After the Swedish main army commanded by King Charles XII was destroyed in the Battle of Poltava in 1709, Finland was exposed to Russian attack.

[1] After the death of Carl Nieroth in January 1712, Governor Georg Lybecker, who had already been removed from the same position once due to the loss of Vyborg, was returned as commander-in-chief of the Swedish forces in Finland.

[1][6] Apraksin's galley fleet arrived in front of Helsinki shortly after the departure of the ice on 8 May 1713, conveniently before the return of the Neva squadron from Karlskrona, when the city was unprotected from the sea.

In Helsinki, the commander of the Nyland Regiment of Foot, Major General Carl Gustaf Armfelt, only had 1,800 men at his disposal, of which 1,500 were fit for battle, so the Russians had a huge superiority.

The Russians' first attempt to take over directly from the sea was repelled and they spent the next day assembling their fleet, as the wind temporarily prevented them from landing.

[1][7][8] On the night between 10 and 11 May, Major General Carl Gustaf Armfelt, Nyland and Tavastehus County Governor Johan Creutz, Helsinki Mayor Henrik Tammelin and the wealthy merchant Johan Henrik Frisius, who was responsible for the maintenance of the army, decided in a meeting that defending the city was hopeless and the only option would be to retreat to the north.

[1] Charles XII had ordered the army to follow the scorched earth tactic in Finland, so when the Swedes left, they set fire to the entire city and also burned the Crown's grain stores in Katajanokka with their contents.

[1] While retreating, Armfelt's army also burned the long bridge on Siltasaari, but the Russians crossed the strait on rafts to continue the pursuit.