The Battle of Revolax (Finnish: Revonlahden taistelu) took place on 27 April 1808 at Revonlahti,[4] (now part of Siikajoki) in Northern Ostrobothnia, Finland, when the Swedish supreme commander Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor and the Savolax brigade under Colonel Johan Adam Cronstedt, a total of about 2,250 Swedes surprised an isolated Russian column of about 1,700 men under Major General Michail Leontievich Bulatov. The Russians were surrounded and tried to cut their way through but failed and the Russian general Bulatov was taken prisoner by the Swedes.
This, and the preceding battle of Siikajoki nine days earlier, are considered very important events since they are the first Swedish victories after about 2 months of planned retreat. The next battle took place at Pulkkila on 2 May.
The summer offensive begins
The Swedish commander Klingspor continued his retreat towards Oulu after the Swedish victory at the Battle of Siikajoki. They were closely followed by the Russians. A Russian fore, commanded by Bulatov, had set camp at the village of Revonlahti. Cronstedt prepared an assault to drive them away. He led a force of some 1,800 men through the night of 26 and 27 April. The Swedes could hear the sound of musket fire to the north, where Adlercreutz were fighting against the forward Russian unit which had been advancing on him. However Adlercreutz managed to stop the advance.
Positions at the battle
Cronstedt and his 4th Brigade prepared themselves for the battles that were to be fought the next day. Bulatov and his Russian troops were entrenched inside the village. The Russian units consisted also of the Mogilev Regiment and the Perm Regiment. The Russians had three guns. In the morning of 27 April the Swedish attacked with two equally strong columns: the right column was led by Gustav Aminoff. It consisted of two battalions from the Savolax Infantry Regiment, the third battalion from the Savolax Jaeger Regiment, the second battalion of the Carelian Jaeger Corps and two 3-pound guns; the left column was led by Lieutenant Colonel Adolf Ludwig Christiern and consisted of two battalions from the Savolax Infantry Regiment, the first battalion from the Savolax Jaegar Regiment, the first battalion from the Carelian Jaeger Corps, and two 3-pounder guns.
The right column managed to sweep away all the Russian resistance and were advancing along the river, towards the village. At the same time, the left column prepared its troops to assault the vicarage, where Bulatov had set up his headquarters and gathered most of his troops. The attack on the vicarage became a difficult operation, as the Russians defended themselves viciously. The Swedes finally stormed the building at 10 a.m. and a bloody close-combat battle ensued.
More than 94 Swedes and 500 Russians had died, were wounded or captured when the violence finally ended. The Swedish victory at Revolax meant the end of the first Swedish retreat. Klingspor, who was known to be a cautious and sceptical man, acted against his temperament, and ordered a counter-offensive towards the south. The Savolax Brigade, which was led by av Sandels, and of whom Cronstedt's men were a part of, were to fight a bloody war in the southern parts of Finland. Sandel's newly formed 5th Brigade would soon take commence resistance fighting in the eastern parts of Finland. The Swedish counter offensive had begun and it would continue all the summer of 1808.
The Finnish War was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire. Other notable effects were the Swedish parliament's adoption of a new constitution and the establishment of the House of Bernadotte, the new Swedish royal house, in 1818.
The Battle of Sävar was fought on Saturday, 19 August 1809, between Swedish and Russian forces, during the Finnish War; it was the last pitched battle to be fought in Sweden. After the Russian conquest of eastern Sweden in 1808, the Swedish forces retreated to actual Sweden. In March the following year, Russian emperor Alexander I launched a threefold attack on Sweden, to force the country into the Continental System and to cede Finland to the Russian Empire; despite early advantages at Kalix and the Åland Islands, the attack failed to achieve a quick ending to the war. After further campaigning in northern Sweden, with battles such as Skellefteå and Hörnefors, the Russian forces under Nikolay Kamensky occupied all of Västerbotten by June.
The Battle of Pulkkila was fought between Swedish and Russian forces near Pulkkila in Northern Ostrobothnia on 2 May 1808 during the Finnish War.
Carl Johan Adlercreutz was a Swedish (Finnish) general and statesman, born in Borgå, Finland on family estates. Entering the Swedish army aged 13 in the Finnish Light Cavalry Brigade, he was present when Gustav III launched his coup-d’etat. He studied military theory in Stockholm.
The Battle of Oravais was one of the decisive battles in the Finnish War, fought from 1808 to 1809 between Sweden and the Russian Empire as part of the wider Napoleonic Wars. Taking place in modern-day Vörå in western Finland, it is sometimes regarded as the turning point of the Finnish War: the last chance for Sweden to turn the war to her advantage. It was the bloodiest battle of the conflict, along with the Battle of Sävar, which some historians attribute to the exhaustion, resignation and desperation of the Swedish army: it was losing the war, and defeat led to its loss of Finland to Russia.
The Battle of Siikajoki was fought between Swedish and Russian troops on 18 April 1808 at Siikajoki, approximately 60 km south of Uleåborg, Swedish Finland. During the first stage of the Finnish War, the Swedish commander Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor had decided to retreat from southern Finland, so that the Swedes would gain time, and more troops could be moved to Finland via Tornio. The retreat was also made in an effort to delay battles until the seas thawed, and to reserve troops in case the Danes took the opportunity to attack Sweden.
The Battle of Koljonvirta i.e. the Battle of the Virta Bridge, also known as the battle ofIdensalmi, was fought between Swedish and Russian troops on October 27, 1808. The Swedish force consisted of troops from Savolax and Östergötland. After the main Swedish army had been defeated at the Battle of Oravais the army under Johan August Sandels in Savonia had to retreat in order not to be outflanked by the Russians. Sandels found a good defensive position north of Idensalmi and decided to resist the Russian advance there.
The Battle of Alavus took place on 17 August 1808 in the vicinity of the town of Alavus, as part of the Finnish War. The Finnish army, under the command of General Carl Johan Adlercreutz defeated a smaller Russian force and drove it southwards. It was the last in a string of Swedish successes during the summer of 1808, and marked the turning point in the war.
Count Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor was a Swedish noble military officer and one of the Lords of the Realm. He is probably best known from his time as field marshal of Finland during the Finnish War, where his command of the Swedish army contributed to the Swedish loss. He is also known for participating in the coup of 1809 that dethroned Gustav IV of Sweden.
The Battle of Pyhäjoki was a retreating action fought on 16 April 1808, at Pyhäjoki in Northern Ostrobothnia during the Russian–Swedish war of 1808–09. The winter made the operations more difficult and the battle of Pyhäjoki became one of the first skirmishes to be fought after the Swedish retreat stopped. The Russian army had been following the Swedish army to the north. At the same time, they had left large portions of Finland to be occupied by the Russians. Yakov Petrovich Kulnev led a vanguard of 1,300 men — his army counted 4,000 men in total — and caught up with the rearguard of the retreating Swedish main army at the village of Ypperi. Skirmishes occurred all the way to Pyhäjoki, where the Swedes made a brief stand, before Wilhelm Mauritz Klingspor gave orders to von Döbeln and Gripenberg to continue the retreat to follow the original strategic plan. The Swedes had checked Kulnev's attack with about 2,000–2,500 men, however, as the Swedes fought a retreating battle, only one battalion at the time could go up against the Russians for most of the fighting. They had lost 183 men in killed, wounded and captured. Kulnev had lost 71 men at Pyhäjoki alone but probably around double that number when applying the losses from the fighting at Ypperi towards Pyhäjoki.
The Battle of Nykarleby was fought between Sweden and the Russian Empire during the Finnish War of 1808–1809.
The Battle of Vaasa was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire during the Finnish War (1808-1809).
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The Battle of Lintulaks was fought between Swedish and Russian forces at Lintulaks in Finland on 3 July 1808 during the Finnish War.
The Battle of Kokonsaari was fought between Swedish and Russian forces at Kokonsaari in Finland on 11 July 1808 during the Finnish War.
The Battle of Nummijärvi was fought between Swedish and Russian forces at Nummijärvi in Finland on 28 August 1808 during the Finnish War.
The Battle of Pälkjärvi was fought between Swedish and Russian forces at Pälkjärvi (Pyalkyarvi) in present-day Russia on 10 August 1808 during the Finnish War.
The Capitulation of Kalix took place during the Finnish War, on 25 March 1809, when 3,800–4,500 Swedish and Finnish troops under Hans Henrik Gripenberg surrendered to a much larger Russian army under Pavel Andreyevich Shuvalov, as part of a large Russian threefold attack against Sweden. The capitulation was characterised by the Swedish High Command as treacherous and Gripenberg was soon court-martialed.
The Battle of Skellefteå took place during the Finnish War, on 15 May 1809, when 6,000 Russians under Pavel Andreyevich Shuvalov attacked 700 Swedes under Johan Henrik Furumark, at Skellefteå, Sweden. The Swedes, who fought a delaying action to buy time for their provisions to be escorted to safety, were captured as the Russians flanked around and cut-off their way of retreat. Most provisions, however, were saved.
The Battle of Hörnefors took place during the Finnish War, on 5 July 1809, when 2,400 Swedes under Johan August Sandels went on a counter-offensive against 3,350 Russians under Ilya Alekseyev and Pavel Andreyevich Shuvalov, at Hörnefors, Sweden. After more than two hours of intense fighting along the Hörnån (river) Sandels ordered a retreat, after having been misinformed of a greater Russian flanking attack.
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