Helsinki village landing

Helsinki village landing
	Part of Finnish War
Date	26–28 September 1808 (J:14-16)
Location	Helsinki village (Taivassalo), Southwest Finland northwest of Turku
Result	Russian defensive victory
Belligerents
Sweden	Russia
Commanders and leaders
Gustaf Olof Lagerbring	Karl Gustav von Baggovut
Strength
3,400	4,500
Casualties and losses
57 killed; 251 wounded; 349 captured; ; In total: 657	120 killed; 352 wounded; 54 captured; ; In total: 526

The Helsinki village landing was fought during the Finnish War between Sweden and Russia on 26–28 September 1808 (J:14-16 S), a part of the battles of the Turku archipelago. King Gustav IV Adolf of Sweden planned a large landing operation, over 8,000 strong. Due to the difficult sea weather conditions, the task force under Colonel Anders Fredrik Skjöldebrad was forced to return back to Sweden, damaged and broken. The other task force of 3,400 men under Lieutenant Colonel Gustav Olof Lagerbring landed at Helsinki village (Taivassalo) successfully and the troops advanced to the inland areas. The king of Sweden was late to the battle area himself; he arrived on 28 September 1808 in his own yacht.

Course of battle

Monday 26 September (J:14 S)

The landing started in at 09:00 o’clock in the morning. The Cossacks who patrolled at the beach were pushed back to the village of Järvenperä. The Swedish troops advanced slowly and the Russians reacted quickly, as they sent 3 companies from the Pernov (Pärnu) Musketeer Regiment ^[1] supported by 2 cannons to oppose the advancing Swedes at Järvenperä. The Kronoberg Regiment^[2] offensive caused the Russians to retreat.

Tuesday 27 September (J:15)

In the morning, the Swedes proceeded to advance in the direction of the village of Viiainen. There, Russian Lieutenant General Karl Gustav von Baggovut had built a defense line with a battalion of the Nevski Musketeer Regiment.^[3] According to Baggovut's orders, they had to delay the progress of the Swedes, but the Swedes pushed the Russians back from their positions. Colonel Freiherr Gustaf Reinhold Boije af Gennäs was named as the commander of the Swedish battle forces.

Wednesday 28 September (J:16)

During the night, Prince Pyotr Bagration brought sizable reinforcements to Baggovut. Boije planned a two-pronged offensive for the Swedes. One force would attack from north of Viiainen to Puosta, while at the same time the Lagerbring force would strike the flank of Russian forces at Puosta through Haaroinen and Ranta. Because of the reinforcements, Baggovut had the initiative and he struck strongly and directly to Boije's main line of position while simultaneously starting a flank offensive via Ranta. Lagerbring's attack was stopped by the force of the Russian troops and he had to retreat. Boije found the situation hopeless and ordered a general retreat to the Helsinki village. At the beach the situation was chaotic. The king had ordered all the gunboats to Kahiluoto, and so there were only defenseless troopships left. The loading of the ships happened in disarray under Russian fire and resulted in large losses.

References

^ 3-й гренадерский Перновский Короля Фридриха-Вильгельма IV полк
^ Kronobergs regemente
^ 1-й пехотный Невский генерал-фельдмаршала графа Ласси, ныне Его Величества Короля Эллинов полк

External links

60°36′20″N 21°26′15″E / 60.6054670°N 21.437409°E / 60.6054670; 21.437409

[1] 3-й гренадерский Перновский Короля Фридриха-Вильгельма IV полк

[2] Kronobergs regemente

[3] 1-й пехотный Невский генерал-фельдмаршала графа Ласси, ныне Его Величества Короля Эллинов полк

[1]

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