Campaigns of the Dal Regiment,

Sweden

1500s

The Vasa Kings – 1500’s: In 1593 there were 4 smaller ”fänikor” in the provinces of Uppland, Västmanland and Dalarna. In the war between King Sigismund of Sweden and Poland and Duke Karl of Sweden (later King Karl IX) country people of Dalarna participated on Duke Karl’s side during the summer of 1598. Sigismund was a son of the Swedish King Johan III and Polish princess Katarina Jagellonica, This was a war for the Swedish throne, a civil war. When King Johan III died in 1592 his son Sigismund became King of Sweden. He had then been the King of Poland since 1587, a regency he had been chosen to and qualified for through his Polish mother. King Johan III’s brother, Duke Karl, disapproved of the accession of Sigismund. Sweden was a Protestant nation and Sigismund a Catholic. Duke Karl therefore started a war to depose Sigismund.Duke Karl won and became King Karl IX of Sweden. A “fänika” (“fänikor” pl.) was a 16th century name for a unit of foot soldiers. They consisted of about 500 men. In the battle of Kirkholm on September 17, 1605, a ”fänika” from Dalarna participated in the battle under the command of Jakob Torstensson. In the battle the Dal “fänika” lost 263 soldier in dead and 163 in wounded. In 1615, Dalarna contributed 1,400 soldiers to the newly established grand regiment in Dalarna, Uppland and Västmanland. A grand regiment normally included “fänikor” from 3 or 4 provinces and numbered about 2,000 soldiers. In 1621, a force of 1,200 soldiers was separated from the grand regiment and organized into 8 companies. Under the command of Åke Oxenstjerna this force participated in the siege of Riga, Livonia in the same year. They also participated in the campaigns during the following years in Livonia. In 1623 the grand regiment was permanently divided into three smaller regiments, the Dal Regiment, the Uppland Regiment and the Västmanland Regiment, where Åke Oxenstjerna kept the command of the Dal Regiment. In 1626 the Dal Regiment was sent to Livonia, where it served in field duty as well as a garrison force in Riga. During the fall of 1629 they were transferred back to Sweden for reinforcement.

1600s

The Thirty Years' War, 1630 - 1648: Sweden participated in the Thirty Years' War between 1630 and 1648 on the Protestant side. During the summer of 1631 the Dal Regiment was sent to Germany where they disembarked in Wolgast at the end of June. They then joined the main army and participated in the battle of Breitenfeld on September 7, 1631. In the battle the regiment was a part of the second brigade from the right side of the center in the first line. In the battle of Lützen on November 6, 1632 the regiment was a part of the so-called Swedish Brigade which was under the command of Kyle. They stood in the center of the first line and took heavy losses in the battle, which the Swedes finally won. During a stage of the battle, the Swedish Brigade was severely exposed. King Gustav II, who rode among the cavalry on the right wing, saw what had happened and intervened with cavalry to ease the pressure on the Swedish Brigade. This charge, which the King himself led, became his death ride. Being on a very fast horse, the monarch got far ahead of his cavalry and was surrounded by the enemy cavalry and finally killed before his own cavalry could come to his rescue. During the fall of 1632 the regiment, now considerably weakened due to many losses, was sent back to Sweden to be reinforced. They remained in Dalarna until 1638 when one of the battalions was sent to Pomerania, Northern Germany where they were garrisoned in Stettin. In 1639 Carl Gustav Wrangel was appointed the new regimental commander. During the summer of 1642 the remaining battalion at home was also sent to Germany. On October 23, 1642 the regiment participated in the battle of Leipzig. In the battle the regiment stood in the first line of the right wing of the infantry units. By 1643 the regiment was already transferred back to Sweden. In February 1644 it was among the regiments in Gustav Horn’s army corps that advanced in to Skåne (Skåne is the southern-most province on the Scandinavian Peninsula and at the time was Danish territory) where they participated in the conquest of Landskrona on April 7. King Karl X:s Polish War, 1655 - 1660: The Dal Regiment was in the summer of 1655 transferred to Pomerania. In the beginning of 1656 the regiment was a part of General Erik Stenbock’s army corps that besieged and conquered Marienburg. In the fall of 1656 one of the regiment’s battalions were transferred to Riga, Livonia to reinforce the garrison there. The other battalion participated in the siege of Copenhagen, Denmark. King Karl XI:s War, 1675 – 1679 – A War with Denmark, Brandenburg and the Netherlands: Already in 1674 one of the regiment’s two battalions was transferred to Germany. They were then part of the army corps under the command of Marshal of the realm Wrangel. In the beginning of the year the army corps advanced into Hinter-Pomerania and in May 1675 to Brandenburg. The Dal battalion participated in the battle of Fehrbellin on June 18, 1675. The remaining battalion at home was part of the army corps that was assembled in Malmö during the spring of 1676 before the war with Denmark. The battalion participated in the battle Fyllebroå, Halmstad on August 17, 1676. Thereafter they participated in the bloody battle of Lund on December 4, 1676. The Dal battalion was much diminished before the battle; their strength was only 125 soldiers. In the battle they stood in the middle of the center in the first line and suffered severely. Among others, their Colonel Kruse was wounded. The following winter, a second regiment was established in Dalarna, recruited from countryside people in the province. This was the so-called “Sexmänning” regiment and organized into 8 companies. In June 1676 this regiment joined the main army at Herrevadskloster and participated thereafter in the battle of Landskrona on July 14, 1677. In the battle the regiment was organized into three battalions and stood on the left wing of the first line. They numbered merely 570 soldiers. Later in the summer the “Sexmänning” regiment marched to Vänersborg and Uddevalla to join Chancellor M. G. De la Gardie's army corps. The regiment participated in the battle of Uddevalla on August 28 1677 where they fought with great bravery. During 1678 the Dal Regiment participated in the blockade of Kristianstad. During 1679 they participated in the blockade of Helsingborg and now numbered 900 soldiers.

1700s

The Great Northern War - Det stora nordiska kriget, 1700 - 1721: Just before the war, Russia, Poland and Denmark formed a pact of aggression against Sweden. They were all after Swedish territory. Russia was after the Baltic coast, Poland wanted Livland (a Swedish Baltic province) and Denmark wanted to regain the Skåne provinces in southern Sweden. The three nations of the pact were all convinced that Sweden was weak after the death of King Karl XI in 1697, especially under the young, inexperienced regent King Karl XII. They were now to meet one of the best armies in Europe at this time, the Swedish Carolean Army. The irony is that three of the four kings involved in this war were related. Karl of Sweden, Frederik of Denmark and August of Poland were all first cousins. The fourth ruler was Tsar Peter “the Great” of Russia. Karl XII of Sweden is also known as Charles XII in English. See Sweden's borders in 1700 King Karl XII of Sweden decided to first deal with Denmark. Denmark surrendered to Sweden after only 14 days of war. The Dal Regiment was regarded as an elite regiment, and as such an unofficial Guards regiment. They were often assigned to the part of the front line where the enemy was strongest. To the right there is a picture of the standard Carolean blue and yellow uniform of the time that all infantry and cavalry regiments wore. There were some regiments though that had uniforms with some variations in color. In 1700 the renowned Colonel Magnus Stenbock was appointed the regimental commander of the Dal Regiment. In the spring of 1700 the regiment was sent to Skåne where they participated in the landing at Humlebäck, Denmark and was later shipped to Zealand (the island where Copenhagen is located). In the fall of 1700 when the war against Denmark was over the regiment was shipped to Estonia to face Russia. On November 20, 1700 they participated in the victorious battle of Narva where a Russian army of 35,000 soldiers had besieged the Swedish fortress at the place. The Swedish force under the command of King Karl XII only numbered about 11,000 soldiers but still managed to beat the Russians. In the battle the Dal regiment was organized into two battalions and stood in the left assault column, which was under the command of the King himself. In the beginning of the Great Northern War the supreme Commander of the Swedish forces was General Karl Gustav Rehnsköld. However, later in the war the young King himself took command of the Swedish forces. At the end of the year Magnus Stenbock, now promoted Major General, was sent with his regiment to Augdow to capture the city. However, due to lack of siege artillery (Heavy artillery) and the very cold weather he had to return without succeeding with his task. Many soldiers froze to death during the siege. In the beginning of 1701 the Dal regiment was back in Livonia where they went into winter quarter. Here, the regiment was hit by the field disease/camp fever (probably dysentery or typhus fever, my comment) which caused 270 lost soldiers for the regiment. The regiment was reinforced during the spring, though. On July 9, 1701 the regiment participated in the battle/crossing of Düna River. In the middle of March 1702 Major General Stenbock and the Dal Regiment received orders to attack the City Wilna (Vilnius) together with Major General Mörner and his Östgöta Cavalry Regiment. Wilna was held by the anti-Swedish Prince Wisniowiecki with a force of Lithuanians. The horsemen of the Östgöta Cavalry Regiment took the foot soldiers of the Dal Regiment on their horsebacks and marched according to a secret route through deep forests and managed in the dawn of March 19, 1702 the take the enemy in Wilna by surprise and caused the Lithuanians heavy losses. On April 6 Prince Wisniowiecki tried a similar maneuver to surprise the Swedes in Wilna. The Swedes fought back with great bravery and Prince Wisniowiecki himself was nearly captured. In the beginning of June 1702 Major General Stenbock received orders to join the Swedish main army which was now in Warsaw, Poland. On July 9, 1702 the Dal Regiment participated in the battle of Kliszow where they stood in the infantry left wing in the first line. In October 1702 the Dal Regiment was assigned to a detachment of 2,200 soldiers who had orders to collect contributions to the Swedish Army in the border areas to Russia and force the noble families in these areas to be loyal to the Swedes. In February 1703 the regiment was back with the main army. The regiment participated in the siege of Thorn in May 1703. In 1706 Major General Stenbock was promoted Lieutenant General and sent to Sweden where he was appointed Governor General of Skåne. The former Lieutenant Colonel in the regiment, Gustaf Henrik Siegroth, was now promoted the new regimental commander and Colonel of the Dal Regiment. Between 1707 and 1709 the Dal Regiment participated in all the campaigns the main army did during those years. They, for example participated in the battle of Holowczyn on July 4, 1708 where they were the second regiment to cross the stream Wabis after the Life Guards of Foot in the left wing. In the battle of Malaticze on August 31, 1708, the Dal Regiment under the command of Colonel Siegroth was the first unit that came to rescue when a number of Swedish regiments in Malaticze had been surprised and attacked by the Russians, and strongly contributed to the withdrawal of the superior Russian forces. At the crossing of Dessna River on November 5 1708 the Dal Regiment was the first regiment to cross and bravely withstood all Russian attempts to drive them back. The battle of Poltava, Ukraine on June 28, 1709 was in reality two battles, one in the morning and one a few hours later. The following text of the battle only contains the Dal Regiment’s participation of the battle. The main target for the Swedes when they attacked was the Russian main camp. However, the camp was guarded with 9 separate redoubts (built in a T- shape), which the Swedes had to pass to get to the main camp. The redoubts were a kind of fortification (earthwork). The redoubts were manned by 4,000 Russian infantry soldiers (8 battalions) and 6 guns. These redoubts were located in a narrow passage, which the Swedes had to pass in order to charge the Russian main force. The Swedes plan was to engage the Russians in the redoubts with a smaller force while the main part of the Swedish army would pass on both sides. The plan was not to destroy the redoubts, just to pass them. The Swedes were therefore not formed in a battle line but in 4 columns. The Russian cavalry was located behind the earthworks, about 9,000 cavalrymen (85 squadrons). There were 9 more guns at the cavalry location. The Russian main force (in the camp) was about 25,500 soldiers forming 51 battalions plus the artillery with 73 guns. The Russians had about 40,000 men in total. The Swedes numbered about 25,000 soldiers of which 8,000 was cavalry. The Swedish army had been outnumbered in many previous battles, so being outnumbered this time did not bother them. The Dal regiment, organized into two battalions, was assigned to the third assault column under the command of Major General Karl Gustav Roos. The two Dal battalions stood first in the third column while the Västerbotten battalions stood first in the second column. The two first battalions in the second as well as in the third columns, in total 2,600 soldiers, had orders to attach the Russian redoubts so that the rest of the army could pass on both sides. In other words, the Dal regiment was among the force that attacked the redoubts. The first two redoubts were easily taken but the third redoubt was tougher. Several attempts were made to seize the third redoubt but all attacks ended with withdrawal and great losses among the Swedish force. Colonel Siegroth was seriously wounded and died in one of the attacks. Also Lieutenant Colonel Drake and Major Svinhufvud in the Dal regiment were killed. What happens next is still a mystery. Even though the main force had passed the redoubts, Roos kept on charging the redoubts, each time with great losses of men. About 2/3 of Roos' force were killed and he was finally forced to withdraw from the battle. A major part of the Dal Regiment was killed in the battle. The survivors withdrew to a fortification just north of the monastery in Poltava where they later were overwhelmed by the Russians.

The Dal Regiment was re-established in 1710. They served then along the Danish/Norwegian border until 1712 when they are transferred to Pomerania. They participated in the battle of Gadebusch on December 9, 1712 where they stood in the left wing of the infantry and had to face the Danish Guards who persistently defended themselves. The Swedes won the battle but the Dal Regiment took heavy losses in the battle and several Dal companies lost more or less all their officers. The Danish Guards didn’t surrender until the end and they were at that point practically the only remaining Danish unit. In total the Dal Regiment lost 390 dead and wounded on the battle scene. The Dal Regiment was among the units that surrendered to the Danes at Tönningen on May 6, 1713. The Swedes held the fortress in Tönningen but ran out of supplies and ammunition during the Danish siege and had no other option but to surrender. Once again the Dal Regiment had to be re- established. During the spring of 1716 the Dal Regiment was assigned to the army corps that was assembled in Värmland for the Norwegian campaign which was under the command of Major General De la Gardie. They crossed the border to Norway at Holmedal and advanced to Christiania where they joined the Swedish main army. A few days later, 600 soldiers from the Dal regiment under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Fuchs were sent to Grillåsen to open up the road which had been closed by a Norwegian. The Dal soldiers charged the Norwegian position and forced them to withdraw after a short battle. See map The Dal Regiment also participated in the Norwegian campaign of 1718 where they were assigned to the forces that besieged Fredrikshall. See map1 and map2 On August 30, 1721, a peace treaty finally was signed in Nystad, Finland between Sweden and Russia. The treaty ended the Great Northern War. See also a summary in English of the Great Northern War The War of the Hats, 1741 - 1743: After the Great Northern War, which ended in 1721, Sweden lost not only the Baltic provinces but also a part of southeastern Finland. During the 1730’s plans was formed to recapture the lost land, primarily the lost parts of southeastern Finland on the Karelian Isthmus. At this time there were two dominating political parties in Sweden, the Hats (Hattarna) and the Caps (Mössorna). The Hats were in favor of war and when they got into power, preparation for war began. In 1739 troops were sent to Finland. A declaration of war was sent to Russia on July 28, 1741. In October 1739, 5 of the Dal Regiment’s companies were transferred to Finland. After the outbreak of the war in 1741 the regiment was ordered to the camp in Martila which was under the command of Major General Wrangel. When Russian forces crossed the Swedish border into Finland and advanced towards Villmarstrand Wrangel broke up the camp in Martila on August 22, 1741 and marched with his detachment to Villmarstrand where he arrived in the evening of the same day. On the following morning, August 23, the Swedes were lined up in battle formation just south of the city when the Russians arrived at the scene. The Dal Regiment’s battalion stood as the second battalion from the right of in total the 6 Swedish battalions. The Swedish left wing, which was mainly manned with Finnish units, was overpowered by Russian units early in the battle and had to withdraw into the city. The Swedish right wing on the other hand left their advantageous position on a ridge and advanced. The Dal Regiment and the Södermanland Regiment, against orders, now charged the Russians and managed to drive them backwards. The two advancing Swedish regiments now ended up in the way of the Swedish artillery, who were forced to stop fireing. Without support of the Swedish artillery the two Swedish regiments were now attacked by both Russian cavalry and infantry and had to retreat. The entire Swedish front line was now pressed backwards. Since the Dal Regiment and the Södermanland Regiment both took heavy losses they were not able to regroup on a new defense line but had to withdraw to an islet in Lake Saimen near Villmarstrand since the city was now under attack by the Russians. Some of the soldiers of the two regiments were rescued by boats but most soldiers on the islet were taken prisoners of war by the Russians. The remaining part of the Dal regiment was later ordered to Fredrikshamn, southern Finland, where in the fall of 1741 they joined the main army. During the rest of the war they participated in the campaigns of the main army until the surrender in Helsinki on August 24, 1742. See map. The Pomeranian War, 1757 - 1762: The Dal regiment was in the beginning of the summer 1758 transferred to Pomerania to participate in the war against Prussia. They participated between July 20 and 27, 1758 in the second besiege of the Peenemünde fortifications and joined thereafter the main army and participated in its campaigns during the following years. In July 1761 they joined Major General Hessenstein’s detachment that during the night of August 5 marched to Treptow. The same evening the enemy attacked a Swedish detachment at Röpenack, northeast of Treptow. Hessenstein’s unit hurried to their rescue and managed to force the Prussians to withdraw. One of the Dal Regiment’s battalions was at the end of September 1761 assigned to Sprengporten’s so- called “free corps” and participated with them in the capture of Malchin on December 23 and in its defense between December 31 and January 2 when they were rescued by the Swedish main force. See map. King Gustav III:s Russian War, 1788 - 1790: The Swedish King Gustav III started a war with Russia in 1788. His purpose was to gain domestic and international advantages. King Gustav III was strengthening his position. A war would direct the public’s attention away from domestic affairs. The Dal Regiment was shipped on the Army Fleet (Galley Fleet) to Helsinki at the end of June 1788 where they were quartered at Sandhamnslandet until July 25. The regiment was then reinstated on the Army Fleet to be a part of Siegtoth’s detachment that was ordered to enclose the seaport town Fredrikshamn from the east side. On August 3 they participated in the landing at Brackila and the return on the following day. On August 11 the regiment disembarked near Borgå town. On August 16 they marched to Högfors at the Russian border to join the Coastal Division there. When the division in September withdrew from Russian territory back to Finland across Abborfors, the Dal Regiment was quartered at Lovisa. In October, when the Swedish forces went into winter quarters, the Dal Regiment rejoined the Coastal Division which was under the command of Major General Meijerfelt. The Dal Regiment was also during 1789 a part of the Coastal Division and participated in the battle of Suttula on July 8 and 9. One of the regiment’s battalions participated on July 19 in the reconnaissance of Saxala. During the spring of 1790 the Dal Regiment was assigned to the Center Division under the command of Major General Hamilton. The Center Division had orders to defend the so-called Anjala Road (Anjalavägen). On May 5 the division received intelligence that the Russians had crossed River Kymmene at both Anjala and Hirvenkoski. River Kymmene constituted the border line to Russia. The Dal regiment was ordered together with some other units to immediately march to Hirvenkoski and there force the Russians to retreat. The march began in the evening the same day from Willikala and arrived in the morning the following day. The force was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Knorring at the Dal regiment. The Russians were already in defensive positions on the nearer bank of the river. The other units in the force were ordered to make an outflanking movement of the Russians right flank. Meanwhile, the two Dal battalions lined up in front of the Russians. The two Dal battalions were under the command of Major Fahnehjelm and Captain Hertzenhjelm, respectively. The Dal battalion did a fast bayonet charge managed to force the Russians to retreat to the other side of the river. The Russians managed to get a beachhead at Anjala, though and advanced along the Anjala Road to Korhois and thereby close to Lieutenant Colonel Knorring’s left flank. Knorring received orders on May 7 to retreat back to Willikala. However, on the following day, May 8, he received orders to return to Hirvenkoski and on May 9 he once again drove the Russians across the river to the other side. Knorring then remained with his unit at the spot until June 11 when he advanced and on June 12 joined the units that had advanced from Abborfors to Broby. On June 25 and 26 the Dal Regiment participated in the battles of Suttula. In the beginning of the war with Russia, August 1788, a voluntary corps of 3,000 soldiers was raised in Dalarna for the defense of Sweden’s border to Danish Norway when Denmark declared war with Sweden. In October1788 this corps marched from Dalarna to Värmland and went into position along the border. This quickly established corps prevented any hostility from Norway. In 1789 also a reinforcement unit of 1,400 soldiers was established in Dalarna which in August 1789 was shipped to Finland and participated thereafter in the war with Russia. See map.

1800s

The Danish War, 1808 - 1809: In the spring of 1808 the Dal Regiment was assigned to the Western Army’s right wing. This army corps was established for defense of western Sweden along the border to Norway. The Dal regiment’s first battalion under the command of Colonel Grahn was at Midskogen, Northern Värmland. The second battalion was a part of the right wing’s Third Brigade under the command of Colonel Cederström. This brigade advanced from Töcksmark to Lake Örjesjön in the middle of April. On April 24, Colonel Grahn’s battalion crossed the border into Danish Norway to cover the first brigade’s right flank. However, a large Danish/Norwegian force surrounded Grahn’s battalion and the battalion of 400 soldiers had to surrender. The Second Brigade remained at the border until March 1809 when they joined a force under the command of Georg Adlersparre and marched to Stockholm. This was the start of the revolution that had King Gustav IV Adolf dethroned. Norwegian campaign 1814: The Dal Regiment didn’t participate in the war against Napoleon in Germany between 1813and 1814 but they did participate in the Norwegian Campaign of 1814. They were organized into 4 battalions and were a part of the 8th Brigade under the command of Colonel Hay and the 4th Division under the command of Major General Mörner. They were assembled in Strömstad, Bohuslän, at the end of July and thereafter shipped to Norway on the Army Fleet. The first and second battalions of the Dal Regiment participated in the conquering Krageröe on August 3 and in the battles at Kiölberg Bridge on August 10. See map.

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