After the victory at the Battle of Kliszów in July 1702, Karl XII negotiated to depose August II from the throne of Poland, but to no avail.

The strength of the Swedish army, combined with August's agreement with Tsar Peter I, caused many Polish nobles to defect to the pro-Swedish opposition.

In early March 1705, the Russian field marshal Boris Sheremetev organized a meeting with the Saxon general Otto Arnold von Paijkull to agree on a joint plan of action to defeat Charles XII.

The basis of the strategy was a plan drawn up by the nobleman Johann Patkul as early as 1703, which included a combined attack that would neutralize the Swedish army.

Patkul considered the plan too risky and suggested that the Allies should first crush Lewenhaupt's Courland army, before Ogilvy's troops would face Charles XII.

There, the allies believed that Ogilvy could hold out against Charles XII's troops long enough for the main Saxon army to arrive from Kraków.

Upon discovering that the left wing of the enemy line was held by the Russian troops, Rehnskiöld directed his infantry to assault their positions, which were also being attacked from the rear by colonel von Krassow's cavalry.

The Saxon right flank initially held, inflicting some damage to the Swedish infantry until the cavalry in the frozen swamp attacked their rear.

The Swedish cavalry, previously bogged down in the swamp, raced ahead on the open terrain, and met the fleeing Saxons and Russians on the far outskirts of the town.

Schulenburg also made two grave mistakes: first by being lured into terrain not to his advantage and then underestimating the mobility of the Swedish cavalry,[citation needed] especially on the flanks.

[16] The authors further quotes Lieutenant Colonel Nils Gyllenstierna of the Norra Skånska cavalry regiment about the fate of the Russian infantry, (in Swedish) “på några 100 när massakrerat, emedan vi inte i begynnelsen kunde giva kvarter, eftersom vår vänstra flygel ännu stod i full eld” roughly translated as “all but a few hundred were massacred, as initially quarters could not be given, since our left flank was still in full assault”.

From Alexander Magnus Dahlberg's (Dragoon at Buchwalds dragoonregiment) diary: "Ett ännu som mig underligit förekom vil jag här anföra, nemligen at ingen af de 6000:de ryssar som voro saxerne tilhielp gafs någon pardon, utan blefvo alla masacrerade; de voro alla munderade i hvita råckar med rödt foder, hvaraf några under flyckten som fådt så lång tid, vändt om råckarna och det röda fodret ut, fingo pardon i mening at de voro saxar, men sedan general Renschiöld fick veta at de voro ryssar, lät han föra dem för fronten, och befalte at skiuta dem för hufvudet, som var rätt ett ymkeligt spectacel.

"Roughly translated to: "Something which I found strange I’d like to here mention, is that none of the 6,000 Russians who were the Saxons help were given any mercy, but were instead all massacred; They were all dressed in white coats with red lining, with some during the retreat having turned their coats inside out to resemble Saxons in hope of mercy, but after General Renschiöld learned they were Russians, he had them taken to the front to be shot in the head, which was quite a wretched spectacle.

King August II of Poland gave up his claim on the Polish crown, although he remained Elector Frederick Augustus I of Saxony.