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Battle of Lier | |||||||
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Part of the Swedish–Norwegian War of 1814 | |||||||
Battle of Lier 1814, by Andreas Bloch | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Norway | Sweden | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Andreas Samuel Krebs | Carl Pontus Gahn | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
2,500 [1] | 1,400 [1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
3 killed 30 wounded | 20 killed 72 wounded 8 captured [2] |
The Battle of Lier (Norwegian : Slaget ved Lier) was fought on 2 August 1814 between Sweden and the newly independent Norway as part of the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814. The battle was the first major action of the war, in which an outnumbered Swedish force attempted to storm the Norwegian entrenchment; the Norwegian victory served as an important part to boost morale among the Norwegian troops. This was the second time during the Napoleonic Wars that a battle had taken place at Lier, the first was in 1808.
Major General Carl Pontus Gahn had been given the order to advance on the Norwegian fortress-city of Kongsvinger, without exposing his flanks, in order to draw Norwegian troops stationed other places in the country to Kongsvinger to defend the strategically placed town. This would leave other places in Norway temporarily weakened and give the Swedish troops an opportunity to initiate offensives elsewhere.
The plan had been worked out by Crown Prince Jean Baptiste Bernadotte.
On 31 July the Swedish troops, under the command of Major General Carl Pontus Gahn, crossed the Norwegian border near Eidskog. The force consisted of one Jäger and three infantry battalions from the Västerbotten Regiment, as well as one battalion from the Värmland Regiment; in all 1,500 men. [2] This forced Christian Frederik to order troops from Høland to head to Eidskog in order to defend against the Swedish advance.
Major General Gahn's troops followed the main road towards Kongsvinger and faced early resistance from the Norwegian outposts at Matrand. But since the Norwegian vanguard was far weaker than the Swedish, they were quickly driven back and the Swedish forces camped by Brenna, Malmer and the road to Pramhus. The Norwegian vanguard retreated back to Kongetorp where they met with Lt. Colonel Andreas Samuel Krebs, who took the initiative that they would pull back to Lier entrenchment which was a much better defensive position.
The Swedish forces continued their advance towards Kongsvinger on 2 August. The main column followed Kongeveien from Skotterud, while 800-900 men took the road over Pramhus. The two forces met again at Åbogen where they took a break. At 15 p.m. the Swedish troops continued their advance and split up again when they reached Flygind. Two of the companies would go from there to Tarven, a company would follow the main road, and a fourth company would go to the left of the main road towards the Lier entrenchment's right flank.
The companies that would attack Tarven quickly met the superior Norwegian troops there and had to be reinforced with a battalion. They then drove the Norwegians back until the artillery from the positions at Lier effectively intervened and the Swedish attack broke down. At the main post, the Norwegian vanguard was driven back to the Lier entrenchment, but the Swedish troops came under heavy fire when they appeared in the edge of the woods and they were too weak to attack the entrenchment. Major General Gahn then reinforced them with two companies who repeatedly tried to take the entrenchment, but were stopped every time. When the Norwegian reserves also were put in to drive the Swedish troops back the fighting died out.
At 21 p.m. the Swedish troops had almost no ammunition left, and they had failed to secure any strategic location along the road to Kongsvinger. Gahn therefore decided to retreat back to Matrand.
The fighting at Lier had been hard, and there were far greater losses than there had been in 1808.[ dubious – discuss ] This is undoubtedly because in 1814 there were far larger forces involved in the fighting. In particular, the Swedish forces had suffered heavy losses in relation to the Norwegians (28 men dead and missing; of which at least 8 prisoners, and 72 wounded [2] ); the reason for this may be explained by the fact that most of the Norwegian forces were firing from fortified lines, or were stationed in reserve.
Lt. Colonel Krebs was hailed as a hero and promoted for the victory at Lier as well as the subsequent Battle of Matrand on August 5. His victories were the only ones in an otherwise despondent campaign and obtained the Norwegian envoys a valuable starting point for negotiations leading to the Swedes acceptance of the Norwegian Constituent Assembly of Eidsvoll. [3]
Eidskog is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Vinger. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Skotterud. Other villages in the municipality include Magnor, Matrand, and Åbogen.
The Battle of Sehested was fought between Danish and Russian-Prussian-British troops at Sehested on 10 December 1813 during the War of the Sixth Coalition. The Danish Auxiliary Corps, which fought on the side of the French defeated the coalition forces commanded by Major General Ludwig von Wallmoden-Gimborn.
The Swedish–Norwegian War, also known as the Campaign against Norway, War with Sweden 1814, also called the War of Cats or the Norwegian War of Independence, was a war fought between Sweden and Norway in the summer of 1814. According to the Treaty of Kiel, Norway would enter a union with Sweden under Charles XIII of Sweden. The war resulted in Norway being forced into the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, but with its own constitution and parliament. The war marked the last time Sweden participated in an armed conflict with another nation, and its conclusion signalled the beginning of the country's long period of military neutrality.
Kongsvinger Fortress is located in the city and municipality of Kongsvinger in the county of Hedmark, Norway. It is situated on a hill west and north of the Glomma river, standing astride the ancient Vinger Royal Road, which connected Norway and Värmland, Sweden as well as on the north-south Norwegian route along the Glomma. As Kongsvinger formed a key junction point for these routes, fortifications were constructed there to protect against invasion from the east.
Vinger Royal Road (Eskoleia) was the historical name of an ancient route in southern Norway. Historically Eskoleia was one of the most important traffic arteries between Norway and Sweden. It provided an established road leading both north and south from the Swedish border.
Carl Pontus Gahn was a Swedish military officer who participated in the Russo-Swedish War in Finland in 1788–1789, the Finnish War campaign in Norway in 1808 and the unsuccessful invasion of Norway at Eidskog in 1814. He was ennobled in 1809, taking the title Gahn af Colquhoun in acknowledgement of his Scottish ancestry. He was promoted to the rank of Major General in 1814 and became president of the Court-Martial of Appeal in 1824.
The Battle of Matrand was a military battle on 5 August 1814 between Norwegian and Swedish forces as part of the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814. The battle took place near the village of Matrand in Eidskog and at Skotterud. It was the bloodiest battle of the entire war, in which the Swedes lost more than 340 men, of which 270 were captured; the Norwegians lost around 50 men with 90 wounded and 36 captured.
The Dano–Swedish War of 1808–1809 was a war between Denmark–Norway and Sweden due to Denmark–Norway's alliance with France and Sweden's alliance with the United Kingdom during the Napoleonic Wars. Neither Sweden nor Denmark-Norway had wanted war to begin with but once pushed into it through their respective alliances, Sweden made a bid to acquire Norway by way of invasion while Denmark-Norway made ill-fated attempts to reconquer territories lost to Sweden in the 17th century. Peace was concluded on grounds of status quo ante bellum on 10 December 1809.
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Bernhard Ditlef von Staffeldt was born on 23 October 1753 in Kenz, Swedish Pomerania, as the son of Lieutenant Bernt von Staffeldt, of Pomeranian nobility, and Catherine Eleonore von Platen. Both his parents died in 1755 while he was still a child; he was raised at his married sister's estate in Denmark and was taken into the court of Queen Sophia Magdalene of Brandenburg-Kulmbach in 1767.
The Battle of Trangen took place on 25 April 1808 at Trangen in Flisa, Hedemarkens Amt, between Swedish and Norwegian troops, as a part of the Dano-Swedish War of 1808–1809. The invading Swedish troops, led by Colonel Carl Pontus Gahn, were surrounded and forced to surrender by the Norwegian troops under the command of Bernhard Ditlef von Staffeldt. Gahn and around 450 of his troops were captured.
Andreas Samuel Krebs was a Danish-Norwegian army officer.
The Battle of Rødenes was a series of skirmishes that took place in late April and early May 1808 from Lund in Hemnes to Ørje as a result of the Swedish invasion of Norway during the Dano-Swedish War of 1808-1809.
Matrand is a village in Eidskog Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located approximately 20 kilometres (12 mi) south of the town of Kongsvinger and about 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of the village of Skotterud. Matrand is approximately 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) northwest of the border with Sweden. The village is located along the Norwegian National Road 2 and the Kongsvingerbanen railway line.
Åbogen is a village in Eidskog Municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. The village is located just south of the municipal border with Kongsvinger and approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) from the border with Sweden. The village of Matrand lies about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) to the south of Åbogen.
Fredrikstad Fortress, under the command of Nils Christian Frederik Hals, was captured by the Swedish armed forces on 4 August 1814. 207 men remained in the fortress as the Norwegian surrendered to the Swedes; the rest had evacuated earlier. The Swedish casualties were few, 7 men killed and 12 wounded from the army, navy and Archipelago fleet combined.
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The Battle of Tistedalen was a series of skirmishes in the Swedish–Norwegian War of 1814, at Tistedalen, Norway.
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The Battle of Lier was fought on 18 April 1808, between Swedish and Norwegian forces, during a Swedish invasion of Norway. The Swedes crossed the border in several brigades, of which the General-in-chief, Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, followed the first; he arrived at the strong Norwegian position at Lier and decided to attack it, to reach Kongsvinger Fortress. Before launching the main attack, the Swedes made diversionary attacks on the flanks, of which the left one was particularly successful; Bernt Peter Kreutz, the Norwegian commander, reacted by shifting over troops to his threatened flank, which enabled the Swedes to capture his exposed right. Meanwhile, the Norwegian redoubt covering the road was likewise captured, as the Swedish main army swiftly attacked. Kreutz decided to retreat by the evening, fearing he would be cut off from the Kongsvinger fortress. Armfelt did not follow up his victory, instead he remained at Lier until late May, when he received orders to withdraw; the Swedes retreated out of Norway in May–June, after a fruitless campaign.