Battles of The finnish war 1908

[Carl von Döbeln]

SORRY IT'S 1808-09




"Picture from the war"


I found some info and thought,-Why don't Post it

Battle of oravais

In the late summer, early autumn of 1808, it stood clear that the Swedish summer offensive had failed, and Adlercreutz with the main army was moving north, away from the Russians, who were efficiently following under Kamenskij. At Oravais Adlercreutz found splendid positions for defence, and here planned to cause the Russians some damage and delay their advance. The initial Swedish plan was therefore only to give a smaller action at Oravais. The great decisive battle that was to be fought had not been planned for at all.

On September 13th, gunfire was heard from the north. This came from Juthas, where von Döbeln was fighting a Russian force under Kossatchovskij that had tried to go around and surround the entire Swedish army. Juthas was a Swedish victory. The night between the 13th and 14th, the Swedish army camped in their positions at the village of Oravais, and the advance guard was deployed further south, at Lillträsket. It was here that the first fighting was to be done.

At about 5.00 in the morning on September 14, 1808, the silence of dawn was broken by the sporadic gunfire that came from the outpost. The Russian advance guard was already attacking the outpost troops, of the Helsinge regiment, that were posted on the road south of the main position. The Russians, led by the legendary cavalry officer Jakov Petrovitj Kulnev, threw the Swedish outposts back after some intense fighting near Lillträsket, whereas the Swedish after having defended themselves for hours, withdrew to the main position. It was at this initial fighting that the young Swedish artillery officer Wilhelm von Schwerin was mortally wounded as he was defending the bridge with his battery. von Schwerin gets some praise in Fänrik Ståls Sägner.

During the whole time the fighting was done at Lillträsket, the bulk of the Swedish army waited calmly at the main positions. But as Russian reinforcements were now arriving, and the Swedish advance guard had retreated, Kulnev advanced on the strong main position that Adlercreutz had prepared. This was about 10.00 in the morning.

The Russian 3rd Jäger regiment was deployed just north of the road, while the Sevsk regiment stood south of it. The Petrovsk and Perm regiments were deployed further south. The Swedish had lined up at the forest (below called the main position) and even prepared old barns as simple redoubts. The Swedish reserves stood on the road between the church of Oravais and the main position. The Swedish army numbered about 5.500 troops, while the Russians, successively during the battle, committed 6.000 to 7.000 troops. Interestingly enough, Russian sources speak of a flotilla of Swedish gunboats in the bay, but these are not referred to in Swedish sources. The situation was set and battle was imminent.


"Thousands of rifles opened up fire from both sides of the river... light clouds of gunsmoke lay as a cover over the green fields where skirmishers were crawling like ants... the Russian artillery answered with such a great success that the cannonade may have been the hardest I have yet heard", fänrik Ljunggren who was an eyewitness, later told. Kulnev was now commanding the Russian left, as well as having the overall command, while Demidov was in charge of the right. The fact that Kulnev held the overall command at this stage of the battle is an interesting detail, because in reality Demidov had the higher military rank! Maybe this relationship had been decided on in the name of practicality.

After an intense artillery duel, the Russian infantry advanced. Oh, what a splendid sight! Although Oravais was a small skirmish by continental European standards, all the splendour and colour of the Napoleonic battlefield was present: The men in their flashy uniforms, Russian green advancing straight at the Swedish positions, with shining bayonets and banners fluttering before the wind; sporadic, high commands were heard from the officers, the sounds of thousands of pairs of feet marching to the monotonous beat of the drums. And all this, covered in a layer of gunsmoke. Yes, it must have been a sight!

Karl Von Döbeln at the battle




Phase II of the battle

The first advance bogged down though, and in disappointment over this, Kulnev had troops moved over to reinforce Demodov's right. Demidov immediately went to renewed attack, but also this was countered effectively by the Swedish. At this time, for no apparent logical reason at all and on own initiative, the Swedish Västerbotten's regiment did a disastrous counterattack. They were met with such murderous fire by the Russian guns, that they were turned over in rout. On top of that, the Savolax infantry also joined in the attack, with the same disastrous results. After this, Kulnev again tried to break the Swedish line in a third attempt. To no use. The Russians could not break the Swedish, instead the Russian line was thinned as more and more units were moved over to the right in an attempt to outflank the Swedish.

The situation must have looked very good indeed for Adlercreutz, who was watching the development of the fighting from his command post. The Russian centre was now thin enough for a Swedish counterattack to have disastrous results for the Russian attackers. Straying from his initial plans of defence, Adlercreutz decided on making a counterattack.

At about 2.00 in the afternoon, the Swedish attack began. Adlercreutz' counterattack came swiftly as a surprise for the Russians, and therefore the Swedish initially gained some ground. The Swedes attacked the Russian centre, in the direction of the road. At first, only the battalions of the Västmanlanders and Uppland were involved and they went over the small river at the bridge, but soon the entire Swedish line was in movement against the Russians. The Swedish attack went on with such success that a Russian gun was conquered and the attack reached on all the way to the positions of the initial fighting this day, at Lillträsket. The Russians were now withdrawing before the Swedish attack, but things were to change.


Phase III
The Russian troops retreating, were soon met by fresh, new Russian units, that were arriving on the road from the south. These were the troops led by Ushakov, and Kamenskij himself was riding with these. Kamenskij and Ushakov did not hesitate to bring their fresh troops into battle.

When the Russians came on anew, at about 17.00, ammunition was running low for the Swedish forces. Although brave attempts were made to keep the fighting going, the Swedes had to admit defeat at Lillträsket and retreat back to their initial positions further north. Desperate fighting was done as elements of the Swedish army were trapped behind the Russian lines and had to force themselves out, and back to the main Swedish line, with their bayonets. The battle was still very much undecided as Adlercreutz returned to his position where he had begun the day, but darkness was now falling, making further fighting more and more impossible.

Many historians have criticized Adlercreutz for the disastrous counterattack. Indeed, he played the faith of his entire army on one, as it seems, useless card, at a crucial point in the battle when he knew that the enemy was expecting reinforcements. However, at the time the attack was decided on, the situation looked very good indeed, and a decisive attack, had it succeeded, would have thrown the by Kulnev led lead elements of the Russian army into rout and cut off Demidov from the rest of the army. It might just have ended in a true disaster for the entire Russian army. As it often is in war, the Swedish attack had been a gamble that failed.

Now the Russians had the undisputed initiative. Kamenskij gave order that a new attempt to outflank the Swedish left was to be made, and when this was well in progress, the rest of the Russian army joined in an all-out attack. This was the attack that broke the Swedish army. At about 22.00 in the evening, Adlercreutz decided to retreat north, in the cover of darkness. And the retreat became a spectacle.

"All this time I stood on a nearby hill and watched the horrible play. Towards the evening Jernefelt and I went down to one of the farms, where we intended to spend the night. Then the news that the Swedish army was in full retreat arrived. It became a horrible retreat! The road was tread to pieces. We joined the baggage. It was raining and the darkness was so compact that you could hardly see anything in front of you [...] The Swedish troops, of which soldiers every now and then came through the woods to the baggage, were in total disorder. They had no officers left. The Finnish troops made the rearguard, and were retreating in good order. They did not even have any guns to cover them", Eric Gustaf Ehrström, one of the eyewitnesses tells us about the retreat from Oravais in his diary.




The Swedish army lost more than 1.200 in dead, wounded and POW's in the battle, and the Russians lost about 900 men. The strategic effects of the Swedish defeat were immediate and enormous. The defeated army had to retreat further north, and soon leave Finland altogether. Oravais was therefore the decisive battle and turningpoint of the entire war. It was indeed a Scandinavian Gettysburg, or – Cannae

Order of Battle

Swedish forces at Oravais: 5500 men
Field Marshal Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor (commander of the Swedish-Finnish troops in Finland, but left over the command to Carl Johan Adlercreutz at Oravais).

• Swedish main army
  gen. Carl Johan Adlercreutz
  
• Infantry
  Upplands reg. 2 bat.
  Västmanland reg. 1 bat.
  Hälsinge reg. 3 bat.
  Västerbottens bataljon 1 bat. Uppland, Hälsinge and Västmanland jaegers 6 companies
  Österbottens bataljon 1 bat.
  Savolaks inf. reg.(4th brig.) 2 bat.
  Savolaks Jaeger reg.(4th brig) 2 bat.
  Karelian Jaeger corps(4th brig.)
  
• Cavalry
  Livgardet at horse 2 sqdr.
  Karelian dragoon corps 1 sqdr
  
• Artillery
  Six 6-pound guns
  One 4-pound Howitzer

• Russian forces at Oravais;
  6-7000 men
  gen. Nikolaj Kamenskij (Russian commander of the Main Army)
  
• Advance Guard under J. P. Kulnev
  Sevsk musketeer reg. 2 bat.
  3. Jaeger reg. 2 bat.
  Grodno Hussar reg. 2 sqdr.
  Don Cossacks 100 troops
  
• Troops under N. I. Demidov
  Petrovsk musketeer reg. 2 bat.
  Perm musketeer reg. 2 bat.
  
• Reserves under Ushakov
  Mogilov musketeer reg. 2 bat.
  Lithuania musketeer reg. 2 bat.
  25 Jaeger reg. 1 bat.
  Grodno hussars 1? sqdr
  Polish lanciers reg. 1 sqdr
  
• Artillery
  Colonel Argun's artillerycompany (from 17 artillerybrigade)
  Lt. Col. Ziminsky's artillerycompany (from 21 art. brig)

Info from;Göran frilund’s webiste about the war .(all rights reserved)
(Maps by Göran Frilund, after maps on Oravais Historiska Förening's website)


+ REP ME IF YOU ENJOYED THE TEXT
/Carl Von Döbeln

[Carl von Döbeln]

Here's some more bttles from the finnish war :

The action at juthas.

September 13 1808,

In September of 1808 the Swedish army was on the retreat after having lost the Summer Campaign of that year. The main Swedish army was retreating from Vasa, north towards Nykarleby, followed by the main Russian force under Kamenskij. Noting the Swedish retreat, the Russians sent a detachment of troops under Kosatchoffskij along the road from Lappo towards Nykarleby. The mission was to cut the retreat for the Swedes, who countered this move by sending von Döbeln with troops to Nykarleby.

Von Döbeln, this legendary commander, took command of two battalions of the Björneborg Regiment, Gyllenbögels corps as well as a detachment of four six-pound cannons, the artillery being led by Lieutenant J P Hesselius. He immediately took defensive positions at Juthas, some distance south from the town of Nykarleby. He ordered his troops on line formation and awaited the Russian advance. An avantgarde of one company was also deployed about one kilometre south of the main position. Von Döbeln's troops were severely fatigued after the long march, uniforms and equipment in bad condition; but here the men got a few hours of well-deserved rest before the action could start.

At about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, the avantgarde was attacked by the advancing enemy, but they retreated in good order to the main Swedish line and took position on the right wing. By then the Kossatchoffskij came marching along the road north with his troops: three battalions and three guns. The armies were equal in size - about 1.500 troops each.

When the Russian troops were close enough, von Döbeln let his guns open the "affaire"; and the advancing enemies were stopped by the brutal fire. The Russians spread out their infantry on line formations and soon the two armies were trading shots. Heavy musketfire and cannonry followed. Von Döbeln saw that the Russians were being beaten on the right wing, as the Gyllenbögel's corps was fighting bravely. Von Döbeln continually committed more and more of his reserves on the right part of the battlefield and soon had the Russians running. At that point, he ordered an all-out attack.

Under loud "Hurrah!" the Swedish went over on attack, an attack theat finally broke the Russian offensive. The Swedish artillery silenced the Russian guns, and Kossatchoffskij decided to pull back. The Swedish troops occupied the battlefield during the night, since they expected a renewed Russian advance. But none came.

The Swedish lost about 43 men, of which 16 were killed. The Russian losses in dead and wounded counted at about 130 men. The battle of Juthas saved the Swedish retreat north, and that advantage was to prove increasingly important, especially since Adlercreutz' main army fought the disastrous battle of Oravais, some kilometres south of Juthas, the very next day. In a way, Juthas can be seen as the foreplay to the decisive battle the next day. The battle of Juthas is also legendary because Runeberg wrote exciting words about it.


The battle of Lappo

July 14 1808

During the Swedish Summer offensive, the Russian commander of the main army of about 4.100 troops, Nikolai Rayevskij, pulled back to the town of Lappo and there set up his defence. The positions he found there were certainly not to his advantage. On July 14, Adlercreutz with the main Swedish army, 4.700 men, went to attack. The goal for the Swedes was to outflank the Russians, surround them and annihilate their army.

At this battle, von Döbeln and his Björneborg regiment distinguished themselves. As they were marching up, over the open fields, against the town where Russian forces were entrenched, Adlercreutz gave the order to halt. Von Döbeln and his men were exposed to a brutal artillery bombardment. This was all too muche for von Döbeln, who gave the order for his regiment to advance. After heavy fighting among the houses, the Björneborg regiment finally cleared the town of all opposition.

Rayevksij retreated though and Adlercreutz' plan to surround the Russians came to nothing. Nonetheless, Lappo was a very impotant victory for the Swedish army, which now continued its summer offensive. As a direct result of the defeat at Lappo, Rayevskij was replaced as commander of the main Russian army by the younger, yet able, general Nikolai Kamenskij




The battle of Virta Bro

During the late summer of 1808, the Swedish positions in Finland were under serious pressure. In September Adlercreutz with the main Swedish army lost the decisive battle of Oravais, forcing him into retreat north. In the east, Johan August Sandels had been defending the Toivala-front for three months, against almost daily Russian attacks and advances. Now, however, as the main army in the west was defeated, the lines of communication were threatened and Sandels saw himself forced to pull back north, not to end up in a Russian trap. On top of this, the Russians on the Toivala-front were now being strengthened with reinforcements from Russia. Prince Dolgorukij arrived with fresh forces and the strength of the two opposing armies soon stood one to four. Sandels found Perfect defensive positions at Virta Bro (north of Idensalmi) and therefore retreated north, leaving the Russians to occupy the Toivala position. On september 29, the cease-fire of Lochteå was signed, leading to a pause in the war.

On October 27 the cease-fire ended and the Russians saw their chance at driving Sandels out once and for all. "Sandels was the best of the against us acting generals", it was said among the Russians. The Russians had 6.000 first-class troops at their disposal at Virta Bro, the Swedish had only 1.800 with 12 guns. But the Swedes had their military genius among them - Sandels.

At midday, the Russian attack began and large numbers of troops poured over the bridge, attacking the Swedish positions on the other side. Four battalions of the Reval, Tengin and Navagin regiments were forced over the bridge by Prince Dolgorukij, who commanded the assault. Sandels calmly pulled back to the redoubts and defences just north of the bridge, knowing that the Russian troops would not follow in an instant, because of the greater firepower of the Swedish artillery there. And here he awaited the main Russian attack, as it took some time for them to reorganize. Sandels had prepared a trap.

At the given signal, and when the first Russians reached the defences, the Swedish troops went over on counter attack with bayonets on (bayonets was the only language the Russian soldiers would understand, it was said.). An intense battle followed, in which the Swedish went forth and pushed the Russian troops back towards the bridge. An enormous disorder developed in the Russian lines as they reached the bridge and tried to get over. The Swedish pulled forward two guns and let them play with bloody effect against the routed Russians. Soon the Russian Nisov and Navagin regiments appeared on the other side of the river and a lively exchange of fire followed for about an hour. But the Russians had been beaten.

Russian losses counted at 764 dead and wounded; 74 prisoners of war were taken. The Swedes are reported to have lost 312 men, of which 18 were officers. As an example, the Vasa regiment lost 20% of its strength. Sandels had won an enormous tactical victory; in fact this battle was the last major Swedish military victory on Finnish soil. "Gentlemen, this has been our Austerlitz", Sandels said.





The battle of Siikajoki:

April 18 1808,
The Swedish commander in chief, Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor, did not enjoy any popularity neither in the army nor among the civilian population because of his retreat north during the first stages of the war. Russian troops soon had all of southern Finland occupied and their armies were continually following Klingspor and his retreating army. Klingspor only acted upon the official plan of war though - to retreat north and there await reinforcements from Sweden. At Siikajoki (and later also Revolax), just south of Oulu, the first Swedish actions to stop the Russian advance were to come.

While Georg Carl von Döbeln gave the Russian troops hard resistance on the southern side of the river, Adlercreutz was able to come to his aid and turn the battle into victory by going straight into counter offensive. The most interesting detail from the battle of Siikajoki has to be the cavalry skirmish that was being fought to the north though. The Russian cavalry, including the Grodno Hussar Regiment along with Cossacks (probably of the Don) went to attack on the frozen river.

Although the Swedish had won the day, Klingspor continued the retreat north.


The battle of Sävar:

After occupying Finland the russian troops marched into Sweden itself. In a joint army-navy operation the last functional army of Sweden was landed in the back of the Russian troops that were camping at Umeå. Wachtmeister, who was very careful, waited too long for the supporting troops under Wrede who were supposed to come in against Umeå from the south though. Kamenskij, being a rash and aggressive opponent, immediately threw his army at the Swedes. Wachtmeister used much of his reserves during the battle at Sävar, without achieving a breakthrough. He retreated back north, to Ratan, where his troops were protected by the strong artillery of the Swedish navy, as well as landbatteries.

At about 7:30 in the morning the fighting started as the Swedish avantegardes came under fire by the attacking Russian troops. The fighting was concentrated to "Krutbrånet", a hill, over which the battle was waged time after time. The Swedish troops stood fast, although untried soldiers were thrown in. The Russians on their side, although suffering from hunger and being fatigued, fought very well. As the Russian 23rd jaegerregiment was on the offensive in the wooded terrain just north east of the battlefield and Kamenskij found that they were moving too slowly, he let his own guns shoot away two shots in the back of them. This was how Russian commanders ruthlessly could use their powers.

General Anselme de Gibory had crossed the small river with nine companies Russian troops and was at this point threatening the Swedish flanks. Against these troops Wachtmeister committed the jaegerbatallion of the second brigade, Drottningens Livregemente as well as Svea Livgarde. Although the Swedish units were put in one by one, and could not develop the full strength of a collective attack, they finally beat the Russians off.
Back at Sävar village the Russian troops were at this moment winning and the Swedish were retreating over the river. The Russians now found a splendid chance to beat the Swedish in the back and under Schreider, six Russian companies passed over the river and attacked the Swedish troops, that were fighting Anselm de Gibory, in the back. This all made Wachtmeister somewhat uncertain and he now gave the order of all-out retreat. Although the Swedish army still had five companies in reserves, the retreat was started under complaints from the troops. The Russians were too tired to follow, but Wachtmeister had thrown away a perfectly good victory. The battle ended about 3.00 in the afternoon.

Swedish losses were about 758 dead and wounded, while the Russians lost about 1.312 dead and wounded. A hard defeat for the Swedish army, since the beaten forces had been Sweden's last effective operational regiments. Sävar indeed concluded the entire war.






Info from;Göran frilund’s webiste about the war .(all rights reserved)
(Maps by Göran Frilund, after maps on Oravais Historiska Förening's website)



+ REP ME IF YOU ENJOYED THE TEXT
/Carl Von Döbeln

[Nissedruva]

Hmm you don't need to make a new thread every day specially when you post the same copied text again without adding an discussion...why not use the thread made yesterday?

[Carl von Döbeln]

Because Nowbody could see it :S And i will ask a moderator to delete the old thread

[Steel of Fury]

Good thread Carl, nice maps and illustrations. It's good that a lesser known campaign from the Napoleonic Era is put up here. Kinda makes Sweden and Russia interesting to play in Empire. We should have more of this kind of threads.

[Carl von Döbeln]

Good thread Carl, nice maps and illustrations. It's good that a lesser known campaign from the Napoleonic Era is put up here. Kinda makes Sweden and Russia interesting to play in Empire. We should have more of this kind of threads.

Thanks ,and Yes

[Nissedruva]

You copy from this site right?

http://www.multi.fi/~goranfri/battles.html

[Carl von Döbeln]

You copy from this site right?

http://www.multi.fi/~goranfri/battles.html

Yes ,I took the info from there
Very good site

[Carl von Döbeln]

Here's info about Carl Von Döbeln:

Georg Carl von Döbeln was born at Stora Torpa in the Swedish region of Skaraborg in 1758. He lost his father early, and his fosterparents thought it best for young Georg Carl to become a priest. As his military interest grew, he was later sent to naval school though but after completing this, his relatives again thought of "his best for him"; and that was to be a lawyer instead. For two years he tried studying law, but to no great success. So at the age of twenty, he joined the infantry regiment of Sprengtporten as an officer of the rank of Fänrik.

Hungry for adventure as young men are, Döbeln decided to travel to the Thirteen Colonies in 1780, to join the fight for freedom there. He stayed on in Paris for a year though and at last he was hired at the regiment of Count De La Marck with a personal letter of recommendation from Benjamin Franklin himself.

The regiment was not on its way to America though, but to India. And in Africa and India Döbeln came in contact with many different cultures, and he described them in his diaries. The trip to India took one year and was filled with hazards, diseases raged aboard "l'Amitie" and the French were unseasoned seamen. Outside Brest, the fleet came under attack by British vessels and had to return to Brest for repairs but could then continue the trip unscathed. Having been wounded in his leg at the battle of Cuddalore (Goudelour) in India Döbeln refused to report himself wounded because he knew that the campaign would then be over for him, instead he showed great bravery in the fighting in India. The battle of Cuddalore was the largest engagement between European forces in India to that date. In September 1783, Döbeln was made captain and then served as Aide to general De La Marck during the six-month trip home.

Döbeln returned home after the adventure in India, but could not find a good job because he had fallen from the Swedish king Gustav III's favour when he was in Paris. The king had actually asked Döbeln to second in a duel for a rival against his good friend general De La Marck, which he refused. Döbeln therefore returned to France and served at the garrison of Strasbourg for four years. And here he also made some interesting friends. During a vacation at the castle of Raismes in Northern France, Döbeln was doing some geometrical measurements and maps of the area. As company he got a "short but nice man" who introduced himself as Bonaparte. It was the future Emperor.

When the war with Russia 1788-90 broke out, Döbeln returned to Sweden. In March of 1789 he was hired as Captain at the Savolax Light Infantry regiment under Colonel Stedingk, and at the battle of Porrassalmi, where the Swedish fought a widely larger Russian force, he was again wounded. This time he took a bullet straight in his head and that is also where he started wearing the famous black silk band over his forehead; to cover the ugly wound. As he was also a very hot-tempered man, people around him thought that his confusing ways of behaving was a direct result of the head-wound. After this incident he attained the rank of Major though.

During the peaceful years between the two wars, Döbeln also spent his time on more peaceful things. He collected himself a small fortune as well and expanded on his estates. In 1805 he was transferred to the Nylands Brigade in Finland.

At the outbreak of the war that would make him legend, Döbeln was in command of the rearguard of the Third Brigade, and as such he had excellent chances in the field; at Ypperi near Pyhäjoki he fought Kulnev with bravery, at Lappo he attacked the enemy left flank and threw it over, at Kauhajoki he charged a superior Russian force and made it retreat. And once again legend tells us about his hot temper and cold bravery. After having witnessed the Russian cruelty towards the population and peasants of the Kauhajoki region, Döbeln and his troops performed a splendid deed of arms in the battle that followed. "It was executed like on the field of exercise", one eyewitness told. And when the Russians came through the first line, Döbeln got up on a nearby milestone and shouted to them: "Run to hell, you lousy! And receive your reward! Here I stand and shall fall! Here you see my monument!".

Another, somewhat bizarre example of Döbeln's temper is taken from the battle of Ypperi near Pyhäjoki at the end of the first retreat. During this hard battle in the winter snow, Döbeln's regimental aide, Erling was shot dead and the blood sprinkled all over Döbeln himself and his coat was stained with the blood. When people later asked him what on earth was all over his coat, he answered that it was Erling's brain. "He lost his head when he rode alongside me".

His most legendary victory came at the engagement of Juthas though, which is written about in Fänrik Ståls Sägner. The Russian general Kossatchoffskij tried to cut the retreat for the Swedish main army, but Döbeln saved the situation by throwing his Björneborg regiment straight at the enemy. The main army under Adlercreutz fought the battle of Oravais the next day, and if it had not been for Döbeln's victory at Juthas, total disaster would have threatened for the Swedish army. "Döbeln At Juthas" is quite something of a great story. Before the action, Döbeln lay ill in the town of Nykarleby, when he received the information that Russian troops were marching up. Yet, he took himself out to the field, raised the broken morale of the underequipped and badly uniformed troops; then commenced a daring charge that threw the overwhelming enemy over, on a field of battle that was not suited for such an attack. Undoubtably, although the battle of Juthas was nothing but a smaller action, it made Döbeln's mark in history.

During the war, Döbeln was given a nickname by the soldiers, The Black Band, for understandable reasons. After the battle of Lappo Döbeln received the Great Cross of the Order of the Sword and was made Major General after Juthas. He was then stationed as commander on Åland islands. On Åland he was attacked by Russian troops but was able to make an ordered retreat back to the Swedish mainland. As Kulnev's Russian troops came ashore on mainland Sweden at Grisslehamn, Döbeln was the only military force between him and Stockholm.

Döbeln then took an active part in the campaign in Northern Sweden, where he gave a heartbreaking farewell to the Finnish part of the army. The words he spoke ended the 700-year alliance. After this, he commanded the Swedish troops stationed at the Norwegian border and he was there able to persuade the Norwegian commander to retreat back into Norway without any spilling of blood.

Döbeln's farewell of the Finnish soldiers on the 8th of October 1809 has been described in glorious words in Finnish and Swedish historywriting. And for those of us who have studied Napoleon and his Empire, our thoughts are immediately brought to the event that took place in Fountainbleu in 1814 as the Emperor took farewell of his own troops. The day of October of 1809 was cold and windy; and the entire situation moved von Döbeln to the point that he was said to have torn his black band from his head and sworn to be prepared to die. On one side, stood the newly arrived Life Grenadiers in shining uniforms and with new equipment, then stood other troops from Sweden, and last stood the veterans from Finland; dressed in rags and with lacking equipment. A pitiful sight. Yet it was to these men Döbeln spoke, to bid farewell and give the Finnish nation thanks.

And then during the war in Germany 1813, Döbeln was in command over the Swedish troops in Mecklenburg. From there he assisted Hamburg, which was threatened by French troops. British and Danish troops were sent to assist Hamburg against the French, but these forces were too small and would be late. Swedish hands were also tied, because Crown Prince Bernadotte had not yet arrived and had given strict orders that the Swedish troops, which were in Northern Germany commanded by Adlercreutz, were not to engage the enemy (if not the odds were three to one). Adlercreutz could not decide on whether to take the decision of assisting the city in trouble in his own hands or not. He often resorted to drinking. But Döbeln immediately sent Brigadier general Boije with Swedish reinforcements to Hamburg. After Bernadotte finally had arrived in Germany, and been greeted as "Germany's saviour" by the people of Stralsund, Adlercreutz was finally replaced by Stedingk at the high command. Von Döbeln did not stop his march on Hamburg although Bernadotte wanted the troops to stop right where they were. Döbeln sat in his office with the order from Bernadotte in his hand for an hour, before sending it off to Boije. By the time the courier arrived, Boijes troops were already at the outskirts of the city. And there he successfully fought off a French attack.

Döbeln had promised to assist Hamburg. And he always went his own way, on good or bad. That is why he did it. He was always a man of his word - to the utmost. At one time Döbeln was visiting a couple of ladies and they sat about chatting about things he did not want to hear. He then told them that if they did not stop their useless chattering, he would leave and not come back before ten years had gone. The ladies continued their entertaining discussion without noting his remark. He then stood up and left. And very true, he returned ten years later.

His action at Hamburg was considered insubordination and Döbeln was therefore sentenced to execution, however, Bernadotte personally saw to it that the sentence was not carried out and Döbeln was instead sent to Vaxholm prison. From there he wrote a letter to a relative and expressed the wish that he should be allowed to serve in the Swedish or any of the Allied armies until the war was over, and then he would return volontarily to his imprisonment. This letter touched the heart of Bernadotte so that he cancelled the sentence altogether. The relationship between the two was thereafter good.

Von Döbeln was married to Kristina Karolina Ullström, whom he married and then quickly divorced as a protest as his son was recognised as his legal child. With her he had the son named Napoleon (born 1802). Georg Carl von Döbeln died in 1820.

While Döbeln certainly receives praise worthy of a Greek god in Fänrik Ståls Sägner, those poetic words are not the reason why he is legend. The fact is that he really was a fascinating figure in real life; with a hot, raging, temper, warlike and strong, yet he could be soft and sentimental, a philosopher. His soldiers and his superiors admired his courage and innovation in the face of the enemy. I wonder what the history books would say today, if a man like him would have been leading the wareffort from the very start. I as the author of this website, must say, that he is the most interesting - yes curious - personality I have come across in my research and writing. He has too many sides that cannot be percieved by historians today. That makes a great hero.
Info From:http://www.multi.fi/~goranfri/index.html

The Sources of my 2 big posts is :
Krig kring Kvarken, Oravais historiska förening r. f., Martin Hårdstedt och Göran Backman (Red.) , 1999

Duncker och Savolaxbrigaden, Bertil Nelsson, Historiska Media, Lund 2000

När riket sprängdes, Eirik Hornborg, Holger Schildts Förlag, Helsinki 1955

Kungliga Österbottens regemente under slutet av svenska tiden, C-B. J. Petander, Vasa 1978

Georg Carl von Döbeln - Liv och Ära, Bengt Kummel, Scriptum, Vasa 1998

Sveriges sista krig, Allan Sandström, Bokförlaget Libris, Örebro 1994

Striden om Finland 1808-09, Hugo Schulman, Werner Söderström Osakeyhtiö, Borgå, 1909

Fänrik Ståls sägner, J-L Runeberg, Fabel, Stockholm 1991

"Engelska flottan har siktats vid Vinga", Hans Hansson, Rundqvists Bokförlag, Göteborg 1984

1808 Gerillakriget i Finland, Anders Persson, Ordfronts förlag, Stockholm 1986

Kanonerna vid Oravais, Eric Gustaf Ehrström, Legenda, Stockholm 1986

Efter 1809, Bernces Förlag, Helsingfors, Malmö 1970

Svenska äventyr 1788-1900-t., Lars Widding, Semic, Sundbyberg 1997

Skärgårdsflottan, Hans Norman (Red.), Historiska Media, Lund 2000


General sources (Encyclopedias, major historical works and the like)


Finlands historia, Eirik Hornborg, Holger Schildts Förlag, Helsinki, 1963

WSOY CD-Facta, CD-Rom Encyclopedia, WSOY, 1996 edition
Svensk militärhistorisk atlas, red. Per Dahl, Hjalmarson & Högberg, Lund 2000

Svenskt biografiskt handlexikon, Albert Bonniers Förlag, Stockholm 1906


English literature (Mostly concerning the Napoleonic era in general)

Between the Imperial Eagles. Sweden's armed forces during the Revolutionary- and Napoleonic wars, 1780-1820, publisher Johan Engström, Director, Army Museum
Dictionary of the Napoleonic Wars, David Chandler, 1979 (Paperback edition published 1999, Wordsworth Editions Limited, GB)
Swords around a Throne, Col. John Elting, 1988 (Paperback; Da Capo Press, edition 1997)

Napoleon's Invasion of Russia, George F. Nafziger, Presidio press 1988, Novato CA

The Russian army of the Napoleonic Wars; Osprey Men-At-Arms series; parts 1 (Infantry) and 2 (Cavalry), Philip Haythornthwaite, Osprey Publishing 1987, UK

Uniforms and organisation of the Royal Swedish army during the Napoleonic period 1806-14, article published in Tradition magazine 1969 (Nr. 60), Whitney B. Young

[Antiscamp]

I'm actually the man who wrote all that information back in the late 90's, early 2000's. It's from my website "The Final War" which deals with the War of 1808-09. I'm so glad that the information came to some use. I published the website mostly as a hobby because there wasn't enough English-language information online about the Finnish War of 1808-09. It was monumental work and I waded through thousands of books to create it, and I'm happy everytime I see the info I put together back then being used. I've seen the website referenced in historical magazines and it's been all over the internet too, just as I intended!

[Lord Oda Nobunaga]

Not much info on the subject. Good job.
May I ask where the French, Spanish and British came in in this war?