Henrich Danckwardt (circa 1670 - 16 September 1719), was a

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 ...

military officer.

Biography

Danckwardt was born to Henrik Danckwardt and Elisabet Clerck, and was the grandson of Joachim Danckwardt. He served for 9 years as a

page Page most commonly refers to: * Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to: Roles * Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation * Page (servant), traditionally a young m ...

under queen consort Hedvig Eleonora. Danckwardt was named

fänrik ''Fänrik'' () ( en, second lieutenant in the Swedish Army/Air Force, Acting sub-lieutenant in the Navy) is a company grade officer rank. In the army/airforce, it ranks above sergeant and below lieutenant. In the navy, it ranks above sergeant and ...

of the Västgöta-Dal Regiment in 1697 under Major Hugo Hamilton. Hamilton, during his previous service at another regiment, had then personally requested Danckwardt to be his captain. Hamilton was also responsible for Danckwardt's promotions to Major in 1711, and to

Överstelöjtnant Lieutenant colonel (LtCol) ( sv, Överstelöjtnant, Övlt) is a field grade officer rank in the Swedish Armed Forces, just above the rank of major and just below the rank of colonel. It is equivalent to the naval rank of commander in the Swedi ...

(Lieutenant colonel) in 1712. After the debacle at Poltava, Hamilton's regiment was moved from

Stockholm Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

, where it participated in the

Battle of Helsingborg The Battle of Helsingborg was the last major engagement of the Great Northern War to take place on Swedish soil, and resulted in a decisive victory of a Swedish force of 14,000 men under the command of Magnus Stenbock against a Danish force of ...

in 1710. In 1712, it moved to

Gothenburg Gothenburg (; abbreviated Gbg; sv, Göteborg ) is the second-largest city in Sweden, fifth-largest in the Nordic countries, and capital of the Västra Götaland County. It is situated by the Kattegat, on the west coast of Sweden, and has ...

The defense of Carlsten fortress

Danckwardt was promoted to

Colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge of ...

and commander of

Carlsten fortress Carlsten ( sv, Karlstens fästning) is a stone fortress located at Marstrand, on the western coast of Sweden. The fortress was built on the orders of King Carl X of Sweden following the Treaty of Roskilde, 1658 to protect the newly acquired pr ...

Marstrand Marstrand () is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,320 inhabitants in 2010. The town got its name from its location on the island of Marstrand. Despite its small population, for histori ...

in 1712. When Carlsten was assaulted by

Peder Tordenskjold Peter Jansen Wessel Tordenskiold (28 October 1690 – 12 November 1720), commonly referred to as Tordenskjold (), was a Norwegian nobleman and flag officer who spent his career in the service of the Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy. He rose to the ran ...

's forces, Danckwardt was forced to surrender on 15 July 1719. Danckwardt was thereafter arrested while trying to evade custody, and sentenced to death. The

executioner An executioner, also known as a hangman or headsman, is an official who executes a sentence of capital punishment on a legally condemned person. Scope and job The executioner was usually presented with a warrant authorising or order ...

was at the time, intoxicated and was therefore delayed. When the executioner at last arrived, he had to attempt the

decapitation Decapitation or beheading is the total separation of the head from the body. Such an injury is invariably fatal to humans and most other animals, since it deprives the brain of oxygenated blood, while all other organs are deprived of the i ...

of Danckwardt twice before succeeding on 16 September 1719 in

. The executioner received a formal warning. Danckwardt's fellow officers were also later sentenced by the court martial to the death penalty, but were pardoned.

References

Bibliography

* * ''Svenska män och kvinnor'', 2. Albert Bonniers förlag: Stockholm 1944 {{DEFAULTSORT:Danckwart, Henrich 1670s births 1719 deaths Swedish Army colonels 18th-century executions by Sweden