Battle of Holowczyn

Battle of Holowczyn
	Part of the Swedish invasion of Russia
	; Battle of Holowczyn 1708, by B. Adlerfeld
Date	3 July 1708 (O.S.); 4 July 1708 (Swedish calendar); 14 July 1708 (N.S.)
Location	Holowczyn, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth; (present-day Belarus)54°03′46″N 29°56′05″E
Result	Swedish victory
Belligerents
Swedish Empire	Tsardom of Russia
Commanders and leaders
Charles XII; Carl Gustav Rehnskiöld	Boris Sheremetev; Aleksandr Menshikov; Anikita Repnin
Strength
12,500	28,000
Casualties and losses
265 killed; 1,028 wounded	1,655–6,000

The Battle of Holowczyn (also spelled Holofzin or Golovchin) was fought in July 1708 between the Russian army, and the Swedish army, led by Charles XII of Sweden, only 26 years of age at the time. Despite difficult natural obstacles and superior enemy artillery, the Swedes were able to achieve surprise and defeat the numerically superior Russian forces, who were separated from each other, had no overall command and could not coordinate their actions, disallowing them an engagement in full force. Reportedly, it was Charles' favourite victory.

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