The Battle of Lemo was fought 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 ...

between

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

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 ...

on 19–20 June 1808 (Julian calendar 7–8 June). On 19 June, about 2,500 Swedes landed at Lemo (Finnish:''Lemu'') in

Kaarina Kaarina (; sv, S:t Karins, i.e. " Saint Catherine's") is a small town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the Southwest Finland region and is a neighbouring town of Turku, which is the capital of Southwest Finland, therefore Kaarina ...

Southwest Finland Southwest Finland, calqued as Finland Proper ( fi, Varsinais-Suomi ; sv, Egentliga Finland), is a region in the southwest of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme), Uusimaa, and Åland. The regi ...

, aided by the

Swedish Navy The Swedish Navy ( sv, Svenska marinen) is the naval branch of the Swedish Armed Forces. It is composed of surface and submarine naval units – the Fleet () – as well as marine units, the Amphibious Corps (). In Swedish, vessels o ...

. There, the Swedes intended to liberate

Åbo Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a List of cities and towns in Finland, city and former Capital city, capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura (Archipelago Sea), Aura River, in the region of Southwest Finland, Finland Proper ...

(Finnish:''Turku'') from the Russians. The Swedish landing forces were commanded by Major General Eberhard von Vegesack. The Russian had about 3,600 men in the area under the command of Lieutenant General

Karl Gustav von Baggovut Karl Gustav von Baggehufwudt (russian: Карл Фёдорович Багговут, Romanization of Russian, tr. ; sv, Carl Gustaf Baggehufvudt; 27(Julian calendar, J:16) September 1761 in Perila, Estonia18 (Julian calendar, J:06) October 181 ...

Battle forces

Swedish

Russian

Overview

Major General von Vegesack started immediately to entrench the landing site. The main defense line was set along the terrain facing the open field. The guns deployed to the front of Ala-Lemo Manor house. The gunboats that escorted the landing fleet were positioned at the strait so that they closed the strait and had a view to the battlefield. The Russian troops were deployed in small units along the

Turku Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...

Vyborg Vyborg (; rus, Вы́борг, links=1, r=Výborg, p=ˈvɨbərk; fi, Viipuri ; sv, Viborg ; german: Wiborg ) is a town in, and the administrative center of, Vyborgsky District in Leningrad Oblast, Russia. It lies on the Karelian Isthmus ne ...

main road.

Phase 1 (Sunday 19 June)

The initial phases of the operation were quite successful for the Swedes, who managed to advance several kilometers and eventually have Turku in sight. However, the units of the Libau Infantry Regiment with one gun launched the first Russian counterattack and they pushed the advanced Swedish troops back to the main defense line. Von Vegesack attacked immediately to the Russian center. The Russian commander Baggovut received reinforcements and he attacked with divided forces; 2 companies attacked on the right, 2 companies on the left, and 2 companies with the gun in the center. Lieutenant von Vegesack (the son of the general) found the Russian left flank open and attacked immediately. The Russians had to withdraw a few kilometers in defense. The Swedish troops followed.

Phase 2 (Monday 20 June)

Major General Nikolay Borozdin collected more reinforcements: 300 men from the Brest Infantry Regiment, two more guns, and one squadron of the Finland Dragoon Regiment. In the early morning the Libau Infantry Regiment made the Swedish troops retreat again back to the main defense line. Von Vegesack ordered all of the men from the nearby islands to the Lemo battlefield and strengthened the defense line. Baggovut received the Pernov (Pärnu) Musketeer Regiment as additional reinforcement. The Russian launched the whole front attack with bayonets; the Pernov Regiment on the right, the Libau Regiment in the center, and the Brest Regiment on the left. The Russian artillery set fire to the Ala-Lemo Manor house. The Swedes were forced to pull back and eventually evacuate to their ships. The fortifications at the shore and later the gunboats defended the fleeing Swedes. The Russian artillery moved to the shore and fired at the Swedish fleet. Von Vegesack pulled both the land and sea forces back to the

Åland Islands Åland ( fi, Ahvenanmaa: ; ; ) is an autonomous and demilitarised region of Finland since 1920 by a decision of the League of Nations. It is the smallest region of Finland by area and population, with a size of 1,580 km2, and a populati ...

. After the battle the Russian reserve forces at Yli-Lemo were 2 companies from the Nevski Regiment and ½ squadron of the Finland Dragoon Regiment.

Legacy

In the summer of 2008 the monument ' ("Dying soldier") by the sculptor Heidi Limnell was erected near the Yli-Lemo Manor house in memory of all soldiers killed in the battle of Lemo. The monument was inspired by

The Tales of Ensign Stål ''The Tales of Ensign Stål'' (Swedish original title: , fi, Vänrikki Stoolin tarinat, or year 2007 translation ) is an epic poem written in Swedish by the Finland-Swedish author Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the national poet of Finland. The poem de ...

, part: '.

Notes, citations and sources

Notes

Citations

Sources

* *

External links

Original Swedish text The Tales of Ensign Stål
of the book, at

Project Runeberg Project Runeberg ( sv, Projekt Runeberg) is a digital cultural archive initiative that publishes free electronic versions of books significant to the culture and history of the Nordic countries. Patterned after Project Gutenberg, it was founded ...

.
Battlemap June 19, 1808Battlemap June 20, 1808
* ttp://www.napolun.com/mirror/napoleonistyka.atspace.com/uniforms_Russian_army.htm Russian Army uniforms during the Napoleonic Wars