September 28] 1708[j] between a Russian army of between 17,000 and 29,000 men commanded by Peter I of Russia, Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn, Aleksandr Danilovich Menshikov, Rudolph Felix Bauer and Nikolai Grigorovitj von Werden and a Swedish army between 12,500 and 16,000 men commanded by Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt and Berndt Otto Stackelberg, at the village of Lesnaya, located close to the border between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth and Russian Empire (now the village of Lyasnaya, Mogilev Region, Belarus).

With no sign of further combat and intelligence saying further Russian reinforcements had arrived, the Swedes in turn withdrew from the place of battle, in order to continue the march towards the main army.

While doing this many of the Swedish soldiers decided to loot the abandoned wagons and get drunk, thousands got lost in the woods, many of whom fell victim to Russian irregular cavalry.

The two soon continued their march towards Ukraine, eventually finding themselves at the Battle of Poltava and the surrender at Perevolochna which severely crippled the Swedish army and is known for being the turning point of the war.

Meanwhile, Denmark–Norway under Frederick IV of Denmark attacked the Swedish allied duchies of Holstein and Gottorp in order to secure his rear, before commencing with the planned invasion of Scania, which had been previously annexed by Sweden in the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658.

[12]: 13–14  After several defeats in the battles of Kliszów, Kraków, Pultusk and Toruń, Augustus was finally dethroned in favor of a monarch installed by the Swedes, Stanisław Leszczyński who was crowned king in 1705.

After the battles of Gemauerthof, Warsaw, Grodno and Fraustadt the campaign was decided in favor of the Swedes who chased their enemies out of Poland in 1706 and subsequently invaded Saxony, where Augustus saw himself defeated and forced to make peace.

[12]: 19–22  After some time of fighting against the Russians under Peter I, the Swedish king soon called upon reinforcements from Livonia where Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt was acting Commander-in-chief.

[12]: 102 In early April 1708, the governor of Riga, Adam Ludwig Lewenhaupt visited Charles XII at the Royal army's winter quarters in Radoszkowice to discuss strategy and receive orders for the ongoing campaign against Russia.

However, after several weeks of waiting and no words heard from Lewenhaupt, there was a twist to the plans as Charles found his position in Mogilev unsustainable and instead on September 26, decided to abandon his camps and march South towards Severia in Ukraine, hoping to reach that rich granary before winter.

[12]: 103–105 Peter I, who overestimated the Swedish force being 16,000 men strong, had gathered numbers far superior to those of Lewenhaupt and was eager to catch his convoy while it was still out of reach of Charles' main army and safety.

In this encounter losses amounted to more than 40 Russians killed and three to eleven captured, to four wounded Swedes, a real battle did not develop as both sides parted and the confrontation ended with the quick cavalry skirmish.

[13]: 119 The next morning, Lewenhaupt, who during this time stayed with his rearguard, would once again find himself confronted as the Russians stepped up their efforts to harass the back of the convoy as it made its crossing over at Dolgij Moch, towards Lesnaya.

The engagement concluded in a standoff after four hours of musket and artillery exchange in which the Swedes successfully denied every attempt made by the Russians to cross the river for the convoy.

The exact location of the troops at the start of the battle is not certain, however, between 4,500[13]: 216  and 7,000 men[12]: 105  remained on the north side of the Lesnjanka stream facing the Russian main army.

[12]: 106 The Russian army was commanded by Tsar Peter I and consisted of three divisions under generals Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn, Aleksandr Menshikov, Christian Felix Bauer and Nikolai Grigorovitj von Werden.

In an operational stance, the army totaled between 26,500 and 29,000 men, including between 2,500 and 5,000 irregulars[12]: 108  (Cossacks and Kalmyks, also referred to as light cavalry), or 900[16]: 242  to 10,000[11] according to other estimates, and more than 90 artillery pieces (30 cannons[16]: 242  and 60 six–pounder mortars).

The intention of Peter I was to attack Lewenhaupt with 13,000 regular soldiers along with thousands of irregulars initially available, in order to pin him down long enough for the rest of the army to arrive.

[13]: 224–225  The closest division available was that of Bauer at Berezovka who marched with about 4,976 men [17]: 123  along with thousands of irregulars, about 900 of these had been detached at Propoisk[12]: 108  and were the ones halting the Swedish vanguard as it tried to reach the town, the rest would find themselves at the battle–site later on during the day.

The last division marching towards the battle was located at Patskovo, led by Werden and consisted of about 6,191 men, however, as previously noted, these would only take limited part in the action.

[13]: 142–144  After this initial success, the Swedes were forced to retreat with many wounded through the southern fringe of the forest, where they were relieved by five fresh battalions under the command of Berndt Otto Stackelberg which had marched from Lesnaya.

During this extraordinary interlude, in which only three Russian cannons sounded off, the two armies distributed food, water and ammunition to their ranks, issued orders and deployed reinforcements in preparation for the final conflict.

Somehow during this remarkable phase, the Russian General Friedrich von Hessen-Darmstadt was shot and mortally wounded as he rode back and forth in a provocative manner between the two armies.

[13]: 167–170 At a little past 16:00, the Swedes opened fire, with cannons positioned 600 meters from the southern forest edge, on the newly arrived dragoons, who were then attaching themselves to the Russians' left flank.

[13]: 167–170 The Russian right flank under Mikhail Mikhailovich Golitsyn moved to secure the sole bridge across the Lesnjanka in order to prevent the flow of Swedish reinforcements across it, while seeking to trap them with their backs to the river.

[13]: 201–202  The Russians were content with this and proceeded to round up any deserters they could find, however, they did not attempt to confront the main body of Lewenhaupt's army as they were allowed to withdraw unmolested.

[13]: 202  Subsequently, Charles XII continued the march towards Ukraine where he found the condition of supplying his army better but also because a possible alliance with the Cossack hetman, Ivan Mazepa.

Overall, he claims, the casualties could not exceed 3,000 men in the battle and the following days (with the events at Propoisk), however, these figures are regarded as questionable and too low, according to the Swedish and Russian writers Einar Lyth and Pavel Konovalchuk.

[13]: 231–233  Nicholas Dorrell, a student in history, estimates the Swedish force at about 12,500 men strong in the battle, in an attempt to apply marching losses to the army.

[11]: 277–278  According to the Russian field marshal Boris Sheremetev, the battle had cost Russia 8,000 of its best troops; author Paul Bushkovitch called this a "wild exaggeration" in his biography about the Tsar.