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.
Background
During the War of the First Coalition Denmark-Norway and Sweden had remained neutral. The two Nordic countries also intended to follow this policy during the War of the Second Coalition and had in 1800, together with Prussia and Russia, formed the Second League of Armed Neutrality in order to protect their merchant fleets from the British policy of unlimited searches of neutral shipping for French contraband. The League would however, be dissolved following the Battle of Copenhagen and the death of Tsar Paul I of Russia in 1801. After the collapse of the alliance, and Denmark-Norway's brief war with Britain, Sweden and Denmark still continued their policy of neutrality.
In 1805 Sweden joined the war against France, but following the rapid French advance through northwest Germany and the defeat at Lübeck, Swedish forces had to withdraw to Swedish Pomerania. Attempts at peace negotiations between France and Sweden was initiated, and Emperor Napoleon I of France offered Sweden in the autumn of 1806, Norway in exchange for Swedish Pomerania. But the negotiations failed, and in early 1807 French forces invaded and eventually occupied Swedish Pomerania.
Following the Treaties of Tilsit in 1807 the main focus of France and Britain was directed towards Denmark. Napoleon wanted to include the neutral Denmark-Norway in the Continental System while the United Kingdom feared that the Danish fleet should fall into the hands of the French. British forces bombarded and occupied Copenhagen, capturing most of the Danish navy. Denmark-Norway subsequently allied with France, but without a navy the Danish could do little.
The alliance between Denmark-Norway and France was signed at Fontainebleau on 31 October 1807. The agreement indicated vague promises from the French that they would help Denmark-Norway regaining its fleet, while Denmark had to commit themselves to participate in an eventual war against Sweden together with France and Russia. Crown Prince Frederik of Denmark-Norway was reluctant to participate in war against Sweden, but he decided to declare war against Sweden with the aim of conquering the territory which Denmark-Norway had lost after the Treaty of Brömsebro and Treaty of Roskilde.
Since Sweden's attention was on Finland following the Russian invasion in February 1808, he saw it as easier to take back the territories. On 14 March 1808 the Danish Minister in Stockholm presented the declaration of war to the Swedish government, and the Swedish king, Gustav IV Adolf replied with planning an invasion of Sjælland, in order to force Denmark to conclude separate peace. This plan was however, temporarily sidelined and the Swedish troops in Götaland were instead placed in a defensive position, following rumors that Napoleon had sent reinforcements to Denmark. King Gustav IV instead approved the plan drawn up by Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, on an invasion of Norway to compensate for a possible loss of Finland.
Armies
The Swedish army
The Swedish army stationed in Sweden counted a total of 23,000 men, 7,000 in southern Sweden under the command of Count Johan Christopher Toll, 14,000 towards the Norwegian border under the leadership of Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt, and 2,000 in Norrland under Johan Bergenstråhle.
The Swedish army was fairly well equipped and the soldiers were well trained, but under the pressure from two fronts the Swedes had been forced to retain the ability to send troops wherever they were needed the most. The main theater of war was in the east, where the Russian invasion threatened the Swedish rule in Finland, but the threat from Denmark–Norway and France was taken seriously. The Swedish western army was divided into two wings, the right wing was led by Armfeldt himself, and the left wing was led by Major General Vegesack.
The army's right wing furthermore consisted of Colonel Carl Pontus Gahn's "Flying Corps" of approximately 650 men in Dalby, Colonel Leyonstedt's 1st Brigade of approximately 1,600 men in Eda, Colonel Schwerig's 2nd Brigade of about 2,500 men in Töcksmark, Colonel Bror Cederström's 3rd Brigade of approximately 1,750 men in Holmedal, and Colonel Johan Adam Cronstedt's 4th Brigade of approximately 1,700 men in the area east of Marker. The army's left wing consisted mainly of one brigade at Strömstad, one at Töftedal and one in the area between Gothenburg and Uddevalla.
Swedish regiments
The Danish–Norwegian army
The Danish-Norwegian army combined consisted of 36,000 men. The Danish army could muster 14,650 men, but only 5,000 of them could be used for attacks against the Swedish. The Norwegian army had been prepared for a future war with Sweden since the fall of 1807, but since they had diverted resources for coastal protection duties along the long Norwegian coast, it was in a poor state in late February 1808. The Norwegian army ended up with a lack of weapons, ammunition, clothes, food and many soldiers had equipment that was close to 20 years old.
The Norwegian army was under the leadership of Prince Christian August of Augustenburg who at that time was President of the Norwegian Government Commission, which had been established when the Royal Navy had initiated a naval blockade between Norway and Denmark in 1807. Christian August would later during the war also be appointed Governor-general of Norway.
The Norwegian army
- 24 dragoon companies totalling about 1,800 riders
- 14 musketeer battalions (each with 4 divisions) for a total of about 8,400 men
- 10 sharpshooter companies totaling about 1,200 men
- 10 depot battalions (each with 3–4 divisions) for a total of about 5,000 men
- 8 grenadier battalions (each with 4 divisions) for a total of about 4,800 men
- 6 fortress batteries totaling about 300 men
- 3 Field batteries (1 and 2 mounted marching batteries) totaling approximately 300 men
- 2 ski battalions (each with 3 companies) totaling about 600 men
- 1 jäger battalion (4 companies) of added 600, later 720 men
- A light battalion (6 companies) of about 600 men
- A pioneer company of about 150 men
Stattholder Christian August had only 8,000 men available at the beginning of the war along the border from Svinesund to Trøndelag, and they had to take in many untrained recruits in order to fill up the ranks.
The Norwegian defence
After the stationing of the troops at the border was completed in late March 1808, Christian August divided the southern forces along the border on Østlandet from south to north:
The Norwegian troops in the southern defense amounted to about 9,000 men, in addition, there were 3,300 men stationed in Trøndelag for the defense in the north:
- Colonel Carsten Gerhard Bang with a brigade of about 2,100 men in Røros
- Lieutenant General Carl von Schmettow with a brigade of about 1,200 men in Innherred
It was also stationed 2,000 men in Trondheim and Kristiansand, and 6,200 men in Frederiksvern and Bergen
Fortress garrisons
The French army in Denmark
Although Denmark was not officially occupied during the Napoleonic Wars and no fighting took place on Danish soil, Napoleon did send his Marshal Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte to Denmark in 1808 to prepare for an invasion of Sweden. The total force consisted of approximately 81,000 men, including 12,500 French, 14,000 Spaniards, 6,000 Dutch, the Norwegian-Danish army of around 36,000 men, and a Danish reserve unit of 12,500 men. The French made it a condition for their participation in the war against Sweden that the coalition army would be under French command.
The presence of troops in Zealand, Funen, and Jutland was more of a burden than a help for the Danish population and amounted to a de facto occupation of Denmark as a French puppet state. However, the plan for the invasion was soon called off, and the war was instead redirected to the Norwegian-Swedish border. Sir John Moore's expedition, sent by the British government to protect Sweden from a possible French-Danish attack, arrived on 3 May 1808, and stayed until July, when it was redirected to Portugal.
Napoleon's plans to invade Sweden were never carried out due to British activity in the Baltic Sea, the weakness of the Danish military, and the hesitations of French Marshal Bernadotte, whose actions made him so popular that after the coup d'état in March 1809, he was elected Crown Prince of Sweden.
War preparations
On 5 March, several days before the Danish government had decided to declare war on Sweden, Marshal Bernadotte, who at that time was French governor of Hamburg and the other Hanseatic cities, started his march towards Denmark with the coalition army of 32,000 men. But it seems likely that Napoleon at the time was not willing to let their troops go into direct action, because after Bernadotte had camped with large parts of the coalition army on Sjælland he was not ordered to continue his advance against the Danish shipping ports.
The ice also started breaking up in mid-March, and to everyone's surprise, the first British warships started to show up even as ice floes still lay densely packed. Admiral Hyde Parker had wintered in Gothenburg the winter of 1807–08 with his squadron and came down very early in the straits between the Kattegat and Baltic Sea. Bernadotte, who had lost valuable time while lying ice-bound, also lost the ability to secure passage before the arrival of the British warships.
The troops presence in Sjælland, Fyn and Jutland was more a burden than help to the Danish population. Another problem arose after the news that Spain had revolted against Napoleon was known in Denmark, and the Spanish troops had to be disarmed and interned. In mid-April 1808 the Danish-French plan for an invasion of Sweden was called off and attention was directed towards the Swedish-Norwegian border.
The war
Swedish invasion of Norway
In the last days of March, the Norwegian and Swedish outposts along the border had been in contact with each other on several occasions, but the scattered skirmishes had been fruitless. The first major action happened on 1 April 1808, when Johan Bergenstråhle marched with his 2,000 men into Norway from Jämtland, but his army was forced to retreat back to Sundsvall without engaging in battle. But at the same time as Bergenstråhle's retreat two companies of 235 men under Major Gyllenskrepp went across the border from Herjedalen towards Røros and engaged in a minor skirmish with a Norwegian field guard of 40 men from Colonel Bang's brigade in Aursund.
After the field guards had withdrawn and the Norwegian outposts of 140 men, of which the field guard was a part of, had retreated to Røros, the Swedes began with unusually extensive looting in the border area, and especially in the town of Brekken. The looting continued until those of Colonel Bang's forces who were closest in the area, a Musketeer battalion of 600 men under Major Sommerschild, counterattacked and forced the Swedes back across the border.