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.

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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.

Briefly about the Russo-Swedish War

Russian - shvedskaya vojna (1808 - 1809)

Russo-Swedish War - Beginning

The Russo-Swedish War, summarized, is the last military conflict of 1808-1809 between Russia and its allies and Sweden. In history, it has another name - the Finnish War.
Relations between Russia and Sweden have been complicated since the 22nd century.

The territory of the Gulf of Finland, Karelia, Lake Ladoga and the Neva River have always been the subject of raids and claims from the Swedes. They repeatedly staged crusades against Novgorod and tried to capture the Karelian Isthmus.

The reasons for this last Russo-Swedish war, in short, were the desire Russian Empire to win back from Sweden not only the Botanical Bay, but the whole of Finland. This Russia wanted to secure, finally. its northern border from unfriendly neighboring countries.

The reason for the war was the refusal of the Swedish king to support Russia in a dispute with Great Britain. Napoleon I himself offered the Russian emperor assistance in the war. Also on her side was a long-time ally Denmark. England took the side of Sweden, promising to help with a large sum of money.
Officially, the war was not declared when, on February 9, 1808, the Russian army, numbering about 24 thousand people, entered the territory of Finland. Sweden was not ready for war, and the commander of the Russian troops, General Buksgevden, took advantage of this. By April, most of Finland, including Sweden's largest naval base, Sveaborg, had been captured.

War was officially declared on March 16.
By the end of April, the war began to go on so successfully for the Russian army. In May, the English fleet came to the aid of the Swedish forces. Unfolded on dry land guerrilla war. The Finns organized small detachments commanded by Swedish officers and inflicted great damage on the Russian army with their actions. In northern Finland, Russian troops had to retreat. The Anglo-Swedish fleet reigned supreme at sea.

In August, the number of the Russian army managed to be brought to 55 thousand people, which was twice the strength of the Swedes. In the battles that took place, Sweden was defeated and requested a truce. But Alexander I refused to conclude it until the Swedes were expelled from the territory of Finland. The temporary truce was not of interest to the Russian emperor, he needed the recognition by Sweden of Finland's entry into Russia. It was fashionable to force Gustav IV to do this only in the event of an immediate threat of an invasion of the Russian army into the country's territory.

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 but did not do so for reasons of principle.

Russian society had to somehow explain why they die in central Europe tens of thousands of Russian soldiers. 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 question hurt a lot national interest 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 Peyman to be betrayed 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 14,000 soldiers to guard its western borders and ports, while all Swedish troops were to go to 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.

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 of the 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.

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 Revel. 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. subsided on a short time the wind allowed the boat on oars to move away from the Englishman, but with the wind rising again, the frigate quickly caught up with 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.

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. The total 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. A with 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 beginning of the flood forced Alekseev to bring together separate groups of the corps and pull the avant-garde located on the Era River 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.

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.

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.

| During the 19th century. Russo-Swedish war (1808-1809)

Russo-Swedish war (1808-1809)

After the conclusion of the Treaty of Tilsit, two huge gaps remained in Europe in the Napoleonic Continental Blockade of England. In the south of Europe, Spain and Portugal did not participate in the blockade of the British Isles, in the north - Sweden. If Napoleon could handle Spain and Portugal on his own, then things were more complicated with Sweden. The Swedish king Gustav IV had a great dislike for Napoleonic France, and no exhortations could force him to break the alliance with England. In order to defeat Sweden, which lies beyond the Baltic Sea, the French needed to conduct a major battle against it. landing operation. With the dominance of the British fleet at sea, this operation could have ended in disaster for them.

To persuade Gustav IV to the Continental blockade, the French emperor needed the help of Russia, which had a land border with Sweden. This position of Napoleon provided Alexander I with the opportunity to seize Finland from Sweden and thereby eliminate the centuries-old threat to the northern borders of Russia. The reason for the start of hostilities against the Swedes was the refusal of their king to enter into an alliance with Russia against England. In the hope of helping Britain, Gustav behaved defiantly. For example, he returned to the Russian emperor highest order Andrew the First-Called, writing that he could not wear the order that Bonaparte had. Meanwhile, Sweden was not ready for war. Its forces, scattered across the expanses of Finland, totaled only 19 thousand people. The Russian emperor took advantage of this.

Russo-Swedish War: Campaign of 1808

On February 9, 1808, Russian troops under the command of General Buksgevden (24 thousand people) crossed the Swedish border in Finland and began hostilities. Thanks to the suddenness of the attack and the lack of Swedish forces, the Russians managed to occupy most of the Finnish territory (up to the Uleaborg region) by April and block about a third of the Swedish army in Sveaborg. April 26 Sveaborg (Sweden's largest naval base in the Gulf of Finland) capitulated. At sea, Russian landing forces occupied the Aland Islands and the island of Gotland.

The rest of the Swedish troops, led by General Klingspor, managed to avoid the encirclement and withdraw without significant losses in position to Oleaborg. In Finland, a partisan movement broke out against the Russian troops. The large territory and the actions of the partisans required the Russians to devote significant forces to the organization of garrisons and logistics. This war was fought mainly by small detachments, and there were no major battles in it.

In April, after dispersing forces in vast wooded and swampy spaces, only 4-5 thousand fighters approached the Uleabog positions of the Swedes. This allowed General Klingspor to create a numerical superiority here and go on the counteroffensive. Due to lack of strength and poor knowledge of the area, the Russians suffered defeats in April at Revolax and Pulkkila. The remnants of the broken units with difficulty escaped from the encirclement and retreated to the south. These failures caused an increase in the activity of the Finnish partisans against the Russian troops, who had to retreat to the southern part of Finland, to the Tammersfors-St. Michel line. The poor work of the commissariat forced the troops to actually switch to grazing. For example, in the summer, due to delays in the delivery of food, soldiers and officers often had to eat mushrooms and berries.

At the same time, the Anglo-Swedish fleet became more active at sea. In early May, the Russians lost the Aland Islands and the island of Gotland. The Baltic Fleet was unable to seriously resist the Anglo-Swedish forces. Senyavin's squadron, returning from the Mediterranean to the Baltic, was blocked and then captured by the British in the port of Lisbon in August 1808. Under the terms of the surrender, Senyavin handed over his ships to them for storage until the end of the war.

The situation for the Russians in Finland took on a threatening character in May when a 14,000-strong English corps under the command of General Moore arrived to help the Swedes. With the support of the fleet, the Swedes could launch active offensive operations. But the English corps was soon transferred to fight the French troops in Spain, where England had more significant interests. As a result, equilibrium was established on land. At sea, the Anglo-Swedish fleet reigned supreme, blocking the Russian fleet on the Estonian coast. However, the British sabotage against the port of Revel and the attempt of the Anglo-Swedish fleet to land a 9,000-strong assault force in southern Finland were repulsed.

By August, the number of Russian troops in the Finnish theater of operations was brought to 55 thousand people against 36 thousand among the Swedes. On August 2, the corps of General Nikolai Kamensky went on the offensive, which defeated the troops of Klingspor in the battles at Kuortane, Salmi and Orovais. These victories marked a turning point in the course of the war. In September, at the request of the Swedish side, a truce was concluded. But Emperor Alexander I did not approve it, demanding that the Russian command clear all of Finland from the Swedes. In October, Russian troops launched a general offensive. Coming to Torneo (Tornio), in the region of the Finnish-Swedish border, they occupied the main part of Finland. In December, General Knorring was appointed commander-in-chief of the Russian troops instead of Buxgevden.

Russo-Swedish War: Campaign of 1809

Alexander I strove for a peace with Sweden that would force her to recognize Finland's entry into the Russian Empire. The Russians could persuade Gustav IV to accept such conditions only on Swedish territory. Therefore, Alexander I ordered the start of a winter campaign with the aim of invading Sweden on the ice of the Gulf of Bothnia. In winter, the English fleet was powerless to prevent this operation.

Her plan was drawn up by General Kamensky. It provided for the movement of three corps to Sweden. One of them, under the command of General Shuvalov, moved along the coast of the Gulf of Bothnia, through Torneo. The other two walked on the ice of the bay. The corps under the command of General Barclay de Tolly was heading across the ice from Vasa to Umeå. To the south (from Abo through the Aland Islands to the area north of Stockholm), the corps of General Bagration advanced. Knorring, skeptical about this enterprise, in every possible way delayed its implementation. Only the arrival of the royal representative, General Arakcheev, made it possible to speed up the Ice Campaign, which glorified this war.

Aland expedition (1809).

The greatest impression on the Swedes was made by the actions of Bagration's corps (17 thousand people), which crossed the ice of the Gulf of Bothnia to the Aland Islands and the coast of Sweden on March 1-7, 1809. First, the Russians moved to the Aland Islands, which were defended by the Swedish corps of 6 thousand people and local residents (about 4 thousand fishermen and peasants). The ice campaign of the Russian army took place in difficult conditions. Not wanting to be discovered, the soldiers did not make fires and slept right on the snow. Having reached the Aland Islands on the ice, Bagration's detachment captured them in battle, capturing 3 thousand people.

After that, the vanguard was sent to the coast of Sweden under the command of General Yakov Kulnev. Before the speech, the general told his soldiers: "The campaign to the Swedish coast crowns all your labors. Have with you two glasses of vodka per person, a piece of meat and bread, and two garns of oats. The sea is not scary, who trusts in God!" On March 7, Kulnev's detachment reached the Swedish coast and occupied the city of Grislehamn, 70 km from Stockholm. Soon, with great difficulty, Barclay de Tolly's corps overcame the ice expanses, which on March 12 reached the Swedish coast and occupied Umeå.

The entry of Russians into the territory of Sweden caused a political crisis there. There was a coup in Stockholm. Gustav IV, who opposed peace with Russia, was overthrown. The Duke of Südermanland (later Charles XIII) became regent. The new Swedish government came up with proposals for a truce. Fearing the opening of the ice, General Knorring concluded a truce and withdrew parts of Barclay de Tolly and Kulnev from Swedish territory.

However, Alexander I did not want to hear about a truce. He needed peace, confirming the consolidation of Finland for Russia. The emperor removed Knorring from command and ordered General Barclay de Tolly to lead the troops. But by that time, the spring snowmelt had begun, and there could be no question of any new invasions of Sweden on the ice. Now all hopes were pinned on the northern corps of General Shuvalov (5 thousand people), which was moving along the coast. It was he who ultimately managed to victoriously end this war.

Capitulation of the Swedes at Kalix and Skellefteå (1809).

While the corps of Bagration and Barclay bravely overcame the icy expanses, Shuvalov acted on the northern coast of the Gulf of Bothnia against the Swedish detachment of General Grippenberg, which numbered 7 thousand people. Parts of Shuvalov occupied Torneo and moved after the retreating Swedes to Kalix. Meanwhile, on March 12, Barclay de Tolly's corps came out to Umeå, behind Grippenberg's rear. Upon learning that his retreat was cut off, Grippenberg laid down his arms in Kalix.

After the abolition of the truce, Shuvalov's corps, which now remained the only one on the territory of Sweden, again went on the offensive along the coast. At Skellefteo, the Swedish corps under the command of General Furumark (5 thousand people) blocked his path. Shuvalov decided on a bold detour. To enter the rear of the Swedes on the ice of the bay, a group of General Alekseev moved, which bypassed Furumark's positions and cut off his retreat.

The operation was fraught with great risk, since by that time the ice had already begun to break up. The troops were literally knee-deep in water. Through the polynyas they crossed on bridges, and even on boats. The guns were transported disassembled on sleds. At Skellefteo itself, the ice had moved almost a kilometer from the coast by that time, and the Russians had to make a significant detour, risking being swept out to sea on cracked ice floes. Alekseev hesitate a little, his detachment was in for a disaster, because two days after the Russians landed on the shore, the sea was completely cleared of ice. The risk was justified. Upon learning of the appearance of the Russians in his rear, Furumark capitulated on May 3.

Battle of Ratan (1809).

In the summer, the Shuvalov Corps was led by General Kamensky, who continued the offensive along the coast. Slowly but surely a small detachment of Russians moved towards Stockholm. Swedish lands lay around for hundreds of kilometers, and one blow that cut the thin coastal highway was enough to encircle the Russian troops. Moreover, the Swedish fleet dominated the Gulf of Bothnia, and Kamensky could not expect any help from the sea.

Trying to surround Kamensky's detachment (5 thousand people), the Swedes in August landed an amphibious assault force under the command of General Wachtmeister (6 thousand people) in his rear. Kamensky turned around to meet the Wachtmeister detachment and on August 8 decisively attacked him near Ratan. During the battle, the Swedish detachment was utterly defeated. Having lost a third of the composition, he retreated in disarray. It was the last battle of the last Russian-Swedish war.

In August, peace negotiations began between Russia and Sweden, culminating in the signing of the Friedrichsham Peace (1809). According to its terms, all of Finland and the Aland Islands passed to Russia. Finland was part of the Russian Empire as a Grand Duchy with broad internal autonomy. Sweden terminated the alliance with England and joined the Continental blockade. Both Napoleon and Alexander achieved their goals with this war. Thanks to an alliance with Napoleonic France, Russia strengthened the security of its northwestern and southwestern borders, pushing Swedish and Ottoman possessions out of the East European Plain. However, it is worth noting that this war with the Swedes was not popular in Russian society. An attack on a weak neighbor, albeit a formidable enemy in the past, was strongly condemned and considered inglorious. The losses of the Russian army in the war of 1808-1809 amounted to approximately 8 thousand people.

According to the materials of the portal "Great wars in the history of Russia"

Reasons for the war.

Russia's accession to the continental blockade of 1806-1814, the war between Russia and England that began in 1807, the need to establish control over the Gulf of Finland and Bothnia, ensuring the security of St. Petersburg. The Treaty of Tilsit concluded by Russia and France led to an open conflict between Russia and Sweden, since, according to the peace treaty, Russia undertook to close its harbors for English ships, inclining Sweden to do the same or forcing it to do so by force. Alexander I demanded from Sweden that its ports be closed to the British, but the Swedish king Gustav IV refused such an alliance with Russia against England and made an alliance with England.

Reason for war.

November 27, 1808 Gustav IV returned to Alexander I the Russian order on the grounds that Napoleon received the same. Sweden tried to buy time until the spring of 1808 and, while waiting for the help of the British, avoided actions that could be regarded in St. Petersburg as preparation for war.

Russia's goals: Russia did not seek to fight with Sweden and tried to persuade Sweden to an alliance with the help of diplomacy.

Command of the Russian army:

General of Infantry F. F. Buxgevden (1808)

infantry general B.F. Knorring (1808-1809)

M.B. Barclay de Tolly (1809)

Command of the Swedish army:

Field Marshal V.M. Klingspor (1808)

general K.Yu. Adlerkreutz (1808)

Lieutenant General G.K. von Döbeln (1808-1809)

War zone - Sweden, Finland

Main battles

1808

8.02. Crossing the border without declaring war and the entry of the Russian army under the command of General F.F. Buksgevden to Finland, followed by Sweden's declaration of war on Russia.

18.02. The capture of the city of Helsingfors by Russian troops under the command of D.P. Gorchakov.

20.02. The detention in Stockholm of the Russian envoy to Sweden D.M. Alopeus and his imprisonment.

6. 03. The capture of the Svartholm fortress by Russian troops.

16.03. Russia's declaration of war on Sweden.

20.03. Manifesto of Alexander I on the accession of Finland to Russia.

15.04. The battle of Russian troops under the command of Major General M. L. Bulatov near the city of Revolaksa.

16.04. Capture by Russian troops under the command of N.A. Tuchkov Saint-Michel (Saint-Mikkeli).

24.04. Capture of the fortress of Sveaborg.

3.06. The victory near Varkaus of the Russian troops under the command of Lieutenant General M.B. Barclay de Tolly.

7.06. The capture of the city of Kuopio by Russian troops under the command of M.B. Barclay de Tolly.

21.06. The victory of the Russian troops under the command of Lieutenant General E. I. Vlastov near Lindulax.

19.08. The victory of the Russian troops under the command of Ya.P. Kulneva near the village of Kukhalampi.

20.08. The victory of the Russian troops under the command of Ya.P. Kulnev in the battle of Kuortan.

21.08. The defeat of the Swedes at the village of Salmi.

2.09. The victory of the Russian troops under the command of General N. M. Kamensky at Orovais.

17.09. The conclusion of a truce. First half of October. Resumption of hostilities.