saxony, had promised, at his accession to the throne of Poland, to recover the provinces that had been wrested from that kingdom; he hastened to Dresden, to represent to that prince, how easily he might make himself master of Livonia, and revenge upon a king, only seventeen years of age, the losses that Poland had sustained by his ancestors.

At this very time czar Peter entertained thoughts of seizing upon Ingria and Carelia. These provinces had formerly belonged to the Russians, but the Swedes had made themselves masters of them by force of arms, in the time of the false Demetriuses, and had retained the possession of them by treaties: another war and new treaties might restore them again to Russia. Patkul went from Dresden to Moscow, and, by exciting up the two monarchs to avenge his private causes, he cemented a close union between them, and directed their preparations for invading all the places situated to the east and south of Finland.

Just at this period, the new king of Denmark, Frederick IV. entered into an alliance with the czar and the king of Poland, against Charles, the young king of Sweden, who seemed in no condition to withstand their united forces. Patkul had the satisfaction of besieging the Swedes in Riga, the capital of Livonia, and directing the attack in quality of major-general.

The czar marched near eighty thousand men into Ingria. It is true, that, in this numerous army, he had not more than twelve thousand good soldiers, being those he had disciplined himself; namely, the two regiments of guards, and some few others, the rest being a badly armed militia, with some Cossacks, and Circassian Tartars; but he carried with him a train of a hundred and forty-five pieces of cannon. He laid siege to Narva, a small town in Ingria, that had a very commodious harbour, and it was generally thought the place would prove an easy conquest.

Sept.] It is known to all Europe, how Charles XII. when not quite eighteen years of age, made head against all his enemies, and attacked them one after another; he entered Denmark, put an end to the war in that kingdom in less than six weeks, sent succours to Riga, obliged the enemy to raise the siege, and marched against the Russians encamped before Narva, through the midst of ice and snow, in the month of November.

The czar, who looked upon Narva as already in his possession, was gone to Novogorod, (Nov. 18,) and had taken with him his favourite, Menzikoff, then a lieutenant in the company of bombardiers, of the Preobrazinski regiment, and afterwards raised to the rank of field-marshal and prince; a man whose singular fortunes entitle him to be spoken of more at large in another place.

Peter left the command of the army, with his instructions for the siege, with the prince of Croi; whose family came from Flanders, and who had lately entered into the czar's service.57 Prince Dolgorouki acted as commissary of the army. The jealousy between these two chiefs, and the absence of the czar, were partly the occasion of the unparalleled defeat at Narva.

Charles XII. having landed at Pernau, in Livonia, with his troops, in the month of October advanced northward to Revel, where he defeated an advanced body of Russians. He continued his march, and meeting with another body, routed that likewise. The runaways returned to the camp before Narva, which they filled with consternation. The month of November was now far advanced; Narva, though unskilfully besieged, was on the point of surrendering. The young king of Sweden had not at that time above nine thousand men with him, and could bring only six pieces of cannon to oppose to a hundred and forty-five, with which the Russian intrenchments were defended. All the relations of that time, and all historians without exception, concur in making the Russian army then before Narva amount to eighty thousand men. The memoirs with which I have been furnished say sixty thousand; be that as it may, it is certain, that Charles had not quite nine thousand; and that this battle was one of those which have proved, that the greatest victories have been frequently gained by inferior numbers, ever since the famed one of Arbela.58

Nov. 30.] Charles did not hesitate one moment to attack with his small troop this army, so greatly superior; and, taking advantage of a violent wind, and a great storm of snow, which blew directly in the faces of the Russians, he attacked their intrenchments under cover of some pieces of cannon, which he had posted advantageously for the purpose. The Russians had not time to form themselves in the midst of that cloud of snow, that beat full in their faces, and astonished by the discharge of cannon, that they could not see, and never imagined how small a number they had to oppose.

The duke de Croi attempted to give his orders, but prince Dolgorouki would not receive them. The Russian officers rose upon the German officers; the duke's secretary, with Colonel Lyon, and several others, were murdered. Every one abandoned his post; and tumult, confusion, and a panic of terror, spread through the whole army. The Swedish troops had nothing more to do, but to cut in pieces those who were flying. Some threw themselves into the river Narva, where great numbers were drowned; others threw down their arms, and fell upon their knees before the conquering Swedes.

The duke de Croi, general Alland, and the rest of the general officers, dreading the Russians more than the Swedes, went in a body and surrendered themselves prisoners to count Steinbock. The king of Sweden now made himself master of all the artillery. Thirty thousand of the vanquished enemy laid down their arms at his feet, and filed off bare-headed and disarmed before him. Prince Dolgorouki, and all the Russian generals, came and surrendered themselves, as well as the Germans, but did not know till after they had surrendered, that they had been conquered by eight thousand men. Amongst the prisoners, was the son of a king of Georgia, whom Charles sent to Stockholm: his name was Mittelesky Czarovits, or czar's son, an additional proof that the title of czar, or tzar, had not its original from the Roman Cæsars.

Charles XII. did not lose more than one thousand two hundred men in this battle. The czar's journal, which has been sent me from Petersburg, says, that including those who died at the siege of Narva, and in the battle, and those who were drowned in their flight, the Russians lost no more than six thousand men. Want of discipline, and a panic that seized the army, did all the work of that fatal day. The number of those made prisoners of war, was four times greater than that of the conquerors; and if we may believe Norberg,59 count Piper, who was afterwards taken prisoner by the Russians, reproached them, that the number of their people made prisoners in the battle, exceeded by eight times the number of the whole Swedish army. If this is truth, the Swedes must have made upwards of seventy-two thousand prisoners. This shews how seldom writers are well informed of particular circumstances. One thing, however, equally incontestable and extraordinary, is, that the king of Sweden permitted one half of the Russian soldiers to retire back, after having disarmed them, and the other half to repass the river, with their arms; by this unaccountable presumption, restoring to the czar troops that, being afterwards well disciplined, became invincible.60

Charles had all the advantages that could result from a complete victory. Immense magazines, transports loaded with provisions, posts evacuated or taken, and the whole country at the mercy of the Swedish army, were consequences of the fortune of this day. Narva was now relieved, the shattered remains of the Russian army did not shew themselves; the whole country as far as Pleskow lay open; the czar seemed bereft of all resource for carrying on the war; and the king of Sweden, victor in less than twelve months over the monarchs of Denmark, Poland, and Russia, was looked upon as the first prince in Europe, at an age when other princes hardly presume to aspire at reputation. But the unshaken constancy that made a part of Peter's character, prevented him from being discouraged in any of his projects.

A Russian bishop composed a prayer to St. Nicholas,61 on account of this defeat, which was publicly read in all the churches throughout Russia. This composition shews the spirit of the times, and the inexpressible ignorance from which Peter delivered his country. Amongst other things, it says, that the furious and terrible Swedes were sorcerers; and complains that St. Nicholas had entirely abandoned his Russians. The prelates of that country would blush to write such stuff at present; and, without any offence to the holy St. Nicholas, the people soon perceived that Peter was the most proper person to be applied to, to retrieve their losses.

CHAP. XII

Resources after the battle of Narva. That disaster entirely repaired. Peter gains a victory near the same place. The person who was afterwards empress made prisoner at the storming of a town. Peter's successes. His triumph at Moscow.62

The years 1701 and 1703.

The czar having, as has been already observed, quitted his army before Narva, in the end of November, 1700, in order to go and concert matters with the king of Poland, received the news of the victory gained by the Swedes, as he was on his way. His constancy in all emergencies was equal to the intrepidity and valour of Charles. He deferred the conference with Augustus, and hastened to repair the disordered state of his affairs. The scattered troops rendezvoused at Great Novogorod, and from thence marched to Pleskow, on the lake Peipus.

It was not a little matter to be able to stand upon the defensive, after so severe a check: 'I know very well,' said Peter, 'that the Swedes will have the advantage of us for some time, but they will teach us at length to conquer them.'

1701.] Having provided for the present emergency, and ordered recruits to be raised on every side, he sent to Moscow to cast new cannon, his own having been all taken before Narva. There being a scarcity of metal, he took all the bells of the churches, and of the religious houses in Moscow. This action did not savour much of superstition, but at the same time it was no mark of impiety. With those bells he made one hundred large cannon, one hundred and forty-three field-pieces, from three to six pounders, besides mortars and howitzers, which were all sent to Pleskow. In other countries the sovereign orders, and others execute; but here the czar was obliged to see every thing done himself. While he was hastening these preparations, he entered into a negotiation with the king of Denmark, who engaged to furnish him with three regiments of foot, and three of cavalry; an engagement which that monarch could not fulfil.

As soon as this treaty was signed, he hurried to the theatre of war. He had an interview with king Augustus, at Birzen, (Feb. 27.) on the frontiers of Courland and Lithuania. His object was, to confirm that prince in his resolution of maintaining the war against Charles XII. and at the same time to engage the Polish Diet to enter into the quarrel. It is well known, that a king of Poland is no more than the head person in a republic. The czar had the advantage of being always obeyed; but the kings of Poland, and England, at present the king of Sweden, are all obliged to treat with their subjects.63 Patkul and a few Poles in the interest of their monarch, assisted at these conferences. Peter promised to aid them with subsidies, and an army of twenty-five thousand men. Livonia was to be restored to Poland, in case the diet would concur with their king, and assist in recovering this province: the diet hearkened more to their fears, than to the czar's proposals. The Poles were apprehensive of having their liberties restrained by the Saxons and Russians, and were still more afraid of Charles XII. It was therefore agreed by the majority, not to serve their king, and not to fight.

The partisans of Augustus grew enraged against the contrary faction, and a civil war was lighted up in the kingdom; because their monarch had an intention to restore to it a considerable province.

Feb.] Peter then had only an impotent ally in king Augustus, and feeble succours in the Saxon troops; and the terror which Charles XII. inspired on every side, reduced Peter to the necessity of depending entirely upon his own strength.

March 1.] After travelling with the greatest expedition from Moscow to Courland, to confer with Augustus: he posted back from Courland to Moscow, to forward the accomplishment of his promises. He actually dispatched Prince Repnin, with four thousand men, to Riga, on the banks of the Duna, where the Saxon troops were intrenched.

July.] The general consternation was now increased; for Charles, passing the Duna in spite of all the Saxons, who were advantageously posted on the opposite side, gained a complete victory over them; and then, without waiting a moment, he made himself master of Courland, advanced into Lithuania, and by his presence encouraged the Polish faction that opposed Augustus.

Peter, notwithstanding all this, still pursued his designs. General Patkul, who had been the soul of the conference at Birzen, and who had engaged in his service, procured him some German officers, disciplined his troops, and supplied the place of general Le Fort: the czar ordered relays of horses to be provided for all the officers, and even for the German, Livonian, and Polish soldiers, who came to serve in his armies. He likewise inspected in person into every particular relating to their arms, their clothing, and subsistence.

On the confines of Livonia and Esthonia, and to the eastward of the province of Novogorod, lies the great lake Peipus, which receives the waters of the river Velika, from out of the middle of Livonia, and gives rise in its northern part to the river Naiova, that washes the walls of the town of Narva, near which the Swedes gained their famous victory. This lake is upwards of thirty leagues in length, and from twelve to fifteen in breadth. It was necessary to keep a fleet there, to prevent the Swedish ships from insulting the province of Novogorod; to be ready to make a descent upon their coasts, and above all, to be a nursery for seamen. Peter employed the greatest part of the year 1701, in building on this lake an hundred half gallies, to carry about fifty men each; and other armed barks were fitted out on the lake Ladoga. He directed all these operations in person, and set his new sailors to work: those who had been employed in 1697, at the Palus Mæotis were then stationed near the Baltic. He frequently quitted those occupations to go to Moscow, and the rest of the provinces, in order to enforce the observance of the late customs he had introduced, or to establish new ones.

Those princes who have employed the leisure moments of peace in raising public works, have acquired to themselves a name: but that Peter, just after his misfortune at Narva, should apply himself to the junction of the Baltic, Caspian, and the Black seas, by canals, has crowned him with more real glory than the most signal victory. It was in the year 1702, that he began to dig that deep canal, intended to join the Tanais and the Wolga. Other communications were likewise to be made, by means of lakes between the Tanais and the Duna; whose waters empty themselves into the Baltic, in the neighbourhood of Riga. But this latter project seemed to be still at a great distance, as Peter was far from having Riga in his possession.

While Charles was laying all Poland waste, Peter caused to be brought from that kingdom, and from Saxony, a number of shepherds, with their flocks, in order to have wool fit for making good cloth; he likewise erected manufactories of linen and paper: gave orders for collecting a number of artificers; such as smiths, braziers, armourers, and founders, and the mines of Siberia were ransacked for ore. Thus was he continually labouring for the embellishment and defence of his dominions.

Charles pursued the course of his victories, and left a sufficient body of troops, as he imagined, on the frontiers of the czar's dominions, to secure all the possessions of Sweden. He had already formed a design to dethrone Augustus, and afterwards to pursue the czar with his victorious army to the very gates of Moscow.