Topic: Battles
Lindehielm sent his next report on 5 November 1700. In the morning following his previous letter on the 2th heavy firing had been from the direction of Narva. It had lasted several hours and been so intense that the earth trembled in Viborg. The feeling was that it must have come either from a battle or from an assault. No more firing had been heard thereafter apart from five shots in the evening and some more during the night. No news had arrived, so everyone was anxiously waiting for an explanation. Hopefully it meant that the Swedish army had arrived and forced the Russians to withdraw.
The "dubblering" from Nyland was ready to march and was expected at Viborg within two weeks. County Governor Cronhiort had received the King's orders to take charge of the forces in Ingria.
Lindehielm's next report was sent on 9 November. No more heavy firing had been heard from the direction of Narva, only a few occasional shots now and then. Nothing had been heard from Nyen about the enemy's actions and no enemy activity had been reported from Nyslott or Keksholm. This hopefully meant that the enemy had not been able to achieve anything of consequence before the arrival of the King's army and had been forced to withdraw.
The Swedish forces at Nyen were getting stronger and two companies from Nyland were expected at Viborg any day. Soldiers from Savolax and Viborg were also gathering, so if properly handled the Swedish forces would soon be able to go on the offensive. The Russians were however keeping a strong guard everywhere and were being assisted by the Russian peasants in Ingria. This made it very difficult get information about the enemy's real strength.
Just as Lindehielm was about to send the letter some news arrived from Nyen. The most important piece of information was that one of Governor Vellingk's men had managed to escape from captivity. According to him there had been no assault on Narva, but there was supposedly more than 100 000 Russians outside the town. A recently arrived peasant had said that the enemy had already lost 10 000 men. Many were dead and others had deserted. The latter were complaining about the lack of supplies - nothing to eat but boiled rye. There was no hay for the horses, so they had to make do with chopped branches of willow.
Source: Riksarkivet, ÄK 243, vol. 77
