The war with Sweden was the result of the Peace of Tilsit, which significantly changed the political picture of Europe. In accordance with it, Russia pledged to break off diplomatic relations with England - a former ally in the anti-French coalition. In October 1807 Russia declared war on England. The English fleet went to the Baltic Sea.

For Russia, the situation was complicated by the position of Sweden, which throughout the entire period of the Napoleonic wars supported England. The English fleet could freely enter the Baltic Sea and be based in Swedish ports. Subsidized by England, Sweden was intensively preparing for a war against Russia.

Based on the treaties of 1780 and 1800 concluded with Denmark and Sweden, in 1807 Russia twice offered Sweden to close its ports to English ships. The Swedish king Gustav IV Adolf rejected these proposals and in January 1808 concluded an agreement with England, under which Sweden was provided with British assistance (14 thousand troops and 1 million pounds sterling monthly).

Russia was not satisfied with the terms of the Verel Treaty, which ended the Russo-Swedish War of 1788–1790, according to which the northern coast of the Gulf of Finland remained Swedish. The Russian government sought to take over all of Finland, strengthen Russia's position on the Baltic Sea, and thus finally secure St. Petersburg.

In order to forestall a military action by Sweden, the Russian government decided to open hostilities in the winter, knowing that the Swedish troops were incapable of operating in winter conditions. At the same time, the Russian government took into account that, according to the Treaty of Tilsit, Napoleon promised Alexander I to contribute by all means to the conquest of Finland.

Denmark took the side of Russia, which declared war on Sweden at the end of February 1808.

After receiving an evasive answer from King Gustav IV, a note was sent expressing the final demands of Russia, at the same time on February 9, 1808, Russian troops crossed the Swedish border (in Finland), and on March 16 Russia declared war on Sweden.

Before the opening of navigation, Russian troops, almost without resistance, managed to occupy the entire coastal part from the border river Kyumen in the Gulf of Finland to the city of Gamle-Karleby in Bothnia, as well as the Aland Islands.

On March 10, the city of Abo was taken without a fight by a Russian detachment sent earlier. In mid-March, the troops of General Prince P.I. Bagration. Before retreating from Abo, the Swedes burned 64 ships and magazines with ammunition. Developing the offensive, the Russian detachment (700 people) in March 1808 occupied the Aland Islands.

In the rear of the Russian troops, only Sveaborg remained - the strongest fortress of the Swedes in Finland. The siege of Sveaborg lasted more than a month and a half, and only on April 29, after a 12-day bombardment, the fortress surrendered.

In April, the Swedish army launched a counteroffensive. A strong Swedish landing, having broken the fierce four-day resistance of the Russian detachment, captured the Aland Islands. By May 1808, all of Northern Finland and part of Central Finland north of the Gamla - Carleby - St. Mikel line was again in the hands of the Swedes.

In addition to hostilities in Finland, in early April, the so-called Gotland Expedition was carried out, more like an adventure. When our fleet was still frozen in the Gulf of Finland, three battalions - 1657 people with 6 guns, under the command of Rear Admiral H.A. Bodisko, set off on April 9 on chartered merchant ships from Libava to take possession of the island of Gotland. The Russian government believed that the island could be used as a base for the English fleet in the Baltic Sea. The next day, without being noticed by the Swedish and English ships, the Russian detachment landed on the southern coast of the island, and on April 11 occupied the main city of Visby. Upon learning of this, the Swedes sent a squadron to Gotland consisting of three battleships, two frigates and several small ships with 5,000 troops on board. On May 2, the squadron approached the island and landed troops. Detachment H.A. Bodisko surrendered almost without resistance and was transported back to Libau on May 6.

In 1809 H.A. Bodisko was dismissed "for the removal from the island of Gotland ... and the position of arms without resistance."

The Russian Baltic ship fleet at the beginning of 1808 consisted of 9 battleships, 7 frigates, 6 bombardment ships and 19 small ships (corvettes, sloops, boats, etc.). In addition, there were 4 frigates and 3 brigs in Kronstadt, which, due to dilapidation, could only be used as guards. 11 dilapidated battleships and 4 frigates could be used to protect raids and flood if necessary.

The best ships, with the best crews, were in the Mediterranean. From 1804 to 1806, three squadrons were sent there from the Baltic: A.C. Greig, D.N. Senyavin and I.A. Ignatiev - a total of 12 battleships, 4 frigates, a sloop, several small ships.

Rowing fleet - in St. Petersburg: 11 floating batteries, 60 gunboats, 55 iols; in Rochensalm 10 gunboats; in Wilmanstrand 21 gunboats; in Riga 2 brigs, 6 gunboats, 5 landing craft.

In Vyborg, 110 warships were captured, including two 26-gun gems, six shebeks, five yachts, etc. Two detachments of the Russian rowing fleet (the so-called Sveaborg flotilla) were formed from these ships.

The sailing and rowing fleets were subordinate to the Minister of the Sea P.V. Chichagov. At the disposal of the commander-in-chief of the army F.F. Buksgevden, only the former Swedish rowing flotilla was transferred.

The Swedish fleet at the beginning of 1808 consisted of 12 battleships, 10 frigates, 8 auxiliary ships and 300 rowboats (of which 64 ships were burned by the Swedes during the retreat from Abo on March 10, 1808 and 110 were taken by the Russians in Sveaborg on April 21, 1808) . The sailing fleet was based on Karlskrona, the rowing fleet was based on Stockholm and Gothenburg, as well as Helsingfors and Abo before they were occupied by the Russians.

In April, an English squadron under the command of Vice Admiral Somares (16 ships of the line, 20 small ships) arrived in Gothenburg.

Hostilities in Finland resumed at the end of May 1808. The Swedes counted on joint actions with the British troops who arrived in Gothenburg in May. However, at the end of June 1808, the British government withdrew its troops from Sweden.

With the opening of navigation, the Swedes, who had gathered their forces on the Finnish mainland, forced our troops to retreat at several points, and the Swedish rowing fleet, with the assistance of the inhabitants, took possession of the Åland Islands and directed all their forces to take Abo.

The Russian fleet went to sea in the campaign of 1808 very late due to disagreements between F.F. Buksgevden and P.V. Chichagov. F.F. Buksgevden proceeded from the need for joint actions of the army and navy and proposed using the sailing and rowing fleet for the active defense of the coast of Finland. In addition, the fleet, in his opinion, was supposed to conduct reconnaissance and completely interrupt the maritime communications between Sweden and Finland. P.V. Chichagov, on the other hand, believed that the defense of Finland should be entirely entrusted to the ground forces, the fleet should defend Kronstadt and act against the Swedish and English fleets. Thus, only the Sveaborg rowing flotilla, which was at the disposal of F.F., could operate together with the ground forces. Buxhowden.

The rowing fleet was tasked with protecting Abo, occupied by Russian troops, from attack from the sea and assisting the army in capturing the coast of Finland. Fierce battles took place between the Russian and Swedish rowing fleets in the skerries near Abo.

In late May - early June, detachments of the rowing fleet began to move from Sveaborg and Kronstadt to the Abo region. The first detachment (15 gunboats, 1 boat and 3 transports) under the command of Lieutenant Commander G.E. Mistrova left Sveaborg on May 21, and on May 28, the second detachment of Captain 1st Rank M.P. Selivanova.

Before the arrival of the Swedes, these two detachments managed to pass by skerries to Abo, where on June 11 they joined and occupied the fairways leading to this city from the Aland and Bothnian skerries, and successfully repulsed the first attack of the Swedish rowing flotilla.

The Swedish rowing flotilla (23 ships), under the command of Admiral Gielmstiern, attacked the detachment of Lieutenant D.K. on June 19. Myakinina (replaced the ill G.E. Mistrov) - 17 ships, which occupied the forward post between the islands of the Ganges and Krampe (Hanga and Krampholm). In an effort to break through the line of Russian ships blocking the fairway leading to Abo, the Swedes attacked them twice, but were repulsed by grape fire. After a two-hour battle, 1 iol was damaged by the Russians, and 4 gunboats were broken by the Swedes.

By evening, the Swedes, having received reinforcements from 15 ships, tried to pass through another fairway in order to cut off the Russian detachment from the city of Abo.

When the Swedes were reinforced by a newly arrived detachment, in which the king himself was, D.K. Myakinin, retreated to the detachment of M.P. Selivanov, who was near the islands of Forvingsgalmar, waiting for an enemy attack.

On June 22, the Swedish detachment of Admiral Gielstiern, consisting of 6 galleys and 50 gunboats and iols, attacked the combined detachment of Captain 1st Rank M.P. Selivanova (29 gunboats and iols), who occupied a position between the islands of Runsalo and Gervisalo. The fight began at 6 pm. The Swedes successively attacked the flanks and the center of the Russian position, but all attacks were repulsed. Already at night, the Swedes went forward on the whole front. All Russian ships, in turn, attacked the enemy, showering him with grapeshot fire. As a result of a stubborn battle and a number of unsuccessful attacks by the Swedish flotilla, repulsed by the Russians, the Swedes were forced to retreat, having 20 damaged ships. The Russians were damaged 9 gunboats and 2 iols, losses in personnel - 10 killed and 15 wounded.

Guilmstiern, after two unsuccessful attacks, successfully repelled by our rowing flotilla, limited himself to blockade the fairways leading to Abo, and directed his main forces to the Jungfersund in order to block our ships from the path to Abo with the help of the ship fleet stationed there.

Boat "Experience"

While the detachments of M.P. Selivanova and D.K. Myakinin repulsed the attacks of the Swedish rowing fleet, new detachments of the Russian rowing fleet were sent to their aid.

To cover the transition of rowing vessels on May 25, a detachment of Lieutenant Commander I.S. Tulubyev - the Hermione and Melpomene corvettes, the Topaz boat and the Grand Duke Luger.

On May 28, a detachment of the captain of the 1st rank, Count L.P., came from Kronstadt to Sveaborg to strengthen its defense. Heyden (2 frigates "Argus", "Fast", 2 corvettes "Charlotte", "Pomona", 2 boats "Sokol", "Experience") and a detachment of Lieutenant P.I. Grave (7 gunboats, 6 iols, 2 transports), which was supposed to go to Abo.

From Sveaborg L.P. Heiden with a detachment of ships of the rowing fleet headed by skerries to Abo. On June 3, the third detachment of Lieutenant Commander P.Ya. left Sveaborg. Semykin, and on June 24 - the fourth detachment of Lieutenant Commander I.V. Lutokhin.

On May 31, a detachment of captain-lieutenant I.S. left Kronstadt. Novokshenov - a sloop, a boat, 2 floating batteries, 12 gunboats, 2 boats. At Biorke-sund, the detachment got into a storm, 8 gunboats and a boat were thrown ashore. I had to wait until 8 more gunboats came from Kronstadt instead of the damaged ones. Only on June 24, the detachment of I.S. Novokshenova arrived in Sveaborg, and on the 20th continued the transition to Abo.

Approaching the island of Kimito in early July, the captain of the 1st rank Count L.P. Heiden, later the hero of Navarino, united under his command three detachments - 40 gunboats. Seeing the impossibility of passing to Abo by the Jungfersund, occupied by an incomparably strongest enemy (2 frigates and 25 rowing ships), he decided to bypass it, guiding his ships through a narrow strait separating Kimito Island from the mainland. This strait in one place, still littered with stones under Peter I, was impassable for ships of the size that our flotilla had. But after two days of hard work, the Russian sailors managed to clear the passage and lead their detachment to the main fairway on the other side of the Jungfersund.

Battle off Kimito Island 9 July 1808

Leaving the strait on July 9, the detachment was met at Kimito Island by 25 Swedish gunboats under the command of Rear Admiral Royalin. The Swedes attacked the Russian ships, which entered into battle with them. Part of the Russian flotilla attacked the left flank of the enemy with the aim of boarding. The battle, which lasted 4 hours, ended with the defeat of the Swedes and the retreat to the island of Sando, where their naval fleet was stationed, again blocking the path to Abo.

In this battle, L.P. Heiden was wounded and was replaced by Lieutenant Commander P.A. de Dodt.

Battle of Rylaksfjord 20 July 1808

On July 19, the 4th detachment joined the 3rd detachment in the Tavastenscher Strait, leaving Sveaborg. On June 24, the Swedish flotilla (47 ships) blocked the further path to Abo for the united detachment (50 ships), which took an advantageous position in the fairway in the Rilaksfjord area at about. Sandyo. On July 20, the Russian flotilla under the command of Lieutenant Commander P.A. de Dodt, with the support of batteries installed on the shore, attacked the Swedish flotilla at about. Sandyo. After a 4-hour battle, when the Russians captured a 4-gun battery on Refvaren Island, which supported the Swedish ships with fire, and 11 gunboats went out of action due to damage, the enemy was forced to retreat along the entire line, despite the approach of reserves.

One part of the Swedish ships to repair the damage retreated to the Jungfersund, the other to the island of Korpo, and our flotilla safely passed to Abo. The Swedes lost 25 ships, the Russians - 11. The path to Abo was open.

Now it was necessary to clear the Jungfersund strait from the enemy, where 2 Swedish ships and 2 frigates stood in one of the narrow passages. This task was assigned to the last - fifth - detachment of Lieutenant Commander I.S. Novokshenov, who arrived at Kimito Island on July 21.

Battle of the Jungfersund 6–7 August

On August 6, Lieutenant Commander I.S. Novokshenov, who was with a detachment of the rowing flotilla at Dalsbruck, a mile and a half from the Swedish ships with three gunboats and three iols, approached the enemy at such a close distance that the buckshot of their ships and frigates flew over our boats and iols. The Russian ships fired with brandskugels and after a two-hour cannonade withdrew to their original position.

The next day, August 7, I.S. Novokshenov with 6 gunboats, 6 iols and 2 floating batteries (No. 11 and No. 21) headed for the Swedish fleet, leaving 2 hemamas, a brig, a galet, 2 yachts, 3 gunboats and 2 iols in reserve at the same position near Dalsbrück.

But during the battle, the ships left in reserve were unexpectedly attacked by 20 enemy gunboats and 25 armed longboats with 600 landing troops. The Swedes attacked so quickly and decisively that in less than half an hour, with all our ships, they boarded. Fighting back with desperate courage and moving from grapeshot and rifle fire to hand-to-hand skirmish, our small detachment was already exhausted in the fight against the strongest enemy. 3 gunboats and 2 Russian iola were sunk. The most brutal battle took place on the Storn-Biorn hemam (lieutenant M.M. Brovtsyn), which was under the band-pennant of the detachment commander. All commanding persons were killed on it - the commander and two officers, and from the lower ranks 80 were killed and 100 were wounded. Having mastered the gemam, the Swedes cut off its anchor rope and took it in tow.

Hearing gun salvos behind him, Novokshenov returned to Rylax. The Swedes attacked by him retreated, capturing 1 ship, and soon cleared the Jungfersund and went to the Aland skerries, losing 3 gunboats and 2 longboats in this battle.

But at this time I.S. Novokshenov, who had already heard firing in his rear, came to the rescue. The second Gems Gelgomar (Lieutenant O.P. Demyanov) and floating battery No. 11 (Lieutenant N.I. Shakhov) approached the Storn-Biorn and opened fire with grapeshot at the Swedish ships, they cut off the tugboats and retreated.

The attack made on the Swedes far exceeded their own energetic attack; the gemmam captured by them was recaptured, 3 gunboats and 2 barges were sunk with all the crews, and the retreating enemy ships were saved only thanks to thick fog and nightfall. The result of this successful battle was the removal of the Swedes from the Jungfersund and the opening of free passage for our ships along the entire skerry fairway from Vyborg to Abo.

In this battle, midshipman V.F. heroically died. Sukhotin. His ship (Gemam "Storn-Biorn"), after desperate resistance, was boarded by the Swedes, and he was killed at the moment when, being mortally wounded, he destroyed signal books so that they would not fall into the hands of the enemy.

Further actions of the rowing fleet took place mainly near the island of Sudsalo in the area of ​​the Abos skerries.

Battle of the island of Sudsalo August 18, 1808

On August 18, a detachment of a rowing flotilla of 30 ships under the command of Captain 1st Rank M.P. Selivanova, reconnaissance of the skerries near the island of Sudsalo and capturing a small merchant ship with a cargo of salt, met with twice as strong an enemy detachment, consisting of 45 gunboats and 6 galleys, approaching with a fair wind to the exit from the narrow strait to the spacious reach, on which they were ships of our flotilla. M.P. Selivanov, taking advantage of the fact that at the beginning of the battle the Swedish ships had not yet all come out of narrowness, and not wanting to give them the opportunity to take advantage of their forces on a wide stretch, decided to block their way out of the strait.

Immediately our weak vanguard under the command of Lieutenant A.M. Davydov, who defended the strait along which the enemy was approaching, was significantly reinforced, and two passes were occupied by other detachments, through which the Swedes tried to bypass the flanks of our line. The battle lasted about 8 hours; a brutal cannonade took place at the closest possible distance. Despite the clouds of thick powder smoke being carried in our direction, and the immediate replacement of the damaged enemy ships with new ones, our artillery fire was so successful that the Swedes could not break through to the reach, and the onset of night, which ended the battle, found them in their original position.

In this battle, we sank two battered gunboats, from which people were saved, and 45 lower ranks were killed. The losses of the Swedes were incomparably greater: they lost 10 gunboats, 8 of which sank, and two were blown up. Having an extreme shortage of artillery shells and significant damage to many ships, including 17 boats received from 4 to 8 holes and barely floated on the water, M.P. Selivanov went to correct them in Abo.

A detachment of the rowing flotilla, consisting of 28 gunboats under the command of Captain 1st Rank Selivanov, was attacked on September 2 near the island of Sudsalo by the Swedish rowing flotilla. The Swedes had 42 gunboats, so the Russian detachment withdrew to Abo.

On September 5, the Russian rowing flotilla under the command of Rear Admiral A.E. Myasoedova attacked the Swedish rowing flotilla near the island of Sudsalo. After a stubborn battle, the Swedes, pursued by detachments of Lieutenant Commander I.N. Butakov and Lieutenant H.A. Khvostov, retreated, losing 6 ships. The Russians lost 200 men killed and wounded.

Thus, the rowing fleet, which was then under the command of Rear Admiral A.E. Myasoedov, until late autumn successfully guarded the skerries from the landing of Swedish troops.

The actions of the ship's fleet

The Swedish naval fleet, which went to sea in July, consisted of 11 ships and 5 frigates, which were later joined by two English ships from the squadron of Vice Admiral Samores. In addition to the ships sent to the Swedish fleet, part of the English squadron blockaded the Sound and the Belts; and the other - the coast of Denmark, Prussia, Pomerania and also the port of Riga.

On July 14, a squadron under the command of Admiral P.I. left Kronstadt. Khanykov, consisting of 9 battleships Grace, Gabriel, Northern Star, Borey, Conception of St. Anna, Emgeiten, Archangel Michael, Vsevolod, Eagle, 4 frigates " Theotokos of Tikhvin", "Theodosius of Totemsky", "Theophany of the Lord", "Happy", 2 corvettes "Melpomene", "Hermione", 2 sloops "Volkhov", "Lizeta", 2 boats "Topaz", "Pearl", lugger " Grand Duke" and 2 bombardment ships "Dragon", "Unicorn". At sea, the squadron was joined by a detachment of Lieutenant Commander P.Kh. Zueva - 2 frigates "Hero", "Polux", 2 corvettes "Pomona", "Mercury" and 2 boats. The instruction given by P.I. Khanykov, it was prescribed: " To try to destroy the Swedish naval forces or take possession of them before joining them with the British; clear the Finnish skerries from enemy ships and assist the ground forces by preventing enemy landings».

On July 25, the fleet safely, without meeting the enemy, reached Gangut, where it stood for two weeks. From Gangut, the ships of the squadron went on a cruise, and on August 2, 5 Swedish transports and the Falk brig that escorted them were taken. Meanwhile, two English ships joined the Swedes, and the united enemy fleet decided to leave the skerries.

On August 9, the Russian fleet finally moved to the Jungfersund. Approaching it the next day, they found a Swedish-English squadron of 13 battleships (including 2 English), 6 frigates, 2 brigs and boats. For 3 days, the Russian squadron maneuvered at the entrance to the skerries. On August 13, having received a signal from the forzeil that the Swedes and the British began to leave the strait, P.I. Khanykov, not considering it possible to engage them in battle on the high seas and far from his harbors, began to retreat to the east so as not to be cut off from his ports. At dawn on August 14, the Russian fleet approached the Baltic port, while the formation of the Russian squadron was upset, it was pursued by 13 battleships and 5 frigates. Two English ships "Centaur" ("Centaurus") and "Implacabl" ("Implecable") broke forward. Seeing that the rear ship of the Russian line "Vsevolod" (captain of the 2nd rank D.V. Rudnev), which had fallen heavily under the wind, was 5 miles behind, they attacked it, entering the battle at 5 o'clock. P.I. Khanykov ordered three ships to go to the rescue, but they did not follow the signal of the flagship. Then the admiral on the "Grace" himself went to the rescue of the lagging ship, and other ships turned after him. The British, not expecting such a Russian maneuver, turned to the Swedish squadron.

The Russian squadron continued to retreat to the Baltic port. The damaged "Vsevolod" could not stay in line and independently follow the squadron, he was accompanied by the frigate "Polux" (lieutenant commander P.F. Treskevich). On the ship "Northern Star" the fore-topmast cracked, and it also failed. Due to the superiority of the enemy forces, P.I. Khanykov brought the squadron into the Baltic port and anchored. At this time, the Vsevolod in tow of the Polux was 6 miles from the entrance to the port. At 11 o'clock the tugboat burst, "Vsevolod" fell off into the wind and, not being able to independently go around the cape of the island of Maly Rog, was forced to anchor.

P.I. Khanykov sent boats from all the ships under the protection of armed longboats to tow the damaged ship. The descent of the boats and their approach to the parking lot of the Vsevolod took about 3 hours, only at 16 o'clock did it begin towing. Seeing the plight of the Vsevolod, both English ships began to descend towards him from the windward. The leading ship "Centaur" ("Centaurus"), dispersing the boats with buckshot, attacked the "Vsevolod", which began to be pressed against the coastal shallows. Deciding to defend himself to the last, Captain 2nd Rank D.V. Rudnev put the ship aground. "Centaur", bypassing him from the bow and falling close, he himself ran aground. The battle that flared up lasted about an hour, and several attempts by the British to board the Russian ship were repulsed by the crew of the Vsevolod hand-to-hand. In the most tense moment, "Implacabl" ("Implecable") approached the place of battle and, coming from the stern, began to shoot "Vsevolod" with longitudinal volleys, thus deciding the fate of the collision.

Having suffered huge losses in personnel, the helpless Vsevolod was captured by the British, who, after futile attempts to refloat the ship, plundered it and set it on fire.

The Emgeiten ship (captain 2nd rank Yu.F. Lisyansky - a member of the first Russian round-the-world expedition led by I.F. Kruzenshtern, commander of the Neva sloop) and some frigates began to anchor to go to the rescue, but there was little wind prevented them from doing so. On the morning of August 15, the burning Vsevolod exploded.

Having entered the Baltic port, the squadron stood on a spring along the coast, preparing to repel the attack, but the wind blew from the entrance to the harbor and did not give the Swedes the opportunity to attack.

On September 16, when the autumn storms began, and the ships were running out of provisions, the Swedish fleet lifted the blockade of the Baltic port and left. On September 18, the Minister of Marine P.V. Chichagov removed P.I. Khanykov, replacing him with Captain-Commander F.Ya. Lomen.

Admiral P.I. Khanykov, put on trial, was found guilty " in insufficiently vigilant observation of the Swedish ships in the Jungfersund, in allowing the English ships to join the Swedish squadron, in not accepting the battle, hastily leaving for the Baltic port and in not giving help to the Vsevolod ship". Admiralty Board, attributing the actions of the admiral " his oversights, weaknesses in command, slowness and indecision", sentenced him to write to the sailors for a month.

On the verdict of the collegium on the demotion of the admiral, Alexander I ordered that the trial that was carried out on Admiral Khanykov be forgotten, “ in honor of his former service».

Of the three commanders who did not follow the signal to go to the aid of Vsevolod, one was acquitted, and two were sentenced to "deprivation of the stomach", which was replaced by exclusion from service.

On September 20, the fleet, leaving 2 frigates, left the Baltic port. Removing the anchor, the frigate "Hero" ran aground, could not take off with a fresh wind, and was wrecked the next day. On September 30, the fleet came to the Kronstadt roadstead and entered the harbor before October 4.

In the same autumn, the fleet lost another frigate, and, like the Hero, not in battle, but for navigational reasons. The Argus frigate (lieutenant commander A.A. Cheglokov), on the way from Sveaborg to Revel, on October 22, ran into the Develsay bank, could not get off it, and by October 25 was broken by waves. The crew was saved.

At the beginning of the winter of 1808, when all of Finland was already occupied by our troops, in order to force Sweden to peace, it was decided, taking advantage of the freezing of the Gulf of Bothnia, to transfer hostilities to Sweden itself. For this purpose, three detachments set out from Abo, Vasa and Oleaborg; the first, General Prince P.I. Bagration, having mastered the Aland Islands, captured up to 2,000 prisoners and many ships, and, having crossed the Aland Strait at the narrowest point near the extreme island of Singelscher, arrived at the town of Grisselgamn on the Swedish coast. The second, General M.B. Barclay de Tolly crossed the Kvarken with terrible difficulty and occupied Umeå. Third, General P.A. Shuvalov, went along the coast to Torneo and forced the met Swedish 7,000th corps to surrender. Thus, hostilities were transferred to the territory of Sweden.

In 1809, the Russian ship fleet was intended only to protect Kronstadt and St. Petersburg from a possible attack by the English fleet.

Brig "Messenger"

On May 24, the rowing fleet left Abo for the Aland Islands to defend them and threaten Sweden. Lieutenant Commander P.P. Mistrov with 12 iols and 2 floating batteries moved to Karpostrema. Captain 1st rank M.P. Selivanov with 40 gunboats moved to Vaza to protect the fairways leading to the city.

In early June, the brig "Messenger", the lugger "Lizard", the boats "Hawk" and "Drozd" left Kronstadt, escorting the transports to Abo. On June 9, the sloops "Svir" and "Unicorn" left Sveaborg to reinforce the flotilla in Abo. On June 15, the Pomona corvette, the Lizeta, Volkhov and Tizbe sloops departed from Kronstadt for Abo.

After the opening of navigation, food was delivered to our troops in Sweden through the Gulf of Bothnia from Finland on merchant ships, for the protection of which the 36-gun rowing frigate “Theophany of the Lord” was sent from Abo to the Kvarken Strait (captain-lieutenant F.L. Mendel) and two brigs. But soon a strong detachment of Swedish ships arrived there.

On June 23, the frigate "Theophany of the Lord", leaving Vase to the Swedish coast and meeting two Swedish 48-gun frigates, turned and began to retreat to Vase. Taking advantage of the low wind, the Russian frigate on oars began to move away from the enemy. But the wind freshened up and the Swedes overtook the Epiphany at the entrance to the Vasa Strait. For three hours, the Russian frigate fought off the enemy. One of the Swedish frigates came close to her side, but could not inflict significant damage. Another Swedish frigate ran aground. The commander of the "Epiphany" F.L. Mendel managed not only to fight off his pursuers, but also decided to attack them himself, and only damage to the spars and rigging did not allow him to complete the planned maneuver. At nightfall, the frigate anchored, and the crew proceeded to repair the damage in order to attack the Swedish frigate at dawn. But at night he helped the second frigate get off the ground, and they both left.

Our naval fleet, stationed in Kronstadt in the spring of 1809, was preparing to repel an attack by the British, who were blockading all our ports. The Swedish fleet in the Gulf of Finland in 1809 was not shown.

Rowing frigate "Theophany of the Lord"

On September 5, 1809, a peace treaty was concluded between Russia and Sweden in the city of Friedrichsham. Hostilities ceased from the moment the peace was signed. Sweden ceded Finland and the Åland Islands to Russia. The border between Russia and Sweden was established along the rivers Muonio, Torneo, the Gulf of Bothnia and the Aland Sea. Sweden pledged to make peace with Denmark and France and joined the continental blockade by forbidding English ships from entering Swedish ports. Although the English fleet then left the Baltic Sea, the hostile relations between England and Russia ended with the conclusion of a treaty in the city of Erebro.

This war has become last war between Russia and Sweden. Sweden gave up trying to return Finland and never again made territorial claims to its mighty neighbor. Moreover, in 1813, together with Russia, she fought against Napoleon. Although during the First and Second World Wars, neutral Sweden took a pro-German position, and during the “winter war” of 1939/40 provided military assistance to Finland, it no longer dared to direct clashes with Russia.

Notes:

On the war with England 1807–1812 will be discussed in the next volume.

Defeats, Alexander I went to negotiations with Napoleon, as a result of which he was concluded Treaty of Tilsit. With this treaty, the war ended, in which Sweden, Prussia and Austria participated on the side of Russia against France. In Tilsit, Napoleon insisted that he was making peace and allied relations with Russia. And Alexander I then offered mediation to Gustav IV, the Swedish king, in making peace with France.

According to the Treaty of Tilsit, Russia entered the continental blockade of England. Denmark was also about to join the blockade, for which Great Britain attacked and captured the Danish navy in August $1807$. Russia had family ties with the Danish court, and they were also allies in the fight against Sweden, so Russia announced a break in diplomatic relations with England before returning Denmark fleet and damages.

Alexander I also insisted that the King of Sweden Gustav IV contributed in accordance with the $1780$ and $1800$ agreements. and helped close the Baltic to Western fleets. However, Sweden refused, began rapprochement with England.

Ready-made works on a similar topic

As a result, diplomatic ties were severed and the Anglo-Russian war began, but it was very sluggish.

Remark 1

Alexander I appealed to Gustav IV again, but he stood his ground and refused to close the Baltic Sea while the French were there. Gustav IV also set his sights on helping England in the war with Denmark, because. was going to take over Norway. In turn, Alexander I decided to occupy Finland in order to secure St. Petersburg.

Napoleon also wanted the ports of Sweden to be closed to England. He offered his help to Alexander I in conquering all of Sweden.

The course of the war

War was not declared, but in February 1808 Russian troops invaded Sweden and occupied Helsingfors. The occupation of the island of Gotland turned out to be especially successful, because. after that the Swedes surrendered Sveaborg. In the spring of $1808$, the Svartholm fortress, Cape Gangut, and the Aland Islands were also captured. And only in mid-March, after the order of the Swedish king to arrest the entire Russian embassy, ​​Russia officially declared war.

In Finland, the situation was unfortunate for the Russian troops due to the actions of the Finnish partisans. In general, after the declaration of war, the Russian army began to have troubles, for example, a powerful Swedish flotilla and rebellious local residents forced them to surrender the Aland Islands, Gotland capitulated in May.

The turning point in the war came in the autumn of $1808. The Finnish partisans with the onset of autumn reduced their activity, the Russian troops began the offensive without hindrance. Already in November, the Russian army occupied all of Finland.

In $1809$, it was planned to wage war only on the territory of Sweden. According to the plan of Alexander I, the Russian army was supposed to occupy Stockholm, as well as destroy the Swedish fleet.

In March $1809$ Bagration's corps captured the Aland Islands and moved on to Stockholm. The government of the kingdom requested peace talks. The offensive stopped, and a coup d'etat took place in Sweden, King Gustav IV Adolf was deprived of the crown, power was seized by his relative the Duke of Südermanland, who became Charles XIII.

Alexander I refused a truce, changed leadership in the Russian army. Charles XIII also decided to continue to fight. But the Swedes failed to succeed.

Results

Peace was concluded in September $1809$ in Friedrichsgame. The Swedes entered the continental blockade of Great Britain, and also gave Russia Finland and part of other lands, including the Aland Islands.

The war of the European coalition against the French Republic, and then against the empire of Napoleon, was a gift of fate for Russia, which received the only chance in a millennium to ensure its security in the south and north without European intervention. The most important task was to establish control over the Black Sea straits in order to ensure the security of the Black Sea and the Caucasus forever. The second important problem was the expulsion of the Swedes from Finland in order to reliably protect St. Petersburg and Kronstadt.

Catherine the Great understood this perfectly, Alexander did not. Stubbornness leapt up in him, and he decided to continue the war with Napoleon. Meanwhile, neither in 1805 nor in 1812 did Napoleon set out to annex at least part of Russia to his empire. Moreover, he did not even want to change the system of government in Russia. In 1812, in the Kremlin and many times afterwards, Napoleon said that he could destroy the monarchy in Russia by abolishing serfdom there, but did not do this for reasons of principle.

Russian society had to somehow explain why tens of thousands of Russian soldiers were dying in Central Europe. Alexander I did not come up with anything smarter than to order the Holy Synod to declare Napoleon ... the Antichrist. It was announced to the people that de Napoleon had secretly converted to Islam back in 1799 in Egypt, and many other amusing things. The stupidity of the tsar and the Synod horrified all literate priests. Indeed, according to the canons of the Orthodox Church, the Antichrist must first capture the whole world, and only then perish from divine forces, and not at the hands of people. It followed from this that it was pointless to fight Bonaparte.

In 1806, another, fourth anti-French coalition was created. England, as always, gave a lot of money, Russia and Prussia gave soldiers. Sweden also joined the coalition. But now Gustav IV was smarter. He willingly accepted English money, but he was in no hurry to send soldiers to the continent.

The war of the countries of the fourth coalition with Napoleon ended in the same way as the wars of the first, second and third coalitions. The Prussian troops were defeated at Jena and Auerstedt, the Russians at Friedland. The French occupied Berlin and Warsaw and for the first time reached the Russian border on the Neman River.

Now Alexander had to put up. In the middle of the river that separated the French army and the remnants of the defeated Russian army, French sappers built a huge raft with an elegant tent. On this raft on June 25, 1807 at 11 o'clock in the morning, a meeting of two emperors took place. Napoleon was the first to address Alexander: “What are we fighting about?” There was nothing to answer the "evil Byzantine". Back in 1800, on Rostopchin’s report, opposite the words “England armed all the powers alternately with threats, cunning and money, forgiving France,” Emperor Paul I wrote with his own hand: “And us sinners.”

A detailed presentation of the circumstances and conditions for the conclusion of the Peace of Tilsit is beyond the scope of this work. Therefore, I will confine myself to the essence of Napoleon's demands to Alexander. Firstly, as little as possible Russian interference in the affairs of Germany and other Western European states, and secondly, the breaking of the alliance with England. At the same time, Napoleon did not demand the conclusion of any military alliance between the empires. He only wanted to ensure the strict neutrality of Russia. In return, he offered Alexander to solve his problems with Sweden and Turkey.

In the first question, Napoleon was absolutely sincere, in the second he was frankly cunning. This is understandable, the Turkish issue greatly affected the national interests of France. No less strongly it concerned the Austrian interests. And Napoleon in 1807-1808 could not accurately establish the balance of relations between Russia and Austria.

Nevertheless, after Tilsit, Alexander I had a real, almost 100% opportunity to seize the Bosporus and the Dardanelles. For example, it was possible to establish a family alliance with Napoleon by marrying him one of the sisters of Alexander I. Adding to this a large compensation to France for the Straits (Egypt, Syria, Mesopotamia, etc.), it was possible to set the French emperor to transfer strait zones of Russia. Especially when you consider the complexity of Napoleon's position in Spain, the unrest in Germany, and so on.

However, the cunning Alexander I began a double game with Napoleon and did not stop interfering in German affairs. This, in turn, caused Napoleon's wary attitude towards him.

The British fleet both piracy before the Peace of Tilsit continued to operate further. Enlightened navigators considered any neutral state in Europe to be their enemy and, accordingly, sank its ships and burned coastal cities. For example, in August 1807, the Danish kingdom was suddenly attacked by the British, which made desperate attempts to stay away from all European wars.

On July 26, 1807, a British squadron of 25 ships, 40 frigates and small craft left Yarmouth. It was followed by several detachments of an armada of 380 transport ships with a 20,000-strong landing force. On August 1, the British squadron appeared in the Great Belt. On August 8, the British Ambassador Jackson appeared before the Crown Prince Regent Frederick and declared that England knew Napoleon's intention to force Denmark into an alliance with France, that England could not allow this to happen, and that in order to ensure that this did not happen, she demanded that Denmark transferred her entire fleet to her and that English troops were allowed to occupy Zeeland, the island on which the capital of Denmark is located. The prince refused. Then the British fleet bombarded Copenhagen for six days, and English soldiers landed on the shore. Half of the city burned down, more than two thousand of its inhabitants died in the fire. The elderly (72-year-old) General Peyman, who commanded the Danish troops, capitulated. The British took away the entire Danish fleet, burned the shipyards and the naval arsenal. Prince Frederik did not approve the surrender and ordered that Peyman be brought to court-martial. But, alas, this could no longer help Denmark.

The Russian imperial house (Holstein-Tottorp dynasty) had family ties with the Danish and Holstein courts. In addition, Denmark has been an ally of Russia in wars with Sweden for more than a hundred years. Therefore, in October 1807, Russia presented England with an ultimatum - a severance of diplomatic relations until the fleet was returned to Denmark and all the losses caused to it were compensated. The sluggish Anglo-Russian war began. The embassies were mutually recalled. By a Senate decree of March 20, 1808, Alexander I imposed a ban on the import of English goods into Russia.

Napoleon was furious when he learned of the destruction of Copenhagen. In response, he decided to declare a blockade of England (the famous "continental blockade"). Napoleon suggested that Russia force Sweden to close its ports to British ships. On January 21 (February 2), 1808, Napoleon sent a letter to Alexander I: “Your Majesty read the speeches made in the English Parliament and the decision to continue the war to the last extreme. Only by means of great and vast means can we achieve peace and establish our system. Increase and strengthen your army. You will receive from me all the help I can give you. I have no feeling of envy towards Russia; on the contrary, I wish its glory, prosperity, distribution. Your majesty would like to hear advice from a man devoted to you tenderly and sincerely. You need to remove the Swedes from your capital; on this side you must extend your boundaries as far as possible. I am ready to help you in this with all my means.

On February 5, Napoleon told the Russian ambassador in Paris, Count Tolstoy, that he would agree that Russia would acquire all of Sweden, including Stockholm. Napoleon joked that the beautiful ladies of St. Petersburg should no longer hear the Swedish guns (he alluded to the Battle of Stirsuden in 1790).

In turn, England in February 1808 concluded an agreement with Sweden, according to which it undertook to pay Sweden 1 million pounds sterling monthly during the war with Russia, no matter how long it lasted. In addition, the British promised to provide Sweden with 14 thousand soldiers to guard its western borders and ports, while all Swedish troops were to go to the eastern front against Russia. After the conclusion of this treaty, there was no hope of reconciliation between Sweden and Russia: England had already invested in a future war and sought to extract military and political dividends as quickly as possible.

Chapter 2

The formal pretext for starting the war was given by the Swedes themselves. On February 1 (13), 1808, the Swedish king Gustav IV informed the Russian ambassador in Stockholm that reconciliation between Sweden and Russia was impossible as long as Russia held Eastern Finland. A week later, Alexander I responded to the challenge of the Swedish king by declaring war.

For the war with Sweden, a 24,000-strong army was formed, the command of which Alexander entrusted to the infantry general, Count F.F. Buxhowden. The allocation of such small forces was explained by the fact that Russia continued to wage war with Turkey, and on the other hand, the main part of the Russian troops was located in the western provinces in case of a new war with Napoleon. Swedish troops numbering 19,000 were scattered throughout Finland. They were commanded by General Klöckner.

On February 9, 1808, the Russian army crossed the Finnish border on the Kumen River. On the night of February 15-16, Russian troops defeated a detachment of Swedes under the command of Adlerkreutz near the town of Artchio. When the Russian troops advanced to the Borg River, they received news of the gathering of Swedish forces at Helsingfors. But this message turned out to be disinformation; in fact, the Swedes concentrated at Tavasgus.

Buksgevden formed a detachment of Major General Count Orlov-Denisov, consisting of the Jaeger and Cossack regiments and one squadron of dragoons to capture Helsingfors. The detachment moved in a forced march to Helsingfors, following where the coastal road, and where directly on the ice. On February 17, when approaching the city, Orlov-Denisov met a Swedish detachment. After a short skirmish, the enemy fled. The Russians took six field guns and 134 prisoners. On February 18, the main Russian forces led by General Buksgevden entered Helsingfors. 19 guns, 20 thousand cores and 4 thousand bombs were found in the city. On February 28, the Russians, despite the severe frost, occupied Tammerfors.

General Klöckner was confused and lost control of the troops, so at the end of February he was replaced by General Moritz Klingspor. However, the new commander-in-chief turned out to be no better than the previous one and on March 4 he was defeated near the city of Bierneborg. Thus, the Russians reached the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia. Most of the Swedish troops withdrew along the coast to the north to the city of Uleaborg.

On March 10, the brigade of Major General Shepelev occupied the city of Abo without a fight. And only after that the inhabitants Russian Empire learned about the war with Sweden. A message was published in the newspapers: "From the Minister of War about the actions of the Finnish Army under the general command of Infantry General Buksgevden." The population was informed that "the Stockholm court refused to unite with Russia and Denmark in order to close the Baltic Sea of ​​​​England until the peace of the sea." The report indicated that, having exhausted the means of persuasion, the Russians crossed the border and fought successful battles.

Note that even Goebbels could envy the Russian newspapers of that time. For example, on November 29 (old style), 1805, Petersburg News reported on preparations for the battle of Austerlitz, which had already taken place (and lost) on November 20. Then for two weeks nothing was written about the war at all, after which a message appeared that Emperor Alexander arrived in Vitebsk on his way to St. Petersburg. The assassination of Emperor Paul I, which took place on March 11, 1801, was first reported in Russian newspapers in ... 1905!

But on March 16, 1808, the tsar pleased the population and put all the dots over the "i" in the Supreme Manifesto (Declaration) on the accession of Finland. The reason for the publication of the manifesto was the arrest on February 20 (March 3), 1808, of the Russian ambassador in Stockholm Alopeus and all members of the embassy. As stated in the Manifesto: "The obvious inclination of the King of Sweden to the power hostile to us, a new alliance with it and, finally, a violent and incredible act committed with our envoy in Stockholm ... made the war inevitable."

The accession of Finland (its Swedish part) to Russia was presented by the Manifesto as a repressive act in response to Sweden's failure to fulfill its allied obligations towards Russia under the 1800 treaty and its alliance with Russia's enemy - England.

The Manifesto stated that “from now on, the part of Finland, known as Swedish Finland (southwestern part), occupied by Russian troops, who suffered losses in human strength and material costs, is recognized as an area conquered by the power of Russian weapons, and forever joins the Russian Empire. ".

It is curious that the tsar did not put his signature under this Declaration, as it was supposed to. The ruler is weak and crafty, and here he remained true to himself. The purpose of the Manifesto (Declaration) was to announce to Sweden and the whole world that the accession of Finland to Russia was a foregone conclusion, regardless of the further course of hostilities.

But back to the war. A small detachment of Swedes left Abo and took refuge in the Aland Islands. He was chased by the Cossacks of Major Neidgard and the battalion of rangers of Colonel Vuich. On February 17, Vuich entered the city of Åland, seized local military depots and destroyed the optical telegraph station that connected the islands with the Swedish coast. However, Vuich's immediate superior, Prince Bagration, ordered him to leave the Aland Islands.

Returning, Vuich received an order, which came from St. Petersburg itself, to re-occupy the islands. For this, Vuich was given one battalion of the 25th Jaeger Regiment (the same one with which he was in Aland), 20 hussars and 22 Cossacks. On April 3, Vuich occupied the island of Kumblinge in the very middle of the archipelago. There he stopped. With the approach of spring, Commander-in-Chief Buxgevden, realizing the danger of the position of Russian troops on the Aland Islands, intended to return them back, especially since their very presence there to delay the movement of the Swedes across the ice from Stockholm to Abo lost its significance with the opening of navigation. But at that time, the Highest order came to send a corps of 10 to 12 thousand people through Aland to Sweden. This order was a development of the plan, which consisted in directing the main blow not to Finland, but to the southern part of Sweden.

As soon as the ice began to melt, the Swedish galleys with a landing detachment approached the island of Kumblinge. The Swedish landing party, along with armed local residents, attacked the Vujic detachment. The Swedish galleys supported the attack with heavy cannon fire. Vujic had no guns at all. After a four-hour battle, the Russians surrendered, 20 officers and 490 lower ranks were taken prisoner. The consequences of the capture of the Åland Islands by the Swedes were not long in coming in the spring of 1808. The archipelago became a springboard for amphibious operations and an operating base for the Swedish fleet.

On February 20, two divisions under the command of Lieutenant General N.M. Kamensky besieged Sveaborg - the most powerful Swedish fortress in Finland, which the Swedes called the "Gibraltar of the North". The garrison of the fortress consisted of 7.5 thousand people with 200 guns. Stocks of shells, gunpowder and food were designed for a months-long siege. On April 22, after a 12-day bombardment, Sveaborg capitulated. But the outcome of the battle was decided not by steel and lead, but by gold. For, according to the famous aphorism of the Roman general Sulla, "the walls of the fortress, which the legions cannot overcome, are easily jumped over by an ass loaded with gold." Kamensky simply bribed the commandant of Sveaborg, Vice Admiral Karl Olof Kronstedt.

Under the terms of the surrender, the entire garrison was released to Sweden on parole not to take up arms until the end of the war. At Sveaborg, the Russians captured a Swedish rowing flotilla of 100 ships. Among them were gems "Helgomar" (26 guns), "Storn-Biorn" (26 guns); semi-gemama "Oduen"; turum "Ivar-Benlos"; brig "Comerstax" (14 guns); as well as 6 shebeks, 8 yachts, 25 gunboats, 51 gunboats, 4 gunboats and one "royal barge" (12-oared). In addition, with the approach of the Russians in various ports in Finland, the Swedes themselves burned 70 rowing and sailing ships.

Gustav IV decided to launch an offensive against the Danish troops in Norway. Therefore, the Swedes failed to gather significant forces for the operation in Finland. However, with the start of navigation in 1808, the king planned two landing operations. In the first, Colonel Bergenstrole was supposed to leave the Swedish port of Umeå on ships and land in Finland near the city of Vasa. In the second operation, Major General Baron von Fegesack was to reach Abo through the Aland Islands and occupy it.

On June 8, 1808, a detachment of Fegesak, numbering 4 thousand people with eight guns, landed without hindrance near the town of Lemo, 22 versts from the city of Abo. Further, the landing detachment moved on foot to Abo, but along the way was met by the battle of the Libavsky regiment with one gun, under the command of Colonel Vadkovsky. The superior forces of the Swedes began to push Vadkovsky's soldiers, but soon several infantry battalions, a squadron of dragoons and hussars, an artillery company came to his aid. The Swedes had to retreat to their landing site at Lemo. They evacuated under cover of naval artillery fire. Fifteen Russian rowing gunboats sent by Buxhoeveden to Lemo did not manage to arrive in time. Thanks to this, the Swedish ships left the islands of Nagu and Korno.

In the summer of 1808, the position of Russian troops in central Finland became more complicated. On July 2, the 6,000-strong detachment of General Raevsky, pressed by the troops of General Klingspor and Finnish partisans, was forced to retreat first to Salmi, and then to the town of Alavo. On July 12, Raevsky was replaced by N.M. Kamensky, but the latter also had to retreat to Tammerfors. Finally, on August 20, Kamensky's corps fought the troops of Klingspor near the village of Kuortane and the lake of the same name. The Swedes were defeated and retreated by the year of Vasa.

Soon Klingspor left Vasa, he retreated 45 versts to the north to the village of Orovais. There, the Swedes entrenched themselves and decided to give battle to the Kamensky corps pursuing them. Seven thousand Swedes took up position behind a swampy river. The right flank of the Swedes rested on the Gulf of Bothnia, where several Swedish rowing gunboats stood. On the left flank, steep cliffs began, bordered by a dense forest.

At 8 am on August 21, the Russian vanguard under the command of General Kulnev attacked the Swedish positions. Kulnev's attack was repulsed, and the Swedes began his pursuit. But two infantry regiments of General Demidov, who came to the rescue, overturned the enemy and drove him away. In the middle of the day, Kamensky himself arrived on the battlefield with a battalion of rangers and two companies of infantry. At 3 pm, the Swedes attacked again, but then the troops of General Ushakov (approximately two regiments) approached. As a result, the Swedes were again driven back to their original positions. By this time it was already dark. At night, Demidov's detachment went around through the forest. In the morning, the Swedes saw that the Russians were trying to surround them, and they retreated north in an organized manner. Both sides lost almost a thousand people.

Some Russian military historians consider the battle of Orovai "an outstanding example of Russian military art." In fact, Kamensky scattered his forces before the battle, and then in parts brought them into battle. The result was not the defeat of the enemy, but the displacement of him from the position.

On September 3, the Swedish detachment of General Lantingshausen, numbering 2,600 people, landed from rowboats near the village of Varannaya, 70 versts north of Abo. The landing was successful, but the next morning, near the village of Lokkolaksa, the Swedes stumbled upon Bagration's detachment and were forced to retreat.

Meanwhile, near the village of Gelsinge near Abo, a new Swedish landing under the command of General Bonet landed. Gustav IV himself on the yacht "Amadna" accompanied the ships with the landing force. On 14 and 15 September five thousand Bonet Swedes were pursued by a small Russian force. On September 16, near the town of Himaysa, the Swedes counterattacked the main forces of Bagration. The Swedes were defeated and began to retreat to Helsing. At this moment, a squadron of Grodno hussars under the command of Major Leaders attacked the retreating troops. The Swedes took to flight. About a thousand Swedish corpses remained on the battlefield. 15 officers, 350 lower ranks and 5 cannons became Russian trophies. Russian artillery set fire to the village of Gelsinge. The fire, fanned by a strong wind, began to threaten the Swedish ships that were standing off the coast. Therefore, they had to leave before the end of the evacuation of the surviving paratroopers. All this happened in front of Gustav IV, who was watching the battle through a telescope from the yacht.

On September 12, General Klingspor proposed a truce to the Russian commander-in-chief Buxgevden. Five days later (September 17) a truce was concluded at the Lakhtai manor. However, Alexander I did not recognize him, but called him "an unforgivable mistake." Buksgevden received the Imperial order to continue hostilities, after which he ordered the corps of Major General Tuchkov to move from Kuopio to Idensalmi and attack the 4,000-strong Swedish detachment of Brigadier Sandels.

The Swedes took up a position between two lakes connected by a strait. On the other side of the strait, two lines of trenches were dug and artillery pieces were installed. On October 15, Tuchkov brought his corps to the strait. The corps included 8 infantry battalions, 5 squadrons of regular cavalry and 300 Cossacks, totaling about 5 thousand people. The Swedes damaged the bridge across the strait. But Russian sappers restored it under canister and rifle fire. On the bridge, the Russian infantry crossed the strait and captured the first line of trenches. At this point, Sandels brought in reserves, and the Russians were driven back over the bridge. In the battle, the Russians lost 764 people killed and missing.

The next day, the Swedes left the vault of a well-fortified position and retreated 20 miles to the north. Tuchkov did not dare to pursue the enemy and stood at the bridge for two weeks, posting three guard companies at a distance of five miles. It was them that Sandels decided to attack. On the night of October 30, the Swedish detachment suddenly attacked the Russian avant-garde. However, the Swedes were repulsed, having lost 200 people killed and captured.

At the beginning of November 1808, Buxhoevden again entered into negotiations with the Swedes. This time he acted more circumspectly and asked for permission in advance in St. Petersburg. But Buxgevden failed to sign a truce - he received the Highest Decree on dismissal from the army command. The new commander was appointed Lieutenant General Count N.M. Kamensky. It was he who signed the truce on November 7 (19), 1808 in the village of Olkijoki. In this position, the count lasted only a month and a half. On December 7, 1808, B.F. became commander-in-chief instead of Kamensky. Knorring (1746-1825). However, 4 months later (April 7, 1809) Knorring was also fired.

The armistice was concluded for a period from November 7 to December 7, 1808. Under the terms of the armistice, the Swedish army cleared the entire province of Østerbotten (Esterbotnia) and withdrew troops across the Kemi River, 100 km north of the city of Uleaborg. Russian troops occupied the city of Uleaborg and set up pickets and guard posts on both sides of the Kemi River, but did not invade Lapland and did not try to reach Swedish territory at Torneo.

Chapter 3

By the beginning of the war, the Baltic Fleet was seriously weakened by sending the best ships to the Mediterranean. So, in October 1804, the squadron of A.S. Greig, consisting of two ships AND two frigates, and in September 1805, the squadron of D.N. Senyavin consisting of five ships and one frigate. In August 1806, Ignatov's squadron left the Baltic, consisting of five ships, one frigate and three small ships.

The Mediterranean adventure of Alexander I ended very sadly. In August 1808, Senyavin's squadron (nine ships and one frigate) was captured by the British in Lisbon. In the English Channel, the British captured the frigate "Hurry" with a cargo of gold for the Mediterranean squadron. The frigate "Venus" hid from the British in Palermo and was surrendered to the Neapolitan king. The rest of the ships of the Russian Mediterranean fleet took refuge in French ports (Baryatinsky's squadron - in Toulon, Saltykov's squadron - in Trieste and Venice). The ships and vessels were handed over to the "storage" of the French, and the crews returned to Russia by land. During this "naval Austerlitz" the Russian fleet lost more ships than in all the wars of the 18th and 19th centuries combined.

Therefore, by the beginning of 1808, the combat-ready ship fleet consisted of only 9 ships, 7 frigates and 25 small ships stationed in Kronstadt and Reval. The rowing fleet included about 150 ships, including 20 galleys (from 21 to 25 cans), 11 floating batteries, as well as iols and gunboats. Most of the rowing ships (about 130) were in St. Petersburg, 10 ships - in Rochensalm, 20 - in Wilmanstrand.

The Russians opened the 1808 campaign at sea in early April, when the ship and rowing fleets were still icebound in the Gulf of Finland. By the highest rescript of March 20, 1808, Rear Admiral Bodisko was ordered to land troops on the island of Gotland in order to "deprive England of the opportunity to turn it into a base for her fleet." The capture of Gotland was planned as part of the planned Franco-Danish landing in southern Sweden (which never took place).

Bodisko did not have a single transport ship, but he was not at a loss and chartered several merchant ships in Libava and Vindava, on which he landed a landing party. The detachment included two battalions of the Koporsky regiment and a battalion of the 20th Tersky regiment (1657 people in total) with six field guns. On April 10, the Bodisko vessels approached Gotland from the northwest and secretly landed troops. The Bodisko detachment walked 65 miles on foot and occupied the city of Visba without a fight. Bodisco declared himself governor of the island. To help him, another detachment was formed in Riga, consisting of two companies of infantry and two hundred Cossacks with 24 field guns. Five merchant ships were supposed to deliver it to Gotland, the release of which was scheduled for May 8th.

Meanwhile, Gustav IV, enraged by the capture of the island, ordered the squadron of Admiral Zederstrom to be sent there and knock out the Russians. The squadron included five ships and several small vessels, on which two thousand troops were landed. Admiral Zederström sent two small craft to make a demonstration landing in the harbor of Sleet on the northeast coast of the island. There Bodisko moved part of his troops. The main part of the Swedes landed in Sandviken Bay. A significant number of armed inhabitants of the island joined the Swedes. In this situation, Bodisko decided to surrender, but tried to negotiate the most favorable conditions from the Swedes. Admiral Zederström was peacefully disposed and agreed that the Russians hand over their weapons and ammunition, while they themselves, taking the banners, went to Russia. Upon arrival at home, Bodisko was put on trial, expelled from service, deprived of ranks and orders, and exiled to Vologda. Gustav IV was also dissatisfied with the behavior of Admiral Zederstrom.

From the Swedish rowboats captured in Sveaborg, two detachments were formed (lieutenant Myakinin and captain Selivanov). Both detachments passed by skerries to Abo and occupied the fairways leading to this city from the Aland and Bothnian skerries. Buxgevden personally took over the overall command of the detachments of ships. He ordered to send a detachment of Myakinin consisting of twelve gunboats and two floors to Jungfruzund.

The Swedish rowing squadron of Gwelmsjörny in significantly superior forces (about 60 ships different types) appeared around noon on June 18 in the form of Russian ships located south of Abo, near the island of Ganges. Moving at an angle of 45 degrees with respect to the Russian ships, the vanguard echelon of the Swedes opened fire, but the return fire of the Russian artillery was so successful that the Swedes were forced to retreat. The attack was repeated, but just as unsuccessfully, and in the meantime, three more ships arrived in time for the Russians, returning from reconnaissance. The Swedes had four ships wrecked, one of which ran aground near the island of the Ganges. A strong wind blowing towards the enemy helped the Russians in this battle.

By evening, under the cover of approaching reinforcements from fifteen ships, the Swedes withdrew under the protection of Kramne Island. A new parking lot for the rowing flotilla was chosen 8 versts ahead of Abo, between the islands of Runsalo and Hirvisalo. On June 20, the rowing Swedish fleet (58 vessels) approached the Russian flotilla at a distance of three versts, but for some reason hesitated and did not take any action until June 22.

On this day, at 6 pm, six Swedish gunboats approached the Russian avant-garde. A skirmish ensued, under the cover of which a long line of the rest of the enemy ships moved. On the left wing, behind the gunboats, there were barges with troops. The Russian flotilla of 26 ships lined up in one line between Runsalo and Khirvisalo, having allocated three gunboats with a ledge forward to cover their left flank. An attack by twelve Swedish gunboats on this flank was repulsed by skirmishers from Runsalo Island. The enemy, intensifying the fire against the flanks, fell upon the center of the Russians. But the leading Swedish galley, met by five Russian gunboats, was repulsed. The same fate befell the ships following her in the wake.

Night fell, but the Swedes did not stop their attacks and continued shelling. Finally, they moved forward on the whole front. All Russian rowing ships with a loud "cheers" rushed towards the Swedes, showering them with grapeshot. The enemy, who did not expect such a bold counterattack, fell into disarray, and his ships began one by one to seek shelter behind the islands. After being pursued for no more than a verst, the Russian ships returned to their original place. In the battle on June 22, Russian losses amounted to 10 killed and 15 wounded. Eleven ships were damaged, but none were out of order. The Swedes also had twenty ships damaged.

At the end of June, a detachment of Count Heiden's ships arrived in the Abo region. Heiden, having learned that the Swedes occupied the Jung-fruzund Strait, decided to bypass it through the narrow strait separating Kimito Island from the mainland. This strait, in one place still littered with stones under Peter I, was impassable for ships of the size that the Russian flotilla had. But the people of Heiden, in two days of hard work, managed to clear the passage and bring the detachment to a real fairway on the other side of the Jungfruzund.

On the morning of July 9, the Russian flotilla met with Swedish gunboats. A battle began, ending in the defeat of the Swedes, who retreated to the island of Sando, where their naval fleet was stationed. In this battle, Heiden was wounded, and he was replaced by Lieutenant Commander Dodt. The Swedes, having taken a strong position on the fairway, again blocked the path of the Russian flotilla. But on July 20, Dodt attacked the enemy and, after a heated battle, won a complete victory over him: one part of the Swedish ships retreated to Jungfruzund to repair damage, the other to Karpo Island, and the flotilla safely passed to Abo.

To clear the Jungfruzund Strait from the Swedes (where two of their ships and two frigates stood in one of the narrow passages), Lieutenant Commander Novokshenov on August 7 came from Dalsbrück (one and a half miles from the Swedish ships) with three gunboats and three iols so close to the enemy that buckshot Swedish ships and frigates flew over our boats and iols. This time, limiting himself to a two-hour cannonade with brandskugels, Novokshenov resumed it the next day, bringing the entire detachment into action, with the exception of five ships left in their former position at Dalsbück.

But during the battle, the abandoned ships unexpectedly attacked 20 enemy gunboats and 25 armed longboats with 600 landing troops. The Swedes attacked so quickly and decisively that in less than half an hour they boarded with all five Russian ships. Fighting back with desperate courage and moving from canister and rifle fire to hand-to-hand dump, a small Russian detachment was exhausted in the fight against the strongest enemy. The most brutal battle took place on the Storbiorn gemam, which was under a braded pennant: all commanding persons, that is, the commander and two officers, were killed on it, and 80 people from the lower ranks were killed and 100 wounded. Having mastered the gemam, the Swedes cut off its rope and took it in tow. But at this time Novokshenov, who had already heard the firing at the beginning of the battle, came to the rescue. The theme, captured by the Swedes, was recaptured, three Swedish gunboats and two longboats were sunk with all the people, and the retreating enemy ships were saved only thanks to thick fog and the ensuing darkness. The result of this battle was the removal of the Swedes from Jungfruzund and the opening of free passage for Russian ships throughout the skerries from Vyborg to Abo.

On August 18, 1808, another detachment of the Russian rowing flotilla of 24 ships under the command of Captain 1st Rank Selivanov, who explored the skerries near the island of Sudsalo (and captured a small merchant ship with a cargo of salt), met with twice as strong an enemy detachment, consisting of 45 gunboats and 6 galleys. They were approaching with a fair wind to the exit from the narrow strait to the spacious reach, where the ships of the Russian flotilla were located. Selivanov, in order to prevent the Swedes from taking advantage of their forces on a wide stretch, did not allow them to leave the passage. He immediately strengthened the weak vanguard that defended the strait along which the enemy was approaching. And other Russian ships occupied two passages through which the Swedes tried to bypass the flanks of our line.

The battle lasted about eight hours. Card shooting was carried out at the closest possible distance. Despite the clouds of thick powder smoke being carried towards the Russian ships, and the immediate replacement of the damaged enemy ships with new ones, the fire of the Russian artillery was so successful that the Swedes could not break through to the stretch, and the onset of night, which almost stopped the battle, forced them to stay in their original place . In this battle, two badly damaged gunboats sank near the Russians, the people from which were rescued, 45 lower ranks were killed. Captain Selivanov sent 17 gunboats to Abo for repairs, which received from 4 to 8 holes and barely floated on the water. The losses of the Swedes were much greater: 10 gunboats, 8 of which sank, and two were blown up.

The rowing fleet, which was then under the command of Rear Admiral Myasoedov, successfully guarded the skerries from the landing of Swedish troops until late autumn.

The Swedish naval fleet, which went to sea in July, consisted of 11 ships and 5 frigates, which were joined by two English ships from a squadron (16 ships and 20 other ships) that arrived in the Baltic Sea. In addition to the ships sent to the Swedes, one part of the English squadron blocked the Sound and the Belts, and the other - the coast of Denmark, Prussia, Pomerania and the port of Riga.

The Russian ship fleet, which left Kronstadt on July 14 under the command of Admiral P.I. Khanykov, consisted of 39 pennants (9 ships, 11 frigates, 4 corvettes and 15 small vessels). The instruction given to Khanykov prescribed: “to try to destroy the Swedish naval forces or take possession of them before joining them with the British; clear the Finnish skerries from enemy ships and assist the ground forces by preventing the landing of enemy troops.

Leaving Kronstadt on July 14, the fleet reached Gangut without hindrance, from where several ships went cruising. They captured five Swedish transports and the brig that escorted them. From Gangut, Khanykov went over to Jungfruzund. Meanwhile, two English ships joined the Swedes, and the united enemy fleet left the skerries. Then Khanykov, not considering it possible to engage him in battle on the high seas and far from his harbors, evaded acceptance of the battle and, pursued by the enemy, retired with the entire fleet to the Baltic port.

At the same time, the damaged 74-gun ship Vsevolod was towed by the frigate Pollux. Six miles from the port, the tug burst, and the Vsevolod had to anchor. From other ships of the squadron, which had already entered the port, boats and longboats were sent to tow the Vsevolod. Meanwhile, the English ships Centaur and Implacable attacked the Vsevolod. The commander of the Vsevolod decided to defend himself “to the last extremity” and ran the ship aground. The British damaged the Vsevolod with artillery fire, and then boarded it. from the shallows could not and burned it.

In addition, the frigate "Hurry" and the transport "Wilhelmina" sent in 1807 with money and things for Senyavin's squadron, which entered Portsmouth, were captured after the declaration of war with England.

A striking contrast to these failures of the naval fleet was the courage of Lieutenant Nevelsky, commander of the 14-gun boat "Experience". Sent to monitor the British cruisers that entered the Gulf of Finland, the "Experience" in cloudy weather on June 11 met at Nargen with an English 50-gun frigate. The British demanded the boat to surrender. But, despite the inequality of forces, Nevelsky joined the battle. The wind, which had subsided for a short time, allowed the boat on oars to move away from the Englishman, but with the wind rising again, the frigate quickly overtook the boat and opened fire. For four hours, the crew of the boat bravely fought off their enemy and was forced to surrender only when the boat received severe damage to the mast and hull. Many members of the boat's crew were killed, almost everyone else, including Nevelsky, was wounded. Having mastered the boat, the British, as a sign of respect for the courage of the Russians, freed Nevelskoy and all his subordinates from captivity.

Chapter 4

By the beginning of 1809, the position of the Swedes had become hopeless. The English fleet was ready for the campaign of 1809, but everyone understood that enlightened sailors would seize merchant ships, rob unprotected cities and villages on the coast, but they were not going to send their army to Sweden or Finland. Yes, and Kronstadt is not Copenhagen, poking around there was also not included in the calculation of the British Admiralty.

However, the stubborn Gustav IV decided to continue the war. Moreover, he ordered to leave the combat-ready units of the Swedish army in Scanji (in the south of the country) and on the border with Norway, although there was no particular danger from the Danes in 1809. For the direct defense of Stockholm, 5 thousand people were recruited.

In the Alands, it was possible to gather 6 thousand regular troops and 4 thousand militias. The defense of the Aland Islands was entrusted to General F. Debeln. Fearing that the Russians would bypass the archipelago from the south, Debeln evacuated the entire population of the southern islands in a strip of 140 versts wide, burned and devastated all the villages in it, except for churches. Döbeln gathered his forces on Great Åland, blocked all the paths with fences, set up batteries at the most important coastal points, and built a redoubt on the westernmost island of Ecker.

In February 1809, Alexander I changed the supreme command of the Russian troops in Finland. Instead of Wittgenstein, Bagration began to command the southern corps of Russian troops. The central building instead of D.V. Golitsyn was headed by Lieutenant General Barclay de Tolly, and the northern corps instead of Tuchkov 1st was headed by P.A. Shuvalov.

The campaign plan for 1809 was drawn up tactically and strategically by the Russian command. The northern corps, based on Udeaborg, was supposed to move along the Gulf of Bothnia and invade Swedish territory. The central corps, based on the city of Vasa, was supposed to force the Gulf of Bothnia on the ice through the skerries and the Kvarken Strait (the modern name of Norra-Kvarken) with access to the Swedish coast. A similar task was set for the southern corps stationed between the cities of Nystad and Abo. The corps was to reach Sweden on the ice through the islands of the Åland archipelago. Consider the actions of the Russian corps, starting with the north and ending with the south.

On March 6 (18), General Shuvalov informed the commander of the northern group of Swedish troops, Grinpenberg, about the termination of the truce. The Swedes responded by concentrating troops near the town of Kalix, 10 versts west of the town of Torneo. Meanwhile, on March 6, Russian troops crossed the Kem River and moved west along the coast. The Swedish vanguard, located in the city of Torneo, did not accept the battle, but hastily retreated, leaving 200 sick soldiers in the city.

Shuvalov's troops, in a thirty-degree frost, made transitions of 30-35 miles a day. Approaching Kalix, Shuvalov offered Grinpenberg to surrender, but the Swede refused. Then the main Russian forces launched a frontal attack on Kalix, and the column of General Alekseev went around on the ice and cut off Grinpenberg's retreat.

The Swedes sent parliamentarians asking for a truce. Shuvalov did not agree to a truce, but demanded complete surrender, giving a period of 4 hours.

The Russian terms were accepted, and on 13 March Greenpenberg signed the act of surrender. His corps laid down their arms and went home on parole not to fight in this war again. The Finns went to Finland, the Swedes to Sweden. In total, 7 thousand people surrendered, of which 1,600 were sick. Russian trophies were 22 guns and 12 banners. All military warehouses (shops) up to the city of Umeå were to be handed over intact to the Russians. According to the military historian Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, the Kalika operation "destroyed the last link connecting Finland with Sweden."

According to the plan, the central building of Barclay de Tolly was supposed to have 8 thousand people. But most of the forces of the corps lingered on the transition to Vasya. Barclay, fearing that the ice would soon begin to melt, ordered the units that had already arrived in Vasa to advance. In his corps were 6 infantry battalions and 250 Cossacks (a total of 3200 people) with six guns. On March 6, a prayer service was served at the assembly point and an order was read in which Barclay, without hiding the upcoming difficulties, expressed confidence that "there is no impossible for Russian soldiers."

On the same day, the first battalion went forward to lay the road. Following him, with the aim of reconnaissance and capturing advanced Swedish posts, at six o'clock in the evening, Kiselev's flying detachment (40 musketeers of the Polotsk regiment on carts and 50 Cossacks) set out. After a thirteen-hour march, Kiselev's detachment approached the island of Grosgrund, where they captured an enemy picket. Swedes have also been found on the island of Golm.

On March 7, Barclay's entire corps crossed to the island of Vals-Erar, and on March 8 at 5 o'clock in the morning moved through Kvarken in two columns. In the right column was Colonel Filisov with the Polotsk regiment and one hundred to the island of Golme, in the left - Count Berg with the rest of the troops to the island of Gadden. Barclay was in the same column. Artillery with a battalion of life grenadiers followed separately behind the right column.

The troops walked knee-deep in snow, every minute bypassing or climbing over blocks of ice, it was especially difficult for the left column, which did not even have a hint of a road. The heavy march continued until 6 pm, when the columns reached Großgrund and Gadden and bivouacked in the snow. However, a fifteen-degree frost and a strong north wind did not give the opportunity to rest. At 4 o'clock in the morning the troops moved on. In the morning, Filisov's column started a battle with three companies of the Swedes, who occupied the island of Golme. Outflanked, the enemy retreated, leaving one officer and 35 lower ranks captured. Fearing for the lagging artillery, Filisov only the next morning decided to continue moving towards the village of Tefte.

Meanwhile, the left column was moving towards the mouth of the Umeo River, with fifty Cossacks and two companies of the Tula Regiment in the forefront. After an eighteen-hour movement, the column stopped at 8 o'clock in the evening, before reaching Umeå six miles. The soldiers were extremely exhausted. The troops again spent the night on the ice. They were lucky that there were two merchant ships frozen in the ice nearby. The ships were immediately taken apart for firewood, and dozens of fires lit up on the ice of the bay. Meanwhile, tireless Cossacks reached the outskirts of Umeå and started shooting there. Panic erupted in the city. The commandant of Umeå, General Count Kronstedt, found himself in prostration - shooting in the city, on the ice - a sea of ​​lights.

On the morning of March 10, when the vanguard of Barclay started a battle near the village of Teknes, and the entire column was already leaving for the mainland, a Swedish truce arrived and announced the upcoming truce. According to the agreement, General Kronstedt surrendered Umeå to the Russians with all his supplies and withdrew his troops 200 miles to the city of Gernezand. Having occupied Umea, Barclay made all arrangements to establish himself in it, and was preparing to assist the column of Count Shuvalov, who was marching through Torneo. During these preparations, on the evening of March 11, news of the armistice was received, along with an unexpected order to return to Vasa. It was hard for Barclay to carry out this order. He took all measures so that the reverse movement "did not look like a retreat." Therefore, the main forces moved no earlier than March 15, and the rearguard - only March 17. Unable to take out military booty (14 guns, about 3 thousand guns, gunpowder, etc.), Barclay announced in a special proclamation that he was leaving everything captured "as a sign of respect for the nation and the army."

The troops set out in two echelons with a rearguard and in three marches reached the island of Björke, from where they went to the old apartments in the Vasa area. Despite the severe frost, the return movement along the already paved road was much easier, which was also facilitated by warm clothes and blankets taken from Swedish warehouses, as well as carts for weakened and sick soldiers and equipment. When speaking from Umea, the local governor, magistrate and representatives of the estates thanked Barclay for the generosity of the Russian troops.

The southern corps, commanded by Prince Bagration, consisted of 15.5 thousand infantry and 2 thousand cavalry (four squadrons of Grodno hussars and Cossacks). Ahead of Bagration's troops were two vanguards: the right - Major General Shepelev, the left - Major General Kulnev.

On February 22, the Cossacks had a successful skirmish with the advanced posts of the enemy. On February 26, the main forces of Bagration descended onto the ice and moved to the island of Kumblinge. The troops were fully provided with sheepskin coats, warm caps and felt boots. A caravan of sledges loaded with food, vodka and firewood followed the troops. On February 28, Minister of War Count Arakcheev and Commander-in-Chief Knorring joined the column, accompanied by the Russian envoy to Sweden Alopeus. Alopeus had diplomatic powers in case the enemy wanted to enter into negotiations.

On March 2, the troops concentrated on Kumling, and on March 3 they set out divided into five columns, bypassing polynyas and snowdrifts. The infantry marched in rows, the cavalry in twos and in single file. The advanced units of the Swedes left the small islands and went to the west. On the evening of March 3, the first four columns occupied Varde Island, located in front of Big Aland, and the fifth column passed through Sottunga to Bene Island, where it collided with the enemy's rearguard. The Cossacks attacked him, Kulnev with the rest of the troops went around the island, which forced the Swedes to hastily retreat. Just at this time, the head of the Aland detachment received news of a coup d'état in Stockholm.

The Russians were only five or six crossings from the Swedish capital, so the new Swedish government sent Colonel Lagerbrinn to meet the Russians for negotiations. Bagration did not enter into negotiations with Lagerbinn, but sent him to the convoy to Arakcheev and Knorring. Bagration himself ordered the troops to continue the offensive. Two days later, the entire Aland archipelago was occupied without a fight. Only the vanguard of Kulnev overtook the enemy rearguard near Lemland Island. After a small skirmish, the Swedes fled, leaving their guns behind.

Meanwhile, a coup d'état took place in Stockholm. Guards regiments overthrew Gustav IV. The Riksdag chose Uncle Gustav IV, the well-known Duke of Südermanland, who ascended the throne under the name of Charles XIII, as the new king. The offensive of three Russian corps on Sweden put her in a hopeless situation. Therefore, the new government first turned to the Russians with a request for a truce.

On March 4, Major General Georg-Karl von Debeln, commander of the Swedish coastal troops, arrived in Bagration's corps with a request for a truce. He began negotiations first with Knorring and Sukhtelen, then with Arakcheev. The latter at first did not agree to a truce, referring to the fact that the goal of Emperor Alexander was to sign peace in Stockholm, and not to conquer the Aland archipelago. Arakcheev even ordered to speed up the offensive of the Russian troops.

By the evening of March 5, all the forces of the Swedes were already on the western coast of Ecker Island, and on the night of March 6, they began to retreat through Alandegaf. The Russians got abandoned batteries with ammunition, an infirmary and transport ships. The cavalry of the avant-garde of Kulnev, who had not left the ice for five days, at Signalscher overtook the rearguard of the retreating Swedes. Isaev's Cossacks surrounded one column, curled up in a square, crashed into it, beat off two guns and took 144 people prisoners, then caught up with the second square, took two more guns. The Grodno hussars surrounded the detached battalion of the Südermanland Regiment (14 officers and 442 lower ranks with the commander at the head) and, after a brief skirmish, forced him to surrender. Total number The number of prisoners taken by Kulnev exceeded the strength of his detachment, and the entire expanse of the snowy shroud of Alan degaf was littered with abandoned wagons, charging boxes, and weapons.

In the meantime, Arakcheev sent Döbeln the conditions under which the Russians could stop hostilities. Conditions included:

Sweden forever cedes Finland to Russia in the borders up to the Kalix River, as well as the Aland Islands, the sea border between Sweden and Russia will pass through the Gulf of Bothnia.

Sweden will abandon the alliance with England and enter into an alliance with Russia.

Russia will provide Sweden with a strong corps to counter the English landing, if necessary.

If Sweden accepts these conditions, then sends representatives to Aland to conclude peace.

However, Arakcheev made an unforgivable mistake by stopping the invasion of Russian troops into Sweden. Only Kulnev with cavalry was sent through Alandegaf (the Ural hundred, two hundred regiments of Isaev and Lashchilin, three squadrons of Grodno hussars).

Kulnev spent the night from 5 to 6 March in Signalyder. Speaking at 3 o'clock in the morning, Kulnev at 11 o'clock in the morning entered the Swedish coast, where the outposts, amazed by the appearance of the Russians, were attacked by the Cossacks, and then driven out from behind the stones by the dismounted Urals. Kulnev so skillfully scattered his detachment that he seemed to the Swedes several times stronger than he really was. In addition, Kulnev assured the Swedes through a negotiator that the main forces were heading for Nortelga.

The appearance of even one detachment of Kulnev on the Swedish coast caused a commotion in Stockholm. But the appeal of the Duke of Südermanland, transmitted through Döbeln, to send an authorized negotiator, prompted Knorring and Arakcheev, in order to prove the sincerity of our aspirations for peace, to meet the desire of the new ruler of Sweden and order the Russian troops to return to Finland. This order also applied to other columns (Barclay and Shuvalov), which had already achieved great success by that time.

In fact, Döbeln deliberately misled the Russian generals, purposely sent a representative so that not a single Russian detachment would enter Swedish soil. By this he saved Stockholm from the danger that threatened him. But in early April 1809, when the Russian troops left the Swedish territory, and the melting ice made it impossible for the Russian troops to cross the skerries at Abo and Vasa on foot, the Swedish government began to put forward peace conditions unacceptable to Russia. In this regard, Alexander I ordered Shuvalov's corps, which had retreated to Northern Finland under the terms of the truce, to re-enter the territory of Sweden.

On April 18, 1809, Shuvalov's 5,000-strong corps set out in three columns from Torneo. On April 26, Shuvalov approached Piteo with a forced march and, having learned about the presence of the Swedes in Skellefteo, went there. Not reaching 10 miles, on May 2, he sent under the command of Major General I.I. Alekseev four regiments of infantry (Revelsky, Sevsky, Mogilev and 3rd Chasseurs) with artillery and a small number of Cossacks on the ice that was barely holding on to the coast right to the rear of the enemy, to the village of Itervik. Shuvalov led the remaining four regiments (Nizovsky, Azov, Kaluga and 20th Chasseurs) along the coast road.

Shuvalov's offensive took the enemy by surprise. Furumak's detachment at Shellefteo, not having time to break the bridges on the river, hastily retreated to Itervik, pressed to the sea by the entire column of Shuvalov. And from the opposite side, the Swedes were met by the column of Alekseev that came ashore. Two days later (May 5) the bay was already free of ice. Furumaku, pincered, had to give up. The Russians took 691 prisoners, 22 guns and four banners.

At this time, Major General von Döbeln was appointed commander of the Swedish troops in the North. He was ordered, avoiding a fight, to take out the remaining food from Vestrobothnia. Arriving at Umeå, Döbeln resorted to the same ploy to arrest the Russians. He turned to Count Shuvalov with a proposal to negotiate a truce. Shuvalov sent Döbeln's letter to Commander-in-Chief Barclay de Tolly and suspended the offensive.

While negotiations were going on, transport ships were hurriedly loaded in Umeå and put out to sea through channels cut through the ice. Finally, when on May 14 Shuvalov, without waiting for a response from the commander-in-chief, concluded with the Swedes a preliminary agreement on the transfer of Umeå to the Russians on May 17, seven ships left Umea, taking out all the reserves and property of the Swedes. Döbeln withdrew across the river Ehre.

Barclay de Tolly rejected the truce and ordered Shuvalov "to threaten the enemy with the most active war in Sweden itself." But this order was too late. The mistake made by Shuvalov significantly affected (due to the poor state of the Russian naval forces) the course of the entire campaign. Leaving command of the corps, Shuvalov handed him over to Major General Alekseev, the eldest after himself. The latter occupied Umeå, and then advanced forward units to the southern borders of Vestrobothnia, occupying a number of points on the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia with separate detachments.

Immediately, the food question arose rather sharply. The region was already exhausted, all the food warehouses were taken out by Döbeln, and the delivery of food through Torneo to the ports of the Gulf of Bothnia was with great delays. However, until mid-June 1809, Alekseev occupied Vestrobotnia without experiencing significant inconvenience. Meanwhile, the desire to raise the prestige of the newly proclaimed King Charles XIII caused the Swedes to use their superiority at sea to organize an attack on the corps of General Alekseev that had climbed deep into the country.

At the end of June, a Swedish squadron of three ships already appeared in the Gulf of Bothnia. The Russian fleet was afraid of the British and defended itself in Kronstadt, so the Swedes reigned supreme at sea. The outbreak of the flood forced Alekseev to bring individual groups corps and pull the avant-garde located on the river Era closer to Umeå.

Meanwhile, the Swedes again changed command of their northern group - Döbeln was replaced by Sandels. Sandels decided to attack the Russians on land with support from the sea of ​​four sailing frigates and a rowing flotilla. On the night of June 19, the vanguard of Sandels crossed the Ere River at Hocknes by a floating bridge, and the next day the main forces crossed to the north bank. The surprise attack failed, as one Swede alerted the Russians.

Alekseev decided to counterattack the Swedes. To do this, he assembled a group of five infantry regiments and two hundred cavalry with four guns under the command of Major General Kazachkovsky. Sandels' troops stopped at the Gerne River near the town of Gernefors, sending forward a small guard detachment of Major Ernrot. On the evening of June 21, the advanced units of the Swedes were defeated at Sedermiel, and the next morning the battle began again at the front, but the Russian troops were repulsed. Seeing that the Russians themselves went on the offensive and that the planned attack was unlikely to bring success, Sandels decided to retreat across the river Ehre, especially since the terrain near Gernefors was inconvenient for battle. However, the Swedes continued to stand at Gernefors on June 23, 24 and 25, sending only three outposts.

On the evening of June 25, Kazachkovsky moved forward, dividing his detachment into two columns. He himself, with the Sevsky, Kaluga and 24th chasseur regiments, having the Nizovsky regiment in reserve, went along the high road, and sent Colonel Karpenkov with the 26th chasseur regiment to bypass the enemy’s left flank, through the forest, along a difficult path. This attack came as a complete surprise to the Swedes. Having knocked down the outposts, the Russians pushed back the enemy units, which had fallen into disarray. Sandels' attempt to gain a foothold behind the bridge failed, and he began to withdraw troops back, and appointed a battalion of the famous partisan Dunker to cover the retreat. The latter courageously defended every inch of land, but when Sandels sent an order to Dunker to retreat as soon as possible, he was already cut off by Karpenkov's column. On the offer to surrender, Dunker responded with a volley. Seriously wounded, he died a few hours later. In the battle near Gernefors, the Swedes lost 5 officers, 125 lower ranks and part of the convoy as prisoners.

It's funny that after the success of Gernefors, Alexander I removed I.I. Alekseev from the command of the corps and appointed Count N.M. Kamensky. Almost simultaneously, Barclay de Tolly took over from Knorring as Commander-in-Chief of the Russian Army in Finland.

Taking advantage of the absolute superiority of the Swedish fleet in the Gulf of Bothnia, the Swedish command developed a plan for the destruction of the northern corps of Kamensky. Sandels' corps was reinforced by troops withdrawn from the border in northern Norway. And at Ratan, in two transitions from Umeå, the landing of the “coastal corps”, which had previously covered Stockholm, was to take place.

Kamensky decided to counterattack the Swedes. The northern corps left Umeå on August 4 in three columns: the first - General Alekseev (six battalions), the second - Kamensky himself (eight battalions), the third - Sabaneev's reserve (four battalions). The first column was ordered to cross the river Ere at the 15th verst above the mouth and then attack the left flank of the Swedes. The rest of the forces were to force the crossing on the main coastal route and push the enemy back behind the Olofsborg pickaxe.

However, on August 5, from a hundred transport ships near Ratan, the landing of the 8,000th corps of Count Wachtmeister began. Thus, the Russians found themselves between two fires: from the front across the river Ere was General Wrede with seven thousand soldiers, and from the rear - Wachtmeister. From the river Ere to Ratan there were five or six day's marches. It was possible to move only in a narrow coastal strip, which excluded maneuvering. The Swedes dominated the sea, the path of the troops was crossed by the channels of deep rivers, which allowed the entry of small-draft ships.

Kamensky, without hesitation, decided to attack the landing corps, as the most powerful and dangerous group for the Russian troops. On August 5, he ordered Sabaneev’s reserve (which had barely passed Umeå) to go back to support Frolov, the head echelon of the left column (under the command of Erikson) to remain on the Ere River, continuing to force the crossings, and to keep Sandels in error, and at night to retreat to Umeå, destroying bridges. All other troops were ordered to follow Sabaneev. These movements occupied the whole day of 5 August. The Swedes managed to land the vanguard (seven battalions of Lagerbrink with a battery). Having advanced to Sevahr and pushed back the Russian advanced units, the Wachtmeister began to wait here for further orders from Puke. This stop turned out to be disastrous, especially since the terrain near Sevar did not at all allow a defensive battle.

Kamensky spent the whole day of August 6 in feverish activity. While Sabaneev supported Frolov, the rest of the troops hurried to Umea. At dawn on August 7, Alekseev's troops approached Tefta. The rest of the forces lingered at Umeå, waiting for Erickson, who had successfully deceived Wrede all day on August 6, and left for Umeå under cover of night. On the morning of August 7, Kamensky attacked with the available forces of the Wachtmeister at Sevar. The bloody battle, which lasted from 7 am to 4 pm, ended with the retreat of the Swedish landing back to Ratan.

Kamensky, despite the news that Wrede was approaching Umeå, which reduced the distance between both groups of Swedes to two or three crossings, decided to finish off Wachtmeister. He with all his might began to pursue the retreating Swedish landing. The battle at Ratan ended with the landing of the Swedes on the ships, which Kamensky could not prevent, since his soldiers were running out of ammunition. Therefore, Kamensky decided to retreat to Piteå on August 12 in order to replenish ammunition there from the transport sent by sea from Oujaeborg. After three days of rest, on August 21, the corps moved to Umeå.

Meanwhile, the Swedes again started talking about a truce. After short negotiations, a truce was concluded near Skellefteå, according to which the Russians were detained in Piteå, and the Swedes in Umeå, not counting the vanguards. The Swedish fleet was withdrawn from Kvarken and undertook not to act against Åland and the Finnish coast, and not to prevent unarmed ships from sailing throughout the Gulf of Bothnia. Kamensky motivated the need for a truce by the difficulty of meeting the needs of the corps, as well as by the concentration of all the forces of the Swedes in one group in Umeå, which made it much stronger than the Russian corps.

Petersburg considered it best not to respond to the proposals of the Swedes. At the same time, Kamensky was ordered to prepare for the offensive. The Russians took advantage of the freedom of navigation in the Gulf of Bothnia to concentrate supplies in Pitea. A special reserve advanced in Torneo to support Kamensky in case of need. All these measures were aimed at forcing the Swedes to agree to such peace conditions that were beneficial to the Russians. Russian chief commissioner in Friedrichsham Count N.P. Rumyantsev demanded that Kamensky be forced to advance. He even insisted on a landing near Stockholm, if only to achieve the necessary impact on the Swedes.

Chapter 5. Campaign of 1809 at sea

After the opening of navigation in 1809, food was delivered to the Russian troops in Sweden through the Gulf of Bothnia from Finland on merchant ships. For their protection, the 38-gun frigate Epiphany and two brigs were sent from Abo to Kvarken. But soon a strong Swedish detachment arrived there, forcing the Russian ships to leave. At the same time, the Epiphany frigate under the command of Lieutenant Commander Mendel was attacked by two Swedish frigates, but after a long skirmish, the Swedes fell behind.

The ship fleet in the spring of 1809 concentrated in Kronstadt and "prepared to repel the attack of the British", that is, simply remained under the protection of the forts of Kronstadt. Even when the British ships approached the island of Gogland, landed troops and burned the lighthouse there, the Russian fleet in Kronstadt did not move.

About two dozen new batteries were built in Kronstadt, most of them on artificial islands. To the south of Kotlin, batteries were built: "Double South", "Battery behind the Citadel" and "Battery behind Risbank". For the defense of the northern fairway, two batteries were built on natural and four on artificial islands. In addition, several armed blockships (obsolete ships) were placed between Kotlin and Lisiy Nos: Prince Karl (64 guns, former Swedish), Mikhail (66 guns), Alexei (74 guns) and others.

In the early summer of 1809, the British fleet entered the Gulf of Finland. The British landed troops in one of the main strategic points of the bay - in Porkalaud. English cruisers especially tried to impede the movement of Russian ships in the Finnish skerries, and sent their armed launches there to seize transports and escort them. During June and July 1809, on such longboats, the British attacked several times in the Aspen skerries near Pitkopas and Porcalud, and the Russians lost 18 boats, iols and transports sunken or captured. But the British also lost several longboats.

On July 17, between the mainland and the islands of Sturi and Lilla Svarte, six Russian iol and two gunboats were attacked by twenty English rowboats (boats and longboats). After a stubborn battle, two iols managed to escape to Sveaborg, the British boarded the rest of the ships. The Russians lost two officers and 63 lower ranks killed, 106 people were captured, of which 50 were wounded. The British lost two officers and 17 lower ranks killed, 37 people were wounded. The captured iols and gunboats were badly damaged and the British had to burn them.

In the same 1809, English cruisers approached the Russian northern shores, but their actions were limited to the ruin of several fishing havens and an attack on the defenseless town of Kola, where they devastated a wine warehouse and captured several merchant ships. But such raids did not always end well for the British. For example, in the autumn of 1810, near the Norwegian city of North Cape, the British, having taken possession of the ship of the tradesman Gerasimov, sent him with his crew to England. But on the way, Gerasimov, taking advantage of the oversight of the British, locked them in a cabin and brought the ship to Kola, where he handed over his "winners" as prisoners.

Chapter 6

On September 5 (17), 1809, a peace treaty was signed between Russia and Sweden in the city of Friedrichsgam. From Russia, it was signed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Count N.P. Rumyantsev and Russian Ambassador to Stockholm David Alopeus; from Sweden - General of Infantry Baron Kurt Stedink and Colonel Andras Scheldebront.

The military terms of the agreement included the withdrawal of Russian troops from Swedish territory in Västerbotten to Finland across the Torneo River within a month from the date of the exchange of instruments of ratification. All prisoners of war and hostages mutually returned no later than three months from the date the treaty entered into force.

The military-political conditions consisted in preventing British military and merchant ships from entering Swedish ports. It was forbidden to fill them with water, food and fuel. Thus, Sweden actually joined the continental blockade of Napoleon.

According to the terms of the agreement:

Sweden ceded to Russia all of Finland (up to the Kem River) and part of Västerbotten up to the Torneo River and all of Finnish Lapland.

The border between Russia and Sweden should run along the rivers Torneo and Munio and further north along the line of Munioniski - Enonteki - Kilpisjärvi and up to the border with Norway.

Islands on the border rivers, located to the west of the fairway, depart to Sweden, to the east of the fairway - to Russia.

Aland Islands go to Russia. The border in the sea runs along the middle of the Gulf of Bothnia and the Sea of ​​Aland.

According to the economic terms of the contract:

The term of the Russian-Swedish trade agreement, which expired in 1811, was extended until 1813 (by 2 years, expunged in its action by the war).

Sweden retained the right to purchase duty-free every year in Russian ports in the Baltic 50 thousand quarters of bread (grain, flour).

The duty-free mutual export of traditional goods from Finland and Sweden was maintained for three years. From Sweden - copper, iron, lime, stone; from Finland - livestock, fish, bread, resin, wood.

Arrests were mutually removed from assets and financial transactions, debts and incomes interrupted or disrupted by the war were returned. All property claims in Sweden and Finland, as well as in Russia, related to the Finnish economy, were decided or restored.

The estates and property sequestered during the war were returned to their owners in both countries.

Swedes and Finns within three years from the moment of signing the agreement could freely move from Russia to Sweden and back together with their property.

Russo-Swedish War 1808-1809
	Finland, Scandinavian Peninsula
	Politics of the Great European Powers - Peace of Tilsit, Anglo-Danish War
	Russian victory
Territorial changes:	Accession of Finland to Russia (Friedrichsham Peace Treaty
Opponents
Commanders
Buksgevden, Fyodor Fyodorovich	Wilhelm Maurits Klingspor
Knorring, Bogdan	Carl John Adlercreutz
Barclay de Tolly, Mikhail Bogdanovich	Georg Carl von Döbeln
Side forces
	~13,000 Finnish soldiers; ~8000 Swedish soldiers. Total ~21,000 people
Military casualties

Russo-Swedish War 1808-1809, Also Finnish war(Fin. Suomen sota, Swede. Finnish kriget) - a war between Russia, supported by France and Denmark, and Sweden. It was the last of a series of Russian-Swedish wars.

The war ended with the victory of Russia and the conclusion of the Friedrichsgam peace treaty, according to which Finland passed from Sweden to Russia, becoming part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Finland.

Causes and purposes of the war

Upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, Alexander I offered the Swedish king Gustav IV his mediation to reconcile him with France, and when the British, suddenly and without declaring war, attacked Copenhagen and took the Danish fleet away, he demanded the assistance of Sweden, so that, on the basis of treaties of 1780 and 1800, to keep the Baltic Sea closed to the fleets of the Western powers. Gustav IV rejected these demands and took a course towards rapprochement with England, which continued to fight Napoleon, who was hostile to him.

Meanwhile, there was a break between Russia and Great Britain. On November 16, 1807, the Russian government again turned to the Swedish king with a proposal for assistance, but for about two months did not receive any answer. Finally, Gustav IV responded that the execution of the treaties of 1780 and 1800. cannot proceed while the French occupy the harbors of the Baltic Sea. Then it became known that the Swedish king was preparing to help England in the war with Denmark, trying to win back Norway from her. All these circumstances gave Emperor Alexander I a reason to conquer Finland, in order to ensure the security of the capital from the close proximity of the hostile Russian power.

The state of the parties before the war

At the beginning of 1808 Russian army(about 24 thousand) was located along the border, between Friedrichsham and Neishlot, the leadership was entrusted to Count Buxgevden.

The Swedes in Finland at that time had 19 thousand troops, under the temporary command of General Klerker. The commander-in-chief, Count Klingspor, was still in Stockholm, where everyone hoped for a peaceful resolution of misunderstandings: the king himself did not trust the news of the concentration of Russian troops in the Vyborg province and the Swedish army was not transferred to martial law.

When Count Klingspor finally went to Finland, the essence of the instructions given to him was not to go into battle with the enemy, to hold Sveaborg to the last extreme and, if possible, to operate behind Russian lines.

undeclared war

Although war was not declared, Russian troops crossed the border on February 9. On February 18, Count Buxhoeveden entered Helsingfors; Swedish troops took refuge in the fortress of Sveaborg.

On February 23, Count Klingspor retreated to Tammerfors, ordering all detachments scattered in northern Finland to be drawn there.

Following that, Tavastehus was occupied by Russian troops.

On February 27, Buxgevden ordered Prince Bagration to pursue Klingspor, and General Tuchkov to try to cut off his retreat; Buxhoeveden himself decided to proceed with the siege of Sveaborg.

The Swedes withdrew unhindered to Bragestad, but Sveaborg - mainly thanks to the "golden powder" - surrendered to the Russians on April 26, who got 7.5 thousand prisoners, more than 2 thousand guns, huge stocks of all kinds and 110 warships.

Even earlier, on March 5, the fortress of Svartholm surrendered; almost at the same time, the fortified Cape Gangut, as well as the island of Gotland and the Aland Islands, were occupied.

Declaration of war

A formal declaration of war on the Russian side followed only on March 16, 1808, when news was received that the king, having learned about the passage of Russian troops across the border, ordered the arrest of all members of the Russian embassy who were in Stockholm.

Public opinion in Sweden was not on the side of the war, and the emergency measures ordered by the king were carried out reluctantly and weakly.

Unsuccessful start of the war for Russia

Meanwhile, in the north of Finland, things took an unfavorable turn for Russia. Tuchkov's detachment, due to the separation of stages and garrisons, decreased to 4 thousand.

On April 6, the vanguard of Russian troops, under the command of Kulnev, attacked the Swedes near the village of Siikajoki, but, having stumbled upon superior forces, was defeated; after that, on April 15, the same fate befell a detachment of Russian troops at Revolax, and the commander of this detachment, General Bulatov, Mikhail Leontyevich, who had already fought a number of successful battles, defeating several enemy detachments, was seriously wounded and taken prisoner. In February 1809, the captured general was offered freedom in exchange for a promise not to fight against the Swedes and their allies, but he refused, after which he was allowed to leave for Russia without preconditions.

The Finns, incited by the proclamations of the king and count of Klingspor, rose up against the Russians and, with their partisan actions, under the command of Swedish officers, caused a lot of harm to the Russian army.

In eastern Finland, a detachment under the command of Colonel Sandels (sv: Johan August Sandels) spread the alarm all the way to Neishlot and Wilmanstrand.

At the end of April, a strong Swedish flotilla appeared near the Aland Islands and, with the help of the rebellious inhabitants, forced the detachment of Colonel Vuich to surrender.

On May 3, Rear Admiral Bodisko, who occupied the island of Gotland, signed a surrender, by virtue of which his detachment, having laid down their arms, went back to Libau on the same ships that had arrived in Gotland.

On May 14, an English fleet arrived in Gothenburg with an auxiliary corps of 14 thousand people under the command of General Moore, but Gustav IV could not agree with him regarding the plan of action, and Moore's troops were sent to Spain; only the English fleet remained at the disposal of the Swedish king, consisting of 16 ships and 20 other vessels.

Meanwhile, detachments of Russian troops operating in northern Finland were forced to retreat to Kuopio. Klingspor did not complete his success with persistent pursuit, but stopped at a position near the village of Salmi, awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from Sweden and the result of the landings undertaken on the western coast of Finland. The landing forces were defeated in the battle of Lemu and Vaasa. Taking advantage of this, General Count N. M. Kamensky on August 2 again went on the offensive.

On August 20 and 21, after stubborn battles at Kuortane and Salmi, Klingspor retreated in the direction of Vasa and Nykarleby, and on September 2 suffered a new setback in the battle of Oravais.

Swedish landings, which at first acted not without success, on the orders of Klingspor, also retreated to Vasa. Other landings made in September from the Åland Islands also ended in failure.

fracture

In eastern Finland, General Tuchkov, having against him the Swedish detachment of Sandels and a detachment of armed inhabitants, kept in a defensive position. The detachment of Alekseev, sent to him for reinforcements, was stopped by the actions of the partisans and returned to Serdobol on July 30. Only on September 14, Prince Dolgorukov, who replaced Alekseev, reached the village of Melansemi and entered into contact with Tuchkov. The joint attack they planned on Sandels did not take place, since the latter, having learned about the failure of Klingspor near Oravais, retreated to the village of Idensalmi.

Soon the unrest in eastern Finland subsided. Due to the onset of autumn, lack of food and the need to rest the troops, Count Buxhoeveden accepted Klingspor's offer of a truce, which was concluded on September 17, but was not approved by the emperor. The offensive resumed on the Russian side was already almost unhindered. Klingspor left for Stockholm, handing over his command to General Klerker, and the latter, convinced of the impossibility of detaining Russian troops, started negotiations with Count Kamensky, the consequence of which was the retreat of the Swedes to Torneo and the occupation of all Finland by Russian troops in November 1808.

Emperor Alexander, however, was not completely satisfied with Count Buxgevden, since the Swedish army, despite the significant superiority of the Russian forces, retained its composition, and therefore the war could not be considered over. At the beginning of December, Buxhoeveden's place was taken by General of Infantry Knorring. Emperor Alexander ordered the new commander-in-chief to immediately and resolutely transfer the theater of war to the Swedish coast, taking advantage of the opportunity (the rarest in the history of the usually non-freezing bay) to cross there on ice.

The northern detachment was to move to Tornio, take possession of the shops there and follow to the city of Umea, to join with another detachment, which was ordered to go there from Vasa on the ice of the Gulf of Bothnia near the Kvarken Islands; finally, the third detachment was to attack the Aland Islands, then all three detachments were to move towards Stockholm.

Knorring delayed the execution of a bold plan and remained inactive until mid-February. Alexander I, extremely dissatisfied with this, sent the Minister of War, Count Arakcheev, to Finland, who, arriving on February 20 in Abo, insisted on the speedy implementation of the highest will.

At this time, a coup d'état took place in Sweden, and royal power passed into the hands of the Duke of Südermanland.

The troops of Prince Bagration, who marched to the Aland Islands on March 2, quickly took possession of them, and on March 7 a small Russian cavalry detachment under the command of Kulnev had already occupied the village of Grisselgam on the Swedish coast. Two days later, he was ordered to return to Aland, where a Swedish commissioner arrived with a letter from the Duke of Südermanland, who declared his desire to make peace on the condition that Russian troops did not cross to the Swedish coast. Knorring agreed to a suspension of hostilities; the main forces of Prince Bagration were returned to Abo; the detachment of Barclay de Tolly, who had already crossed the bay at Kvarken, was also recalled back.

Meanwhile, the northern detachment of Russian troops, under the command of Count Shuvalov, managed to gain significant success. The enemy detachment of Grippenberg, who stood against him, lost the city of Tornio without a fight, and then, on March 13, bypassed by the troops of the Russian Empire near the village of Kalix, laid down their arms. Then Count Shuvalov stopped, having received news of the truce concluded on Aland.

The defeat of the Swedes in Finland

On March 19, Emperor Alexander arrived in Abo, ordering to interrupt the truce concluded on Aland. In early April, Barclay de Tolly was appointed to replace Knorring. Hostilities resumed and from the Russian side were carried out mainly by the northern detachment, which on May 20 occupied the city of Umeå. The Swedish troops were partly overturned, partly retreated hastily. Even before the occupation of Umeå, the Swedish general Döbeln, who commanded in Vestro-Botnia, asked Count Shuvalov to stop the bloodshed, which was pointless due to the imminent conclusion of peace, and offered to cede all of Vestro-Botnia to the Russians. Shuvalov agreed to conclude a convention with him, but Barclay de Tolly did not fully approve of it; the northern detachment of the Russian army was ordered to start hostilities again at the first opportunity. In addition, measures were taken to provide the detachment with food, in which there was a severe shortage.

When the Diet, assembled in Stockholm, proclaimed the Duke of Südermanland king, the new government inclined to the proposal of General Count Wrede to push the Russians out of Vestro-Botnia; hostilities resumed, but the successes of the Swedes were limited only to the capture of several transports; their attempts to start a people's war against Russia failed. After a successful case for the Russians, a truce was again concluded at Gernefors, partly due to the need for the Russians to provide themselves with food.

Since the Swedes stubbornly refused to cede the Aland Islands to Russia, Barclay allowed the new head of the northern detachment, Count Kamensky, to act at his own discretion.

The Swedes sent two detachments against the latter: one, Sandels, was supposed to attack from the front, the other, landing, landed near the village of Ratan and attacked Count Kamensky from the rear. Owing to the bold and skillful orders of the count, this enterprise ended in failure; but then, due to the almost complete depletion of military and food supplies, Kamensky retreated to Piteo, where he found a transport with bread and again moved forward to Umea. Already on the first transition, Sandels appeared to him with the authority to conclude a truce, which he could not refuse, due to the insecurity of supplying his troops with everything necessary.

Foreign policy results

On September 5 (17), 1809, a peace treaty was signed in Friedrichsgam, the essential articles of which were:

1. making peace with Russia and its allies;
2. the adoption of the continental system and the closure of Swedish harbors to the British;
3. the cession of all Finland, the Åland Islands and the eastern part of Vestro-Botnia up to the rivers Torneo and Muonio, into the eternal possession of Russia.

Military totals

For the first time in the history of wars, a bay was crossed on ice.

Plan
Introduction
1 Causes and purposes of the war
2 State of the parties before the war
3 Undeclared war
4 Declaration of war
5 Unsuccessful start of the war for Russia
6 Fracture
7 Defeat of the Swedes in Finland
8 Foreign policy results
9 Military totals

Russo-Swedish war (1808-1809)

Introduction

The Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809, also the Finnish war (fin. Suomen sota, swed. Finnish kriget listen)) is a war between Russia supported by France and Denmark against Sweden. It was the last of a series of Russian-Swedish wars.

The war ended with the victory of Russia and the conclusion of the Friedrichsgam peace treaty, according to which Finland passed from Sweden to Russia, becoming part of the Russian Empire as the Grand Duchy of Finland.

1. Causes and objectives of the war

Upon the conclusion of the Treaty of Tilsit in 1807, Alexander I offered the Swedish king Gustav IV his mediation to reconcile him with France, and when the British, suddenly and without declaring war, attacked Copenhagen and took the Danish fleet away, he demanded the assistance of Sweden, so that, on the basis of treaties of 1780 and 1800, to keep the Baltic Sea closed to the fleets of the Western powers. Gustav IV rejected these demands and took a course towards rapprochement with England, which continued to fight Napoleon, who was hostile to him.

Meanwhile, there was a break between Russia and Great Britain. On November 16, 1807, the Russian government again turned to the Swedish king with a proposal for assistance, but for about two months did not receive any answer. Finally, Gustav IV responded that the execution of the treaties of 1780 and 1800. cannot proceed while the French occupy the harbors of the Baltic Sea. Then it became known that the Swedish king was preparing to help England in the war with Denmark, trying to win back Norway from her. All these circumstances gave Emperor Alexander I a reason to conquer Finland, in order to ensure the security of the capital from the close proximity of the hostile Russian power.

2. The state of the parties before the war

At the beginning of 1808, the Russian army (about 24 thousand) was located along the border, between Friedrichsham and Neishlot, the leadership was entrusted to Count Buxgevden.

The Swedes in Finland at that time had 19 thousand troops, under the temporary command of General Klerker. The commander-in-chief, Count Klingspor, was still in Stockholm, where everyone hoped for a peaceful resolution of misunderstandings: the king himself did not trust the news of the concentration of Russian troops in the Vyborg province and the Swedish army was not transferred to martial law.

When Count Klingspor finally went to Finland, the essence of the instructions given to him was not to go into battle with the enemy, to hold Sveaborg to the last extreme and, if possible, to operate behind Russian lines.

3. Undeclared war

Although war was not declared, Russian troops crossed the border on February 9. On February 18, Count Buxhoeveden entered Helsingfors; Swedish troops took refuge in the fortress of Sveaborg.

On February 23, Count Klingspor retreated to Tammerfors, ordering all detachments scattered in northern Finland to be drawn there.

Following that, Tavastehus was occupied by Russian troops.

On February 27, Buxgevden ordered Prince Bagration to pursue Klingspor, and General Tuchkov to try to cut off his retreat; Buxhoeveden himself decided to proceed with the siege of Sveaborg.

The Swedes withdrew unhindered to Bragestad, but Sveaborg - mainly thanks to the "golden powder" - surrendered to the Russians on April 26, who got 7.5 thousand prisoners, more than 2 thousand guns, huge stocks of all kinds and 110 warships.

Even earlier, on March 5, the fortress of Svartholm surrendered; almost at the same time, the fortified Cape Gangut, as well as the island of Gotland and the Aland Islands, were occupied.

4. Declaration of war

A formal declaration of war on the Russian side followed only on March 16, 1808, when news was received that the king, having learned about the passage of Russian troops across the border, ordered the arrest of all members of the Russian embassy who were in Stockholm.

Public opinion in Sweden was not on the side of the war, and the emergency measures ordered by the king were carried out reluctantly and weakly.

5. Unsuccessful start of the war for Russia

Meanwhile, in the north of Finland, things took an unfavorable turn for Russia. Tuchkov's detachment, due to the separation of stages and garrisons, decreased to 4 thousand.

On April 6, the vanguard of Russian troops, under the command of Kulnev, attacked the Swedes near the village of Siikajoki, but, having stumbled upon superior forces, was defeated; after that, on April 15, the same fate befell a detachment of Russian troops at Revolax, and the commander of this detachment, General Bulatov, Mikhail Leontyevich, who had already fought a number of successful battles, defeating several enemy detachments, was seriously wounded and taken prisoner. In February 1809, the captured general was offered freedom in exchange for a promise not to fight against the Swedes and their allies, but he refused, after which he was allowed to leave for Russia without preconditions.

The Finns, incited by the proclamations of the king and count of Klingspor, rose up against the Russians and, with their partisan actions, under the command of Swedish officers, caused a lot of harm to the Russian army.

In eastern Finland, a detachment under the command of Colonel Sandels (sv: Johan August Sandels) spread the alarm all the way to Neishlot and Wilmanstrand.

At the end of April, a strong Swedish flotilla appeared near the Aland Islands and, with the help of the rebellious inhabitants, forced the detachment of Colonel Vuich to surrender.

On May 3, Rear Admiral Bodisko, who occupied the island of Gotland, signed a surrender, by virtue of which his detachment, having laid down their arms, went back to Libau on the same ships that had arrived in Gotland.

On May 14, an English fleet arrived in Gothenburg with an auxiliary corps of 14 thousand people under the command of General Moore, but Gustav IV could not agree with him regarding the plan of action, and Moore's troops were sent to Spain; only the English fleet remained at the disposal of the Swedish king, consisting of 16 ships and 20 other vessels.

Meanwhile, detachments of Russian troops operating in northern Finland were forced to retreat to Kuopio. Klingspor did not complete his success with persistent pursuit, but stopped at a position near the village of Salmi, awaiting the arrival of reinforcements from Sweden and the result of the landings undertaken on the western coast of Finland. The landing forces were defeated in the battle of Lemu and Vaasa. Taking advantage of this, General Count N. M. Kamensky on August 2 again went on the offensive.

On August 20 and 21, after stubborn battles at Kuortane and Salmi, Klingspor retreated in the direction of Vasa and Nykarleby, and on September 2 suffered a new setback in the battle of Oravais.

Swedish landings, which at first acted not without success, on the orders of Klingspor, also retreated to Vasa. Other landings made in September from the Åland Islands also ended in failure.

6. Fracture

In eastern Finland, General Tuchkov, having against him the Swedish detachment of Sandels and a detachment of armed inhabitants, kept in a defensive position. The detachment of Alekseev, sent to him for reinforcements, was stopped by the actions of the partisans and returned to Serdobol on July 30. Only on September 14, Prince Dolgorukov, who replaced Alekseev, reached the village of Melansemi and entered into contact with Tuchkov. The joint attack they planned on Sandels did not take place, since the latter, having learned about the failure of Klingspor near Oravais, retreated to the village of Idensalmi.

Soon the unrest in eastern Finland subsided. Due to the onset of autumn, lack of food and the need to rest the troops, Count Buxhoeveden accepted Klingspor's offer of a truce, which was concluded on September 17, but was not approved by the emperor. The offensive resumed on the Russian side was already almost unhindered. Klingspor left for Stockholm, handing over his command to General Klerker, and the latter, convinced of the impossibility of detaining Russian troops, started negotiations with Count Kamensky, the consequence of which was the retreat of the Swedes to Torneo and the occupation of all Finland by Russian troops in November 1808.

Emperor Alexander, however, was not completely satisfied with Count Buxgevden, since the Swedish army, despite the significant superiority of the Russian forces, retained its composition, and therefore the war could not be considered over. At the beginning of December, Buxhoeveden's place was taken by General of Infantry Knorring. Emperor Alexander ordered the new commander-in-chief to immediately and resolutely transfer the theater of war to the Swedish coast, taking advantage of the opportunity (the rarest in the history of the usually non-freezing bay) to cross there on ice.

The northern detachment was to move to Tornio, take possession of the shops there and follow to the city of Umea, to join with another detachment, which was ordered to go there from Vasa on the ice of the Gulf of Bothnia near the Kvarken Islands; finally, the third detachment was to attack the Aland Islands, then all three detachments were to move towards Stockholm.

Knorring delayed the execution of a bold plan and remained inactive until mid-February. Alexander I, extremely dissatisfied with this, sent the Minister of War, Count Arakcheev, to Finland, who, arriving on February 20 in Abo, insisted on the speedy implementation of the highest will.

The troops of Prince Bagration, who marched to the Aland Islands on March 2, quickly captured them, and on March 7 a small Russian cavalry detachment under the command of Kulnev already occupied the village of Grisselgam (now part of the commune of Norrtelier) on the Swedish coast. Two days later, he was ordered to return to Aland, where a Swedish commissioner arrived with a letter from the Duke of Südermanland, who declared his desire to make peace on the condition that Russian troops did not cross to the Swedish coast. Knorring agreed to a suspension of hostilities; the main forces of Prince Bagration were returned to Abo; the detachment of Barclay de Tolly, who had already crossed the bay at Kvarken, was also recalled back.

Meanwhile, the northern detachment of Russian troops, under the command of Count Shuvalov, managed to gain significant success. The Grippenberg detachment that stood against him lost the city of Tornio without a fight, and then, on March 13, bypassed by the troops of the Russian Empire near the village of Kalix, laid down their arms. Then Count Shuvalov stopped, having received news of the truce concluded on Aland.