The Battle of Ruovesi was a major battle during the Finnish Civil War and on the Eastern Front of World War I fought in Ruovesi, Finland from 5 February to 19 March 1918 between the Whites and the Reds with support from Russian volunteers. The fighting took mostly place in the villages of Pekkala, Jäminkipohja ja Pihlajalahti in the southern part of the Ruovesi municipality. The Ruovesi village itself, and the northern parts, were held by the Whites. The Reds were aiming from the south to the Tampere–Haapamäki railway, in order to the reach the vital junction of Haapamäki, located 40 kilometres northeast of Ruovesi. Major fighting also occurred in the eastern village of Väärinmaja, but it was connected to the Battle of Vilppula. The battle is known for the participation of a group of Soviet anarchist sailors, who sided the Reds on at least one occasion (13 February). Background When the war broke out on 27 January, the Whites and the Reds in Ruovesi made an agreement not to take part on the conflict. The situation, however, changed on 2 February as a White Guard unit from the Ostrobothnian municipality of Ylihärmä entered Ruovesi and took over control in the village. The northern parts of Ruovesi, as well as the villages of Jäminkipohja and Ruhala on the southern side of the lake Palovesi, were under White control. About 200 poorly armed members of the Ruovesi Red Guard withdraw to the southern parts of the municipality, and took control on the southern villages of Murole and Kekkonen. They were soon joined by 100 Red fighters from Tampere. The Reds were commanded by the worker Emil Koski and the carpenter Herman Järvinen. Two days later, the paramilitary White Guards were pulled out from Ruovesi and replaced by a unit of the Western Army, commanded by the Jäger captain Paul Wallenius. According to the military plan composed by the Red Guard commander-in-chief Ali Aaltonen, focus in the Northern Tavastia region was to secure the vital railway connecting the towns of Tampere and Pori. This meant that the Reds in the rural areas like Ruovesi, Kuru and Virrat were mostly left on their own. The troops in Ruovesi were only supported by a small unit from the Helsinki district of Hermanni, led by Oskar Johansson. The battle Red offensive The first confrontation in Ruovesi occurred on 5 February, as the Reds crossed the