Battle of Valkeala took place in

Gustav III's Russian War Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

April 29, 1790 at

Valkeala Valkeala is a former municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Southern Finland, and is a neighborhood of city of Kouvola, and it was a part of the Kymenlaakso region. The municipality had a population of 11,238 (2003) and cove ...

Kymenlaakso Kymenlaakso ( sv, Kymmenedalen; " Kymi/Kymmene Valley") is a region in Finland. It borders the regions of Uusimaa, Päijät-Häme, South Savo and South Karelia and Russia (Leningrad Oblast). Its name means literally ''The Valley of River Kymi'' ...

Southern Finland Southern Finland ( fi, Etelä-Suomen lääni, sv, Södra Finlands län) was a province of Finland from 1997 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Western Finland and Eastern Finland. It also bordered the Gulf of Finland and Russia. History O ...

and ended with a Swedish victory.

Context

On April 28, 1790, a Swedish army corps of 4000 men under the command of

Gustav III Gustav III (29 March 1792), also called ''Gustavus III'', was King of Sweden from 1771 until his assassination in 1792. He was the eldest son of Adolf Frederick of Sweden and Queen Louisa Ulrika of Prussia. Gustav was a vocal opponent of what ...

and several of his closest officers crossed the

Kymi River The Kymi ( fi, Kymijoki, sv, Kymmene älv) is a river in Finland. It begins at Lake Päijänne, flows through the provinces of Päijänne Tavastia, Uusimaa and Kymenlaakso and discharges into the Gulf of Finland. The river passes the towns ...

in Pörille village, at a hastily struck bridge over a ford. The next day, they continued their march to Valkeala, where a Russian force of 3000 men stood ready to face them. The Swedish force available for battle consisted of roughly 3000 men, since 3 battalions had been diverted to guard the ford crossing and rear positions. The Swedes were victorious in the following battle, pressing home the victory with several successful head-on bayonet charges. After Colonel Swedenhjelm's adversity through

Anjala Anjala was a town in Southern Finland, which merged in 1975 with Sippola to form Anjalankoski, later further merged into Kouvola Kouvola () is a city and municipality in southeastern Finland. It is located along the Kymijoki River in the region ...

on May 5, the Army Corps of

Keltis ''Keltis'' is a board game designed by Reiner Knizia that won the Spiel des Jahres The Spiel des Jahres (, ''Game of the Year'') is an award for board and card games, created in 1978 with the purpose of rewarding family-friendly game design ...

returned the Kymi river. Swedish units involved included the

Västmanland Regiment The Västmanland Regiment ( sv, Västmanlands regemente), designations I 18 and Fo 48, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. It was disbanded for the first time in 1927 but later reraised and disb ...

, Östergötland Infantry Regiment, Life Grenadier Regiment, 1st Life Grenadier Regiment and

Kronoberg Regiment The Kronoberg Regiment ( sv, Kronobergs regemente), designations I 11 and I 11/Fo 16, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. It was disbanded in 1997. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruit ...

. The Swedes had 13 killed and 137 wounded of the lower rank soldiers (of which 9 killed and 68 wounded from the Kronoberg, 4 killed and 49 wounded from the Västmanland, 13 wounded from the Östgöta regiments and the rest attributed to the Jägers, dragoons and artillery) and 1 killed and 20 wounded of the higher rank, including both Gustav Wachtmeister who had been shot in his arm and the king himself who had suffered a light contusion in his arm. Left on the battlefield there were 50 Russians killed and 70 wounded with another 40 unharmed captives of the lower rank. Additionally two higher ranked officers had been killed with another two captured. The total casualties of the Russians are unknown, many may have been brought with them as they retreated, however, it is said that their Jeager battalion had 317 at the beginning of the battle, but only 60 remained as they retreated. The Swedes captured a large bulk of supplies left by the retreating Russians.

Aftermath

Wachtmeister was the hero of the hour for a king who wished for good publicity. Wachtmeister was made a

Major-General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

for his heroic intervention.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Valkeala Battles of the Russo-Swedish War (1788–1790) Battles involving Russia Battles involving Sweden Conflicts in 1790 1790 in Europe History of Kymenlaakso