The Russian army of Peter the Great under the command of Mikhail Golitsyn launched a surprise attack on the isolated vanguard of Charles XII's Swedish Army, under the direct command of Carl Gustaf Roos, in order to destroy it.

The Russian attack-force consisted of 9,000 infantry and 4,000 cavalry (including about 1,000 Cossacks and Kalmucks) under Mikhail Golitsyn and Gebhard von Pflug.

[3][1] Some Russian infantry got stuck in the swamps and were made easy targets to the pursuing Swedish forces.

[3][8] Other Russian sources, however, acknowledged only limited success, in large due to the slow march of their cavalry which had to traverse difficult marshlands.

[9] As a result, they had been unable to cut off and destroy Roos' isolated Swedish force, as was their objective.