Assault on Sundsvall
Monument to Johan Henrik Fieandt at Åkroken in Sundsvall. The memorial stone was unveiled in 1979 and has a Russian cannonball incorporated into it.
| date | May 25th July / June 5, 1721 greg. |
|---|---|
| place | Selånger , 8 km west of Sundsvall |
| output | russian victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| approx. 280 men | approx. 7470 men |
| losses | |
|
about 40 dead |
about 40 dead |
1st phase: Swedish dominance (1700–1709)
Riga I • Jungfernhof • Varja • Pühhajoggi • Narva • Pechora • Düna • Rauge • Erastfer • Hummelshof • Embach • Tartu • Narva II • Wesenberg I • Wesenberg II
Arkhangelsk • Lake Ladoga • Nöteborg • Nyenschanz • Neva • Systerbäck • Petersburg • Vyborg I • Porvoo • Neva II • Koporje II • Kolkanpää
Vilnius • Salads • Jacobstadt • Walled Courtyard • Mitau • Grodno I • Olkieniki • Nyaswisch • Klezk • Ljachavichy
Klissow • Pułtusk • Thorn • Lemberg • Warsaw • Posen • Punitz • Tillendorf • Rakowitz • Praga • Fraustadt • Kalisch
Grodno II • Golovchin • Moljatitschi • Rajowka • Lesnaja • Desna • Baturyn • Koniecpol • Weprik • Opischnja • Krasnokutsk • Sokolki • Poltava I • Poltava II
2nd phase: Sweden on the defensive (1710–1721)
Riga II • Vyborg II • Pernau • Kexholm • Reval • Hogland • Pälkäne • Storkyro • Nyslott • Hanko
Helsingborg • Køge Bay • Gulf of Bothnia • Frederikshald I • Dynekilen Fjord • Gothenburg I • Strömstad • Trondheim • Frederikshald II • Marstrand • Ösel • Gothenburg II • Södra Stäket • Grönham • Sundsvall
Elbing • Wismar I • Lübow • Stralsund I • Greifswalder Bodden I • Stade • Rügen • Gadebusch • Altona • Tönning II • Stettin • Fehmarn • Wismar II • Stralsund II • Jasmund • Peenemünde • Greifswalder Bodden II • Stresow
The raid on Sundsvall (also known as the Battle of Selånger ) was the last stand in the Great Northern War . The attack took place on May 25th . / June 5, 1721 greg. in and around Sundsvall and Selånger . A Swedish garrison of about 280 men fought against a group of cossacks ten times as large and more than 6000 Russian infantrymen. The result was a Russian victory, and the city of Sundsvall and the surrounding villages were looted and burned to the ground.
backgrounds
The Russian fleet had devastated the Swedish coast as early as 1719. The protective measures taken by the then governor of Västernorrland Hugo Hamilton von Hageby had spared the provinces of Medelpad , Ångermanland and Gästrikland from major raids.
In 1720 the city of Umeå was sacked and burned by the Russian navy.
At that time, Sundsvall and Medelpad were protected by two cavalry regiments. Due to supply problems with the regiments, the locals had to supply the regiments with food. But they could not raise the food and so the regiments were withdrawn in the spring of 1721 and only a small cavalry unit from Jämtland remained.
In the run-up to the fighting
In 1721 a Russian fleet was sighted again, heading north along the coast of Norrland.
The council of the town of Gävle decided to send the major Johan Henrik Fieandt to Sundsvall to organize a defense of the town. He had 80 sailors from the first Norrland naval company and 80 riders from the Jämtland cavalry regiment, under the command of Captain Herman Wibbling, and another 150 armed farmers .
Fieandt had also hoped to get another 700–800 townspeople to support the regular troops. He wrote after the battle that the townspeople were not to be moved to any support and only had their own interests in mind.
The major's only support came from a small unit of veterans . The 25 riders were under the command of Lieutenant Johan Lindstedt. You had previously participated in the campaigns in Finland and the Baltic States under the command of Carl Gustaf Armfeldt . In addition, the veterans returned to Norway on the Carolinian death march .
When the Russian fleet crossed before Sundsvall, a Swedish cornet ( ensign ) suggested to Lieutenant Lindstedt to retreat, because nothing could be done against such a superior force and the men would be senselessly sacrificed. But the lieutenant refused and began defensive measures.
The attack
The Russian squadron, consisting of 33 galleys and about 70 other escort ships ( sloops ), loaded with men and war material, first attacked the city with artillery fire.
Russians and their troops landed south of Sundsvall city center. The Swedish defenders had to vacate their positions after an hour of fighting. They burned down two merchant ships and a larger ship, which was loaded with iron and wood, so that it would not fall into the hands of the enemy.
The defenders, who had no support from their own artillery, except for a few smaller pieces of field with which the fire from some farms and boats in the vicinity was returned to the Russian invaders. Major Fieandt managed to stop the advance of the Russians for another hour. But when he threatened to be trapped with his men at the bridge in the Åkroken district, he withdrew towards Jämtland.
As a result, there were several smaller skirmishes between the Jämtland horsemen and the Cossacks. 22 Swedish cavalrymen were slaughtered on the road towards Valla. The Swedes had to withdraw further and further in Selånger, about eight kilometers west of Sundsvall, the Swedish soldiers gathered again to fight orderly against the Russian superiority.
The consequences
Ten Swedish horsemen managed to evade capture. They fled to their homeland, Jämtland. Ten Swedish soldiers were brought to St. Petersburg as prisoners of war . The flag of the Jämtland cavalry regiment was also taken as spoils of war.
Sundsvall was looted and completely burned down and the only church in the village was not damaged.
Seven Swedes returned to their homeland after the Peace of Nystad . The cornet Nandelstadt, who was one of the prisoners, reported that the Russians had about 40 dead.
Major Fieandt survived his severe wounds and later died in the Battle of Lappeenranta during the Russo-Swedish War in 1741.
Individual evidence
literature
- Daniel von Nandelstadt: Nedtegninger skrevet av førstekornetten ved Jämtlands kavalerikompani i 1721 (Swedish)
- Red. Per Dahl: Svensk militaryhistorisk atlas Lund 2000. ISBN 91-89080-49-1