The Battle of Desna, also known as the Crossing of the Desna River, was a three-day operation which took place on 11 to 13 November 1708 during the Swedish invasion of Russia in the Great Northern War. The Swedes under Charles XII tried to prevent the Russians from seizing the town of Baturyn, by crossing the river of Desna which was strongly defended by a Russian army of 4,000 men under Ludwig Nicolaus von Hallart. On 11 November the Swedes attempted to build a bridge going over the river, however, the heavy fire from the Russians made for slow progress and so, on 12 November, Berndt Otto Stackelberg with 600 men crossed the river on rafts to cover the ongoing construction of the bridge. The Russians counterattacked but were fiercely repulsed by the outnumbered Swedish defenders. The Russ