Boston Public LibraryDopencil.

not write inPenalties

this

book or mark

it

with pen or

for

so

doing are imposed by the

Revised Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

NARRATIVE

CONQUEST OF FINLAND

THE RUSSIANSIn the Years 1808-9.^,

\,

FROM AN UNPUBLISHED WORK BY A RUSSIAN OFFICER OF RANK.

EDITED BY

Gen.

MONTEITH,

K.L.S. F.R.S.

MADRAS ENGINEERS.

LONDON:LIONEL BOOTH, DUKE STREET, PORTLAND PLACE.1854

^DK^ii

TheRussian

following pages were given toofficer of rank,

me by

the Author, a

since deceased.

The work was never

published, only 250 copies having been printed for distribution

among the Author'sJune 1854.

friends.

W. M.

IVcw

'3

4.o'^l

^

TO THE

Hon.

MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE

S^cse ^a0es nxt |irsrrikb,

AS A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT TO HIS PUBLIC CHARACTER

AND A GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF

MANY ACTS

OP PERSONAL FRIENDSHIP.

EDITOR'S PREFACE.

So long a period of time has elapsedrecordedin

since the eventsit

these

pages took place, that

may

be

necessary to

say a few words on the causes which

brought them about.It

will

be remembered

that,

in

the yearTilsit;

1807,

Russia was obliged to sign the Treaty of

anddis-

though the campaign had beenastrous, the

in its latter part

good fortune of the Russian empire obtainedfor.

terms that could hardly have been lookedsecretarticles

By

the

of

this

treaty

(a copy

of which was

obtained

by

the

Britishit

Government,

and

published

several years after),

was agreed that Russia should

take possession of Finland, and that

Denmark

should be

VI

EDITORto

S

PREFACE.France, and join in

compelled

make over

lier fleet to

the general confederacy against England.of

The power

Denmark

to

maintain an independent neutrality was

doubtful, and in consequence a British fleet and

army

were sent against Copenhagen,

to

demand

that the fleet

should be given in deposit to the British Government

The Danish Government

naturally refused, and Copen-

hagen was taken by the army under Lord Cathcart,and thefleet

commanded by Admiral Gambier.entertainedthat

Great

hopes were

the

King

of

Sweden, by the aid of England, might be ableoutagainst

to hold

Russia;

in

Sweden

at

least,

if

not

in

Finland.

Gustavus Adolphus had indignantly rejectedcharacter

the terms offered him, and thefor

he enjoyed

heroism and decision led to a false estimate of

his talents.

His apparent heroism was not followed by a corresponding activity in making preparations to repel an

invading arm.y,

and

w^Ith

very

fewto

exceptionsretreatin

the

Swedes were overcome, or forcedencounter.

every

The

writers of the time accused Russia of

having successfully tampered withthat the

the

Swedes, and

surrender of Sweaborg and other places of

great importance was owing to treason and corruption

EDITOR

S

PREFACE.This charge'Itis,

Vll

on the part of their commanders.both by the Swedes andincontestable, that

is

denied,

Russians.

however,long

a strong Russian

party had

existed in

Sweden.

Be

this

as

it

may, the terms ofto

the capitulation,

by which Russia engaged

pay large

sums of moneychest,officersis

to

make up;

deficiencies in the military

most suspiciousinto

numbersof

of

the

Swedish

passed

the

service

Russia;

and the

revolution which so soon after drove Gustavus from thethrone,policy

shows how great was the feeling against

his

and government.

The King's

character

had com-

more

of obstinacy than decision, and the Swedishassert,

mandersretire

with truth, that their orders were toforce,

before

any superior

and

not

risk

any

doubtful contests.

ThesupportSir

British

Government had, however, decided

to

Gustavus, and a force of 10,000 men, under^loore,

John:

arrived

on

the

17th

of

May,

1808

they found

the

Swedish army

was scarcelyunoccupied

sufficient for the defence of the territory still

by

the

enemy

;

but the King was bent on attempting the

conquest of Zealand and the recovery of Finland.neither

To

of these

proposals did Sir

John Moore think

himself authorised to

acquiesce, as on both points the

VIU

EDITOR

S

PREFACE.in

enemy were much

superior

numbers andassumed

position.

The

discussions on this subject

so serious

anin in

aspect,

that

Sir J.

Moore escaped from Sweden

disguise,

and brought back the small English armyto

conformity

his

instructions.

Gustavus

lY.

was

shortly after forced to abdicate.

Count Bouxhoevden's proclamationbitants of Finland, given in the

to

the inhais

Appendix,

wortliyit

of attention from the resemblance existing between

and the one issued by Prince Gortschakoft'to the peopleof Moldavia and Wallachia.

CHAPTER

I.

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.In the beginning of the year 1808, the war in

Germany had

scarcely

come

to

an end before the

clouds again began to gather in the North.

A

ruptm^e took place between Russia and Sweden, in

consequence of the impolitic obstinacy of Gustavus

Adolphus IV., whowere made to him.gers threatening hisiron resolution,

resisted

all

the overtures that

Even the aspect of the dan-

kingdom

failed to

shake his

and war soon became

inevitable.

Count Bouxhoevden was appointed by the Emperor

Alexander to the

command

of the

army.

The Russian Government had succeeded

in giving

an exaggerated idea of the numerical strength ofthe force, by skilfully displaying their resources tothe best advantage, andtions

making great demonstraand the

of activity in military preparationsof troops in the capital.

movement

The SwedishB

2

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.atSt.

ambassador

Petersburg could notgeneralerror,

fail

to

participate in

the

and

it

rapidly

found

its

way

to Stockholm.division

The 17th and 21st

of the Russians

were formed into three columns and several smallerdetachments, and crossed the

Kymen

on the ^th of;

February,*

at Aberfors, Stromfors,

and Kelt is

their

aggregate strength did not exceed 16,000 men, including a regiment of dragoons, one of hussars, oneof Cossacks,

and 200 Cossacks of the Imperial

Guard.

On

entering the Swedish territory at Aberfors,it

Count Bouxhoevden considereda flag of truce,opposition.

advisable to send

demandingofficer

to be received without

The

who was

the bearer of this

message was

fired

upon, and by this act war was

in fact declared.

The RussianIn the

general, however,

issued two proclamations, addressed to the armiesof Swedish Finland.first

of these he ex-

horted the people to remain quietly in their homes,assuring

them

strict

discipline

should be main-

tainedall

among

the troops, and also promising that

the provisions, &c. which might be furnished to

the

army should be punctually paidshould

for,

while every

respect

be shown to the laws

and the

institutions,*

civil

and

religious,

of the country.style.

The Eussians

still

reckon hj the old

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.

3

The climatethis

of Finland

is

very severe, but at

season the cold was dry and not excessive.deep, and not sufficiently firm for;

The snow was

ordinary marching

the Russian light infantry w^erefit

therefore provided with snow-shoes,ling over that unstablew^assurface,

for travelartillery

and the

mounted upon

sledges.

Thedoes not

aspect of the eastern part of the countrydiffer materially

from that of the portionAfter

of Finland anciently belonging to Russia.

passingablein

Wiborgsize,

the mountains are

more consider-

and enormous masses of rock aredirection.

heaped upon each other in every

In

some places the quantity ofstonesis

flintsit

and of granitedifficult

so considerable that

would be

to find an

unencumberedare

space, even of a few yards

square.

The roadsof

narrow and crooked, butdark, and the general

tolerably firm,

the forests

appearance

the country

savage

and

gloomy.it

The numerous

sheets of water with

which

is

intersected were at that time converted into solidplains of ice, capable of bearing not only troops of

every description but even the heaviest

artillery.

The Swedish Government hadto believe in the possibility of a

resolutely refused

war upon

theu-

territory, and, in spite of all the intelligence trans-

mitted to them, they disdained to

make any

prepara-

4

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.

tions to repel an attack.

The troops

of the

army

of Finland were

still

dispersed in the cantonments

they occupied in time of peace, and the frontier

was only guarded by a chain Count Bouxhoevden resolvedthisfaultfalse

of

feeble

posts.

to take advantage of

secmity, thehis

first

and most important

committed by

adversaries.

It

was not possible the Swedes should opposeat Aberfors.

any serious resistance

The

loss

on

the side of the Russians was confined to a few

dragoons and the

officer

who was

ambitious of

being the

first

to cross the bridge of the

Kymen,

which had nearly been a cause of war some yearsbefore.

Their;

left

column occupied Lowisa the

same day

the right, under the orders of Prince

Bagration, pushed on by Bausala and Laptresk, asfar as

Elima

;

while the centre division proceeded,asfar

without

meeting with any resistance,

asfell

Chordom.

The

Swedish

Colonel

Palmfield

back upon Borgo.

The Russians had nothing

to gain

at

Lowisa

except a magazine of forage, which they captured.

The approachdefended by avested,siege

to this littlefort called

town from the seaSwartholmleft;

is

it

was

in-

and ISOO men were

to carry

on the

under the orders of Generals Monkhanofi"

and Briscorn.

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.

5

The detachment opposedthe

to the leftits

cokimn ofthe

Russians"^ had taken

up

position in

defile of

Forsby.

It is a collection of sides,

barren rocks

with precipitous

and quite impregnable from

the front, but was turned

by the Bay of Permo onleft

the

ice

and attacked on the

by Lilienthal,

whither General Toutchkoff (2d) had proceeded.

A

brisk

fire

was opened without doing much exe-

cution,

and an engagement of cavalry took place on

the ice between the Cossacks of the

Guard and thethe

dragoonsColonel,

of

Nyland,

after

which

Swedishto

Count Gripenberg, retreated by Ilby

Borgo.tion

He

tried several times to recover his posisix pieces of artillery,Orloff*-

under the protection of

but being repulsed by Generals Borozdin andDenisoff* he

to

made good his retreat during the night The Swedish Colonel Stjernval, an Tavastheus.bearing a high character, was

officer

made

prisoner

at the defile of

Forsby

;

and General Klercker, who

had

provisionally taken the

command

of the troops,

escaped with difficulty from Borgo at the

momentCountthere

the advanced guard of the Russians entered the

town, which1

is

the most ancient in Finland.his

Bouxhoevden establishedon the ^th of February.-

head-quarters

Under the command

of Lieut. -general

Prince Gort-

chakoff.

6

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.Wliile these operations were going on Prince

Bagration, of the 21st division, was advancing from

Laptresk and Angerby to Artsjo, where he made anight attack upon a Swedish brigade

commandedfrom the

by the Adjutant -general^'^f 2/th'" \^'^ .to

Adlerkreutz,'J

'26m

It

was conducted by the Russian Colo-

nels Karpendoff

and Ericson, and was a sharp and

successful affair; theticularly

2d regiment

of Chasseurs par-

distinguished themselves.

The

loss

wasfell

about 100

men on both

sides,

and Adlerkreutz

back upon Tavastheus.gagements took place

Several other partial enat Orimattila, Lachtis,left

and

Kowkis

;

but the advance of the

column, bytheirfall.

isolating

these posts, naturally led to

Sometroops

of

them weregarrison

taken,

and from others theaprecipitateretreat,

in

made

carrying

with them everything to

be found in

the

country

inhabitants,

provisions, cattle,

and

sledges.

In the meanwhile Count Klingsporr, one of thegreatlords

of the

kingdom, and of the senior

generals in the army, had been appointed to the

command

of the troops in Finland.

He

established

his head-quarters first at Tavastheus,

where General

Klercker had concentrated a force of 5000 men.

The

instructions

receivedto

bygive

Count

Klingsporrsupe-

from the King were

way

to the

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.riority of

7fall

the

enemy's

force,

to

back whenof Finland

necessary,in

and not

to endanger the

army

a struggle he considered unequal.

The

force

then assembled in Finland amounted to 14,984regular troops, and about

4000

militia {var^erin^).

Of

these

800 were

cavalry,

and about

as

manySwea-

more artillerymen; 7000 wereborg, and 700 in Swartholm;

in garrison at

both garrisons being

included in the

number

cited above.to

Without allowing himself

be hindered by

the local difficulties he had to encounter, andespecially

more

by the

state of the roads

from the deep

snows, which had prevented the advance of PrinceBagration, Count Bouxhoevden resolved to follow-

up the advantages gained by the

left

column.

The

occupation of Helsingfors would isolate the fortressof Sweaborg, and intercept the directtion between that

communicaand the

great

military depot

principal corps of Count Klingsporr.light

A

column ofOrloff-

troops,

under the orders of Count

DenisofF,

supported

by the

cavalry

of

General

Borozdin, was therefore despatched by the great

road of Borgo to Helsingforsa

;

and

at the

same time

detachment entrusted to

Colonel Anselme de

Gibory advanced from Ostersund and occupiedtheice,

intervening

space,

then

covered

with

solid

between

Helsingfors

and the

fortress,

and

8

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.its

which forms(3d)

port;

while General Toutchkoff

marched

to occupy

by a

detoiir the

road lead-

ing from Helsingfors to Abo, with the intention ofcutting off whoever might attempt to retreat in thatdirection.

The enemy did not wait;

for these ope-

rations to be in full force

they formed upon the ice

in double columns, evacuated Helsingfors,

and took

the road to Sweaborg

:

they were attacked by the

cavalry of Orloff-Denisoff,

who

took 124 prisoners

and 6 guns

;

the

remainder reachedballs,

Sweaborg.shells

18 guns, a howitzer, 10,000grenades,great

4000

anda

4500 muskets, 15,000

horse-shoes,

quantity of tools, some stores, and a wellfell

provided mihtary hospital,

into the

hands of the

Russians at Helsingfors.

Sweaborg was immediately surrounded by acordon of light troops,sufficient to

prevent the gar-

rison from receiving any fresh supplies,

and General

Raievsky was provisionally charged with establishing a blockade, for which purpose Count Boux-

hoevden was only able

to leave

him

four battalions

and 200

cavalry.

After having thus advanced as far as he considered advisable with hisleft

column. Count Boux-

hoevden

felt

the

necessity of losing

no time in

compelling Count Klingsporr to evacuate Tavastheus.

He

rapidly

brought

forward

all

the

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.columns ofhis little

9

army

to bear

upon the town,ofit.

and advanced

to within a short

march

Their

total strength did not

exceed 9000 men, the rest of

the troops being absorbed

by the detachments,

the

guards of the magazines, and the number ofleft

men

before the various places they had invested.fallen

But few hadtaken place,inconsiderable.

in

the skirmishes that hadsick

and the number of the

was

The approach

to Tavastheus

was disputed inch

by

inch.

General Klercker, a

man

of seventymilitary

years

of age,

but

full

of

energy and

ardour, hadaction,

made every

preparation for a generalhis arrival

and Klingsporr, on

from Sweden,

found a garrison of 5000 men.mander-in-chiefpredecessor.

The new Comyounger thanhis

was very

little

Tor a moment he appeared undecidedtake, but

what steps he shouldthe

the

rapidity of

movements

of the Russian army, the idea enter-

tained of their great numerical superiority, and thefear of the

heavy responsibility he would incur by

going counter to the instructions he had received

from the King, weighed upon the mind of GeneralKlingsporr;

he followed the advice of his council,

and

hastily

abandoned Tavastheus and

its

citadel,

where the Russians found 18 guns and 3 mortars.

The remainder

of the Swedish artillery, which could

10

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.

not be carried away, and a quantity of arms and

ammunition, were thrown into a lake.Klingsporrretreated

General

towards

Tammerfors

and

Bjorneborg, and fixed his head-quarters at Kurvola,g^^ Mare'b-

General Bouxhoevden took posgt^^^^^r^.

session of his at Tavastheus,

Independently of his anxiety to follow out to thevery letter the instructions he had received from the

King, the Swedish General was further induced toretire

mthout

fighting,

from the necessity under

which he conceived himself to be of accelerating byhis presence the organisation of the troops raised

in Ostro-Bothnia,

and abovestill;

all

of assembling

all

the troops which were

scattered in Southernthatis

Finland, and in the Savolax

to say, in the

opposite extremities of the kingdom.

Thetremity,

Savolax, the province at the eastern ex-

had

just

been invaded by a new Russian

column

of about

3000 men, and

consisting of a

portion of the regiments of the

5tli division,

underThis

the

command

of General Toutchkofi" (1st).

general marched from the Russian fortresses, Wil-

manstadt and Nyslot, drove before him a brigade

commanded by Colonel Count Cronstedt, and occupied, ^th February, Randasalmi, Sulkawa, andPumola.

He

concentrated his forces at Christina,at St. Michel, a

expecting to

meet with resistance

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.

11

place wMcli liad attained considerable celebrity in

the former

war

;

but Cronstedt bad

fallen

back in

the direction of Piexmaki and Kuopio.

Thewhich

singularity of the

names

of these places,alter, is

it is

not in our power to avoid or to

worthy of attention, inasmuch

as those that

sound

peculiarly strange denote the population of the district to

be of Finnish origin

;

along the coasts, and

in various parts of the country, the ear distinguishes

other sounds,

more

closely resembling the

more

familiar accents of the Gothic languages.this

Where

occurs,

the inhabitants

are

descended from

Swedish colonists anciently

settled in the country.

The

difference of character in the

two nations

is

distinctly

marked;and

their language, their features,their dress,differ

their manners,

from eachof

other as

much

as their origin.

The descendants

the Swedes possess more energy, and have a stronglove of their country;

their habitations are;

more

spacious and more convenient

they wear the Euro-

pean dress, and are particularly distinguished fromthe Finlanders by their superior civilisation.

Another observation, which

is

perhaps worth

making, concerns the manner in which the Russian

army was broken up

into small divisions

;

for it

must have been remarked, that from the very beginning of the invasion, in spite of the paucity of their

12numbers,the

CONQUEST or FINLAND.troops

were spread over the con-

siderable extent of country comprised between the

Lakes of Upper Finland and the Gulf which washesthe shores ofits

southern extremity.is

This appa-

rent dissemination

rendered necessary by the

very nature of the country.intersected inrocks,far

Although cut up andmarshes,

every direction by lakes,

and

forests, the

meansall

of communication are

from

rare,

and may

lead to results of greaterserve to protect a

or less importance.

They mayit,

post, to transmit supplies to

or to expose

it

to

danger.

These roads are constructed upon a firm

and

solid foundation,

and are a noble trophy of thegive way,;

industry of man.

They very seldom

and

are almost always practicable for troops

and whe-

ther a force be acting on the offensive, or merely on

the defensive,

it

would bewould beit is

as unsafe to neglect

any

one of

them:

as

it

in the valleys of Swit-

zerland

indeed

necessary to possess one's self

of nearly the whole of them, in order to secure the

principal roads being kept open, to provide shelterfor the soldiers in so severe a climate,

and

to enable

them

to avail themselves of

some

of the local re-

sources which are rendered indispensable

by theindeed

rapid and decisive system of warfare adopted in thepresent

day;

and these precautions

are

doubly necessary, by the circumstance of the habita-

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.

13

tions being but thinly scattered over the face of the

country, the villages in general inconsiderable, the

country

itself

unproductive,

andis

deficient inlittle

the

means of

transport.

There

but

danger ofit

being beaten in detail in Finland, and

would

very rarely be possible for a superior force to meet

with ground on which a great number of fighting

men1000and

could be drawn up.orits

Each detachment ofin fact, a small army,

1500 men forms,

commander ought

to

possess

a

certain

degree of talent, as he must be capable of creating resources for himself, and will often be compelled to act without waiting for orders from his

superior officers.

The

history of the engagementswill

wefar

shall

have occasion to describe

prove that

the victories alternately gained

by each party wereand

more due

to the constant relays of troops,

to the talent

and resolution

of their chiefs, than tofield of battle.

any numerical superiority on theInenteringinto

these

details,

however,

we

must not lose sight of the general aspect of thecountryas

regardsinit

great

military

operations.

There

are

six

strategic

points,

and the

taking and holding of these can alone secm'e the

conquest which was the aim of Russia.

They

are,

Sweaborg, improperly called the Gibraltar of

14the

CONQUEST or FINLAND.North, a sea-port withIt

an arsenal,

and an

entrepot of commerce.of communication

commandsall

the channelline,

by

sea

along the coast

and

also the

grand communications of the Russian

frontiers

towards Abo.

Tavastheus, a central town situated on the mostelevated table-land in Finland, in the midst of afertile

country, at the junction of

all

the great lines

of communication froDi the north, the east,

and the

south of Finland.

It has a market.

Aboof

is

the capital and the principal point of

communication with Sweden.

A

sea-port, the seatIt is a station

government and of a

university.

of a squadron of the

coasting

flotilla,

and has a

dockyard.

Abo

is

also the place of

embarkation

for the islands of Aland.

Vasa, a commercial town at the termination ofseveral

of

the

great

rocks.

Fromof

itsit

situationoffers in

opposite to the Swedish port of

Umea,

summerBothnia.

a landing-place

easy

access,

and

in

winter a passage upon the ice from the Gulf of

Kuopio, or rather Idensalmi, which commandsthe eastern part of the country, andsibleis

only acces-

by a

single road.

TJleaborg, the last key of

Northern Finland to

which any reasonable expedition can tend.

CHAPTER

11.

Thewish

General had thus succeeded in obtainmg inall

a few daysfor.

the

first

results

he could possiblyisolated, the

Sweaborg was invested and

provinces of Nyland and Tavastheus were in his

power,

and the arming of the reserves

in

the

eastern provinces put a stop to.in retreat towards the north,

The enemy wasby theand

and a considerable

portion of the line of coast was invested

Russian troops

;

and

all this

had been accomphshed

by means

of a few well-ordered forced marches,

some engagements, attended with butof life;

trifling loss

the ardour of the troops sustainedin a rigorous climate.

them

under excessive fatigue

The

precipitate retreat of

Count Klingsporr waswas impossible

a proof that he could not venture to trust, as yet,to his

meansto

of defence.at

It

for the

Swedes

remain

Tammerfors and Bjorneborg.

Their commander had only a choice of two alterna-

16

CONQUEST OF FINLAND,the ice of the Gulf of Bothniaretire into

lives, either to cross

between Vasa and Amea, andor to

Sweden,

draw the

w^ar

towards the north, and thustheir original position,

remove the Russians from

and from the southern part of the country.either case, his

In

hope

for the success of the

campaign

must be founded upon theoffered

resistance that could beit

by Sweaborg, and upon what diversionfor

might be possibleas the navigation

Swedeninit

to

make, as soonof the

was open,

some part

great extent of coast vrhichfor theIt

would be necessary

Russian army to guard.this

was on

reasoning that Count BouxhoevdenAfter the evacuation

based his ulterior operations.of Tavastheus he brought

the 21st division, with

the exception of a detachment directed upon Abo,

under Major-general Chepeleff, to bear upon thetraces of

Count Klingsporr, and the 5th

division

under General Toutchkoff

(1st) received orders to

march upon two columns fromwas, to

Jorois,

where

it

thenit

Vasa, where Count Bouxhoevden hoped

wouldthe

arrive before

Count Khngsporr could reach17thdivision,

town.

The

under

Count

Kamensky, was destined

to regulate the blockade

of Sweaborg, to carry the fortified point of

Hango-

udd, and to form a hue of communication fromHelsingfors to Abo.

Some

battalions of the per-

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.manent garrisons of theland occupied the postsfortresses ofleft

17Russian"Fin-

in

surveillance

over

the conquered country, and guarded those wheremilitary stores

had been

established.

Attroops,

this

time the army was reinforced by some

pioneers and artillery, intended to reduce

Sweaborg.

The detachment

left

before Swartholm

was soon equally

available for that purpose,

that

small fort having capitulated after beingfor five or six days.

bombarded

The

act of capitulation agreed

upon between Captain

D rentier

of the Engineers

and the commandant. Major Gripenberg, containedeleven articles, of which the followingis

the purit

port

:

The;

fort to

surrender exactly in the state

then was

the garrison were to be prisoners, except

the soldiers

who were

natives of Finland,

and who

would be discharged and permittedtheir

to return to

own homesofficers

;

the garrison to

march out with

the honours of war; private property to be respected;

and the

permitted to retain their swords.

Should a truce or peace take place before thesurrender was completed, the capitulation was to

be considered null and void.

The commandantsending a

had

also reserved to himself the right of

report to the

King

of SAveden.

Two

standards,

20

officers,

733 non-commis-

sioned officers and privates, 200 guns and mortars,

c

18

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.

a quantity of arms and ammunition, and a magazine of

unground

corn,

fell

into the

hands of the

Russians when they entered Swartholm on the j^thof March.

This surrender was attributed to the want offuel,

of

which the garrison had not had time to

collect a sufficient provision, to the destruction of

the only mill, and to the prevalence of sickness

caused by the want of good drinking water.*

Butcom-

however that might be, Sw^artholm was a mostvaluable acquisition to the Russians, forit

manded

the entrance of the harbour of Lovisa,all

and

would have interceptedthat line of coast.It

the navigation alongin

was found

an excellent

state of defence, with the exception of a few errors

in construction,fortified places.

which are usually met with in small

Prince

Bagration

having

been employed to

observe the movements of General Klingsporr had

pushed on

his

advanced guard, under the

commandof the

of General Jankowicz,

by Lempalaof.

to

Tammerfors,few

which they took possession*

A

The Emperor Alexanderofficer

visited

Swartholm in 1809.the garrison

An

engineer

observed to

him how much

must have suffered, crowded as they were in unhealthy casemates, and compelled to subsist upon unground grain. The Emperor replied, " I detest cowards, and I am happy to findour enemies do not belong to that class."

CAMPAIGN OF 180S.

19

enemy's squadrons tried to dispute the passage ofthe frozen lake, on the shores of which Tammerforsis

situated,

but they were dispersed wdth someof Grodno.

loss

by the hussars

An

attempt upon a;

rear-guard of infantry was less successfulits

it

forced

way throughit

the Russian troops and saved theto protect.

convoy

was employed

The Russians

had marched 75

versts almost without a halt.

Count KKngsporr had retreated successively byRautila, Lautakyla,as

Kumo, and Gammalby,

as far

Normark.

He

appeared disposed to contest the

occupation of Bjorneborg, and covered that town

with a strong vanguard, drawn up on the tw^o banksof the

Kumo.

Prince Bagration attacked him in

three detachments, and carriedlages of Keikio,

by

assault the vil-

Kumo, andbut

Jorillac.

This

last w^as

covered by

Abattis,

w^as

quickly

taken by

the 25th Chasseurs.

On

the

TT^th

the Sw^edes burned several brido;estrees, so as

on the great road, and cut down largeto renderitit

impassable; so that the Russians found

necessary to proceed by cross-roads, or by winter

tracks covered with

snow

:

nevertheless, Jankowicz

came up with the enemy on the frozen

surface of the

Kumo,

near Haistila, where Count Lowenhjelm,

chief of the staff of the

Swedish army, had assembled

three battalions

and a few hundreds of the dragoons

20

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.

of Nyland, with

some

artillery.

The Russianof

forcesix

only amounted at the time to 1200piecesofartillery,

men andthe

the remainder

troops

gradually

coming up.

When

Prince

Bagration

arrived in person, a brisk engagement had already

begun

in the front.

He

ordered them to turn theof

position occupied

by Lowenhjelm upon a headvillages of Haistila

the river,

by the

and

IJlfsby.

This movement, which directly threatened Bjorneborg, compelled the Swedish general to change his

ground: he retreated, and Prince Bagration occupiedBjorneborg.occasion,

A

good many

lives

were

lost

on

this

and

several officers were

wounded.*

At the same timebeen following very

these events were taking place,

a detachment entrusted to General Koulneff hadclosely the

Swedish brigade of

Adlerkreutz from Tammerfors, by Kyro and Numijarva,

threatening at the same time Himola and

Christinestadt.f

Baron

d' Adlerkreutz

changedto

his

route and retiredCarleby, whilst

by Lappo, on the road

Ny-

General Klingsporr continued toline of the coast.

abandon the ground along the*

Amongst

others, Lieut.-colonel Riidinger of the Russian,

and Mr. de Reutercrona of the Swedish army. t A battle was fought in 1714 in the neighbourhood of Kyro, near the village of Hanno, between the Russian army under Prince Galitzen, and that of the Swedes under the

command

of Bai'on dArmfeldt.

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.Prince

21

Bagration had just conferred on General

Raievsky the

command:;;^th,

of the troops intended to

act towards the north.

He

proceeded to Christine:j^th

stadt on the

and Vasa on the

of March,

while Koulneff reached Kistaro on the

th

and

placed

himself(1st).

in

communication

with

General

ToutchkofFoffered

The brigade

of Cronstedt

hadand and

some

resistance to the last-named officer,;

only at the posts of Lapvierta and Kiiopioafter

havingcavalry,

left in

that

town four

battalions

somefor

under the orders of General Boulatoff,of

the

sake

protecting

his

communications,

menaced from the

side of Idensalmi, he

had marchedand

with the rest of his troops,

fifteen battalions

some squadrons,2;^th

to

Rautalamby and Istoumaki, the

March.

On:rrr-

this

Count Klingsporr thought

it

necessary

to continue his retreat to the north,to theTT.th

and from the

of

March he moved

his head-quarters

successively to Nerpes, Portom,

and Wora, where he

concentrated the nucleus of his army.

Whilst Generals Raievsky and Toutchkoff

(1st)

were

following

the

movements

of

the

Swedish

army, and thus without fighting were making arapid advance towards thenorth. Prince Bagra-

tion only allowed one day's rest to the remainder

of his

division at

Bjorneborg, although they had

22

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.in eight days,

marched 200 versts*to

and hastened

march southwards towards Abo by the coastGeneral Chepeleff was detached with 1600

road.

men fromtered

Tavastheus upon this

city,

and arrived

before Prince Bagration, without

having encoun-

the

slightest resistance.

Count Bouxhoevon the

den transported

his

head-quarters there

th.The Swedes, before abandoning thecapital ofits

the country, without striking one blow infence, set fire to their fleet of galleys,

de-

composed of

64

vessels of war.

The

activity of the

Russians was rewarded by

the capture of the strong castle of Abo, celebratedas havingarsenal,

been the prison of Eric XIV., with theall

containing 325 guns ofof projectiles, arms,

sizes,

a greatto-

number

and ammunition,

gether with 280 brass cannons and a considerable

depot of naval stores,hands.

all

of which

fell

into their

The

cape,

or

rather

the

fortified

rocks

of

Hango-udd, shared the sameof this placefor, likeis

fate.

The importance

entirely in a maritime point of view;it

Swartholm and Sweaborg,

commands

all

the coasting navigation.

The

batteries,

although

incomplete, were

mounted with 55 guns and well* 140 miles.

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.provided with amiDunition.

23

The S^vedish Governcom-

ment had

collected the materials there for

pleting the works

this

duty devolved upon the

Russian engineers, and in a few weeks Hango-udd

was secure from a

coiip-de-main.

Southern and Central Finland had thus been

conquered in the short period of a month.

Count

Bouxhoevden

w^as

desirous of followingislands

it

up by

the capture of the

of Aland,

where the

inhabitants had manifested a hostile feehng.

TheSweden,

principal object of this expedition

was

to

place an additional barrier between Finland

and

and

it

was entrustedstaff.

to

Mr. de Neid-

hardt, a major on the

He

merely took with

him

a small

numberfirst

of Cossacks, but the islands

submitted at thetroops

summons, a few Swedishre-

by which they were garrisoned having

tired to their

own country

;

and Colonel Vouitch^^'^^^^

established himself there

jt^^jtxT^'

^ party of

the 25 th Chasseurs.

Such rapid progress, and such gloriousare in themselves a sufficient

results,

eulogium upon theall

military skill

which directedtheprecipitate

the

operations.of

Nevertheless

retreat

Generalof the

Klingsporr, and the delays in the

movements

5th division under General Toutchkoff, occasioned

by

local

obstacles

and the

difficulty of

procuring

24provisions,

CONQUEST or FINLAND.haddisconcertedIt

the

plans

laia

byto

Count Bouxhoevden.break up theforceline

had been impossible

of

theof

Swedish troops, or totheir

the

great

body

army

to

retreat

beyond the Gulf

to Vasa, as

the Russian

com-

mander-in-chief had intended; imagining, no doubt,the

enemy opposed

to Prince

Bagration would not

have yielded almost without a struggle.of GeneralIt is true

The bodyentire.

Klingsporr's

army was almost

he had been compelled to retreat to the

arid plains of the north,tlii'ough

and with one only channel

which he could obtain provisions, namely,

by

a road

making an immense

circuit

extending to

Lapland, and communicating with the rest of the

kino-dom bv Tornea and Swedish Westro-Bothnia. Inthis situation

Count Klingsporr could not

fail

to

suffer great inconveniences

and

privations, but the

season was approaching

when

the navigation

would

again be open, and he could not doubt he wouldreceive assistance.

In the meanwhile the campaign

was notplans,

at

an end

to

it

was necessary

to

form other

and

to have

recom'se to the operation reafter

jected by Count Bouxhoevden

the

fall

of

Tavastheus,

viz.

make

a

direct

attack

upon

Uleaborg from Kuopio.In takingthis resolution, after soit

long a delay,it

the Russian general thought

possible

might

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.still

25

not be too

late.

He

ordered the brigade of

General Boulatoff to proceed by forced marches, byIdensahni

and Pipola, towards Uleaborg, whilst(1st)

General Toutchkoff

should continue to ad-

vance upon Gamle-Carleby

and Jacobstadt.

He

directed these chiefs to attack the

enemy whereverat Vasa, as

they w^ere inclined to

resist.left

General Raievsky

some troops

much

to

guard the passage of the Quarken, thenline

supposed easy, as to w^atch the security of theof communications;

a precaution rendered doubly

necessary by the circumstance that the Russian line

was every day becoming more extended, and thatprovisions could not follow theircient celerity.*

march with

suffi-

Colonel KoulnefF, in consequence of theseinstructions,

newat a

marchedin

to

attack the

enemy, and

came up with themcritical

the defile of

Sundby

moment,

for their artillery

was embarrassedRussians had to

^

One

of the greatest difficulties the

encounter during this war proceeded from the scarcity of carriage.

The Swedes

carefully carried off the horses

and thewas onlythe inde-

carts, or sledges, of the peasants.

The convoys

of provisionsit

arrived from Russia at an enormous expense, and

owing

to the anxiety of the

Emperor Alexander, and

fatigable attention of

that the

Count Araktcheieff, the Minister of War, army sometimes had abundant supplies, and was

generally preserved from actual urgent want.

26in the snow.

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.

He

obliged them to separate their

brigades, and after a long engagement to retire

by

hardly visibledirection.

roads,

and alwaysof the

in

a

northerly

The rear-guard

Swedes was comThisofficer,

manded by Count Gripenberg.

being

unable either to retreat or to pass the principal

column, which was locked in a cross-road, suddenly wheeledregain the

about upon Koulneff, in order toroute

principal

near

the

church

of

Pedersore.artillery,

This manoeuvretheir

saved

the

Swedish

and

columns succeeded in rejoining

each other at Lappalax.After this negative advantage. General Klings-

porr

continued

his

retreat

by Gamle-Carleby,ashortat

Maringais, Lackto, and Himango, from the ^th of

Marchat

to the

4tli

[\

\^^V April

He made

halt

Pyhajocki on the

th,

^^

and remained

Bra-

hestadt until the jrth of April.troops joined

Some

newly-raised

him on

these marches.of the Russians followedIt

The advanced guardclose

upon

their

traces.

was commanded by

KoulneflPversts in

and Tourtchaninoff, and advanced GOO

22 days, constantly keeping the enemy in

view, allowing

them no

respite,

and giving innumxcr-

able proofs of valour and skill in the skirmishes

which took place

daily.

On

the

^.^tn

aTii

^^^^^

^^"

vanced guard reached Himango.

Generals Toutch-

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.koff(1st)

27the

andtheirii

Raievskyforces at 31st March

established

main

body ofr\^

Jacobstadt and Gamle-

Carleby on the

V,

^^^^^

.

All serious engagements were then suspendedfor

some days by a heavyexcessive cold;

fall

of snow, accompaniedthis enforced truce

bya

and during

sort

of acquaintance

sprung up between thethat the Pin-

armies.

Hopes were now entertained

lander troops, of w^iom the greater portion of CountKlingsporr'sto lay

army was composed, might betheir arms,

inclineddiplo-

down

and M. de Hubert, a

matic agent, was despatched to the spot to endea-

vour to bring about so desirable a

result.

But the

event did not justify the hopes they had presump-

tuously formed.

On

the contrary,to

it

appeared the

Swedes had known how

make

the most of the

time they had gained, and that they had taken

advantage of

it

to reorganise the order of

march

of their columns,greatest disorder.

which had before been in the

At length

the Swedish Lion

awoke under the

64th parallel of north latitude.Koulneff had occupied the post of KalajockiApril),

(j^

and the great body of the Russian troops'-^,loth'

assembled there on the

while BoulatofF was

approaching from Frantzilla.of the

The advanced guard

Swedes under Colonel Gripenberg, composed

28of about

CONQUEST OF FINLA.ND.

2000 troops

of

all

descriptions, occupied

Ypperi, in front of Pyhajocki, where Klingsporr atlast

appeared determined to make a stand.

Colonelsaice

Tourtchaninoff and

KarpendofF opened on the

sharp

attack, while Koulneff, advancing

along

the Gulf of Bothnia, harassed the enemy's flank.

Gripenberg found himself by

this

manoeuvre driven

from position to position, and in

spite of the

broken

nature of the ground, which afforded him better

means

of

defence,

he was

compelled,

after

an

obstinate resistance, to retreat to Wirets.

General

Klingsporr had just begun to retreat with his army

towards Brahestadtporting the effortsto assistin

;

he

felt

the necessity of sup-

made by Gripenberg, and marchedembarrassedthe field ofof artillery,

him

in disengaging his troops

the

deep snow.

On

arriving on

battle he placed in front a large

body

and detached Count Lowenhjelm, with a brigade and

some squadronstheice.

of dragoons, to retain Koulneff uponofficer

The Swedish

was successful

in his

attack,

but having been dismounted and wounded

in a charge of cavalry, he

was taken prisoner with

his aide-de-camp, Captain Clairfeldt,

who was

endeafol-

vouring to defend him.

The disorder whichtaken advantagefar as the

lowed

this;

accident

vv^as

of

by

Koulneff

he pushed on as

mouth

of the

river of Pyhajocki,

where Gripenberg had taken up

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.his

29this point

ground

for the fourth

time

:

from

he

continued his retreat without opposition.After having occupied Brahestadt on the j^thof April, KouhieflP again dislodged theOlkijocki, but at thew^as

Swedes from

manse

of Sikajocki the

combat

renewed on a more extensive

scale.

The

Russian cavalry tried to repeat the manoeuvre whichthey had found successful on the preceding daysat the

mouth

of the river of Sikajocki, but

were

repulsed withartillery

considerable

loss

by the Swedish

and the dragoons of Nyland.

The

battle

had

continued for several horn's withoutw^hen General Adlerkreutz,

any decisivesucstaff,

result,

who had

ceeded Count Lowenhjelm asobserved that theslacken, chargedfire

chief of the

of the Russians

began to

down upon them and

forced

them

to retreat to Mojasi.ants, wdio

Night separated the combat-

had been engaged eight hours

the wholesky.

length of the day under

that hyperborean

The Russians had nearly takenquarterslocalities;

the Swedish head-

they were saved by their ignorance of the

and the bravery of the guard.first

This was the

serious engagement,

and cost

above 1000 on bothgeneral of brigade,

sides.

Flemming, the Swedishkilled;

was

and among the24th Chasseurs.Pahlen,

Russians, Major

KonskyKoulnefl",

of the

The names of

Bacon,

Tom-t-

30clianinofF,

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.andSilix,

d'Adlerkreutz,

Gripenberg,

Dobeln, Fock, and Bjornstjerna,* were honourably

mentioned

in the

two armies.

The

victory

was doubtful.

The Russians were

driven from the ground, but they regained possession ofit

through the retreat of General Klingsporr,to

which he continued on the j^th of April,jocki.

Lumi-

The Swedish army assembled

at

Lumijocki

and Limingo, and the Russians near Brahestadt

and Karinkinda.In quence>!-

this attitude of repose, the necessary conse-

of

the

excessive fatigues

and the forcedManti-

A

Swedish orator comparedwhich

this battle to that of

rea, or

even of Marengo, an exaggeration, which the circum-

stances

drew forth

his

speech

perhaps

renderedit

excusable.

We

must, however, acknowledge, that

was a

transition from the strictest defensive measui^es to the offensive,

and thatforce

this

day restored energy

to the to

army, whose moral

might reasonably be supposedconsecutive

have been diminishedretreat,

by

six

weeks of continualColonel

exposed to

privations of eveiy kind, and to excessive fatigue,able circumstance oceuiTed:

A remarkobserved

Koulneff

a

Swedish

officer,

M. deis

Bjornstjerna,

exposing himself to

danger without the slightest precaution, and moved by anoble generosity, which

indeed a distinguishing

trait of his;

character, he desired the Chasseurs not to fire at

him

and at

the same time d'Adlerkreutz, from a similar feeling of admiration, gave orders to his

men

to spare Koulneff.

The

war of which we

are

now

giving a sketch furnished more than

one example, like those we now mention, of chivalrous and generous rivalry.

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.marches the troops had undergone, both sides

31re-

solved to await the arrival of the troops from theSavolax.of April.

This state of things lasted until the :^th

General Toutchkoff

(1st)

had enjoined General

BoulatofF to carry on his operations on Uleaborg

according to the plan of the commander-in-chief;or, if

he did not consider himself sufficiently strong

to succeed in such an operation with his unassistedforces,

he w^as to come and join his extreme right

by

Frantzillapart,

and Revolax.his

Boulatoff chose

theQ

latter

and

column marching on the

r^rth

of April

by Wihandi, reached

Revolax on the

th 24

12

with about 2500 men.

The brigadestopped(the 5th),salo

of Colonel Cronstedt, which

had

until that time been opposed to General Boulatoff,at

Temmes.

Another Swedish brigade

under Colonel Sandels, entered UleasCarlon,

and

on the shores of the

Gulf of

Bothnia.

A

sustained connexion w^as thus esta-

blished between the troops coming from the Savolax

and the principal body of the army of CountKlingsporr, his 1st, 2d,

and 3d brigades having

been posted about the environs of Lumijocki.

A

glance upon

the

map shows

the

Swedes

might be said to have only one foot

in Finlandlikely

and the reunion of the Russian columns was

32to afford

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.General

Toutchkoff the only means of

throwing them back upon Tornea.

The idea of

completely breaking their line was henceforth givenup, on account of the insufficiency of their forces for

the execution of a project which would certainly bedecisive,

but w^hich required the employment of the

troops in two separate directions.

The

prestige of

a great numerical superiority which had so longprevailed w^asdissipated,

and

after the battle

of

Sikajocki

the

Swedish array had regained

confi-

dence.

Nevertheless Toutchkoff awaited the rein-

forcement under Boulatoff to execute the instructions he

had

received,

and which commanded himoffensive.

positively to

resume the

A

decided vie.

tory was required to conclude the campaign, andbriuGC

about the dissolution of the Finlander re-

giments.

Klingsporr

and

his

staff

had on

their

side

equally strong motives for seizing any opportunityof

gaining

an

unexpectedit

advantage,

and they

could only hope forthe

by suddenly overwhelmingit

weakest of the two Russian corps beforeother.

could rejoin thequit Revolax,

Boulatoff w^as

about to

and a very few hours would placeof the support of Toutchkoff's

him within reachtroops

but

these hours Avere not

allowed him.offensive.

Khngsporr had resolved on acting on the

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.

3S

A

brigade under Count Cronstedt marched onof April;

the u^th

from Temmes, by Pavola, to

Revolax

and Adlerkreutz from Lumijocki, with aIf

smaller detachment, started for the same point.

these columns could succeed in separating BoulatofF

from Toutchkoff,

it

was intended they shouldof the latter towards

menace the communications

Brahestadt, and Klingsporr was resolved to attack

the Russian force in front at the same time on thecoast road.

This plan

mayit

appear rather complicated,

when

one considers the distance between the columns,neverthelessw^as

successful

even beyond the

hopes of the Swedes.

The marchthe

of

Count Cronstedt was retarded by

the deep snows, and the attack of Adlerkreutz uponleft

of Toutchkoff

had been made some time

before helasted

came upho^irs,loss.

;

the engagement had alreadyre-

some

and the Swedes had been

pulsed with

The

battle appeared ended,

and

General Boulatoff, only anxious to rejoin Toutchkoff,

was pushing on

in

that direction, Avhen his

extreme right and some companies posted near the

church of Revolax were unexpectedly charged bythe brigade of Cronstedt, which advanced rapidly

by

the frozen stream of Revolax

and the

village of

Handela, whilst his hght troops made themselves

D

34masters ofall

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.theoutskirts

of the

neighbouring

woods.

Boulatoff hastened to the spot, and im-

mediately saw he had no resource but to draw uphis troops in a

mass around the manse, where he

resolved to defend himself so as to allow General

Garnault,

who commandedfirst

the

left,

and whose

troops had in the

instance been engaged with

Adlerkreutz, to come to his rescue.

But, unfor-

tunately for him. General Garnault, imagining the

engagement

totally at

an end, had obeyed an order

previously given, and set forward on his march toSikajocki.

He had marchedhis

at

tlie

head of

his

troops,

and

column was thus

destitute

of a

commander.

Whenfrom the

Boulatoff found himself thus abandonedto

and overpowered, he ordered the coloursstaff,

be tornGeneral

and dispatched an

officer to

Toutchkoff to assure him he would die with his

arms

in his hands.

He was

repeatedly wounded,

but maintained the coolness and self-possession of ahero.

Hein

at last fell into the

hands of the enemy,

almost

a

dying

state,

and was treated with

the respect and consideration due to unfortunate

heroism.nearly

In

this

engagement the Russians

lost

800 men, four guns, and nine ammunitionhopes of

waggons.This check deprived Toutchkoff ofall

CAMPAIGN or 180S.

35

terminating the campaign, or even of long retaininghis position at Sikajocki.

His communications nearfell

Wikanda having been menaced hehis principal force

back withan

to Pyhajocki, only leaving

advanced guard

at

Brahestadt, hoping by these

arrangements to be able to await the arrival of thereinforcements

promised

him by Bouxhoevden.force,

The

whole amount

of his

including

the

remains of the column of BoulatofF,infantry,

was 4760

587

cavalry,

and 19 guns.all

Count Khngs-

porr had 12,92.2 troops of

descriptions, including

the brigade of Sandels, and a numerous artillery;

but there was a great deal of sickness in

this

army,

which was divided intoIt

six brigades.

was not long before the disastrous conseand some supplementary detachments,of

quences of the battle of Revolax began to appear.

A

battalion,

left

in chargeSt.

the

magazines formed by the

Russians at

Michel, to the south of Kuopio,

were to have followed the march of Boulatoff'scolumn, and have served as an escort to a park ofartillery

and a quantity of ammunition.

The orderwas

to retrograde arrived too late,

the detachment'

attacked and surrounded at Pulkila, on the ^tttt^^* 2d May by Colonel Sandels, and was obliged to yield, aftera desperate resistance.

The utmost

efforts

of

a

36

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.officer* only enabledfugitives.

young

him

to save

two guns

and a few

He

rejoined General Toutch-

koff at Raukalaks.

This

fresh

misfortune

left

the

approach toof San-

Kuopiodels,

entirely uncovered.

The brigadesix

composed of four

battalions,

guns, and

about 3000 men, preceded by a numerous band ofinsurgent peasants, forming an

advanced guard,

advanced upon the town by rapid forced marchesit

was defended by a small Russian garrison,t toooffer

feeble to

any resistance

:

they consequentlyto

evacuated the town and

retreated

Warkhaus,

leaving some carriages, a military hospital, and a

magazine, to

fall

into the hands of Sandels.

An

insurrectional

movement manifested

itself

in several parishes, simultaneously with the first re-

verses of the Russians.general,culties

It

threatened to becomediffi-

and added

to

the daily-increasing

experienced by the Russians in obtaining

provisionscation. J^'

and keeping up means of communi-

Serbine, 2d captain in

tlie

regiment of Mokileff.

f

A

company

of the regiment of Peime,

under Lieutenantthis insurif

Pavlenko.I

The want

of

arms and ammunition paralysed

rection,

which would probably have become general

the

Swedish Government could have supplied them.

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.General Toutchkoff(1st)

37to retreat

was induced

again as far as Lackto and Gamle-Carleby by thisincident,

and the necessity hehisline.

felt

himself under of

contracting

Brahestadt was evacuated,

andporr,

shortly afterwards occupied

by Count Klings-

who detached

a party towards Kajana, and

posted his army on the southern shores of the Pyhajocki, taking care

to fortify his position strongly.(1st)

General Toutchkoffat

took similar precautions

Himango and Gamle-Carleby.ice in the

The thaws,

the

breaking up of the

numerous

torrents of

Northern Finland, and the melting of the snows,took place at this period, forming insurmountableobstacles to the carrying

on of any military operaAll that

tions of a rapid or decisive character.

could be done by the commanders on both sides,

and indeed

all

they attempted to do, was to endea-

vour beforehand to provide themselves with the

means and precautions necessaryfuture period.

for action

at

a

Sandels

alone

still

continued, almost without

opposition, to spread alarm in Eastern Finland.

The

Russian Government was compelled to devote somebattalions to forming posts

which might guard

their

ancient frontier and defend the fortified town ofNyslot,garrison

from which the principal portion of the

had been withdrawn, from a mistaken idea

38ofits security,

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.and, at the same time, the increased

demandconvoys.

for troops,

which were required

for

the

posts containing miUtary stores, and also to escort

Some

squadrons

of

dragoons

were

detached from the troops employed

at the siege of

Sweaborg

to defend

and

also to

overawe the country

of Heinola;

and, finally, a fresh division arrived

from Russia, under the command of General BarclaydeTolh,

and proceeded

to

Kuopio by forcedplace,

marches.*

While these events were takingat

Count Bouxhoevden was detained

Abo by businessespecially

connected with the necessary administration of his

army andcomingline,

of

the

province,

and was

occupied with the system of defenceseason,

which the

and the great extent of the coastHis troops in the:

would render necessary.

southern part were thus disposed

The 17themployed

division.

Count Kamensky, composedcavalry,

of 10,930 infantry,at

1262

and 74 guns, was

the siege of SAveaborg, and in detachcoast,

ments along the

from Swartholm as

far as

Ecknas and Hango-udd.* This reinforcement consisted of the following troops of theseurs,

Guards there were the grenadiers, a battalion of chasand a company ofartillery; of

regiments of the 6thtroopsof

division,

ord Chasseurs, Nizovsky, Azoff, Volhjmia;frontiers,

withdrawn from fortresses on theartillery,

a

company

and two incomplete

battalions.

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.

39occupied

The 21stthecity

division, Prince Bagration,

and province

of

Abo, Bjorneborg, and

Tavastheus, and a strong detachment of hght troops

guarded the islands of Aland.

This corps

had

under arms 6959 infantry, 1110 cavaby, and 20guns.

CHAPTER

III.

The wisheyes

not to interrupt the thread of our nar-

rative has prevented us hitherto

from casting our

upon Sweaborg.had begunto

affairs

At the time we speak of, take a decisive turn on thatuponor

important subject.Thisfortressis

built

five

islands,

rather rocks, in

the

Gulf of Finland.

Three of

these

islands,

Wester-Swarto,are

Lilla-Oster-Swarto,situated in sight of

and Stora-Oster-Swarto,

the city of Helsingfors, and even within long rangeof cannonislandofshot.

On;

that

sideis

they

maskas

the the

Wargon, whichplace

consideredis

citadel of thetress

Langorn

a detached for-

upon a;

sixth island, nearer the coast than theat the opposite extremity,

others

and Gustavsward,

has a citadel which sweeps thetriple

channel from a

row

of batteries.

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.

41

All these islands are bristling with cannon, and the works are principally constriictcd of granite,

and

for the

most part

as massive as the foundationIt

on which they arepose to describe

built.all

would serve no pur-

these constructions,

many

of

which have been raised without any

definite plan,

and

are whimsical, defective,

and

useless; but which,

as a whole, render the fortification a work of thefirst

order.

The

sea

by which

it

is

surrounded

serves instead of a ditch,artificial

and where in some places

ditches have been necessary they are cut

in the rock.

Wargon

is

almost entirely bomb-proof.

Basins

and spacious docks were constructed by Chappman

and Tunberg, and these imperishable trophies oftheir genius surround the

monumentlies

of the founder.

Marshal Ehrenswardt, whoof

buried in the fort

Wargon.of

Sweaborg has

cost

Sweden immensefortifi-

sums

money, and the construction of the

cations occupied half a century.

The defenceSwedish navy.

of this

place

was entrustedofficer of

to

Admiral Count Crcmstedt, a veteran

the

The garrison amounted to above

7000 men,land;

partly Swedes, partly natives of Tin-

721 among them were seamen.of the

The numerical strength

Russians em-

ployed on the siege varied greatly, according as the

42

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.for

demandurgent.

troops

elsewhere

was more or

less

At

first

it

w-as hardly a thirdit

as considerable

as the garrison, but

was gradually augmented.

In the beginning of March the besiegers hadeleventeries,

battalions,

four

squadrons, four

field-bat-

two

companies of pioneers,

and

one

of

artillerymen, without

guns to serve the

batteries.

The heavydifficulty

artillery w^as

brought with extreme

on sledges to Sweaborg from RussianIt w^as successively

Finland.

posted on the Cape of

Helsingfors, the island of Skandetlandet, and the

surrounding rocks, by General Suchtelen, wdiorected the engineer department.

di-

During the whole

timethe

hostilities

were carried on against Sweaborgforty-six

numberThe

of artiUery never exceeded

pieces of cannon, of

which sixteengradually

w^ere mortars.

blockade

w^as

straitened,

ac-

cording as the augmentation of the Russian force

permitted them to drawfortress of that extent.

it

closer

and

closer

round abe

Theof the

batteries could only

established

by means

most arduous labour;

the

only

possiblefacines

means of constructingandstuffed gabions,

them

was uponbutit

which had

little

weight or power of resistance, renderingparapets should be of very con-

necessary the

siderable

thickness.

Earth

and turf were

alike

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.

43

wanting upon those barren rocks covered withdeep

snow

;

and besides the

difficulty

of

esta-

bhshing approaches, and breaching batteries upontheice,

the poverty of the Russians in artillery, in

ammunition, insoldiers,

workmen,it

in

tools,

and even in

rendered

perfectly impossible to attempt

to conduct the attack

upon Sweaborg accordingsiege.

to

the regular rules

of a

The possibihty

of

taking

it

by storm was

at

one time discussed, but

at last the

commandsorders

of the

Emperor Alexander

and the

dictates of

sound reason prevailed.were,closer,

Thethe

Emperor's

gradually to

make

blockade closer and

according as their augto

mented means might permit,

bombard

the place,as

and not to venture an assault exceptresource.

a last

The

first

shots were exchanged on the

Otli

March,

the occasion being a Russian battery on a rock inthe middle of the harbour and between the fortress

and theit

city of Helsingfors.

A

fire

was opened byemployed byice before

upon some hundreds

of labourersto

the Swedish

commandant

break up the

the points he considered the most accessible, and

consequently the most exposed to danger.vigorously repliedhigh,to,

It

was

and the guns being pointedthe

every shot told upon

houses

in

Heltotal

singfors.

The

city

was

threatened

with

44destruction,

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.

and

in order to avertto

it

a flag of truce

was despatchedto

Admiral Cronstedt, to represent

him

the disasters to which he

was exposing the

inhabitants, most of

whom had

relations or friends

amongdangercities

the garrison, and pointing out toit

him theCron-

involved of reprisals

on any Swedish

that might be reached

by the war.

stedt coldly replied that the destruction of Helsingfors

was necessary

for his

own

defence

;

how-

ever, after holding a consultation with his council,

he changed his mind, andsides

it

was agreed on bothworkspointinas

not

to

constructto

any

that di-

rection,

and

consider

that

neutral

ground.

The Russians were

therefore able to establish

their magazines, their military hospitals,

and

their

parks of artillery, at Helsingfors, with perfect safety.

Thisall

city afl'orded the

only shelter to be found in

that neighbourhood for the troops

and the head-

quarters.

All

the

smTounding heights were graduallyartillery,

becoming crowned with the Russianthese batteries fired almost atmills,

and

random upon thehuts,

the

magazines,left

the sailors'

and the

wooden

buildings

exposed by the ramparts.

Fires broke out several times during the ten daysthis

cannonade continued.

The number

of projec-

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.tiles

45

thus thrown amounted to 1565, and the for-

tress fired in return

2477

shots.

Various parleys took place on different occa^sions,

in

the course of which General Suchtelen

thought he observed, that the moral vigour of someof the chiefs was hardly what might have been ex-

pected from the material strength with which thefortress

was provided.

His plans

for accelerating

the surrender of the place were based upon thishint;

he considered that one means of successlie

wouldalarm

in keeping

up a constant anxiety andcomposed ofgoodaccustomed to war,

among

the

garrison,little

troops, but

who were

and

in

fatiguing and harassingalert.

them by keepingThis system was

them constantly on thecarried out:

constant alarms were raised, sometimes

in the daytime, but

much moreit

often during theof

night.

Sometimes;

was a party

drums and

riflemen

sometimes one or even two

field-batteries

would take advantage of thecreep along theshot.ice,

shelter of the rocks to

even within the range of grape-

Colonel

Argoumreveillon

of the artillery distinguished

himself particularly in these expeditions.

a

positive

to

the

garrison.

He was He con-

tinually varied his

stratagems,

and the time and

46

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.

place where the attack would be

made never could

be foreseen.

A

strong effect was produced by these means.that

The Russian generals very soon became awareAdmiral Cronstedt, accustomedthing with the eye of a seaman,

to look at everyfelt

unnecessary

anxiety about some points he considered too

much

exposed, as well as about some faults in the construction of his works,

and

also that

he exhaustedin-

the strength of his people by keeping themcessantlysufficient

atrest.

work withoutInfact,

their

being

allowed

he appeared to

regard

Sweaborgboarded.

in the light of a ship in danger of being

He

persuaded himself, and his opinionof his officers, that the winter,

was shared by many

by surrounding thedeprivedit

fortress with a field of solid ice,

of its

principal strength,

and that

it

would not be secure from a coup-de-main.

Ain

great

numberat the

of fugitives

had taken refugeof the Russian

Sweaborg

commencementthe

invasion,

worse than

useless for the defence of the

place, but

consuming

provisions.

Admiral

Cronstedt was sensible of the error he had committed in receiving them in thefirst

instance,;

and

he tried to rid himself of their presencerigorous laws of

but the

war prevented the Russians from

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.

47

showing a courtesy which would have been misplaced

under

such

circumstances,

and thetheir

unad-

fortunate

population

was repulsed by

vanced guard.anoffer

The Swedish admiral nobly refusedwas made him,to allow Ids

that

family

alone to quit the invested fortress.

UnderRussian

the

veil

of

military

politeness,

the

officers

took care to supply the Swedish

admiral regularly with the newspapers and gazettes

they received from the Continent. they werefilled

At

that time

for the

most part with disastrous

accounts of everything in Sweden.

The

bulletins

of the Russian army, the proclamations, the letters

from families dispmted by thetheir heads,

loss or

absence of

everything

that could tend to depressit

the spirits of the garrison, and that

was

to thedis-

advantao;e of Russia should be believed

and

cussed in Sweaborg, w^as transmitted there daily,

and received with the eagerby men cutoff

curiosity naturally felt

from

all

other intercourse with the

rest of the world.

Amore

personal acquaintance with some of the supe-

rior officers

enabled the Russian generals more andcharacters of those with

to

appreciate theto deal.

whom

they had

Colonels

who

for

twenty

years had been assiduously occupied in the cultivation of their military farms,

subalterns

who had

48never seen

CONaUEST OF FINLAND.the face of

war

a

sort of rivalsliip

between the Swedes and Finlandersof women

the dissatisfaction of

many

the

number

the prodigal

consumption permitted by inexperience of the provisions, always so precious in a besieged place

the

firm

belief

entertained of the

superiority of the

Russian forces;

such wereand

the principal elements

of the perplexity

and anxiety which distracted thehis officers.

minds

of the admiral

Nevertheless the high reputation borne

by Count

Cronstedt for talent, valour, and honesty, as wellas attachment to his kingeffect

and country, had a greatIt

upon men's minds.

was of consequence

thoroughly to understand the

manhim

himself,

and an

opportunity of conferring with

personally

was

taken every advantage

of.it

In the interviews that followed,

was easy to

perceive that he secretly disapproved of the politicsof his Government, that he considered

Sweaborg asfull

a precarious possession, and that he wasanxiety for the safety of theflotilla,

of

on board ofat the battlesill-fated

which he had distinguished himselfof

Wiborg and Swenksund, and which anmight reduceapprehensions;

shell

to ashes.

He

could not concealalliance

his

concerning

the

with

England

and

it

must be

confessed, the events atdistrust of their

Copenhagen might warrant a

good

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.faith

49a seaman, he

towards any naval power.

As

was embarrassed by the defence of immoveablewalls;as a

man, and the father of a family,

his

heart appeared to bleed for the sufferings of those

dear to him.

Doubt andandmostit

hesitation are great faults in war,

rarely happens that they do not lead to the

fatal results.

Count Cronstedt was naturally of an anxiousdisposition;it

is

a sort of moral malady,

fromcan

which neither courage nor even probitypreserve those

itself

who

are not

endowed wdth duedifficult

energy of mind.

Placed in ato

situation,

where he

w^as

abandoned

distrust of himself,

without any one beside him on w^hose opinion hecould rely, his feelings of uncertainty and want ofconfidence in his resources could notcontagious.fail

to

become

His high position had been given him

byin

the King,

and confirmed by the general respect

which he was held, and which he had well earned

during a longreputation

and honourable career;it

his verylie

made

impossible the irresolutionto paralyse the

evinced shouldsubordinates"

fail

energy of his

and,that deliberatesis lost."

The fortress

Count Cronstedt was too fond of

calling together

50his council;

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.a middle courseis

too frequently the:

consequence of such assembliesoccasion they consideredifit

on the present

a great stroke of policy

they could contrive to gain time, to preserve theto save their honour,

fleet,

and not

to run

any risk

at present.

Anferences

armisticeit

was proposed, andto,

after

long con-

was agreed

under the name of Con-

vention at the island of

Lonan on:

the

5th April

The

conditions were as follow

" Convention hetioeen their Excellencies Messrs.Siichtelen,

De

Chief Engineer,

Sfc.

Sfc,

and De

Cronstedt, Vice-Admiral, 8fc. 8fc.

" There shall be an armistice between the Russian troops besieging

Sweaborg and the SwedishS.,

garrison,

from

this

day until the 3d of May, N.

of the current year 1808.''

If at

noon on the 3d of

May

the fortress has

not been effectually succoured by at least five shipsof the line,it

shall

be given up to H. M. the Emit

peror of Russia.

Be

understood, that

it is

neces-

sary such succour

shall at that

hour have actually

entered the harbour of Sweaborg,

and thatit

if

it

should only be in sight of theconsidered as not having arrived."

fort,

shall

be

The day

after this

Convention

shall

have been

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.

51

approved of by the General commanding in chief

Count Bouxhoevden, Admiral Cronstedtthe island of Langornto

shall cause

be evacuated, and the

guard relieved by a Russian guard.

On

the two

following days, from twenty-four hours to twentyfour hours, the same shall be done with the islandof Wester-Swarto,

including the smalladjoiningrocks,

works ofof

Lovven

upon

the

and that

Oster-Lilla-Swarto.

"

The

garrisons which are in these places shall

pass into the great islands which compose the fortress,

taking w4th them nothing but what

is

actu-

ally their

own

private property, without injuring or

destroying anything in the w^orks, the magazines,the artillery, or the storesprovisions,;

always excepting the

which they are

at liberty to carry

away

with them."

Of

the three islands which are the security

for this

Convention, the island of Langorn shall be

given up entirely to the Russian troops, who, however, shall not

be permitted to construct any works

there on the side opposite to the fortress before thesaid

3d of May.

"As(in case

to

the other two islands, although also

occupied by Russian troops, they shall be restored

succour should arrive before the stipulated

day) exactly in the state in which they are at pre-

52sent;

CONQUEST OF FINLAND.andis

in the meanAvliile theshall

Swedish hospital

which

there

remain under the charge of

the S\yedish superintendants and medical officers.

They

shall

have no communication

^Yith

Sweaborg,

except for the transport of convalescents, or of sick

who may be received in ing the number whopresent.

their stead, without exceed-

are actually in hospital at

Thewill

mill

and the bakehouse of Wester-

Swart5"

be

for the use of the said hospital.

On

the

3d

of J\lay, at the time the fortress

is

surrendered, the garrison shall march out with

all

the honours of war, the conditions of the ceremonial

being the same as those granted to the garrison

of Swartholm.

" At noon on the said day the Swedish garrisonshall

have evacuated Gustavsward, and

it

shall

be

at that

same hour occupied by the Russian same timerelieve the

troops,at the

who

shall at the

guard

gates of the island of

Wargon, which

serves as a

communication with Gustavsward.

This island of

Wargon, and

that of Stora-Oster-Swarto, shall beif

evacuated in the course of the day,the farthestgarrisonif

possible, or at

on the next

dav,

accordino; as

the

may be

able to be carried

away

in boats,

the ice should break up before then.

Consider-

ing the uncertainty that must prevail on that head,it

shall

be agreed upon before the termination of

CAMPAIGN OF 1808.the period fixed

53:

what measures may be necessarywith promptitude

for the transport of the garrisons

and

safety, as well as the families

and persons who

follow the garrison.

" Each individual shall keep his

own

property,

but everything that remain in theself

is;

not private property shall

fortress

and the Admiral binds him-

not to destroy anything from this time forward,

to consider the harbour as well as the fortress in astate of blockade,