f was, on the whole, most successful. He
contrived one night to pass a detachment of his troops through the
gates of Pultowa into the town to strengthen the garrison. This
irritated the King of Sweden, and made him more determined and reckless
than ever to press the siege. Under this excitement he advanced so
near the walls one day, in a desperate effort to take possession of an
advanced part of the works, that he exposed himself to a shot from the
ramparts, and was badly wounded in the heel.

This wound nearly disabled him. He was obliged by it to confine
himself to his tent, and to content himself with giving orders from his
couch or litter, where he lay helpless and in great pain, and in a
state of extreme mental disquietude.

His anxiety was greatly increased in a few days in consequence of
intelligence which was brought into his camp by the scouts, that Peter
himself was advancing to the relief of Pultowa at the head of a very
large army. Indeed, the tidings were that this great force was close
at hand. The king found that he was in danger of being surrounded.
Nor could he well hope to escape the danger by a retreat, for the broad
and deep river Dnieper, which he had crossed to come to the siege of
Pultowa, was behind him, and if the Russians were to fall upon him
while attempting to cross it, he knew very well that his whole army
would be cut to pieces.

He lay restless on his litter in his tent, his thoughts divided between
the anguish of the wound in his heel and the mental anxiety and
distress produced by the situation that he was in. He spent the night
in great perplexity and suffering. At length, toward morning, he came
to the desperate resolution of attacking the Russians in their camp,
inferior as his own numbers were now to theirs.

He accordingly sent a messenger to the field-marshal, who was chief
officer in command under himself, summoning him to his tent. The
field-marshal was aroused from his sleep, for it was not yet day, and
immediately repaired to the king's tent. The king was lying on his
couch, quiet and calm, and, with an air of great serenity and
composure, he gave the marshal orders to beat to arms and march out to
attack the Czar in his intrenchments as soon as daylight should appear.

The field-marshal was astonished at this order, for he knew that the
Russians were now far superior in numbers to the Swedes, and he
supposed that the only hope of the king would be to defend him