Conquest of Jemtland

Jämtland had been ceded to Sweden by Denmark-Norway at the Treaty of Brömsebro in 1645, and was, therefore, a target for reconquest. From the onset of the war, the Swedish strategic plan had included an attack into Norway from Jämtland. However, the crises on the other fronts had repeatedly drawn away from the troops that would have participated in such an attack.^[1]

In the beginning of 1677 news arrived that the Norwegians defending Trondheim had moved south to reinforce the army of Ulrik Frederick Gyldenløve. This presented an opportunity for advancing across the Norwegian border. The attacking force was to be led by Carl Larsson Sparre, the governor-general of Västernorrland county. He had at his disposal a force of 1,700 men, of which three companies were local men from Jämtland. However, he was unable to feed these troops, and furthermore, the troops, who hadn't received payment in ten months, had dispersed across Norrland to live meagerly off the land, which had been ravaged by famine for several years. Thus, the planned attack had to be abandoned.

That summer Swedish reconnaissance indicated that the Norwegians were themselves gathering forces in Trondheim and Røros and preparing for an attack across the border. Sparre received a dispatch from Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie encouraging him to prevent this attack by moving his men either towards Trondheim or alternatively to Røros and on through the valley of Gudbrandsdal to Värmland. Sparre chose the latter alternative, detaching major Carl Rutencrantz with a force to Oviken, but delaying his own departure to await a promised complement of 1,400 men from Österbotten. Sparre also attempted to muster troops and supplies from Jämtland itself, but like in Skåne and Bohuslän the people were still loyal to their former masters. The Swedes were barely tolerated, and promised supplies and horses never appeared. When the troops from Österbotten finally arrived, they numbered only 290, and were poorly armed and trained. Short of ammunition and unable to feed his troops, Sparre was again forced to scatter his troops to live off the land.

News now arrived of the Norwegians crossing the border. Sparre was now in an even more precarious position: his defensive positions were in disrepair and he had no means to strengthen them. There were only fourteen cannon at his disposal.

On August 16, a large Norwegian force attacked Rutencrantz' positions at Oviken. The engagement had barely begun when the Jämtlandians abandoned their positions and defected to the Norwegians. The remaining Swedish dragoons held their positions and continued fighting into the night until they were overrun.

Before news of this action had reached Sparre, he had decided to move his remaining troops north to Brunflo in order block the Norwegians' access to Storsjön. While the infantry marched overland, the artillery was to be transported by boat. At his arrival, Sparre found only 400 men and the artillery lost, and retired to Gullesundsbro. There he learned that Rutencrantz' detachment in Oviken had been defeated. This prompted him to rush to Borgsjö to regroup. His army had been reinforced to 1,700 men but he dared not attempt to stop the Norwegian force, as he had convinced himself he was surrounded by larger enemy numbers.

The Norwegians had captured about 400 men and four cannon. A medal was struck to commemorate the victories and celebrate the reconquest of the former Norwegian province. On the Swedish side, blame of the failure was directed at Sparre, who in turn blamed his scant supplies and paucity of men. Charles XI was a stern master and relieved him, naming Jacob Fleming governor-general of Jämtland in his stead. Field marshal Henrik Horn was ordered to lead the troops in the general area of Stockholm to defend Norrland. Horn assembled his men in Medelpad in the fall of 1677 and had hardly begun his march into the Jämtland when news reached him that the Norwegians had already left. Reconnoitering Swedish cavalry had given them the impression that a larger force was arriving, so they left Jämtland November 1 after burning their stores. This was a stroke of luck for the Swedes, as Norrland was still suffering from the famine, and it would have been near impossible to find supplies for his men.

As he was entering Jämtland, Horn received a letter from the king, where he was ordered to investigate the reports of treachery from the local people. In December the clergy and local representatives were summoned for questioning. Horn learned that a secret alliance had been made between the people of Jämtland and the Norwegians, ratified with the local communities' seals. Severe reprisals were feared, but in the end the people of Jämtland were ordered to hand over their weapon in order to prevent "future secret aid to the enemy". This relatively mild punishment was in stark contrast to the harsh treatment of the Scanian lands.

Discover more about Development related topics

Norrland

Norrland

Norrland is the northernmost, largest and least populated of the three traditional lands of Sweden, consisting of nine provinces. Although Norrland does not serve any administrative purposes, it continues to exist as a historical, cultural, and geographic region; it is often referred to in everyday language, e.g., in weather forecasts. Several related Norrland dialects form a distinct subset of dialects of the Swedish language separate from those to its south.

Røros

Røros

Røros is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Røros. Some of the villages in Røros include Brekken, Glåmos, Feragen, Galåa, and Hitterdalen.

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie

Count Magnus Gabriel De la Gardie was a Swedish statesman and military man. He became a member of the Swedish Privy Council in 1647 and came to be the holder of three of the five offices counted as the Great Officers of the Realm, namely Lord High Treasurer, Lord High Chancellor and Lord High Steward. He also served as Governor-General in the Swedish dominion of Livonia.

Bohuslän

Bohuslän

Bohuslän is a Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the west, and the county of Østfold, in Norway, to the north. In English it literally means Bohus County, although it shared counties with the city of Gothenburg prior to the 1998 county merger and thus was not an administrative unit in its own right.

Ammunition

Ammunition

Ammunition is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons and the component parts of other weapons that create the effect on a target.

Cannon

Cannon

A cannon is a large-caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder during the late 19th century. Cannons vary in gauge, effective range, mobility, rate of fire, angle of fire and firepower; different forms of cannon combine and balance these attributes in varying degrees, depending on their intended use on the battlefield. A cannon is a type of heavy artillery weapon.

Dragoon

Dragoon

Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat with swords and firearms from horseback. While their use goes back to the late 16th century, dragoon regiments were established in most European armies during the 17th and early 18th centuries; they provided greater mobility than regular infantry but were far less expensive than cavalry.

Brunflo

Brunflo

Brunflo is a locality situated in Östersund Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,890 inhabitants in 2010. It is situated some 15 km south-east of Östersund.

Storsjön

Storsjön

Storsjön is the fifth largest lake in Sweden, with an area of 464 km2 (179 sq mi) and a greatest depth of 74 m (243 ft). It is the largest lake in central Sweden, located in the province of Jämtland in modern Jämtland County. From Storsjön runs the river Indalsälven and the lake contains the major island Frösön. The city of Östersund is located on the east shore of the lake, opposite Frösön.

Medal

Medal

A medal or medallion is a small portable artistic object, a thin disc, normally of metal, carrying a design, usually on both sides. They typically have a commemorative purpose of some kind, and many are presented as awards. They may be intended to be worn, suspended from clothing or jewellery in some way, although this has not always been the case. They may be struck like a coin by dies or die-cast in a mould.

Charles XI of Sweden

Charles XI of Sweden

Charles XI or Carl was King of Sweden from 1660 until his death, in a period of Swedish history known as the Swedish Empire (1611–1721).

Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 990,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.5 million in the metropolitan area. The city stretches across fourteen islands where Lake Mälaren flows into the Baltic Sea. Outside the city to the east, and along the coast, is the island chain of the Stockholm archipelago. The area has been settled since the Stone Age, in the 6th millennium BC, and was founded as a city in 1252 by Swedish statesman Birger Jarl. It is also the county seat of Stockholm County. For several hundred years, Stockholm was the capital of Finland as well, which was then a part of Sweden. The population of the municipality of Stockholm is expected to reach one million people in 2024.