Swedish-Norwegian War in 1814

[Freddy]

In Lillehammer, Norway there is a big museum of local houses called Maihaugen, one of the houses is a military barracks of 1814, with some uniforms and equipment displayed. I made some photos when I was there, I put them in my blog for you. As it is a windowless wooden barn in the bright Scandinavian sunlight, some photos might not be studio quality, but I hope that they are useable.
https://makettekeswg.blogspot.com/2025/05/1213-napoleoni-haborus-norveg-katonai.html

[Swampking]

Okie dokie! I'll hop on Schnitler after i return from the gym. Tomorrow is work but Saturday and Sunday I can post pics as well. I'll also start reading Mankell and Bjorlin to see what they say about the Swedish forces. However, I believe Schnitler has orbats for the Swedes as well. I could be wrong as I haven't read the book in years.

Info will be incoming in a few hours.

[traveller]

Okie dokie! I'll hop on Schnitler after i return from the gym. Tomorrow is work but Saturday and Sunday I can post pics as well. I'll also start reading Mankell and Bjorlin to see what they say about the Swedish forces. However, I believe Schnitler has orbats for the Swedes as well. I could be wrong as I haven't read the book in years.

Info will be incoming in a few hours.

Great! I have most of the sources on the Swedish forces including the regimental histories. They are not so specific on the Norwegian forces so it would be interesting to see what Schnitler says.

[Calvin59]

Thank you Freddy for sharing this place and the photos you took with us. 

[Calvin59]

Thank you, Swampking, for your information, which will be invaluable to me, given that, apart from English, other languages ??are unknown to me. But why not learn some basics? 

[Calvin59]

I hope we can learn a lot from Swampking about the Norwegian army. This way, my dear Traveler, you can get some additional information about the Swedish opponents. 

[Gribb]

Hey Gents,

Before I start posting info, I would like to know how detailed y'all want the info. I have 4 books that I can consult, the aforementioned book by Terje Holm and:

J. Mankell, Falttaget i Norge ar 1814: Kritisk Belysning (Stockholm, 1887)
G. Bjorlin, Kriget i Norge 1814 (Stockholm, 1893
D. Schnitler (Oberstloitnant), Blade af Norges Krigshistorie (Kristiania, 1895)

Schnitler is by far the most detailed. It'll take some time to type in the info but if you want it down to the company level, it's up to y'all. The translation will take a bit of time unless I use Google translate but I don't want to waste people's time with useless information and minutae that wouldn't affect gameplay.

Let me know and I'll get started ASAP!

Have you read 'Da Dovre Falt - Kampene ved Langnes 1814' by Ola Johnsgaard Moen? He is the foremost historian on the Norwegian Napoleonic army, having spent time researching Norwegian Military archives from the period, and have written several articles about it. I corresponded with him a few years back regarding the war of 1808.

[Calvin59]

Thank you, Gribb, for the document page you posted on the thread. Unfortunately, I can't get my hands on it since I don't speak Norwegian. But luckily, there are people like you who can help. 

[Gribb]

According to Norwegian historian Ola J. M. (whom I just corresponded with), choosing a red-coated line infantry unit for the 1814 campaign is tricky, since most were present somewhere, but few stood out consistently. It's is mainly the regimental rifle companies that distinguish themselves in multiple engagements. Some formations are more prominent than others:

Akershusiske Skarpskytterregiment is arguably the most "representative" unit. Its 1st Battalion fought at Lier, Skotterud, and Matrand, while its 2nd and 3rd Battalions were more scattered in Østfold.

Spørck’s detachment under Stabell’s command is an interesting combined force, including:

Lærdalske Rifle Company (from Bergenhus Rifle Battalion),

Parts of the Norwegian Rifle Corps,

Spørck’s own light troops from Søndenfjeldske IR,

Akershus Rifle Regiment,

And regimental artillery.

Note: The grey uniforms that was worn by Norwegian light and rifle units were a lighter gray than the one intended due to the material available in Norway at the time. Source: 'Da Dovre Falt - Kampene ved Langnes 1814'. p.83.

For including red-coated units, one might consider choosing between the 2nd Trondhjemske Infantry Regiment, which fought at Lier and Skotterud/Matrand; the Oplandske Regiment, active at Langnes; the Vesterlenske Regiment, known for its role at Kjølberg; the Bergenhusiske Infantry Regiment, which was assigned a significant role but never fully engaged; or the Søndenfjeldske Regiment, which had its depot battalion stationed at Fredriksten but lost its 1st Battalion at Fredrikstad, among others.

For deeper insight into the Norwegian army structure, he recommends Lindbäck-Larsen’s 'Den norske hær og 1814'. Being somewhat more recent than other major works and the result of thorough research, it stands as the best single reference to date—providing detailed data, operational context, and a comprehensive review of troop movements.


Regarding those mentioned earlier by Swampking:

Björlin is generally regarded as the most reliable source due to his thorough referencing and his background in the War History Department of the Swedish General Staff. However, his work relies minimally on Norwegian primary sources, reflecting a Swedish perspective and the viewpoint of a conservative officer writing shortly before 1905.

Mankell, ironically, often adopts a pro-Norwegian stance and faced considerable criticism for it during his time, but his accounts tend to be rushed and somewhat superficial.

Schnitler is considered decent but presents a somewhat inconsistent narrative influenced by a "moral" militarization agenda tied to the period before 1905, which is understandable given his position as a Norwegian officer.

[Calvin59]

Thank you very much for these explanations, which are very interesting and very important to me given that I know nothing about this army.
To reproduce the soldier's photo in a figurine, can we use these figurines from Perry Miniatures? 

[Calvin59]

Found on the net about the Danish army 

Danish Army
1808-14
by Christian C. Strachan

   
Historical Setting

In 1807 an English force of 30,000 men (among them the later Duke of Wellington) invaded the Island of Zealand, and together with a strong naval fleet of 24 ships-of-the-line forced the Danish Government, after having shelled Copenhagen, to surrender her fleet including 17 ships-of-the-line and 17 Frigates. Denmark declared war on Britain and concluded an Alliance with France. The year after the Danish Army was reorganised, and put on a war footing. Action, however, was mainly limited to skirmishes at sea, and some fighting along the Swedish-Norwegian border. (Sweden was at war with Russia and Denmark). Sweden was forced to cede Finland to Russia, and after Marshal Bernadotte became Crown Prince hoped to wrest Norway from Denmark as compensation for Finland.

In 1812 a division was put at Napoleon's disposal, but did not directly participate in the campaign against Russia. Two months before the Russian campaign started Russia and Sweden had concluded an Alliance, whereby the two States agreed upon forcing Denmark to cede Norway to Sweden. Denmark thus became Napoleon's last ally.

General State of Defence:

After the reorganisation of 1808 the strength of the Army was 39,000 Line and 31,500 reinforcement troops, the letters quality and training not equal to that of the Line. Military service was to be 8 years in the Line, followed by 6 years in the reinforcement battalions, which were only called out during war.

Leadership was generally good, though rather old. Thus the average age of the generals (23 in 1810) was 60. Prince Frederick of Hessen, brother-in-law of the King, and only 42 (1813), was probably the ablest of the generals.

The Danish infantry were about average, while the cavalry were considered to be among the best in Europe.

The main arm of the infantry was the musket, of course. Only the Jager corps were armed with rifles. Effective range was 300-400 paces, 1 round per minute. Because of the low rate of fire, half were armed with sharpshooter muskets. It was found that rifles were ineffective against cavalry. All other Jagers and sharpshooters were armed with sharpshooter muskets. The Sharpshooter corps usually fought in close order, while the Jager corps were used as skirmishers.

There were three main fortresses in Denmark ? Copenhagen, Rendsborg and Kronborg (Elsinore), and a number of smaller ones : Korser, Nyborg, Fredericia, Fladstrand, Hals Skanse (near Aalborg), Frederiksort (near Kiel), Gluckstadt, Gottorp, Helgoland and Christianse. Only Nyborg, Frederiksort and Helgoland had permanent garrison coys.

Infantry

1 Battalion of Life Guards (4 coys): at Copenhagen.

13 Infantry Regiments:

Danish Life Regt; Norwegian Life Regt: King's Life Regt; Crown's Life Regt; Prince Frederick's Foot Regt. -- at Copenhagen.
Infantry Regiment Funen -- at Fredericia
1st Infantry Regt. Jutland -- at Aarhus
2nd Infantry Regt. -- at Viborg
3rd Infantry Regt. -- at Aalborg
Infantry Regiment Slesvig -- at Slesvig
Queen's Life Regiment -- at Gluckstadt
Infantry Regiment Oldenburg -- at Rendsborg
Infantry Regiment Holsten : at Holsten
3 Jager Corps: Zealand, Slesvig and Jutland.

3 Sharpshooter Corps : Zealand (at Kronborg), Jutland, Holsten.

The Jager-Grenadier Coy of Altona (volunteers) : 140 men.

1 Marine Battalion of 4 Coys.

1 Reinforcement Battalion on Langeland Island.

An Infantry Regiment consists of 2 Line and 2 Reinforcement battalions:

1. Battalion 1 Grenadier and 4 Musketeer Coys.
2. Bttn: 1 Jager and 4 Musketeer Coys
Each COY- 3 Officers and 165 others; total 40 Officers and 1,660 men.

3. Battalion 1 Jager and 4 Musketeer Coys.

4. Battalion 1 Jager and 4 Musketeer Coys.
Each COY- 3 Officer and 162 men

A Jager or Sharpshooter Corps has 2 battalions; 1 Line and 1 Reinforcement, each of 4 Coys Of 75-80 men. Thus a battalion has 300-325 men.

TOTAL - 67 battalions.

Cavalry:

Mounted Life Guards : 2 Sqds (each of 70 Officers and Men) at Copenhagen.

4 Heavy Cavalry Regts : Life Cavalry Regt (Slesvig); Cavalry Regt. Zealand (Slagelse); Cavalry Regt. Slesvig (Horsens) and Cavalry Regt. Holsten (Haderslev).

3 Light Dragoon Regiments : Life Regt. Light Dragoons (Itzehoe); Light Dragoon Regt. Funen (Odense) and Light Dragoon Regt. Jutland (Randers).

1 Hussar Regt. of 6 Sqds of Cavalry - 135 Officers and men (4 Sqds on Zealand, 2 (2nd and 6th) in Holsten).

A 7th Hussar Sqd is transformed into Uhlans (the Bosniaks).

A 4th Light Dragoon Regt. was raised 1807 : Prince Frederick Ferdinands Light Dragoon Regt.

The Field Jager Corps (Kiel) : 1 sqd(?) (volunteers).

A Light Dragoon or (heavy) Cavalry Regt. consists of 4 Sqds, each of 5 Officers and 158 men (of which 12 armed with rifles as flankers).

TOTAL - 41 Squadrons and the Field Jager Corps.

Also in existance 3rd November 1813 to 18th January 1814 the Hussarcorps Zealana at Rendsborg (4 Officers and 225 others). There were also several voluntary mounted Jager units on the isles during 1808-14.

Artillery and Engineers:

Line Artillery: 9 Foot Coys; 1 Horse Coy at Copenhagen
Line Artillery: 3 Foot Coys; 1 Horse Coy at Rendsborg

Reinforcement Artillery: 8 Foot Coys on Zealand and 2 in Jutland
Reinforcement Artillery: 6 Foot Coys in the two Duchies.

A company has 165-170 men.
A battery (= Coy) has 8 guns and 2 howitzers.

Guns are 12 pdrs, 6 pdrs or 3 pdrs.

Howitzers are 36 pdrs, 10 pdrs or 6 pdrs. The Horse

Artillery have 6 pdr cannon and 6 pdr howitzers.

Gunners have no muskets, only swords.

1 Coy. of Artisans.
1 Coy. of Miners.
37 Engineer Officers.
A small Sapper Corps 1808-14.

Each infantry regiment earlier had 4 3pdrs attached, which were usually massed. However, there are 3pdr batteries in 1812-13, so I suppose the regimental guns have disappeared. Of the Line batteries at least 2 were heavy 12 pdr batteries. There were about equal numbers of 3 pdrs and 6 pdrs.

Militia

Coastal Militia: Only for local defence. From 1802-12 only about 1/3 were armed with muskets. 1812-14 they were reorganised in 30 battalions all with muskets. These battalions were probably well below the 800 in a regular battalion. 20 on Zealand and isles, 4 on Funen and Langeland, 8 in Jutland, 6 in the twin Duchies.

Bornholm Militia: 1 battalion of reasonably well trained men : 4 Musketeer and 1 Jager Coy each of 200 men. In addition a Landstorm of 11 Coys of variable strength (in all 2,500). 4 Dragoon Coys of Cavalry 120 men each, 2 Artillery Coys of 250 men each, well trained.

Total Militia : 4,500 (including all able-bodied men).

The Landstorm was worthless.

Volunteer Corp and Citizen Militia:

Copenhagen could muster some 11,000 men, of which 4,000 were armed.

N.H. The Norwegian Army, separate from the Danish, only operated in Norway.

1813 Campaign
Refusing to give up Norway, Denmark continued to stand by the side of Napoleon even after his defeat in 1812. The Danish Auxiliary Corps of 11,000 men was formed under Infantry General Prince Frederick of Hessen, and became part of the French XIII corps under Marshal Davout. The corps was divided into 3 Brigades:

Advance Guard Brigade:
The French Brig. General l'Allemand, an excellent French Officer detached by Napoleon.
2nd Bn Jagercorps Slesvig
1st and 2nd Bns Sharpshootercorps Holsten
2nd and 6th Hussar Sqds; 1 3pdr battery.

1st Brigade:
Major-General Ct. v. Schulenburg
1st, 2nd and 3rd Has Infantry Regt. Oldenburg
4th Bn Infantry Regt. Holsten.
1st Bn Queen's Life Regt and Jager Coy of 2nd Bn. Cavalry Regt. Holsten (4 Sqds).
1 6pdr Foot Battery.
Jager Coy of 4th Bn Infantry Regt. Oldenburg.

2nd Brigade:
Major-General of the Cavalry Lasson
1st and 2nd Has Infantry Regt. Funen.
3 Bn Infantry Regt. Holsten.
1st and 2nd Has Infantry Regt. Slesvig.
Light Dragoon Regt. Jutland (4 Sqds).
1 6pdr Foot Battery and 1 3pdr Battery.

Total: 13 Battalions, 2 Independent Jager Coys, 10 Sqds and 40 guns (4 bat

Reinforcements end of August
Light Dragoon Regt. Funen and 1 Coy of sailors (125 men)

Reinforcements end of November
1st Bn 3rd Infantry Regt. Jutland. 2nd Bn (3 Coys) Infantry Regt. Slesvig. Jager COY, 3rd Bn./Inf.Regt. Slesvig. 1 Coy of Louise Augustas Lifejagers (Volunteer unit). The Jager Grenadier Coy Altona.

At Gluckstadt:
3rd and 4th Bns Queen's Life Regiment (very bad).
2nd Bn Sharpshootercorps Jutland.
1 Jager Coys from Jagercorps Zealand and Jutland.
1 3pdr battery.

After Napoleon's defeat at Leipzig, a combined Swedish-Russian-German army pressed north and after several fierce combats and one minor battle pushed the Danes into Rendisburg. King Frederick VI with the main army on Funen refused to come to Prince Frederick 'a aid and on the 15th December 1313 an armistice was signed. The army was demobilised, all reinforcements and volunteer units dissolved.

[Gribb]

Thank you very much for these explanations, which are very interesting and very important to me given that I know nothing about this army.
To reproduce the soldier's photo in a figurine, can we use these figurines from Perry Miniatures? 

The main thing that I can see at first glance is that the Perry figures are armed with rifles, whereas Norwegian sharpshooters were using muskets. This may be regarded as a minor detail at this scale. They should work for Regimental Jägers.

[Calvin59]

Thank you Gribb for your advice on the figurines, perhaps this one would be a good fit for the photo you posted above. 

[Gribb]

Thank you Gribb for your advice on the figurines, perhaps this one would be a good fit for the photo you posted above. 

Honestly, I would go for the first figures you suggested instead. The Perry's are as close at it will get. And the poses are more suitable for the small-scale actions in the war. I am tempted to get them as well at some point, but I am too busy trying to finish the 1808 forces. Still tempting:) But using those packs you could paint up forces to represent Akershusiske Skarpskytterregiment, Bergenhusiske og Valderske Skarpskytterbataljon.

Have you considered how many figures and what rules you will settle for?

[Calvin59]

Thank you again for your feedback. I wanted to tell you that I became interested in this conflict when I read a monograph by Bernadotte. I then decided to instead of falling into the trap of nations like the French, English, Prussians, and many others, the author spoke very succinctly about the conflicts of 1808 and 1814.
That's why I chose the Danish and Swedish from the Perry brothers. It's true that the latter have fewer references to the Swedish, but I like the sculpture compared to Eagle.

I also have a dilemma about the conflict of 1808 or 1814; I haven't decided yet.

As for the rules, I don't know; I haven't chosen yet, and I'm waiting to meet my gaming partner to discuss it. But I settled on two rules: "Sharp Practice" and "One-Hour Skirmish Wargames Rules." A member of this Traveller forum recommended this rule to me because he thought it was excellent for skirmishing. Could I ask your opinion on these rules?