18 March 1809 saw the climax of one of the most bizarre campaigns the Russian army has ever ventured. According to one of the top generals, the Russian troops ‘braved the fiercest frost to traverse the paths that nobody had dared to attempt before’ and ‘laid the foundation for the all-important territorial gain for Russia’. What was it all about?
The Finnish War of 1808–1809 was Russia’s latest clash with the Swedes to date. The Russian army got off to a great start as on 18 February 1808, it took Helsingfors (now Helsinki). That was followed by the surrender of the Svartholm fortress, an important foothold, on 6 March. On 10 March, Åbo followed suit. On 21 April, the well-fortified Sveaborg threw in the towel too. On 20 March 1808, Emperor Alexander I of Russia declared that the defeated Finland was ‘joining the Russian Empire forever’.
That was not exactly expansion for expansion’s sake. ‘Russia was not striving to get territorial gains from Sweden. It was above all interested in ensuring the safety of its northern border,’ says historian Vladimir Baryshnikov. According to him, the war ‘resulted from the European power configuration’. It broke out at the height of the Napoleonic Wars when Russia sided with France against Britain.
But the offensive stalled. Firstly, the new Russian territories became the venue of guerrilla warfare. Secondly, the retreating Swedish army did not fall apart – they mounted a series of counteroffensives and retook some of the lands. Besides, the Swedes got help from a British squadron. In August 1808, the allied navies killed the battleship Vsevolod and left the remaining Russian warships stranded in Rogervick (now Paldiski). The summer and autumn months saw a string of deadly even-steven ground battles, but eventually, the Russian forces came out victorious and retained Finland.
The next step was to force Stockholm into acknowledging its military plight and signing a peace treaty. King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden was unwilling to take the deal if that entailed conceding Finland. The only way to make him reconsider was by extending the war theatre to the Swedish lands, thus imperilling the fate of Sweden.
But how could the Russians reach Sweden that was separated from Finland by the Gulf of Bothnia? Embarking on a ground operation that would take them around the northern tip of the gulf would take a ton of time and effort. The other option had been used by Peter the Great almost a century back as his troops had executed amphibious landings on the Swedish shores, an operation that would soon result in the signing of the Treaty of Nystad.
Except this time undertaking amphibious landings would have been a tough ask. Above all, it could only be carried out after the spring melting season. Secondly, the enemy still had a formidable navy.
That is when the bold plan to get the army started on ice was conceived. The initial idea was to capture the Åland Islands that were equidistant from Finland and Sweden and turn them into Russia’s makeshift military base.
The Generals Were Forced Into It
But the top generals had their misgivings. Historian Lydia Ivchenko says, ‘The infantry general Bogdan Knorring was sceptical about the plan and even denounced it as “unfeasible”. A 200-kilometre odyssey of a thousands-strong army across the frozen gulf seemed like a very long shot. They were supposed to eat and warm themselves up while hauling the heavy cannons and ammo. Moreover, upon reaching the shore, they were expected to attack right out of the gate.’
In the end, Emperor Alexander I tapped the trusty artillery general Alexei Arakcheev, who had been named the minister of war the year before, to take charge of the operation. Arakcheev had a reputation as a ruthless and combative individual. Right away he began to ‘talk some sense’ into the dithering generals. In a later memoir he wrote, ‘I have never been a boots-on-the-ground leader, nor have I attempted to be one. But God bestowed on me good judgement so that I could tell right from wrong <…> Had I listened to all of the generals, I would not have compelled [Michael] Barclay [de Tolly] to set foot onto the frozen gulf and it would have taken us two more years to reach Finland.’
Arakcheev oversaw the plan suggesting a three-pronged strike. The corps headed by Maj. Gen. Pavel Shuvalov was sent northwards to reach Torneå along the coastline and then roll into Sweden. The corps commanded by Lt. Gen. Michael Barclay de Tolly was to head towards Sweden across the frozen Kvarken Strait connecting the northern and southern parts of the Gulf of Bothnia.
The southernmost route was to be navigated by the corps led by Lt. Gen. Pyotr Bagration who was tasked with capturing the Åland Islands. A mettlesome leader, Bagration was enthused by the idea. Asked by Arakcheev about the possibility of crossing the gulf, he exclaimed, ‘Waiting for your orders, Sir!’
Thorough preparations ensued. The Bagration-led corps had about 17,000 troops, including 30 infantry battalions, four cavalry squadrons, 600 Cossacks and 21 hardware pieces with maintenance personnel. The soldiers were kitted out in warm civilian fur coats and thick felt boots. Heavy-duty sledges carried food supplies, military equipment, ammo, vodka and firewood, should the soldiers have needed to warm up. The ice sheet was thought to be thick enough in early March to withstand the weight of the troops and their cargo. ‘To mitigate the risks, though, the soldiers were advised against starting large fires and huddling around them,’ Lydia Ivchenko adds.
The bold wintry campaign commenced on 26 February 1809. Pyotr Bagration selected Maj. Gen. Yakov Kulnev, an exemplary hussar and a feisty warrior, to lead the troops. At the outset of the campaign Kulnev barked the following order: ‘God is upon us. I am with you. Prince Bagration is behind us.’
Kulnev was first supposed to capture Kumlinge, a halfway point between the Finnish mainland and Åland. The Russians were split into five columns. Four of those were advancing from the east, while the remaining one was approaching the Åland Islands from the south.
‘The frozen gulf campaign was a resounding success, and can be rightly considered one of the finest chapters in Russian military history,’ said Alexander Kersnovsky, a Russian military historian.
The Åland Islands were defended by the 6,000-strong corps led by Lt. Gen. Georg Carl von Döbeln as well as by 4,000 armed civilians. As soon as he found out about Russia’s preparations, the general sent a slew of letters to Stockholm, requesting backup. Von Döbeln reckoned the Russians’ numerical superiority would allow them to ‘effortlessly clear the flanks and the rear of my troops’. He ordered that the army set up abatises and batteries. The general also created a ‘dead zone’ across the islands as he had ousted the locals and set their residences ablaze.
‘The adversaries fled for their lives’
It was at that critical juncture that von Döbeln got shocking news from Stockholm. A group of the Swedish military and top officials had toppled the ill-fated King Gustav IV Adolf and enthroned his uncle, the Duke of Södermanland. The rebels requested that von Döbeln send an emissary to offer the Russians a truce deal.
However, Pyotr Bagration refused to pump the brakes. Once Arakcheev learnt of the coup, he turned down the ‘truce deal’. Instead, he demanded that a proper peace treaty be signed on Russian terms that included the official concession of Finland and no further aid from the Brits. Needless to say, von Döbeln was not authorised to conduct the negotiations. Bagration pressed on with the offensive. Subsequently, the dispirited Swedes began to retreat from the Åland Islands. On 18 March 1809, the Bagration-led corps captured the islands, with over 2,000 prisoners of war, 32 hardware pieces and more than 150 warships.
The Russian flags were hoisted above the Åland Islands
‘Across the vast expanses stretching from Signalskär to the coast of Sweden, the retreating adversaries were leaving a trail of broken cargo carriages, gunpowder crates, shotguns, shells, rucksacks and private wagons. As the adversaries saw that their treacherous negotiations were unable to stop our unwavering advance, they fled for their lives,’ wrote Prince Bagration.
Meanwhile, the foremost Russian troops were closing in on the coast of Sweden. Crossing the frozen gulf barricaded by pressure ridges proved to be a grueling task. Approaching the shore, Yakov Kulnev’s troops defeated a Swedish detachment that attempted to block the landing. That is how the Russian troops set foot on the Swedish lands for the first since Peter the Great’s military campaign. Stockholm was less than 100 kilometres away.
According to Bagration’s memos, the rapid arrival of Russians terrified the residents of the coastline area. He wrote, ‘The optical telegram notifying them of our arrival had the vandals’ capital city terrified. The road to Stockholm was strewn with petrified locals, private wagons and the troops rushing to protect the coastline areas. All of the above painted a picture of rampant fear and trepidation and will be etched into the later-age chronicles as a timeless tribute to the Russian military valour.’
Having overpowered the Swedes, the Kulnev-led troops approached the town of Grisslehamn and demanded a surrender. The Swedes thought the entire Russian army was following in Kulnev’s footsteps, and complied. The next day, Yakov Kulnev was ordered to return to the Åland Islands. The order came just in time as the gusts of the south wind began to break the ice.
The Swedes Conceded
Unfortunately, Commander-in-Chief Knorring agreed to negotiations with Sweden and withdrew Bagration’s troops from the Åland Islands. The talks hit a dead-end, and the hostilities resumed. Shuvalov advanced through the northern territories by taking Umeå and Torneå and defeating the Swedish troops at the Skellefte River. Shortly afterwards the Russian army routed the Swedes at Hörnefors.
In the end, Sweden conceded to the Russian terms, and the peace treaty was signed on 5 September 1809.
Pyotr Bagration wrote, ‘Those were the valiant feats of the glorious and invincible Russian army that braved the hardship, the climate, the fiercest frost and the heaviest of snow to traverse the paths that nobody had dared to attempt before and to trounce the adversaries, thus rendering them fearful and apprehensive. Those feats laid the foundation for the all-important territorial gain for Russia and protected that region from future enemy incursions.’
Three years later, both Pyotr Bagration and Yakov Kulnev perished in Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. Finland and the Åland Islands they had helped conquer remained parts of the Russian Empire until the 1917 revolution.
By the way, the Russian presence on the Åland Islands is still alive. The Finnish authorities have kept the active Russian consulate there. Sadly, though, after Sweden and Finland joined NATO, these lands have yet again begun to pose a potential threat to Russia.