PETER I, the Great. Letter signed ('Petr') to 'Mister General Lieutenant Sheremetev', St. Petersburg, 22 December 1713, with a two-line autograph note, 2 pages, 4° (light soiling). Provenance: manuscript catalogue numbers in red and black ink.

PETER I, the Great. Letter signed (\'Petr\') to \'Mister General Lieutenant Sheremetev\', St. Petersburg, 22 December 1713, with a two-line autograph note, 2 pages, 4° (light soiling). Provenance: manuscript catalogue numbers in red and black ink.



THE GREAT NORTH WAR -- ON THE IMPORTANCE OF LAYING SIEGE TO, AND CAPTURING THE FORTRESS OF VASA. Peter remarks that if Vasa is not captured, the enemy\'s ski regiments would cause a great deal of trouble to the Russians during the winter. He adds in the postscript that an important person would be coming overland from Sweden, and that this person should not be seen by anyone but escorted directly to the Emperor. Peter closes in his own hand, offering good wishes for the forthcoming Christmas festivities. In the following year a Russian expedition of 30 warships and 180 galleys mounted a successful attack on the Swedish island of Ahvenamaa (Aland). Peter\'s occupation of this strategic position on the mouth of the Gulf of Bothnia marked the first major naval triumph in Russian history. The eventual erosion of Swedish influence in the Baltic helped establish Russia as a major European power.