Russo-Swedish War of 1808-1809 or "Finnish War"

[traveller]

As a Swede, I must say this is a great thread! I want to start a project now too! 

Go, go, go! 

[Calvin59]

Well, Glening, if this thread has made you want to build a Swedish army, go for it.... 

[Gribb]

Here is a quick summary for the infantry based on the research in the book "Kronans kläder" (2010) by Armemuseum. This is a very good example on how the actual dress differ from any regulations and drawings available:
   
Each battalion also had a Jäger platoon of around 50 men. These were the youngest and most agile men who also were good marksmen. They were supposed to have rifles but usually had the same smoothbore muskets as the rest of the line infantry. Regulation also prescribed a little different uniform but the difference usually only was that they maybe had a green plume, In some cases a green collar and black leather belts. The regulation battalion formation is as follows with jägers fanning out into a screen with 3 meters between each man:




Please let me know if you want the flags for these regiments as well. I think I can find the ones relevant for 1808-1809(which are also usually not according to regulation...)

Regarding militia, I personally take great pleasure in searching for, and/or converting, miniatures for irregular units. The ones you propose are very good options. A long shirt or light coat is what you are looking for. The AWI range militia packs have several useful figures. Dismounted cossacks, maybe with a change of head can also be used. Wargames Foundry has some very nice ones sculpted by Copplestone. The Perry Napoleonic Russians can also be useful:

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/rn-57-angry-armed-peasants-attacking/
https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/rn-58-armed-peasants-some-with-captured-weapons/

Make sure you stay clear of any tricorns. The Finnish irregulars would be bareheaded or use slouch hats, Swedish army hats, knitted caps or skull caps as can be seen in the images above.

That’s really interesting information for me, as I’m painting figures for the 1808 invasion of Norway. I already have the Värmland Jägers painted, so it would be interesting to add some regimental jägers or sharpshooters. I’ve also been told the Norwegian army did something similar.

Thanks for sharing.

[Calvin59]

Thanks Gribb for your information, I imagine that Traveller who is knowledgeable on this subject will provide an answer. 

[traveller]

Thanks Gribb for your information, I imagine that Traveller who is knowledgeable on this subject will provide an answer. 

Sorry I did not get the question. Please ask and I will try to answer 

[glenning]

Since I'm a native of Södermanland I have to paint my Swedes as Södermanland troops - did they retain their blue uniforms during the war or did they switch to Grey as well?

Thanks in advance!

[traveller]

I am traveling this weekend but I will come back to you on Sunday. Is it the uniform for the Finnish War1808-1809 you are looking for?

[glenning]

Correct my good man!

[traveller]

Correct my good man!

Roger that 

Knötels research is usually correct. But I have seen some cases where he has gone wrong. He has for instance an image of a Bohuslän Jäger in Flandern 1814. The problem is that Bohuslän Regiment was in Sweden during that campaign… It will be interesting to investigate if his image above is valid for Finland or not 

[traveller]

I just read the excellent regimental history for the Södermanland Regiment. It is quite detailed in all aspects of the regiment. It was really interesting to read that their unforms were completely worn out after the campaign in Germany 1805-1807 so when they went to war in 1808 they had to use their fatigue uniform (släpuniform), which was meant for camp duty and manual labour. This is for most regiments grey with blue collar, cuffs and turnbacks but for this regiment it was white, still with blue collar and cuffs but with grey turnbacks and lining. The hat had a yellow plume and the neck scarf was red. Gaiters were black. In 1810 they received the standard m/1810 uniform but with yellow details. The regimental jägers (50 men per battalion) had the same uniform but with a green plume + a second green kind of laying across the hat, like this one:
https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/swed-12-vamland-jagers-skirmishing/

[Pancratist]

Hi,

I am very glad to see this interest in the war of 1808-1809. I have myself built up a collection of figures for it in the last few years. I have painted more than 15 battalions of the Swedish and Finnish regiments (ca 400 figures), but only about 10 for the Russians so far. I am currently trying to do a few more Russians to get them up to par with the Swedish side. However, it is slow going at them moment, and I have had little time for either painting or gaming recently. I find the Russians (Brigade Games figures) to be more difficult to paint quickly than the Perry Swedes.

The Finnish war is a challenge in many ways, and I find that I learn new things all the time. In fact, I just learned about the correct uniforms for Södermanland’s regt. from this thread! I have made some mistakes in my painting, but that is inevitable. I have decided to try not to look back (to correct any mistakes), at least not until I have painted all the units I need.

Ive written a bit about my progress here, including some posts on such things as flags and uniforms (please excuse the self-promotion):

https://pancratist.com/2025/03/04/the-finnish-army-of-1808/

https://pancratist.com/2025/01/29/swedish-infantry-flags-for-the-finnish-war-1808/

https://pancratist.com/2025/01/13/orders-of-battle-for-the-swedish-army-in-finland-summer-1808/

https://pancratist.com/2024/10/21/guide-to-the-uniforms-of-the-finnish-army-of-1808/

I was delighted to hear from Traveller that the Perrys plan to do Swedes in greatcoats. That means I can shelve my ideas for converting whole battalions…

[traveller]

Pancratist,

great to see you here! I have followed your website with great interest. You have made some fantastic work on your miniatures. The message from Alan Perry is indeed encouraging:

"Yes, I’ve been meaning to make them for some years now. I will get around to it.
All the best
Alan"

Lets hope it does not take too long. I expect that it will be marching only since it is a easy change from the current British marching in greatcoat. I have wanted some skirmishing Swedes in greatcoat for the 1813 campaign and used 1st Afghan War British Studio Miniatures (now Bicorne Miniatures), Some Front Rank Spanish guerillas and some West Wind:



Nowadays, Empress Miniatures have lots of British in greatcoats for the 1st Afghan War that also can be useful. Using greatcoats you do not need to worry about the uniforms that much 

[Calvin59]

Pancratist, thank you for sharing your blog on this conflict. I really enjoyed reading it and discovering your work, which is fantastic.
Would it be possible to reproduce the flags you posted?
I'll bookmark your blog to check out all the information. Thank you very much. 

[Pancratist]

Hi,

Thank you very much for the positive feedback. Regarding the flags, well, they are a work in progress. I have only done scans of some of the ones that youll need for the Finnish war. Of course you are welcome to try to print them using the images that are already on the website. Hopefully, I will at some point scale and print some myself at the local printer. I am a bit curious as to how that might look. But as always though, I have too many things going at the same time so it might be a while...

P

[Calvin59]

Thank you, Pancratiste, for giving me permission to make reproductions of your flags. For now, I have to paint the figurines, so it's not a priority for the moment. I think we're all a bit like that; we have our heads full of projects... (laughs)