Toverud is a farm in

Aurskog Aurskog is a former municipality in Akershus county, Norway. The administrative centre was Aursmoen Aursmoen is a village in the municipality of Aurskog-Høland, Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries ...

in the municipality of

Aurskog-Høland Aurskog-Høland is a municipality in Akershus in Viken county, Norway. It is part of the Romerike traditional region. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Bjørkelangen. The municipality of Rømskog, in Østfold count ...

Akershus Akershus () is a traditional region and current electoral district in Norway, with Oslo as its main city and traditional capital. It is named after the Akershus Fortress in Oslo. From the middle ages to 1919, Akershus was a fief and main county ...

county,

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

and the site of the Battle of Toverud (''Slaget ved Toverud''). During 1908 in connection with the centennial of the battle, the Toverud monument (''Toverudstøtta'') was erected at the site of the battle.

Battle of Toverud

In February 1808, Denmark-Norway was forced by

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

to declare war on

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 ...

. On 14 April 1808 a Swedish brigade crossed the border and went west to

, Norway. After a brief but dramatic battle, Swedish commander Axel Otto Mörner (1774-1852) had to surrender. Danish nobleman Christian August of Augustenborg successfully commanded the army of Norway and compelled the numerically superior Swedish forces to withdraw behind the border after the Battle of Toverud on April 19–20, 1808. One contributory factor behind the poor performance of the Swedish invasion force in Norway was that

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 ...

had invaded

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

on February 21, 1808 at the start of 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 ...

. The two-front war proved disastrous for Sweden.''Russo-Swedish War 1808'' (Armed Conflict Events Database)
/ref> The success of Christian August both as a military commander at Toverud and in the subsequent battle on June 10, 1808 at

Prestebakke Prestebakke is a village in the municipality of Halden in Østfold Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland Coun ...

Østfold Østfold is a traditional region, a former county and a current electoral district in southeastern Norway. It borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other side o ...

, and as leader of the provisional government made him very popular in Norway. In 1808 Christian August was promoted to

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

, and in 1809 he became Governor-general of Norway. Prince Christian August was also held in high esteem within Sweden because he had refrained from pursuing the retreating army of Sweden while that country was hard pressed by Russia in the

. Consequently, Christian August was elected Crown Prince of Sweden as successor to the

Swedish throne The monarchy of Sweden is the monarchical head of state of Sweden,See the Instrument of Government, Chapter 1, Article 5. which is a constitutional and hereditary monarchy with a parliamentary system.Parliamentary system: see the Instrument o ...

after the overthrow of the incompetent King

Gustav IV Adolf Gustav IV Adolf or Gustav IV Adolph (1 November 1778 – 7 February 1837) was King of Sweden from 1792 until he was deposed in a coup in 1809. He was also the last Swedish monarch to be the ruler of Finland. The occupation of Finland in 1808–09 ...

References

Other sources

*Skar, Johannes ''Um slaget ved Toverud. Prinsen av Augustenborg'' (Det Norske Samlaget, Oslo 1897) *Gjerset, Knut ''History of The Norwegian People'' (The Macmillan Company. 1915) *Elkan, Sophie ''An Exiled King, Gustaf Adolf IV of Sweden'' (London: Hutchinson & Co., 1913)

External links

Høland og Aurskog 1808
Akershus {{Norway-hist-stub no:Slaget ved Toverud