Crossing the Gulf of Bothnia
1809 event during the Finnish War
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Crossing the Gulf of Bothnia, specifically Kvarken (Russian: Переход через Кваркен) involved a Russian march through Kvarken, Gulf of Bothnia, to the territory of Sweden at Umeå. This occurred during the Finnish War in March 1809.[7]
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changes The Swedes evacuated Västerbotten[2]
| Crossing Kvarken | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Finnish War | |||||||||
Crossing Kvarken | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Sweden |
 Russian Empire | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
Georg Carl von Döbeln |
Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 1,000[a] | 3,000[4] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 400 captured[5] | ~200[b] | ||||||||
Background
For the whole winter, the operation was in preparation. In the middle of February 1809 followed the appointment of Lieutenant General Michael Andreas Barclay de Tolly as commander of the Vasa Corps, who pushed forward preparations for the campaign. On March 18 [O.S. March 6] 1809 an order was read at the assembly point, in which Barclay, without concealing the labours to come, expressed his confidence that "for Russian soldiers the impossible does not exist."[6]
Hike
The march began on March 20 [O.S. March 8], and, according to its idea, was a unique event in world history. In the cold −15 °C (5.00000 °F), the Russians were walking across the icy desert towards Umeå. In front of the Swedish coast, they burned two merchant ships to keep warm. The troops had to abandon their artillery halfway due to the inability to quickly transfer it across the ice.[2] They were opposed by a detachment in Umeå numbering no more than 1,000 people. Seeing the numerical superiority of the Russians, the Swedes tried to let go, but their rearguard units were overtaken and defeated, for example, a column under the command of Pavel Filisov engaged 3 companies of Swedes and forced them to retreat, taking 36 prisoners including 1 officer.[6] On March 22 [O.S. March 10], Barclay de Tolly entered Umeå. The Swedish troops there surrendered and promised to surrender all Västerbotten.[3]
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Memory
Alexander I personally presented individual unique awards to each participant of the campaign.[8]