From the end of 1687 he commanded the armies in Belgorod defending Russia's southern border, and participated in the Crimean campaigns.

[1] During the Great Northern War (1700–1721) Sheremetev proved a capable but cautious and sluggish military leader.

Sheremetev was very cautious in his movements but proved more effective than the younger Prince Menshikov, the second-in-command, whose impulsiveness did not always lead to success.

In 1700 he joined the Russian army in its attack on Narva at the outbreak of the Great Northern War, but King Charles XII of Sweden drove him back from his position in Estonia.

[2] Sheremetev's army's attack on Marienburg (August 1702) led to Martha Skavronskaya coming to the tsar's court, where she eventually became Empress Catherine I[3] (reigned 1725–1727).

Sheremetev's revenge came at the Battle of Poltava in 1709, where he functioned as the senior Russian commander of the forces which soundly defeated the Swedish army.