What the Sources Say about the Armies'
Order of Battles at Poltava

The sources give conflicting information regarding which order the various regiments lined up for battle at Poltava. There are two sources from the Russian side: Peter the Great's plan and Plan boevye porjadki. The first is the official Russian description of the battle of Poltava. Its information on the Russian regiments seems credible but it greatly exaggerates the number of Swedish regiments in an effort to magnify the Russian victory. The second OOB was probably written down first and ordered by major general Hallart (who commanded one of three Russian infantry divisions). Apart from a somewhat more honest description of the strength of the Swedish army it also distinguish itself from Peter the Great's plan by having the Russian dragoon regiments deployed in five squadrons instead of four. Normally a Russian dragoon regiment consisted of ten companies paired together to form five squadrons, but it is possible that the number of squadrons was reduced because of a shortage of men or horses at the time of the battle.

On the Swedish side we have the general Lewenhaupt and major general Creutz who in Russian captivity wrote down the Swedish order of battle for the infantry respectively the cavalry. Lewenhaupt's OOB however only record the planned order of battle which include the six battalions commanded by Roos, which were separated from the main force during the redoubt battle, and not the actual force of just 12 battalions which participated in the main battle.

The tables below come from Bertil Wennerholm's book "Emporterade troféer" (2000), pages 61, 64. 84 and 86.

Swedish Infantry

Swedish Cavalry

Russian Infantry

Russian Cavalry

Return to the opposing armies' order of battles at Poltava. Or read about Russian uniforms at Poltava and Swedish uniforms at Poltava.