The Battle of Pulkkila 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 near

Pulkkila Pulkkila is a former municipality and a village located in Northern Finland. Pulkkila is the administrative center of the municipality of Siikalatva and belongs to the region of Northern Ostrobothnia. The village is located south from Oulu and ...

Northern Ostrobothnia North Ostrobothnia ( fi, Pohjois-Pohjanmaa; sv, Norra Österbotten) is a region of Finland. It borders the Finnish regions of Lapland, Kainuu, North Savo, Central Finland and Central Ostrobothnia, as well as the Russian Republic of Karelia. ...

on 2 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 ...

. At the battle of Pulkkila on 2 May 1808,

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 ...

marched eastwards to liberate those parts of Finland that were under Russian control. During the march they encountered some Russian troops at

. Sandels used about 800 men for the attack; of which 350 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 ...

and 80 from the Savolax jägers. The Russian troops were led by Colonel Obuhov. The Russians were soon surrounded and tried desperately to break out, but they were forced back to a nearby village where the Russians were defeated after some vicious fighting. The Russian commander was forced to surrender to the attacking Swedes. The Swedes then went on and retook the town of

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 ...

in the middle of

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 ...

. Sandels' offensive was one of the most remarkable operations of the entire war. During his operations against

Barclay de Tolly Barclay de Tolly () is the name of a Baltic German noble family of Scottish origin (Clan Barclay). During the time of the Revolution of 1688 in Britain, the family migrated to Swedish Livonia from Towy (Towie) in Aberdeenshire. Its subsequent ...

's troops, he captured Russian depots, constantly harassed their rear areas, and committed actions that won him respect among both friends and foes. However, Swedish success was only temporary in the Summer Campaign 1808 and the Russian counteroffensive resulted in the Swedish retreat in late August 1808.

Notes, citations and sources

Notes

Citations

Sources

* {{coord, 64, 16, 05, N, 25, 52, 00, E, source:nowiki_region:FI_scale:30000_type:city, display=title Pulkkila 1808

1808 in Finland

May 1808 events History of North Ostrobothnia