On 6 July 1700 Charles XII instructed Governor General Dahlbergh to send in a list of those regiments which had been created in Livonia, Estonia and Ingria since the beginning of the war. The King knew that Axel Julius de la Gardie had agreed to recruit an infantry regiment and Governor Otto Vellingk one dragoon regiment and one infantry regiment, while Hans Henrik von Liewen and Carl Adam Stackelberg where to recruit an infantry battalion each. Had Dahlbergh made any such agreements with other officers?

The Governor General got the King's letter on 27 July and replied immediately. As far as he knew Stackelberg and Liewen had concluded their agreements with Governor General de la Gardie, while Wolmar Anton von Schlippenbach, Gustaf Ernst Albedyhl, Magnus Wilhelm Nieroth, Liewen (which one?) and Magnus von Helmersen had made their agreements with Governor Vellingk, commander of the relief army. Dahlbergh had concluded an agreement with Wolmar Anton Meyerfeldt, who later had agreed to recruit for Nieroth as his Lieutenant Colonel (draft of the original agreement in LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 335). 

Sources:

LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 72 

LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 149 

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 10:20 PM MEST

Updated: Wednesday, 30 September 2015 7:49 PM MEST

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I have the during the weekend been fact checking a book manuscript with focus on the Swedish navy. In the course of that work I happened to take an interest in the shipbuilder Francis Sheldon, who according to the article in Svenskt Biografiskt Lexikon by Jan Glete probably was born in the 1610's. This would seem to be very unlikely (if not outright impossible). Sheldon was more likely born somewhere around 1630 (possible slightly before) as the son of another Francis Sheldon, who in 1630 became Clerk of the Cheque at Woolwich. In the will of the latter, dated 1646, the son is described as being not yet 21 years of age and learning to become a shipwright. This means that when Sheldon arrived in Sweden inte late 1650's he was not in his 40's (as Glete believed), but a young man possibly not yet 30 years old. 

Sheldon also turns up in the archive of the Livonian Governor General as he worked in Riga for some time. On 23 June 1683 the Admiralty asked Governor General Christer Horn to assist in an inquiry concerning some accusations against Sheldon.

Sources:  

LVVA. fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 167 

London, National Archives, PROB 11/199/749

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 10:29 PM MEST

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This subject has been extensively covered by Alexander Bergengrün and others. Perhaps a few odd bits and pieces from the archive of the Livonian Governor General are worth noting:

On 16 December 1700 Erik Dahlbergh wrote to Olof Hermelin, who was working on a refutation of the Russian complaints against Sweden, i.e. the reasons for attacking Narva. One of the items on the agenda was the supposed maltreatment of the Great Embassy when it passed through Livonia in 1697, notably the fact that Dahlbergh did not acknowledge the presence of the Czar and failed to show him the necessary courtesy. This was a point Dahlbergh found hard to accept. As far as he had been informed Peter was travelling incognito and had threatened to execute anyone who failed to keep his secret. How could the Russians possibly complain about this, the Governor General wrote. The Czar had made a point of staying among the servants and the "riffraff". Yes, Peter had even served wine to Lefort, the nominal head of the Embassy. When Lefort and Captain Johan Brask were playing card the Czar had stood behind Brask's chair just like another servant, Dahlbergh wrote to Hermelin. The Russian manifesto deserved a very harsh reply as their complaints were totally unfounded. They know no honour, the enraged Dahlbergh exclaimed. 

Source: LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 72 

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 8:56 PM MEST

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In LVVA, fond 7439, op. 2, vol. 285 one can find something as exotic as menues from September 1696. It lists about a dozen dishes for each day. Among them are such delicacies as "laxvälling (salmon gruel), "kabeljo i huuset" (literally: dried cod in the house), "två gäddor med rovor i huuset" (two pikes with turnips in the house) and "förlorade ägg med corinther" (poached eggs with corinth raisins).

It's obvious that these menues were written for the higher officials as they end with a list of food to be served if something extra was needed - on Monday "fresh tongues of oxen" and on Friday "an English pudding". The menues are followed by lists of food for the "commoners" - very few dishes each day, mostly grain and fish.

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 9:09 PM MEST

Updated: Sunday, 30 August 2015 9:09 PM MEST

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In 1896 Friedrich Bienemann jr published a collection of documents concerning the siege of Dorpat (Tartu) in 1656. Among them are a series of letters from Governor Lars Fleming to Magnus Gabriel de la Gardie, the Governor General of Livonia. They are dated 3 April, 14 May, 28 May, 28 May, 8 June, 18 June, 9 July, 15 July, 28 July, 27 October and  10 November. Rainer Fagerlund mentions a few others: Fleming to de la Gardie 4 June, 21 June and 11 July. To this list of letters in Stockholm and Riga can be added the following, preserved among the Malmberg papers in Uppsala University Library: Fleming to de la Gardie 25 June, 19 July and 23 July. In the first of these Fleming reports that many peasants have run away and are plundering the estates of the nobility. He also reports problems with the guns - some are without carriages. In the letter dated 19 July Fleming gives details about the approaching Russians. They had crossed the border during the night between the 15th and 16th. Some units had headed directly for Neuhausen. If Neuhausen fell, Fleming wrote, the enemy would soon attack Dorpat. Reinforcements were urgently needed. In the last of the three letters, dated 23 July, Governor Fleming informs de la Gardie that he has not received any recent reports from Neuhausen. In a hastily written note at the end of the letter he writes that a detachment of cavalry just had returned. They had seem many fires in the direction of Neuhausen. The castle was supposedly still holding (apparently incorrect), because the enemy had not yet been able to bring up the heavy guns. 

Sources:

Uppsala University Library, Dorpat-Rigasamlingen, vol. 2 and 3 (subsequently rearranged and renamed Livonica) 

Briefe und Aktenstücke zur Geschichte der Verteidigung und Kapitulation Dorpats 1656 // Mittheilungen aus der livländischen Geschichte. - 16:2. - Riga, 1896. P. 515-606

Fagerlund, Rainer, Kriget i Östersjöprovinserna 1655-1661. - Stockholm, 1979 

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 9:18 PM MEST

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I recently added to my collection of Polish books:

1. Urzędnicy Wielkiego Księstwa Litewskiego: spisy. Tom III. - Warszawa, 2015. This is a series which began appearing in 2003. It lists the names of officials on various levels, in this case for the Duchy of Samogitia. These books are invaluable for anyone who tries to identify the Polish and Lithuanian nobles who appear in Swedish documents from the GNW period. Previous volumes have covered the voivodeships of Vilnius, Trakai and Smolensk.

2. Pabich, Lukasz: Bitwa pod Koniecpolem 21 listopada 1708. - Zabrze, 2014. About the battle between forces loyal to Stanislaw Leszczynski and those Polish and Lithuanian forces which refused to accept him as king. The unprinted sources are Polish-Lithuanian only, but the printed ones more diverse (unfortunately in some cases they are of a highly dubious nature). 

3. Płowy, Damian: Poniec 7 XI 1704. - Zabrze, 2013

4. Płowy, Damian: Od Ponieca do Bełcza Wielkiego. - Zabrze, 2015. Both books are about the final stages of the 1704 campaign. Both volumes are quite thin, but the author appears to have consulted many archival sources both in Poland and abroad (though not in Sweden).

5. Wimmer, Jan: Polska-Szwecja : konflikty zbrojne w XVI-XVIII wieku. -  Oświęcim, 2013. A summary of the events during the many wars between Sweden and Poland by the veteran historian, who as far back as 1956 published a large volume about the GNW (Wojsko Rzeczypospolitej w dobie wojny północnej 1700-1717).

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 9:09 PM MEST

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On 22 July 1700 Erik Dahlbergh wrote to Charles XII, informing him that General Vellingk "who had been standing here so long without doing anything explicit against the enemy" despite every possible preparation having been made for a crossing of the Düna. Now the Saxons had been reinforced and the on the 17th they had crossed the river at Pröbstingshoff (Sprēstiņi). Vellingk had moved towards the enemy the following day and on the 21st attempted an attack, but finding the Saxon position too strong he soon retreated. Dahlbergh was very unhappy, telling the King that he saw no other means of defending Riga than asking Vellingk for reinforcements. On 27 July Vellingk wrote to the Chancery in Stockholm, stating that Vellingk had retreated "in confusion" with the cavalry and 1,500 foot, but the rest of the infantry and some cavalry had managed to enter Riga. 

A list preserved elesewhere gives detailed information about the reinforcements received - about 5 100 officers, non-commissioned officers and soldiers from the Finnish infantry regiments (Close to 700 from the Tavastehus infantry, close to 1,000 from the Åbo infantry, about 900 from the Savolax infantry, about the same from the Björneborg infantry, about 700 from the Vyborg infantry and above 800 from the Nyland infantry). 

Sources:

LVVA, fond 7349, op. 1, vol. 72

Krigsarkivet, Krigshandlingar. Stora nordiska kriget. Avd. 19, vol. 1 

Posted by bengt_nilsson at 9:09 PM MEST

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