Russian-Swedish war of 1788-1790 230 years ago, in April 1790, the Swedish army defeated the Russian troops in the battle of Kernikoski. The land campaign of 1790 was carried on in Swedish territory, still passively. Everything was limited to a few skirmishes. The outcome of the war was decided at sea.
General situation. Preparing for a new campaign
The 20,000-strong Russian army under the command of Musin-Pushnik acted indecisively in the 1789 campaign. The war on land was limited to a few skirmishes, which generally ended in favor of the Russian troops. Petersburg was fine with it. On the one hand, the main forces of the army were associated with the war with Turkey, on the other hand, there was a threat of war with Prussia. The decisive defeat of the Swedes in Finland could have pushed the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm II to attack Russia. Therefore, Catherine II was satisfied with such a fuss with the Swedish king Gustav III.
For the winter, Russian troops were stationed on the border. Part of the army watched the border from Neishlot to the Kyumeni River, the second part - from Kyumen and the coast of the Gulf of Finland to Vyborg. At the beginning of 1790, Catherine the Great replaced Musin-Pushkin with Count Ivan Saltykov (son of the famous Russian commander P. S. Saltykov). Saltykov was personally brave, but he did not have any special military leadership talents. Therefore, during the campaign of 1790, the general situation did not change. Both sides behaved indecisively, there was not a single major battle with a decisive outcome. The Russians and the Swedes trampled about 100 miles long and about 100 miles wide.
Obviously, this was due to the big European politics. The war with the Turks continued. Russian victories on land and sea inspired the Russian empress. She considered bold projects for the restoration of Greece, the occupation of Constantinople and the straits. But Russian victories in the war with Turkey worried the West. There was a threat of war with Prussia. The Swedes and Poles asked Berlin for help. The situation was alarming in Poland. England supported Porto, so she did not want peace between the Russians and the Swedes. A revolution took place in France, which attracted the attention of the leading powers. Russia did not have strong allies in Europe: Austria was bound by its own problems, Denmark was weak. Thus, Catherine was connected with other more important issues; Gustav was not interesting to her. And the Swedish high command could not really organize anything. The outcome of the war was decided at sea.
As a result, the Prussian threat disappeared, and Russia was able to end the war with Sweden and Turkey. Berlin decided to take part in the division of the Commonwealth. In addition, the Berlin courtyard (like other European capitals) increasingly distracted events in France from the Middle East and the Baltic. Sweden was left without military support.
Sweden
Swedish king Gustav III did not abandon the idea of victory over Russia in order to revenge for previous defeats. The Swedish monarch was actively negotiating with Poland, Prussia, Turkey, England and Holland for military support (Berlin and Warsaw), for financial assistance in the war with the Russians. But he did not achieve much success. Military preparations continued in Stockholm and Sweden. Ships for the galley fleet were actively built; several new battleships were being prepared for the 1790 campaign. Old ships were repaired at the shipyards. In the coastal cities, fearing the Russian fleet, they trained the militia. In the Swedish capital, 10 thousand citizens were ready to raise, they were armed with guns and sabers. A voluntary collection of funds was made to strengthen the capital. In the fall of 1789, a new recruitment was made to the army. The northern Swedish provinces were also preparing for war. In the province of Västerbotten, 5,000 people were recruited into the militia. More stocks of weapons and uniforms were sent to Finland.
In general, the war was not popular in Swedish society. Only in 1789 was Gustav able to suppress the Anjala confederation, which was created by the officers. Their main demand was peace with Russia. The arrested officers were sentenced to death by a military court, but the king did not dare to carry out the sentence (only one person was executed). It was already obvious that there would be no brilliant victory. A protracted war was waged, which led to human losses and financial problems. An epidemic was raging in the Finnish army, claiming more lives than the fighting. Entire battalions consisted of recruits. The king is in deep debt. Trade and industry were threatened with complete ruin. Therefore, in the kingdom there were constant rumors about the imminent conclusion of peace.
Campaign start
Neither Russia (connected in other directions) nor Sweden had a noticeable advantage at the front. However, the Swedish high command wanted to seize the initiative in the war and be the first to open the campaign. Winter 1789-1790 was warm, so the Swedish fleet was able to sail earlier than usual. The king did his best to hasten the outbreak of hostilities. He feared a Russian attack on Sveaborg. Already in March 1790, Gustav left the capital and arrived in Finland. General von Stedingk (Steedink) suggested that the king attack Wilmanstrand, considering it the central stronghold of the Russian army. The blow was supposed to be delivered from two directions: from the side of the river. Kyumeni and from Pumala.
Even before the opening of hostilities on land, the Swedes struck on the coast of Estonia. Swedish ships attacked the Baltic port at Revel. The crews of the Swedish frigates burned the fort and its reserves, riveted several guns, took an indemnity of 4 thousand rubles from the local residents. In essence, it was an ordinary pirate raid that had no influence on the development of the war.
Fights near Kernikoski, Pardakoski and Valkiala
In March 1790, the first skirmishes took place in Savolax and on the southwestern border of Finland. The Swedes lost about 200 people killed. In April, the Swedish king himself led the army and launched an offensive, trying to break through to Russian Finland from the Savolax side. On April 4 (15), a battle took place near Kernikoski and Pardakoski. The Swedes pushed back the advanced Russian forces, took about 40 prisoners, captured 2 guns, supplies and a treasury of 12 thousand rubles. The Russians withdrew to Savitaipala. On April 8 (19), a new skirmish took place at Valkiala, in the area of the river. Kyumeni. Gustav again led the troops and was slightly wounded. The Swedes pushed back the Russian troops again and seized the food supplies. The terrain was difficult in terms of supplying troops, so the extraction of food was considered a success.
The Russian command ordered the return of positions at Kernikoski and Pardakoski. 19 (30) April) 1790 General Osip Igelstrom (Igelstrom) with 4 thousand detachment went on the attack and pushed the Swedes. The Swedish detachment was led by the king's favorite, General Gustav Armfelt. But the attempt of the Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg to take Kernikoski did not lead to success. The Swedes received strong reinforcements and launched a counterattack. The Prince of Anhalt-Bernburg did not wait for help, and due to a strong Swedish counterattack, the Russian troops were forced to retreat. The prince himself was badly wounded and died soon after. At the same time, the column of Brigadier Vasily Baikov led an offensive on the island of Lapensali. Having captured the island, Baykov's detachment attacked the battery at Pardakaska. The battle went on for several hours, Baikov's column almost reached the location of the battery and retrenchments, however, here, too, Swedish reinforcements with superior forces launched a counterattack. Baikov was seriously wounded and died. The troops of Major General Berkhman and Brigadier Prince Meshchersky were supposed to bypass the Swedes and attack them from the rear. But they could not do this - there was a lake on the way to the place and the ice turned out to be unreliable, they had to look for a new road. As a result, the reinforcements did not arrive on time and also retreated. Our losses - about 500 people killed and wounded, Swedish - more than 200 people.
This failure of the Russian army did not become an important matter. At almost the same time (April 21), on the Kyumeni River, Russian troops successfully attacked the Swedish forces led by Gustav himself. Two days later, Russian troops under the command of General Fyodor Numsen again attacked the enemy and forced the Swedes to retreat beyond Kyumen. The Russians pursued the enemy, took 12 guns and the settlement of Anjala, where they held back the attacks of the Swedes for several days.
Further hostilities
After an unsuccessful offensive on land, King Gustav decided to switch to the galley fleet and attack the Friedrichsgam area. At the same time, ground forces under the command of Generals Armfelt and Steedink were to operate northeast of Friedrichsgam. Indeed, on April 23 (May 4), Steedink's troops took up in another skirmish. The Russian side reported 200 killed Swedes and 42 Russians. The Swedes reported 30 killed and 100 wounded, and 46 Russians were found killed.
Thus, Gustav planned to force the Russians to concentrate troops here with a threat from the sea in the Friedrichsgam area. Thus, to divert the attention of the Russians from the troops of Generals Armfelt and Steedink, who were supposed to deeply invade Russian Finland. Further, the Swedish naval and ground forces were to unite in the Vyborg area, creating a threat to the Russian capital. The Swedish monarch hoped to force the Russian government to peace on favorable terms.
The king himself managed to defeat the Russian galley fleet at Friedrichsgam, the Swedish naval fleet fought at Revel and Krasnaya Gorka. The Swedes were preparing a landing near St. Petersburg. However, the Swedish army had no successes on land. Armfelt's detachment was defeated at Savitaipale. The general himself was wounded. Steedink and Armfelt did not have the strength for a decisive offensive. The general, simultaneous and systematic action of the Swedish fleet and army did not work out. Now the calculations turned out to be incorrect, then the weather interfered, then the slowness of the troops and the mistakes of the command, then the movement of the Russian forces. As a result, the largest battles took place at sea, not on land.
