It's sometimes stated that the French ambassador Guiscard was present in Riga during the Düna crossing on 9 July 1701. I am not where this story comes from, but it was used to great effect by Frans G. Bengtsson in his vivid description of the event. Unfortunately it's entirely fictitious. Guiscard was not permitted to accompany the army when it marsched southwards in June and instead went to Reval (Tallinn). In late July (Guiscard says the 29th, Dahlbergh in one letter writes the 27th and in another the 29th) Guiscard came to Riga, despite Governor General Dahlbergh having informed him of the King's wish that the foreign diplomats should remain in Reval. The French ambassador, Dahlbergh writes, had many ideas for restoring the peace, but they were all dependent upon the King respecting the neutrality of the Polish Republic. The Dutch ambassador was also in Riga, impatiently requesting an audience with Charles.

Source:

LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol.  73

Brulin, H., Sverige och Frankrike under nordiska kriget... - Upsala, 1905

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 9:04 PM MEST

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Below is a list of letters sent by Governor General Dahlbergh on a fairly typical day (20 July 1701):

1. Order to Lt Col. Zöge to hand over equipment from the stores in Dorpat to Lt. Col. Wrangel and Lt. Col. Hastfehr.

2. Letter to Inspector Järmestedt about an offer of 50 oak planks made by the Town Councillor Rennenkampf.

3. Letter to the Town Council of Riga about quarters for Col. Brakel and his unit.

4. To Paul von Strokirch about provisions.

5. To the district bailiff Falckenhagen about going to Kokenhusen to make an inventory.

6. Permission for Cornelius de Geus to load his ship and sail.

7. To district bailiff Falckenhagen.

8. To Lt. Col. Zöge about the printed account of His Majesty’s great victory.

9. Reply to Col. Brakel’s memorial.

10. To Lt. Field Marshal De la Gardie regarding Wrangel’s battalion of militia.

11. To Inspector Järmerstädt about masts for England and Holland.

12. Passport for Mohrman to go to Neustädtchen.

13. To Inspector Järmerstädt about two merchants from Lübeck.

Source: LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 53 

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 8:58 PM MEST

Updated: Sunday, 19 July 2015 8:59 PM MEST

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Some time after the battle of Narva in late November 1700 Erik Dahlbergh started asking Henning Rudolf Horn (the garrison commander at Narva) for information about the siege and the battle. Dahlbergh's letters to Horn are possibly lost, but some of the replys are preserved. On 24 March 1701 Horn writes that he would already have sent the map of the battle and the drawings of the town if the King had not requested changes. On 13 May Horn writes that Captain Palmstruch has been ordered to modify the drawing and make the breach of the walls somewhat clearer. On 27 May Horn again writes to Dahlbergh, saying that the key to the map will follow shortly. On 3 June Horn returns to the subject and says that the view of the town isn't quite ready yet. On 13 June Horn states that Captain Palmstruch was hard at work.

On 21 June Horn informs Dahlbergh that the drawing of the town from the Ingrian side has  been sent and Palmstruch is working on the drawing from the Estonian side. On 7 July Horn tells Dahlbergh that this work soon will be finished. On 18 July he writes that this work is done as well (by lieutenant De la Vallée).

It seems likely that this matedrial was used by Johan Lithén (ennobled Litheim 1718), who made several drawings of battles and towns in the Baltic provinces and Courland.

Source: LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 276 

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 10:56 PM MEST

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I have on a number of occasions mentioned Ernst Malmberg (1867-1960), who as early as in the 1910's started auctioning off documents belonging to the archive of the Livonian Governor General. When I visited Uppsala University Library some weeks ago I had the opportunity to looke at volume Y 92, an autograph book which belonged to him. Although it was far from chronological it was possible to get a fairly good idea of how much time he spent in Riga. In April 1909 Malmberg was in Grisslehamn, in August he met with with the author Karl-Erik Forsslund (likely in Sweden), but in late September Malmberg had reached Riga and in September 1910 he was in Helsinki. It would consequently appear that Malmberg spent close to a year in Riga, which certainly would help explain how he could get hold of such a large number of documents. 

Y 92 contains the signatures of many celebrities, for example Theodore Roosevelt (whom Malmberg apparently encountered in Chicago in 1911) and the opera singer Christina Nilsson. 

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 10:04 PM MEST

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It has been noted by several historians that there seems to have existed a close personal friendship between the Chancery official Casten Feif and Georg Lybecker, commander of the Finnish army 1707-1710 and 1712-1713. However, few letters between them seem to have been preserved. When I some months ago had the opportunity to go through a private archive I came upon item, which likely thus far has escaped the notice of historians. It was written by Lybecker on 8 January 1713 in reply to a couple of letters from Feif, dated 25 July and 21 August 1712.

Lybecker deals with a number of issues in his letter, for example:

1. His proposal to use some of the cavalry as infantry (apparently not approved by the King). Lybecker explains his reasoning: during the winter the deep snow makes movement of cavalry difficult and it's also hard to find fodder.

2. The organization of the tar trade (Tar Company) and the possible establishment of a commercial center at Veckelax (Vehkalahti).

3. The establishment of glassworks in Finland. Lybecker states that he knows very little about the other counties, but it should be possible near Vyborg. 

4. The possibility of using the Finnish forests for making potash.

5. The establishment of manufactories in Finland.

6. The leasing of tolls and customs.

7. The new method of taxation (property tax of 1713). Lybecker states that the idea (taxation according to ability) is certainly fair, but he is not convinced that everyone will give correct figures for their wealth.

8. The chances of recapturing Vyborg and other fortresses (Lybecker says that there is no lack of ambition or heart - only of means).

9. The possibility of finding new recruits and the general situation in Finland.

10. How the clergy has destroyed the country (according to Lybecker an issue too large to cover in a letter).

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 6:41 PM MEST

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It has been noted by several historians that there seems to have existed a close personal friendship between the Chancery official Casten Feif and Georg Lybecker, commander of the Finnish army 1707-1710 and 1712-1713. However, few letters between them seem to have been preserved. When I some months ago had the opportunity to go through a private archive I came upon item, which likely thus far has escaped the notice of historians. It was written by Lybecker on 8 January 1713 in reply to a couple of letters from Feif, dated 25 July and 21 August 1712.

Lybecker deals with a number of issues in his letter, for example:

1. His proposal to use some of the cavalry as infantry (apparently not approved by the King). Lybecker explains his reasoning: during the winter the deep snow makes movement of cavalry difficult and it's also hard to find fodder.

2. The organization of the tar trade (Tar Company) and the possible establishment of a commercial center at Veckelax (Vehkalahti).

3. The establishment of glassworks in Finland. Lybecker states that he knows very little about the other counties, but it should be possible near Vyborg. 

4. The possibility of using the Finnish forests for the making of potash.

5. The establishment of manufactories in Finland.

6. The leasing of tolls and customs.

7. The new method of taxation (property tax of 1713). Lybecker states that the idea (taxation according to ability) is certainly fair, but he is not convinced that everyone will give correct figures for their wealth.

8. The chances of recapturing Vyborg and other fortresses (Lybecker says that there is no lack of ambition or heart - only of means).

9. The possibility of finding new recruits and the general situation in Finland.

10. How the clergy has destroyed the country (according to Lybecker an issue too large to cover in a letter).

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 6:41 PM MEST

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I have just spent a few days in Uppsala, studying some of the manuscripts in the University Library. Many of their catalogues have been scanned and are now available online. The most important as far as the GNW is concerned are:

1. The collection organized by subject

2. The Palmskiöld collection

3. The Nordin collection

The Nordin collection houses the only known manuscript of General Lewenhaupt's memoirs (N 913), which also contain the Poltava accounts by Major Generals Creutz and Roos as well as those of the captains Tisensten and Öller. Also worth noting is a volume of incoming letters to Vice Admiral Gustaf Wattrang during the naval campaign of 1710 (N 208). 

I spent considerable part of my time on trying to understand how much of Lewenhaupt's papers that ended up in famous Cederhielm collection at Bjärka-Säby (many catalogues of it are preserved in Uppsala). My previous impression (that it was very little) was confirmed. Despite the close family relations (one of the General's daughters married into the Cederhielm family) very few items could clearly be linked directly to Lewenhaupt: An order book from 1705 (today in Krigsarkivet) and some documents from his time as prisoner of war in Moscow. So it would seem that most of what came over to Sweden (most likely with his wife in 1709) ended up at Charlottenborg castle and later came to Ryd manor, owned by Lwenhaupt's son in law Carl Gustaf Boije - publisher of the General's memoirs in 1757. In 1951 Hans Villius came to the conclusion that Boije hadn't used N 913 but an earlier version, so a couple of questions remain:

1. What happened to the manuscript used by Boije?

2. If N 913 didn't originate in the Cederhielm collection - from whom did Nordin acquire it in 1799?

When Samuel Bring in the late 1940's prepared the first full publication of N 913 he was convinced that Nordin had obtained the volume from the Cederhielm family, but to me this seems very unlikely. Certain findings I made in another Nordin volume points in an entirely different direction, but it remains to be seen if my hunch can be proved conclusively. Estate inventories from this period often do not list books and manuscripts by title and many potentially interesting collections of letters have been lost. 

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 8:08 PM MEST

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For some reason Karl XII på slagfältet, vol. 2 does not give a detailed list of Swedish losses in the battle of Narva 1700. At least some of shortcomings can be remedied by a document dated Narva 28 November 1700 and signed by Major General Maydell. The units covered are the participating detachments from the Finnish infantry regiments:

Col. Funcken's (Åbo): 1 captain wounded, 1 NCO missing (presumed dead), 1 NCO wounded, 1 corporal missing (presumed dead), 1 corporal wounded, 3 soldiers wounded and 13 killed.

Col. Creutz (Björneborg): 1 captain wounded,  2 NCOs wounded, 5 soldiers wounded and 50 killed.

Major General Maydell's (Tavastehus): 1 captain dead, 1 lieutenant dead, 1 lieutenant wounded, 3 NCOs wounded, 1 corporal dead, 14 soldiers wounded and 7 killed.

Col. Mellin's (Viborg): 1 captain wounded, 1 corporal dead, 14 soldiers wounded and 7 killed.

Col. Cronman's (Savolax): 1 captain dead, 1 lieutenant dead, 27 soldiers killed.

Col. Budberg's (Nyland): 8 soldiers wounded.

Source: Krigsarkivet, Krigshandlingar. Stora nordiska kriget, Avd. 3, vol. 10

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 9:15 PM MEST

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On 9 September 1701 Col. Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach held a council of war in his headquarters at Kirrumpäh. The participants were Schlippenbach, Col. Adam Carl de la Gardie, Col. Gustaf Enesköld, Lt. Col. Arvid Johan von Kaulbars, Lt. Col. Hans Henrik von Liewen, the Adjutant general Carl Otto Freijmann, Major Herman Johan von Burghausen, Major Joachim Henrik von Wettberg and Captain Wolmar Gustaf Lauw (an engineer). 

Schlippenbach began by pointing out the difficulties.The troops were poorly clothed and there was a shortage of provisions. Enemy attacks and illnesses were decimating the army and the horses had suffered badly. What to do?

The cavalry commanders Colonel Enesköld (Åbo and Björneborg) and Major Burghausen (Carelian) stated that their was hardly a man (or perhaps horse) fit for real duty in their regiments. Kaulbars (Schlippenbach's dragoons) supported them and said that only about 100 men in his regiment were fit for duty. To march towards the border would likely result in a battle and even if this was won the army would become so weakened that it could not possibly stop further incursions. 

The infantry officers agreed. The situation was very bad and officers who had lost their horses and equipment to the enemy were incapable of replacing what had been lost.

The discussions continued the following day. Schlippenbach began by saying that reports from Pechory suggested that the Russians were preparing a massive invasion. What to do? It was decided to reinforce Dorpat, while the rest of the army should move away from Kirrumpäh and march back and forth as the supply situation allowed.

Source: Krigsarkivet, Krigshandlingar. Stora nordiska kriget, Avd. 3, vol.  10

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 9:12 PM MEST

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Among Schirren's papers in Riksarkivet there are two lists of travellers to and from Russia who passed the border post at Neuhausen (Vastseliina) during the period 1 January 1698 to 30 June 1699. Some examples:

8 January 1698: Lt. Col. Rohr and two servants from Köningsberg to Moscow.

10 January 1698: The wife of Colonel Blumbergh and her people & Lieutenant Johan Rickman.

30 May 1698: Lieutenant Johan Gordon and a servant from England to Moscow.

23 June 1698: The theology student Tobias Renner from Thuringia to Moscow.

7 July 1698: Johan Gordon, son of General Gordon, and his wife along with a captain and four servants from Scotland to Moscow. 

Those travelling the other way were fewer in 1698, but one notable example:

21 October 1698: Guillaume Felle, a Doctor of Theology of the Franciscan Order from Persia to Mitau and France. (Felle was a noted traveller). 

Source: Riksarkivet, Schirrens samling originalhandlingar, vol. 13 

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 10:11 PM MEST

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