Copyright © Hans Högman 2017-07-30
How to Research Soldiers in the
Swedish Military Sources
Introduction
Spend enough time tracing your Swedish ancestors
and it's likely you will eventually discover someone
who served in Sweden’s armed forces, i.e. been a
soldier in an infantry regiment, horseman in a
cavalry regiment, artilleryman in an artillery
regiment or a seaman in the Navy. The soldier
might have been an allotted soldier or an enlisted
soldier.
See also Allotted vs Enlisted Regiments
You may have first become aware your ancestor
was a soldier from a notation in the household
examination rolls (husförhörslängd, HFL), the parish
records. After that you probably will extend your
research into the military rolls. However, first you
need to find the name of the unit the soldier served
in.
For the allotted units you will get a great help by
Lieutenant Colonel Claes Grill's work "Statistiskt
sammandrag af svenska indelningsverket" (“Statistical
Summary of the Swedish Allotment System.”). With the
help of the parish index you will find the names of
the different units. Once you know the unit name,
independent if it is an infantry regiment, cavalry
regiment or a navy unit, you will have a key to the
military sources. Swedish military records are not
difficult to research.
Allotted units (Indelta
regementen)
How do I know which type of soldier my
ancestor was, i.e. was he a soldier in the infantry, a
horseman in the cavalry, artilleryman in the artillery
or a seaman in the Navy?
You will get a clue by the occupational title listed in
the household examination roll (Church records) just
before of your ancestor's name.
Examples of Swedish military titles:
•
Infantry:
Sold. (soldat), Gren. (grenadjär), Knekt, Fältj.
(fältjägare) [Soldier, grenadier, rifleman]
•
Cavalry:
Ryttare, Drag. (dragon), Hus. (husar), Hästj.
(hästjägare), Lansiär [horseman, cavalryman,
dragoon, hussar, lancer]
•
Navy: Båtsm. (båtsman), Kronobåtsm.
(kronobåtsman) [Båtsman = sailor]
•
Enlisted units (Värvade förband):
Gard. (gardist), Livgardist, Hästgard.
(hästgardist), Drabant, Art. (artillerist)
[guardsman, life guardsman, mounted
guardsman, artilleryman, gunner, bombardier]
Lieutenant Colonel Claes Grill's works will give
you information about the allotted units if you use
the parish register in Grill to find the unit's name
for the parish in question. Use the parish name of
the parish where the soldier lived as an allotted
soldier.
Respective link below contains information on how
to use Grill to find the unit. In other words, you can
start with any of the links below until you know
which branch of the army your soldier served in.
Below is a number of links to use depending of the
branch of the army or navy when researching
soldiers, cavalrymen or navy seamen in allotted
units.
More information about The Allotment System
(Indelningsverket).
How to research:
•
Soldiers in infantry regiments Updated: 2017-07-11
•
Soldiers in cavalry regiments Updated: 2017-07-20
•
Navy sailors (Båtsmän) Updated: 2017-07-26
•
Närke-Värmland regiment (How to research
soldiers in a regiment which was divided
before Grill's work was published in the 1850's)
Updated: 2015-12-21
•
Soldiers in the regiments in Finland prior to
1809 (Finland was a part of Sweden until 1809)
Updated: 2015-12-19
•
Soldier research after 1885, i.e. research in the
so-called "stamrullor" Updated: 2015-12-21
•
Officers and Non-commissioned officers in the
military rolls Updated: 2016-01-03
•
Information about a soldier's pension
(gratialist) Updated 2016-03-29
•
How to research the military rolls in the digital
archives Updated: 2015-12-20
Enlisted units (Värvade
regementen)
How do i know if my ancestor was an allotted or
an enlisted soldier? The allotted army regiments
and the navy båtsman companies were established
in the provinces, i.e. in the countryside. The soldiers
in the allotted units were provided with crofts
(cottages, small tenant farms) as an source of
income (revenue) instead of a regular payment
from the Army when they weren't called up for
duty.
If you have found a soldier among your ancestors
living in a country parish while serving as a soldier
he most certainly was an allotted soldier, i.e. served
in an allotted unit.
The enlisted units were garrisoned in cities or at
one of Sweden's defense fortresses. In other words,
a soldier lived in a city when he was a soldier he
was most likely an enlisted soldier, serving in an
enlisted unit. For example, all artillery regiments
were enlisted units.
For more information about allotted regiments
versus enlisted regiments: See Allotted vs Enlisted
regiments.
How to research:
•
Soldiers in enlisted regiments Updated 2015-12-21
Conscription
When you research the household examination
rolls you might, in the 19th century rolls, find a
three-part conscript identification number in the
column labeled Värnplikt or Värnpliktsförhållande
(Conscription). These numbers are military
conscription enrollment numbers assigned to
the draftees at the time of registration (enrollment).
In 1812 an act was passed in the Swedish
parliament establishing a Universal Conscript
Service (draft system) as a reinforcement of the
regular army. This conscript system was called
Beväringen or Beväringsinrättningen. The three-part
enrollment numbers (inskrivningsnummer) were
introduced in 1886 which makes it easier to
research draftees in the military sources.
In 1901 both the standing allotted army
(indelningsverket) and the Beväringen was discarded
and in their place Sweden established an army and
navy entirely based on a Universal National Service
System called Allmän Värnplikt (Universal
Conscription). This new conscript system replaced
the old standing Army and Navy with a military
force fully based on conscription.
In a way Beväringen was a forerunner to the
National Service System.
How to research:
•
Conscripts / Draftees Updated: 2017-07-28
Finland
Finland was a part of Sweden until 1809 when we
lost our eastern part (Finland) in a war with Russia.
Up until then Sweden kept regiments in Finland.
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Related Links
•
Allotted vs Enlisted regiments
•
The Allotment System
•
The Navy Allotment System
•
Swedish Military Research
•
Map, Swedish counties
•
Map, Swedish provinces
Sources
1.
Soldatforska, Hur finner jag mina militära
förfäder. Lars Ericson Wolke, 2012. Sveriges
Släktforskarförbunds handböcker 4.
2.
Släktforskarna och Krigsarkivet, en vägvisare
till de militära källorna. Meddelande från
Krigsarkivet XIX, 2000.
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Tutorial: Research
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