A SWEDISH SOLDIER IN THE NAPOLEONIC WARS: The Memoirs of Carl Magnus Hultin, 1807-1814

1-242370

Memoir by a low-ranking officer first published in 1872 and reprinted in Sweden in 1954 and 1955. Covers his service on campaign from 1808 to 1814 in Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and North Germany. Provides a new perspective of little-known actions, small by the standards of continental Europe, but vital to our understanding of Sweden's part in the war. Contains 74 black and white photos and illustrations and five black and white maps.

In 1808, at the age of 18 and whilst a student at Linkoping High School, Carl Magnus Hultin enlisted as a junior officer in the militia, answering the call-to-arms in the nation's efforts to stem the Russian tide before Finland was lost. He then transferred to the regular army as an ensign in the Jonkoping Regiment. He took part in the ill-fated Vasterbotten expedition against the Russians on Swedish soil in 1809 and witnessed the 1809 coup d'etat to remove the unpopular King Gustav IV Adolf. Following the 'phoney' war with Britain 1811-1812, he served in Mecklenberg, Holstein, and Belgium against France and Denmark in the 1813-1814 campaign under Napoleon's former Marechal Bernadotte, who had been elected as Sweden's Crown Prince. Finally, he participated in the 1814 Norwegian campaign that saw the Union of Norway and Sweden, which lasted until 1905. He remained in the army after the war, retiring as a captain in 1842.