Topic: Livonia
in mid August 1705 Lieutenant Colonel Liphardt in Neumünde wrote to Governor Frölich in Riga. Frölich had decided, Liphardt wrote, that if a soldier in Liphardt's battalion died the planks for the coffin would be taken from the stores in the fortress. The garrison commander Colonel Albedyhl had however refused to follow this order, saying that every plank was needed for fortification purposes. Liphardt also pointed out another problem: the only priest available for the Latvian soldiers in his unit was the one in Mangelsholm (Magnushof?) and he was busy with his own parish. It was a great pity that the soldiers in his unit coould not hear the word of God in their native language.
On 15 August 1705 Governor Frölich replied to Colonel Albedyhl and Lieutenant Colonel Liphardt. Due to the need to carefully manage the stores of wood at Neumünde it would not be advisable to build a new coffin for each dead soldier. Instead Albedyhl should build just one plank coffin and reuse it. In time of war it was only important to bury the soldiers deep enough.
As for the priests the Latvian soldiers in Liphardt's unit would have to be satisfied with the ones available at the fortress. Liphardt should use suitable officers as translators. He should tell these officers to thoughtfully and patiently explain to the Latvians what the priests said.
Sources:
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 56
LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 310
