The Battle of Koljonvirta ( fi, Koljonvirran taistelu) ( sv, Slaget vid Virta bro) i.e. the Battle of the Virta Bridge 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 transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

n troops on October 27, 1808. The Swedish force consisted of troops from Savolax and Östergötland. After the main Swedish army had been defeated at the

Battle of Oravais The Battle of Oravais ( fi, Oravaisten taistelu; sv, Slaget vid Oravais) was one of the decisive battles in the Finnish War, fought from 1808 to 1809 between Sweden and the Russian Empire as part of the wider Napoleonic Wars. Taking place in ...

the army under

Johan August Sandels Count Johan August Sandels (31 August 1764 – 22 January 1831) was a Swedish soldier and politician, being appointed Governor-general of Norway (''Riksståthållare'' in Swedish, ''Rigsstatholder'' in Dano-Norwegian) 1818 and Field Marshal ...

in Savonia had to retreat in order not to be outflanked by the Russians. Sandels found a good defensive position north of

Iisalmi Iisalmi (; sv, Idensalmi) is a town and municipality in the region of Northern Savonia in Finland. It is located north of Kuopio and south of Kajaani. The municipality has a population of (), which makes it the second largest of the five towns ...

and decided to resist the Russian advance there. LA2-stridfin-map-virtabro

Between September 29 and October 27 a

cease-fire A ceasefire (also known as a truce or armistice), also spelled cease fire (the antonym of 'open fire'), is a temporary stoppage of a war in which each side agrees with the other to suspend aggressive actions. Ceasefires may be between state act ...

was in effect. Sandels was heavily outnumbered but had a good defensive position between two lakes connected by the Koljonvirta river and he had prepared his position well during the cease-fire. On October 27 the cease-fire was to end at 1 PM, but Russians started their attack a little earlier, perhaps because of the time difference between Sweden and Russia. Sandels pulled back the forces on the south side of the river and the Russians attacked over the partially demolished bridge. The Swedes counter-attacked and literally pushed the Russian troops into the river. The Russians pulled up fresh troops on the south side of the river, but they didn't try to attack again. The battle was the last Swedish victory on Finnish soil.

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* * {{coord, 63, 35, 19, N, 27, 09, 51, E, source:nowiki_region:FI_scale:30000_type:city, display=title Koljonvirta Koljonvirta 1808 Iisalmi 1808 in Finland Koljonvirta Koljonvirta History of North Savo October 1808 events

See also

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