Oravais: a hard-fought retreat under pressure

Oravais was one of the battles that undermined Sweden's hopes of victory. Fighting at a bridge held the Russian advance for about four hours, which should have allowed time to prepare the main defensive line. The Swedish position used a ridge, inlet, stream, and cleared ground to strengthen its defence. Several Russian attacks failed before Swedish troops launched an unauthorized counterattack and suffered heavy losses. A later ordered attack exploited a weakened Russian centre and drove the enemy back into the forest. Sweden then ran short of ammunition as Russian reinforcements arrived. After about fourteen hours of fighting, another attack in darkness forced the exhausted Swedish army to withdraw.