Battle of Kemi
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| Battle of Kemi | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Russo-Swedish War (1741–1743) | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Sweden |
 Russia | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Christopher Freidenfelt | Unknown | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 500 men | 350 cavalry | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 12 men killed or wounded |
50 men killed or wounded | ||||||
The Battle of Kemi was a battle during the War of the Hats. The battle was between Sweden and Russian Empire forces on 24 November 1742 at Kemi.
Background[edit]
After the great Swedish defeat at the Battle of Villmanstrand in 1741, Russian forces carried out an invasion of Finland in 1742. The Swedish army retreated quickly, among other things Helsinki fell on August 24 and Tavastehus on August 26. After Helsinki fell, all the Swedish regiments that were there were free to leave and sail back home to Sweden. One of these, the Småland cavalry, under the command of Christoffer Freidenfelt, retreated north to Vaasa, from where they made their way to Umeå on 25 October. However, only 500 men arrived here, as the rest had been driven to Härnösand by the weather.[1] In Umeå, Freidenfelt was given command of an army corps consisting of Småland's Cavalry Regiment, Jämtland Regiment, Västerbotten Regiment and a 2,500-strong vargage detachment, however, this corps was never fully assembled.[1] The small detachment Freidenfelt had soon been put in acceptable condition for a defense of the Tornedalen.
The battle[edit]
the swedes had left behind 748 Swedish horses, and in order to recover these, Freidenfelt carried out a quick offensive against Kemi in November.[1] On November 24, the Swedish division reached Kemi and defeated the Russian force of Cossacks, Kalmyks and Hussars, who had been completely surprised.[2] However, only 27 Swedish horses were found, which were taken together with between 40 and 50 Cossack horses.[1]
Aftermath[edit]
After the Swedish victory, the Russian forces retreated south to Oulu and Freidenfelt, who had now been promoted to major general, stationed his department in Torneå.[2] The following year, two overland attacks on Tornio were repulsed, after which Freidenfelt went on the counter-offensive, defeating a Russian force at the Battle of Ijo and advancing to, north of Oulu, before drowning in the Gulf of Bothnia between Umeå and Kello, after which the offensive stalled.
References[edit]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Tengberg, Niklas August (1857). Bidrag till historien om Sveriges krig med Ryssland, åren 1741-1743 (in svenska). Tryckt uti Berlingska boktryckeriet. Search this book on
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Kristofer Freidenfelt - Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon". sok.riksarkivet.se. Retrieved 2023-09-22.
- ↑ Åstrand, Sven (1964-1966). Svenskt biografiskt lexikon
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