List of Swedish army units in the Great Northern War

The list of Swedish army units in the Great Northern War contains all regiments and independent battalions of the Swedish army in the period from 1700 to 1721 .

The list is divided into the two branches of the infantry and cavalry . The artillery is not recorded as such. In contrast to the infantry and cavalry, the Swedish artillery was advertised throughout. It was united to form a regiment, the individual companies of which were distributed over the forts. A field artillery structure was available in Stockholm and Jönköping .

The Swedish army existed when Charles XII was enthroned . 1697 from 65,000 men. During the first years of the war there were several increases in the army, until the climax was reached in 1707 with 115,000 men. From then on, the army continuously shrank due to the very high war losses. In 1716 the army consisted of only 40,000 men and by 1718 had recovered to 60,000 men. At the end of the war in 1721 there were 45,000 men in the Swedish army.

Overview

Soldiers of the Swedish Army in the Great Northern War

Infantry soldiers from the Ostrobothnia Regiment, 1705

The Swedish army at the time of the Great Northern War was made up of two different groups. As everywhere in those days, there were recruited regiments . The divided regiments formed the core of the army. Through the allotment system , Sweden's army greatly from the countries of the rest of Europe. The system of division made a national Swedish army possible, which was exempt from recruiting and the frequent unreliability of recruited regiments. The system of division stipulated that individual provinces combined a number of farms and these communities had to provide an infantryman. The individual mercenaries recruited in this way received a cottage with garden land for self -sufficiency. The crown paid for armament and wages in the event of a draft . The operational readiness of the regiments was checked regularly and commanders were provided for the individual companies in peacetime.

Every landscape and, in the case of larger landscapes, every country had a regiment that bore its name. The companies were also given the name of their district. In total, 14 Swedish and seven Finnish regiments were maintained in this way. The normal regimental strength was 1200 men, who were divided into eight companies in peacetime. Only the three Småland regiments had 1,100 men of eight companies and the Nerike- Wermland regiment 1,674 men of ten companies. The Finnish regiments also deviated somewhat from the rule.

Sweden maintained divided regiments only in the old Swedish and Finnish areas. Recruited regiments stood in Skåne , the Baltic provinces and in Sweden's German possessions. The provinces concerned had to come up for their entertainment. The recruited regiments were made up of different nationalities. In spite of this, in the regiments that had a permanent garrison , the local crew outnumbered those of the foreign mercenaries. These recruited regiments were, in contrast to the troops of the divided regiments released in peacetime in their native villages, constantly under arms and formed the garrison of the fortresses with which Sweden secured its rule in the border states of the Baltic Sea . While the regiments that were assigned were only used for Swedish wars, recruited regiments were also hired out for foreign wars, for example to the Netherlands fighting against France , in keeping with the spirit of the times .

The Guard , which consisted only of Swedes and had its garrison in Stockholm , held a special position among the recruited regiments . In the recently acquired, temporarily Danish territories, there were three recruited regiments to occupy Malmö , Landskrona and Gothenburg as well as smaller squares: the Swedish Livregiment, the German Leibregiment and the Malmö Garrison Regiment. In 1700 Swedish-Pomerania had three regiments in Stettin and Stralsund (including the body regiment of the queen-widow), Wismar two and Bremen-Verden one and a half regiments. Some of these were temporarily left to Holstein-Gottorp for the occupation and expansion of the Tönning fortress . In the Baltic provinces there were initially four recruited regiments in Narva , Dorpat , Pernau and Riga .

When the regiment chiefs changed, the regiments also changed their names. As a second designation, however, many also used the name of their garrison, for example Wismar's governor regiment. The divided regiments were named according to their recruitment districts.

In the Swedish army, as in other countries, there were a few militia regiments or landwehr battalions at the turn of the 16th to the 17th century . However, the combat strength of these troops was low. In contrast, the divided regiments of Sweden were among the best and most reliable troops in the Swedish army, with very low desertion rates.

Even in the first year of the war, further regiments were set up. Three positions each were amalgamated and their farming communities from then on together provided another man. The troops advertised in this way were given the name Tremänningar (three-man regiments). In 1702 Fyrmänningar (four-man regiments) and Femmänningar (five-man regiments) were mobilized in the same way, with four each in the areas where the regiments remained at home and four in the others Another man had to be provided for every five districts. However, these regiments were mainly used in Sweden.

infantry

The Swedish infantry consisted of 108 regiments during the war. Together, there was a listed nominal strength of 90,440 men, which was never available as a whole at any one time. Based on these nominal strengths, the division regiments made up a share of 27.8 percent of the total nominal strength. The provisional regiments had a share of 32.9 percent of the total infantry. The mercenary regiments were represented as strongly as the provisional regiments. The smallest proportion of the infantry were prisoners of war with 6.7 percent. It follows that, despite the role of the division system, which has been extensively documented in history, the regular infantry only made up a relatively small proportion of the fighting force and the majority of the armed forces were provisional, poorly trained and / or recruited foreigners with little motivation .

Provincial Infantry

During the Great Northern War, the Swedish army had 22 divided infantry regiments. Their nominal strength totaled 25,211 men. Due to the failures and the logistical delay until the replacement arrived in the regiments, the actual strength in the field per regiment was around 80 to 90 percent.

regiment	Target strength	Base	Active from	Active until	War mission history
Uppland Regiment	1200	Uppland	1700	1721
Södermanland Regiment	1200	Södermanland	1700	1721	The Södermanland regiment was transferred from Sweden to Swedish Pomerania in October 1699 . On January 5, 1700, it set out from Anklam to Wismar . The commanding officer was Colonel Arvid Axel Mardefelt . The regiment consisted of eight companies in 1296 men without staff. The regiment marched off to Bremen-Verden at the beginning of April . After the Peace of Traventhal , the regiment returned to Swedish Pomerania in September 1700. During the campaign, the regiment was set to war strength and had received four new (doubling) companies without the number of men having changed. The regiment now consisted of 12 companies with 1,344 men. At the end of November 1700 six companies of the regiment marched to Wismar under Lieutenant Colonel Gabriel Lilliebök . They were sampled in Wismar in December. As a result of the previous campaign, these 6 companies were 37 men short of the required strength. They went back to Pomerania in December. Duke Friedrich Wilhelm von Mecklenburg-Schwerin hired the regiment's supreme battalion, a total of 667 men, and took it over into Mecklenburg service on September 1, 1701 . In May 1702, the battalion was ordered back to Pomerania and released from the Mecklenburg service to join the Gyllenstiernas Corps , which gathered in Pomerania and took part in operations in Poland . In the Battle of Poltava the regiment was captured by the Russians. It was rebuilt in Sweden by mid-December 1709 and took part in the Battle of Helsingborg in 1710 . In December 1711 it was transferred from Stralsund to Pomerania to reinforce the garrison and fought in the Stenbocks corps in the battle of Gadebusch ; it surrendered with the rest of the Swedish army in April 1713 as a result of the siege of Tönning .
Östergötland Regiment	1200	Östergötland	1700	1721	The regiment was divided into Ostgotland and was transferred to Swedish Pomerania in October 1699 to protect Holstein-Gottorps and the German possessions of Sweden . It must have stood here in Stralsund and left for Wismar on January 5th, 1700. Its commanding officer was Colonel Gustaf Ulfsparre Johansson . The regiment's budget, excluding staff, was eight companies with 1,296 men. On May 24th the army left for Holstein, operated there against the Danes until the Peace of Traventhal and then returned to Pomerania. In 1702 the regiment set out from Pomerania with the Gyllenstiernas Army Detachment for Poland. There it later joined the army of Charles XII. and took part in the fighting on the Polish theater of war. During the Russian campaign , the regiment was destroyed in the Battle of Poltava . At home it was reorganized and took part in the Battle of Helsingborg on March 10, 1710 under Magnus Stenbock . With this he went to Pomerania in the summer of 1712, fought at Gadebusch and had to capitulate in Holstein on May 16, 1713 at Oldwert.
Jonkoping Regiment	1100	Jönköpings län	1700	1721
Squid Regiment	1100	Kalmar Lan	1700	1721
Kronobergregiment	1100	Kronobergs län	1700	1721
Älvsborgregiment	1200	Älvsborgs län	1700	1721
Västgöta Dal Regiment	1200	Västergötland	1700	1721
Scarab Regiment	1200	Skaraborgs län	1700	1721	The regiment was divided into West Gotland and transferred to Swedish Pomerania in October 1699 . On January 4, 1700, it marched to Wismar . Colonel was Niels Stromberg . The regiment numbered 1,296 men in its eight companies without staff. At the beginning of April the regiment marched together with the Södermannland regiment to reinforce the troops in Bremen-Verden on the Elbe. After the Peace of Traventhal , the Skaraborg regiment returned to Pomerania. There it joined the Gyllenstiernas corps in 1702 , which was formed in Pomerania and then took part in the operations of Charles XII. participated in Poland . It took part in the Russian campaign of Charles XII in 1708 . part where it perished in the battle of Poltava . By Christmas 1709 the regiment was re-established in Sweden. It stayed there until 1715. After the regiment was re-established, it was Colonel Christof Georg Witting . The regiment was to be transferred there in 1715 in support of the strongly pressed Stralsund fortress . It was not until December that the fleet with only 700 men was able to leave the port. Lieutenant Colonel Otto Wilhelm Staël von Holstein stayed behind with 551 men of the regiment. On December 27th the fleet reached Rügen; there had Stralsund already capitulated . The regiment was transferred to Wismar, the crew of which was still held . On April 19, 1716 Wismar had to surrender. With the exception of 403 men who returned to Sweden, the regiment was a prisoner of war.
Närke-Värmland Regiment	1674	Närke , Värmland County	1700	1721
Västmanland Regiment	1200	Vastmanland	1700	1721
Dalarna Regiment	1200	Dalarna	1700	1721
Neck Regiment	1200	Helsingborg	1700	1721
Jämtland Regiment	1048	Jämtland	1700	1721
Västerbotten Regiment	1056	Västerbotten	1700	1721
Bjorneborg Regiment	1025	Bjorneborg , Finland	1700	1721
Åbo län regiment	1025	Åbo län |, Finland	1700	1721
Nyland Regiment	1025	Nyland , Finland	1700	1721
Tavastehus Regiment	1025	Tavastehus , Finland	1700	1721
Savolax Regiment	1033	Savolax , Finland	1700	1721
Viborgregiment	1000	Viborg , Finland	1700	1721
Ostrobothnia Regiment	1200	Ostrobothnia , Finland	1700	1721

Provisional provincial infantry

During the war, the Swedish army itself set up a further 46 regiments in the individual provinces based on the system of division or the state constitution. These quasi-conscription units differed considerably from the regular division regiments and were reclassified more frequently. Reliable data are available from 41 regiments of target strengths. It amounted to a total of 29,775 men, with some regiments being disbanded in the meantime or only being set up later in the war. It can therefore be assumed that the cumulative manpower of the provisional regiments during the war was permanently below the regular regiments for division.

regiment	Target strength	Base	Active from	Active until
Östgöta-Sörmland 3-male	800	Sörmland	1700 1712 1716	1704 1714 1721
Småland 3-men	1100	Småland	1700 1712	1708 1721
Västgöta 3-men	1200		1700	1721
Närke-Värmland 3-men	1023	Närke - Värmland	1700 1712	1708 1719
Uppland 3-men	1197	Uppland	1700 1712 1716	1708 1714 1719
Hälsinge 3- & 5-men	400	Helsingborg	1700	1719
Västerbotten 3-men	333	Västerbotten	1700	1721
Åbo, Björneborg & Nyland 3-men	1025	Aland Islands	1700	1708
Tav., Viborg & Sav. 3-men	1019	Vyborg	1700	1704
Åbo fördubbling	684	Aland Islands	1700	1709
Björneborg fördubbling	680	Bjorneborg , Finland	1700	1710
Tavastehus fördubbling	661	Tavastehus , Finland	1700	1709
Nyland fördubbling	674	Nyland , Finland	1700	1710
Viborgs fördubbling & 3 -haben	869	Vyborg, Finland	1700	1710
Savolax fördubling & 3-men	1036	Savolax , Finland	1700	1710
Harrien Land Regiment	1000	Harrien , Swedish Estonia	1701	1710
Wierlander Landregiment	700	Wierland , Swedish Estonia	1701	1704
Jervener Land Regiment	500	Swedish Estonia	1701	1704
Wieker Land Regiment	800	Wiek , Swedish Estonia	1701	1704
Öseler Land Battalion	500	Ösel, Swedish Estonia	1702	1708
Dorpater Land Battalion	200	Dorpat , Swedish Livonia	1701	1704
Fellin Land Battalion	350	Fellin , Swedish Livonia	1701	1703
Nüggener Land Battalion	260	Nüggen , Swedish Livonia	1701	1704
Oberpahlener Land Battalion	300	Oberpahlen , Swedish Livonia	1701	1704
Pernau Land Battalion	300	Pernau , Swedish Livonia	1701	1703
Sagnitzer Land Battalion	?	Sagnitz , Swedish Livonia	1701	1703
Kokenhusener Land Battalion	300	Kokenhusen , Swedish Livonia	1701	1702
Marienburger Land Battalion	100?	Marienburg	1701	1703
Tirsen Land Battalion	260	Tirsen , Swedish Livonia	1701	1704
Treyden Country Battalion	?	Treyden , Swedish Livonia	1701	1703
Walker Land Battalion	?	Walk , Swedish Livonia	1701	1703
Wenden Land Battalion		Wenden , Swedish Livonia	1701	1703
Wolmar Land Battalion	?	Valmiera , Swedish Livonia	1701	1703
Mountain Regiment	500		1701	1721
Uppland 5-men	960	Uppland	1703	1720
Småland 5-men	900	Småland	1703	1719
Västgöta 4- & 5-men	1209	Västergötland	1703	1721
HG Buddenbrock's regiment	1090		1708	1709
Per Banérs Regiment	1121		1708	1709
Anklamer Land Regiment	?	Anklam , Swedish Pomerania	1710	1715
Bremen Land Regiment	959	Bremen , Bremen-Verden	1710	1712
Rügen regional regiment	500	Rügen , Swedish Pomerania	1710	1715
Szczecin Land Regiment	1200	Szczecin , Swedish Pomerania	1710	1715
Östra Skånska regementet till fot	600	Eastern Skåne	1711	1721
Västra Skånska regementet till fot	665	Western Skåne	1712	1721
Halland regementet till fot	700	Halland	1711	1721
Wrangel's combined regiment	1100		1713	1715

Recruited infantry

In total, the Swedish army had 31 recruited infantry regiments with a cumulative nominal strength of 29,458 men, which, however, never existed as a whole, as some regiments were only set up later in the war.

regiment	Target strength	Base	Active from	Active until
Livgardet (Guard)	1800		1700	1721
Svenska livregementet	1111		1700	1718
Tyska livregementet	1200		1700	1716
Malmo Garrison Regiment	1000	Malmo , Sweden	1700	1715
Riksänkedrottningens livregiment	1200		1700	1715
Pomeranians	1200	Swedish Pomerania	1700	1715
Stralsund garrison regiment	1200	Stralsund , Swedish Pomerania	1700	1715
Wismar governor regiment	1200	Wismar	1700	1716
Wismar garrison regiment	1200	Wismar	1700	1715
Bremen infantry	800	Bremen-Verden	1700	1715
Stader Garrison Regiment	1200	Stade, Bremen-Verden	1700	1716
Riga Governor Regiment	1000	Riga , Swedish Livonia	1700	1710
Riga Garrison Regiment	1000	Riga , Swedish Livonia	1700	1710
KG Skytte's regiment	1400		1700	1710
Narvaer Garrison Regiment	1400	Narva , Swedish Estonia	1700	1710
Ingermanland	1000	Swedish Ingermanland	1700	1710
Axel Julius De la Gardie's regiment	1000		1700	1708
Carl Adam von Stackelberg's battalion	400		1700	1710
HH from Liewens Battalion	450		1700	1710
A. Zöges battalion	400		1700	1704
MW Nieroth's regiment	800		1701	1710
BJ Mellin's Regiment	1000		1702	1710
CF of Mengden's regiment	1000		1703	1710
JH von Schwengeln's regiment	1000		1703	1710
JV from Bechern's regiment	1000		1704	1710
Revaler Headquarters Battalion	454	Reval , Swedish Estonia	1704	1710
Elblag Garrison Regiment	1200	Elbing , Royal Prussia	1703	1715
Rhineland Battalion	534		1711	1715
Holsteinska livregementet	197		1714	1715
Holstein (Delwigs)	600		1714	1715
Finnish conscript battalion			1711	1719
Grenadier Battalion	512		1716	1718

Recruited prisoners of war

Nine regiments of prisoners of war completed the ranks of Swedish infantrymen in the war. They had a nominal strength of 6096 men, but they were most likely only active at the same time in the period from 1706 to 1707.

regiment	Target strength	Base	Active from	Active until
Bavaria	1200		1706	1706
French people	600		1706	1706
Swiss	60		1706	1706
C. Breitholtz '	1200		1706	1709
Saxony	1152		1707	1721
E. von Straelborn's battalion	510		1707	1710
A. Boijes Battalion	521		1707	1708
HM Seulenburg's battalion	518		1707	1708
P. Stöhr's battalion	335		1710	1711

cavalry

Sweden fielded a total of 67 cavalry regiments with a cumulative nominal strength of 37,315 men in the Great Northern War. The line cavalry accounts for 30 percent of the total strength.

Provincial cavalry and dragoons

The 13 line regiments of the cavalry had a nominal strength of 11,222 men.

regiment	Target strength	Base	Active from	Active until
Livregementet till häst	1505	Uppland	1700	1721
Östgöta	1000	Götaland	1700	1721
Småland's cavalry regulations	1000	Småland	1700	1721
Södra Skånska kavalleriregementet	1000	Gentle	1700	1721
Norra Skånska kavalleriregementet	1000	Gentle	1700	1721
Riksänkedrottningens livregiment	800		1700	1720
Bohuslän Dragoons	504	Bohuslan	1700	1721
Västgöta	1000	Götaland	1700	1721
Jämtland Cavalry Company	100	Jämtland	1700	1721
Åbo & Björneborg	1000	Aland Islands, Finland	1700	1721
Nyland	1000	Nyland, Finland	1700	1721
Wyborger	1000	Vyborg, Finland	1700	1721
Carolinian Dragoons	313		1700	1721

Nobility banner

The "Adelsbanner", the mounted aristocratic contingent , consisted of five regiments with a total of 1804 men. Their share in the cavalry was only 4.8 percent.

regiment	Target strength	Base	Active from	Active until
Swedish nobility banner	600	Sweden	1700	1721
Bremen-Verden nobility banner	144	Bremen-Verden	1700	1712
Pomeranian nobility banner	160	Swedish Pomerania	1700	1715
Livonian nobility banner	300	Swedish Livonia	1700	1710
Estonian and Ingrian nobility banner	600	Swedish Estonia, Swedish Ingermanland	1700	1710

Provisional provincial dragons

regiment	Target strength	Base	Active from	Active until
Uppland priest dragon	600	Uppland	1700 1712	1709 1721
Skånska priest dragon	600	Gentle	1700 1712	1709 1721
Västgöta priest dragon	664	Götaland	1700	1717
Finnish priest dragons	164	Finland	1700	1708
Gotland priest dragons	50	Gotland	1700	1721
Estonian land dragons	200	Swedish Estonia	1700	1701
Öseler Landdragoner	200	Ösel, Swedish Estonia	1700	1708
Livonian land dragons	123	Swedish Livonia	1700	1710
Laurentzen's Free Dragoons	?		1701	1721

Provisional provincial cavalry

regiment	Target strength	Base	Active from	Active until
Uppland 3-men	834	Uppland	1700 1712	1709 1719
Skånska 3-men	1000	Gentle	1700	1710
Västgöta 3-men	600	Götaland	1700	1721
Åbo, Nyl, Viborg 3-male.	1000	Aland Islands, Vyborg, Nyland , Finland	1700	1721
Åbo fördubbling	667	Aland Islands, Finland	1700	1701
Nyland fördubbling	667	Nyland , Finland	1700	1709
Viborg fördubbling	667	Vyborg, Finland	1700	1709
Uppland 5-men	501	Uppland	1701	1721

Recruited cavalry

regiment	Target strength	Base	Active from	Active until
Satellite corps	200		1700	1721
Vallack's rider	?		1702	1721
Bremen rider	800	Duchy of Bremen	1700	1715
Pomeranian rider	800	Swedish Pomerania	1700	1715
Holstein rider	395	Holstein-Gottorp	1713	1715
Estonian horsemen	800	Swedish Estonia	1700	1710

Recruited Dragoons

regiment	Target strength	Base	Active from	Active until
Ingermanland Dragons	600	Swedish Ingermanland	1700	1719
Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach's Dragoons	600		1700	1709
GC Schreiterfeldt's Dragoons	600		1700	1709
GR Skogh's Dragoons	200		1701	1709
Liv-dragoon regiment	600	Swedish Livonia	1700 1712	1709 1721
Bremen Dragoons	800	Duchy of Bremen	1700	1715
Verden Dragoons	1000	Duchy of Verden	1702	1715
Pomeranian Dragoons	1000	Swedish Pomerania	1703	1715
JA Meijerfelt's Dragoons	600		1703	1709
N. Hielm's Dragoons	600		1704	1709
Karl Gustav Dükers Dragoons	600		1704	1709
Gustaf Adam Taube's Dragoons	600		1704	1709
Mounted grenadiers	200		1706	1706
HO d'Albedyhl's Dragoons	750		1706	1709
Nils Gyllenstierna's Dragoons	750		1706	1709
French dragoons	600		1707	1715
PB von Schwerin's Dragoons	200		1710	1712
Smiegelski's Dragoons	100		1711	1713
Ulrich Carl von Bassewitz 'Dragoons	600		1711	1715
O. Vietinghoff's Dragoons	300		1714	1715
Bender	?	Bender , Moldova	1712	1715
Niest	?		1712	1715
Tyska (German) Dragoons	460		1716	1721
Holstein Dragoon Guard	997	Holstein	1714	1715
Lewenhaupt's Free Company	?
Enspännar Company	?

Remarks

1. ↑ 1704 merged with Jervens Landregiment
2. ↑ 1704 transferred to the Reval Main Staff Recruited Battalion
3. ↑ 1704 transferred to the Reval Main Staff Recruited Battalion
4. ↑ 1703 converted into a 400-man drafted battalion
5. ↑ 1703 transferred to JH von Schwengeln's drafted regiment
6. ↑ 1703 converted into a 400-man drafted battalion
7. ↑ 1703 converted into a drafted battalion (GG Wrangels)
8. ↑ 1703 transferred to JH von Schwengeln's drafted regiment
9. ↑ 1703 transferred to CF by Mengden's conscript regiment
10. ↑ Converted into a draft battalion and merged with Mengden's regiment in 1705
11. ↑ 1703 transferred to CF by Mengden's conscript regiment
12. ↑ In 1703 200 men were transferred to the CF by Mengden's conscript regiment
13. ↑ 1701 merged with Öseler Landdragonern after the battle near Rappin

Web links

• Information on the private page tacitus.nu
• http://www.hhogman.se/regiments_inf2_eng.htm