A Swedish Soldier in the Napoleonic Wars

Number 128 in Helion’s ‘from Reason to Revolution 1721-1815’ is this fascinating little book, A Swedish Soldier in the Napoleonic Wars: the Memoirs of Carl Magnus Hultin 1807-1814. The original manuscript has been sympathetically translated by Swedish author and historian Erik Faithful, who by no coincidence is a descendant of Hultin.

Sweden’s involvement in the Napoleonic Wars is an interesting subject in its own right, and Hultin served in one capacity or another from 1808 where he enlisted in the militia, through the war against Russia in 1808-1809 resulting in the loss of Finland during which he transferred to the regular army. He witnessed the overthrow of the unpopular king, Gustav IV Adolf, the ‘war’ against Britain then campaigned in Europe under Crown Prince Bernadotte against the French and Danes in 1813-1814 and finally the Norwegian campaign in 1814. He never rose to high rank, and retired from the army as a captain in 1842.

I have a great fascination with the Swedish army during this period, and these memoirs provide a candid, entertaining and revealing account of Hultin’s experiences during several key campaigns. Taken as they are from the lower end of the military hierarchy what we have is a valuable insight into the war from a totally different perspective than is the norm, and is full of stories about the soldiers and commanders complemented by some charming anecdotes.

The book contains a number of nice black and white illustrations, many of which are contemporary in origin, and others depict Swedish soldiers and I tems of surviving clothing. There are also several really useful maps showing the different areas campaigned over, plus a map of the battle of Retschow in 1813, fought between the Swedes and a Franco-Danish force.

This is a great book, and if like me one is interested in the Swedish participation in the Napoleonic Wars then I can recommend it highly. I for one would welcome more such books on the subject.

ISBN 978-804514-34-4.  Soft cover, 197 pages.

Some Swedish Artillery 1808

I just finished these today (Friday, but it might be Saturday before I load this post). A battery of very light amusettes which I think look quite the part. The gunners are from Ian of Eagle Figures the other side of town and the cannon are 3D resin prints off a German guy on Etsy. They’re a bit fragile but really well detailed. Handle with care please.

As usual my painting is degenerating into the slap it on approach. The blue is a ‘speed paint’ while the other colours are Vallejo ‘not so speedy but quite fast still’ paint. Mmmmm?

Big game tomorrow. More of which later.

Russo-Swedish War 1808-1809

Today I managed to complete the bases on my next couple of Swedish Napoleonic units, painted for me by mate Barry.

Jäger and behind them two battalions of the Helsinge Regiment.

Finnish Varmland Jäger (Perry Miniatures)

Helsinge Regiment (Eagle Figures)

That’s the Swedish army done apart from some commanders, a couple of limbers and an amusette 1-pdr. Of course I do have a couple more battalions in the smorgesbord box which are unlikely to ever get done. We shall see.

The Deluge of wonderful books from Helion continues with Charles X Wars Volume 2

Charles X’s Wars, Volume 2 - The Wars in the East, 1655-1657 by Helion regular Michael Fredholm von Essen is another gem in the fabulously eclectic ‘Century of the Soldier 1618-1721’ series. As one would expect this book picks up where volume 1 left off, focussing on the ‘Swedish Deluge’, covering the devastating and somewhat complicated wars in the east between 1655 and 1657. The author begins with the Swedish-Commonwealth war but also describes in detail the simultaneous wars between the Commonwealth and Muscovy between 1654 and 1667, and Sweden and Muscovy from 1651 to 1661. While all this was going on the Ukrainian Cossacks were fighting against the oppressive behaviour of the Commonwealth.

The author presents us with the results of new research on the war rarely described in English. Describing the continued development of the post Thirty Years’ War Swedish army, he also includes comprehensive details of the diverse military of all the other combatants, i.e. the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth’s, Brandenburg-Prussia, Muscovy, the Cossack Ukraine, Transylvania, the Crimean Tatars and the soldiers of the Holy Roman Empire.

The book is beautifully illustrated with five pages of specially commissioned colour plates, depicting the flags in use by the belligerents. There are also a vast number of contemporary black and white illustrations, photographs of surviving fortifications and clothing and equipment held in museums, and some really useful and detailed maps, including several of some of the key battles fought during the conflict.

Indeed, the battle maps and orders of battle presented in the book are a tremendous asset to military historians and wargamers alike, and the list of units involved on all sides at the massive three-day battle of Warsaw is fascinating, as is the narrative describing the battle. In fact the whole book is like this, covering as it does the vast area covered and the many belligerents involved, and it worth remembering that the scope of these wars was so vast that it simply is not feasible to only cover the Swedish-Commonwealth war to the exclusion of the other contemporaneous conflicts. My favourite chapters are those covering the Muscovite invasion of Finland and Swedish territory along the Baltic coast and the involvement of the Transylvanians ( much assisted by Helion’s earlier works on the Muscovite and Transylvanian armies of this era where we have a helpful overlap).

If you have volume 1 of this series then you are already equipped with a wealth of information about the troops and armies involved and this volume applies what has been described in the earlier volume within the context of the war (or wars). I for one am looking forward to the final volume of this series which covers the Danish Wars and the conclusion the wars in the east. 

Another tremendous addition to Helion’s rapidly growing catalogue of what was once full of books on rather niche topics that have now evolved into something much more mainstream.

Paperback, ISBN978-1-915070-30-2, 220 pages