Battle of the Neva (1708)

Lybecker first confused the Russian command of where the possible crossing were to be made and so, on September 9, close to Teusina, his forces started the construction of the bridge. Meanwhile, two Russian brigantines spotted the work and started firing. The Swedes, however, responded with their own cannons and soon the Russian ships had to withdraw. Later after some smaller skirmishes, about 1,200 Swedes were across the river constructing fortifications. The Russians then counterattacked in full force, between 4,000 and 8,000 men. However, the Swedes made a fierce stand and the Russians were, after an hour of fighting including a hasty bayonet charge from the Swedes, soundly defeated leaving 900 men dead behind while having an unknown number of wounded. The Swedes claimed to have lost 86 men dead and 291 wounded in this action.^[2][4] While Russian sources, referring to later interrogations of Swedish prisoners, mention a Swedish loss of 200–303 killed and 100–210 wounded; the larger and more detailed figures coming from a Swedish quartermaster.^[5]

The battle had no real strategic effect as Lybeckers' force could not capture Saint Petersburg due to lack of heavy artillery. Instead, after some further campaigning in Russian-controlled Ingria, in which a battle was fought at Koporye, Lybecker ran out of supplies and had to retreat to the open water to get his army evacuated back to Finland. During the Evacuation of Kolkanpää, he had to slaughter and leave behind many of his well–needed horses, a circumstance which would have serious consequences in the Russian invasion of Finland.^[2][4]