Copyright © Hans Högman 2024-05-05
Statistics and summaries
Swedish Regiments
The chart below shows the regiments from which
the Swedish professional soldiers came.
Danish-German War 1848 - 1850
The above chart shows that most of the Swedish
volunteer professional soldiers came from the Navy,
followed by the Svea Artillery Regiment. In total 259
Swedish volunteers participated.
Danish Regiments
The chart below shows which Danish regiments the
Swedish volunteers served in.
The vast majority of the Swedish volunteers served
in the 3rd Danish Jaeger Corps (Ranger Corps). There
were also several Swedes in the Danish Navy and the
5th and 6th Danish line battalions.
Danish Military Ranks
The Swedish volunteers held the following military
ranks in the Danish Armed Forces:
Most of the Swedish volunteers in the Danish armed
forces served as private soldiers. There were 63
lieutenants (32 + 31) and 29 corporals and 19
sergeants among the non-commissioned officers
and other lower ranks. The highest military rank
held by a Swede in Denmark was captain, after
which he was promoted to major
Vaktmästare is a Danish military rank used in the
cavalry and was equivalent in Sweden to the non-
commissioned rank of fanjunkare.
Occupations
The Swedish volunteers had the following
occupations:
A clear majority (36%) of Swedish volunteers were
professional soldiers. The largest single group
among civilians is students, closely followed by
sailors (3%).
Now, students can be classified in different ways. I
have classified them as students if they were
students at colleges just before the war. Those who
graduated long before are classified by their
occupation. Those who were students but not
university students are marked as "Pupil". Together
they make up 23, which is about 11%.
Note that for 110 (almost half) of the Swedish
volunteers there is no information on civilian
occupation.
Those classified as military are those who were in
Swedish military service when the war broke out.
Ages
The oldest Swedes to serve in the Danish armed
forces were:
The oldest of the Swedish volunteers was Per Johan
Schürer von Waldheim, aged 48.
The youngest among the Swedish volunteers
were:
Among the youngest Swedes were the brothers Rudolf
Oscar Maximilian Schürer Von Waldheim, who was
only 17 years old, and Carl Johan Valentin Schürer von
Waldheim, who was 18. The brothers were the sons of
the oldest participant Per Johan Schürer von
Waldheim.
The first Swedes to enter Danish service were
The very first Swede (among those with known dates
of admission) to enter Danish service was Erik
Gustaf Öhnqvist who was admitted on 25 March
1848. The following day Andreas Gottlib Schosty,
Wilhelm Stoltz and Per Johan Schürer von Waldheim
were admitted.
Per Johan Schürer von Waldheim was not only the
oldest and highest ranking member, he was also one
of the first to join.
Swedish volunteers in both the Danish-
German War 1848 - 1850 and the Danish-
German War 1864
The following 8 Swedish volunteers in the Danish-
German war 1848 - 1850 also participated as
volunteers in the Danish-German war 1864:
Note that the spelling of names may be different in
the sources between the 1848 - 1850 war and the
1864 war.
Distribution of the Swedish volunteers by the
various branches of the Danish Armed Forces
•
Infantry: 181
•
Cavalry: 14
•
Navy: 32
•
Artillery: 24
•
Other: 8
•
Total: 259
Fallen, Wounded and Prisoners of War
•
Fallen: 10
•
Wounded: 25
•
Prisoners of War: 2
Source References
1.
Svenskarna under Dannebrogen 1848 - 1850.
Birger Schöldström, 1903
