The Battle of Kuopio was fought between

Swedish Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

and

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

n forces at

Kuopio Kuopio (, ) is a Finnish city and municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia. It has a population of , which makes it the most populous municipality in Finland. Along with Joensuu, Kuopio is one of the major urban, economic, and cult ...

Northern Savonia North Savo (or Northern Savonia; fi, Pohjois-Savo; sv, Norra Savolax) is a region in eastern Finland. It borders the regions of South Savo, Central Finland, North Ostrobothnia, Kainuu, and North Karelia. Kuopio is the largest city in the regi ...

on 12 May 1808 during the

Finnish War The Finnish War ( sv, Finska kriget, russian: Финляндская война, fi, Suomen sota) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic ...

Background

As a result of the victory at Pulkkila Sandels could commence operations to the south and harass the Russian supply lines. He first struck against a number of Russian transports heading for

Raahe Raahe (; sv, Brahestad; ) is a town and municipality of Finland. Founded by Swedish statesman and Governor General of Finland Count Per Brahe the Younger in 1649, it is one of 10 historic wooden towns (or town centers) remaining in Finland. Examp ...

, south of Pulkkila, capturing two supply and one weapon transports, along with 100 Russians. Another transport column was captured northwest of Kuopio. Sandels then sent a vanguard of 150 men (of which 80 from the

Västerbotten Regiment The Västerbotten Regiment ( sv, Västerbottens regemente), designations I 19, I XIX, I 20 and I 20/Fo 61, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited fr ...

), under Karl Wilhelm Malm, to attack a Russian supply magazine at Kuopio where there was also an improvised field hospital. On their way they managed to surprise and destroy a Russian force of 150 men, sent out from Kuopio to retake the lost supplies; seven Russians were killed and 98 captured to no Swedish losses.

Battle

As Malm arrived in the vicinity of Kuopio on the 11th he was joined by approximately 300 peasants. However, only about 50 of them carried firearms, and so Malm thought it was best to have them encircling the town rather than following in the attack. On 12 May, at 2:00 AM, Malm split his infantry into three groups of 50 men each, after which he commenced the attack. The complete surprise, combined with the darkness and the lack of Russian command, shattered the Russian defense; they were met by stubborn resistance only in the chancellery, where a couple of Russians had taken up positions. By 6:00 AM the rest of the Russians surrendered; they had lost 40 killed and wounded and 160 captured, apart from a few civilians and 124 sick soldiers. Two officers and about 70 men had managed to escape despite the peasants encircling the town. The Swedes had lost two men killed and one wounded. The bulk of the Swedish force arrived at Kuopio on 20 May.

Notes, citations and sources

Notes

Citations

Sources

* {{coord missing, Finland Kuopio 1808

1808 in Finland

May 1808 events