Swedish-Norwegian War in 1814

[Gribb]

That's great Gaming wise, 1808 may be more balanced and contain more interesting troops if I should put it that way. The Norwegian army was, in spite of poor funding and old uniforms, highly motivated and had widespread civilian support as the strain of the naval blockade had not yet strained the economy as badly as in '14. That is not to say there was no fighting will then, but the army only had food for a couple of weeks, and the Swedish population was also more worn out by then. As I suspect was the case all over Europe by the final years of the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1808 the Norwegian army in the field employed Grenadiers as the main fighting force, supported by regimental artillery (amusettes), light infantry, ski troopers and some Dragoons. The Perry's have made the Norwegian Grenadiers, the amusette+crew and Dragoons. The Perry light infantry are not in the correct uniform for the units fighting in the major battles during the spring of '08. They would be wearing m/1793 ski uniforms. Again thanks to Ola J.M. for pointing that out, as I was about to purchase these for Lærdalske Light Infantry Compagnie: https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/dan-33-jaeger-and-light-infantry-command-1802-08/

Again, the terrain and small number of troops meant that the army as a whole were instructed to act more as skirmishers than regular linear formations. Christian August’s, commander-in-chief of the Norwegian armed forces, wrote instructions on how he believed the war should be fought. He wrote the following to Major General de Seue on April 8, 1808:

“Instruct the troops to avoid fighting on open plains. In hilly terrain, they should spread out in skirmish lines, use every opportunity for ambush and cover. On the plains, they should quickly regroup and face cavalry head-on from all sides. Do not fire without orders. When firing, aim at a specific enemy. Hide the size of your force. Avoid purely defensive positions — that only leads us to retreat from position to position all the way to Lindesnes.

In narrow passes, make it impossible for the enemy to get in or out. Remember what happened at Kringlen [1] — if the farmers had held their ground there, Sinclair would not have broken through. Be quick to gather, and just as quick to scatter. Ban parade drills and outdated maneuvers — the Seven Years' War is over.

Don’t shoot unless you are confident to hit the target. Go for the assault, use the bayonet. Don’t shoot until the enemy is right up close — close enough that you can’t miss. Do not surrender. If you must fall, take three enemies with you into the next life.”

Notes:
1.'Kringlen' is a reference to a battle taking place two centuries earlier against a Scottish Invasion force: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kringen

[Calvin59]

Once again, thank you so much for sharing your knowledge. It's true that I'd be more inclined to choose 1808, because I really like the headgear of both nations (a kind of top hat). The Perry brothers also made quite a few figurines from this period. The only thing missing is the skiers, but hey, we can't see everything.
And what rules do you use? 

[Calvin59]

Could I ask you if it would be too much trouble to give me the references of the Norwegians from the Perry figurines. That way I would not make a mistake since I would have a source from a person who knows this army well. 

[Swampking]

Here's part 1 of Schnitler

[Swampking]

Part 2 (if the damn Net will cooperate this time!  ):

[traveller]

Excellent! Thanks!

[Gribb]

Could I ask you if it would be too much trouble to give me the references of the Norwegians from the Perry figurines. That way I would not make a mistake since I would have a source from a person who knows this army well. 

Glad to be of help! Most of my knowledge, however, should be credited to what Ola J.M. conveyed in correspondence, as well as the works he recommended.

Sharp Practice is a good fit for these wars, as it is entirely dedicated to skirmish games.

For spring 1808, these figures would work:

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/dan-1-infantry-command-with-two-standard-bearers-1803-08/

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/dan-4-norwegian-grenadiers-in-m1789-caps-marching-1803-08/

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/dan-26-danish-rytter-1802-08-norwegian-dragoons-1804-10-command-in-round-hats-galloping/

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/dan-27-danish-rytter-1802-08-norwegian-dragoons-1804-10-galloping-swords-shouldered-round-hats/

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/dan-57-1pounder-amusette-with-1803-08-crew-aiming/

https://www.perry-miniatures.com/product/dan-43-foot-artillery-firing-howitzer-in-round-hats-1803-8/

Ski troops are made by Steve Barber in the correct attire:

https://www.stevebarbermodels.com/store/Norwegian-Napoleonic-c58807401

Note: Only the artillery and cavalry wore the long blue trousers often depicted in artwork. The infantry wore short white breeches with tall black gaiters that stopped just below the knee—except for sharpshooters, who were issued long white trousers.

[Swampking]

Part 3:

Hey Gribb,
I tried looking for the book by Moen but none of the usual suspects had it (antikvariat.net and norli.no). Do you have any ideas of where else to buy a copy?

The last 3 pages contains info about the Swedish Army that invaded Norway in 1814.

[Gribb]

Part 3:

Hey Gribb,
I tried looking for the book by Moen but none of the usual suspects had it (antikvariat.net and norli.no). Do you have any ideas of where else to buy a copy?

The last 3 pages contains info about the Swedish Army that invaded Norway in 1814.

It seems that the book is no longer for sale at Norli (Askim), who used to have it in stock. To obtain copies, the best option now would be to contact Indre Østfold Kommune, who commissioned the author to write it and had it published.

[Calvin59]

Again, thank you Gribb for finding the right figures at Perry. Can the command go with the DAN1 reference for the grenadiers? Otherwise, are there no infantrymen like the DAN2 reference? And is it possible to take the DAN 33 and DAN34 references, to represent light troops. 

[Gribb]

Again, thank you Gribb for finding the right figures at Perry. Can the command go with the DAN1 reference for the grenadiers? Otherwise, are there no infantrymen like the DAN2 reference? And is it possible to take the DAN 33 and DAN34 references, to represent light troops. 

The Grenadier command would wear top hats, actually. So DAN1 will work with DAN3.

DAN2, regular musketeers, were mostly stationed in forts and did not participate much in spring 1808. They could work for summer/autumn.

If you want to have the light troops represented DAN 33 and 34 could work as the Jägers, but they did not participate in spring. But still, you can use them as a representation for light infantry, even though they would have used the m/1793 ski trooper uniform:

[Swampking]

I have Lindbäck-Larsen’s Den norske hær og 1814; however, I haven't read it in forever and a day. I might have to go back and read him again. From what I remember, the book was based on his PhD research, although I might have mixed him up with someone else. I've also got some of Munthe's work on the Norwegian army but as with the above, I haven't read him in a decade or more.

I believe the 3 recent books on the Danish/Norwegian Army written by David Wilson (published by Helion) is probably the best modern source in English. I'm basing my 15mm Norwegian 1814 army on Wilson's book. However, I've only painted up the mounted artillery and some of the generals and cavalry.

[Calvin59]

Found some engravings online. First image: Norwegian soldiers in 1814 by Andreas Bloch.
Second image: Skiers fighting the Swedes during the border battles of 1808. Drawing by Andreas Bloch. 

[Calvin59]

Norwegian and Swedish soldier during the Seven Years' War, 1807-1814. 

[Gribb]

I have Lindbäck-Larsen’s Den norske hær og 1814; however, I haven't read it in forever and a day. I might have to go back and read him again. From what I remember, the book was based on his PhD research, although I might have mixed him up with someone else. I've also got some of Munthe's work on the Norwegian army but as with the above, I haven't read him in a decade or more.

I believe the 3 recent books on the Danish/Norwegian Army written by David Wilson (published by Helion) is probably the best modern source in English. I'm basing my 15mm Norwegian 1814 army on Wilson's book. However, I've only painted up the mounted artillery and some of the generals and cavalry.

That's correct. If you have Lindbäcl-Larsen you have it covered. Wilson's books appear to be well researched.

However, he has presented the amusette as being painted in red, whereas it would be a shade of blueish-grey or grey like the rest of the artillery. There may be more but I need to look throughly through the book. He does seem inclined to speculation, as to whether blue trousers were worn by infantry units, if colours other than the Dannebrog was in use (most were stored anyhow), and the use of portable 10pdr mortars which also is not verified in action in either wars that I know. I have only briefly talked with him on messenger.