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Description

Here we go again with the Sabaton references...lovable as they are.

The Siege of Fredrikssten (24th of November-14th of December 1718) was a Swedish siege of the Norwegian fortress Fredrikssten shortly outside the city of Fredrikshald. The climax of the siege took its shape in the death of king Charles XII of Sweden (1682-1718) who was killed when inspecting the siege trenches.

By the time of the siege of Fredrikssten, the Swedish empire had been to war for 18 full years already during the so called Great Northern War (1700-1721) and faced several battles in which both victories were achieved as well as defeats being suffered. Already during the summer of 1700 the kingdom of Denmark-Norway had been beaten out of the war by Sweden. However, with the tidal turn of the battle of Poltava (8th of July 1709) and the severe defeat against Russia, Denmark-Norway had entered the war again. Altough the chances of regaining Scania was as good as finished after the Swedish victory at the battle of Helsingborg (28th of February 1710), the Danish-Norwegian kingdom under Frederick IV (1671-1730) were still active in the war, and would be so for the remainder of it. A few Swedish attempts on taking Norway had been planned by king Charles XII of Sweden since he returned back home in 1715. The first would be the short campaign of 1716 (22nd of February-28th of June 1716) which had its goal of capturing the city of Christiania (modern Oslo) which ended in failure due to shortage of artilery. An attempt to march across the ice to the Norwegian capital was also made but ultimately failed due to it not being thick enough. The second Norwegian campaign was launched on the 30th of October 1718, and this time Charles XII was indeed backed up by artilery. And everything seemed to go surprisingly well, up until after the Swedish army reached Fredrikshald. The siege could begin, and on the night of the 24th of November the first trenches were being dug out. On the 27th, the Swedes attacked and took the smaller fortress Gyldenlöve, an action in which the king himself partook in. By the time of November 30th, Charles XII was reassured that the fortress only had about a week left before it was forced to surrender.

On November 30th a new line of trenches was to be dug closer to the fortress with only about 250 meters in between. King Charles XII had donned a brand new uniform that day, partaken in eucharist and soon after left for the trenches in a genuinly good mood. Around 9 o clock, the king climbed up on one of the old trenches to check out the progress of building the new ones. The officers implored him to climb down but king Charles, being the daredevil he was, stayed. Soon followed disaster. An eye witness describes that "at around the fourth cannon shot we could head the bullet strike his majesty's head with a sound similar to when one strikes two fingers against the hands". King Charles XII of Sweden was no more, killed by a no scope (obviously) headshot that had penetrated his skull through the temples, which probably happened around 21:30 that evening. Death was imminent, which was later proven in autopsies carried out as late as 1917. The first reactor was general adjutant Johan Fredrik Kaulbars (unknown date, probably late 17th century to early 18th century) who exclaimed "Lord Jesus, the king has been shot!" Similar reactions soon followed as soon as the rest of the officers found out. This was something that was needed to be covered up. Litteraly, as the king's corpse was put on a stretcher and covered with two cloaks, as well as a wig. This wasn't the best cover up as a slight trip uncovered the king's corpse for the rest of the soldiers...oops. It was coincidence that the king died just like that on the 30th of November. The Swedish trench digging was litterally bombarded by Norwegian cannons and bullets and Charles XII, being stupidly brave and, probably, wanted to act as a moral support to the soldiers, was one of many casualities.

Soon enough the siege, and with it the entire invasion of Norway, was called off. The king's death had brought a lack of moral for the war weary Swedish forces. The route back to Sweden was led by general Carl Gustaf Armfeldt (1666-1736) over the Norwegian mountain ranges...but due to being in the middle of winter countless of lives were lost along the way in what would be known as the Carolean Death March (1718-1719). You can read more about the fiasco here: Carolean Death March - 1718-1719

Who shot the Swedish king Charles XII has been a mystery ever to this day. Soon after his death theories of assassination amongst his own men started circulating, but most historians nowadays are generally sure that Charles XII was struck by an enemy shot. Even the type of ballistics have been unsure and has been suggested to either been a normal round bullet or a button. Who knows? I most certainly don't.

Thus ended, on this day 300 years ago, the life of king Charles XII of Sweden, the last king of the Swedish empire. And one could argue that the empire itself died with him, which would be diplomatically established at the peace of Nystad in 1721.

Description

Here we go again with the Sabaton references...lovable as they are.

The Siege of Fredrikssten (24th of November-14th of December 1718) was a Swedish siege of the Norwegian fortress Fredrikssten shortly outside the city of Fredrikshald. The climax of the siege took its shape in the death of king Charles XII of Sweden (1682-1718) who was killed when inspecting the siege trenches.

By the time of the siege of Fredrikssten, the Swedish empire had been to war for 18 full years already during the so called Great Northern War (1700-1721) and faced several battles in which both victories were achieved as well as defeats being suffered. Already during the summer of 1700 the kingdom of Denmark-Norway had been beaten out of the war by Sweden. However, with the tidal turn of the battle of Poltava (8th of July 1709) and the severe defeat against Russia, Denmark-Norway had entered the war again. Altough the chances of regaining Scania was as good as finished after the Swedish victory at the battle of Helsingborg (28th of February 1710), the Danish-Norwegian kingdom under Frederick IV (1671-1730) were still active in the war, and would be so for the remainder of it. A few Swedish attempts on taking Norway had been planned by king Charles XII of Sweden since he returned back home in 1715. The first would be the short campaign of 1716 (22nd of February-28th of June 1716) which had its goal of capturing the city of Christiania (modern Oslo) which ended in failure due to shortage of artilery. An attempt to march across the ice to the Norwegian capital was also made but ultimately failed due to it not being thick enough. The second Norwegian campaign was launched on the 30th of October 1718, and this time Charles XII was indeed backed up by artilery. And everything seemed to go surprisingly well, up until after the Swedish army reached Fredrikshald. The siege could begin, and on the night of the 24th of November the first trenches were being dug out. On the 27th, the Swedes attacked and took the smaller fortress Gyldenlöve, an action in which the king himself partook in. By the time of November 30th, Charles XII was reassured that the fortress only had about a week left before it was forced to surrender.

On November 30th a new line of trenches was to be dug closer to the fortress with only about 250 meters in between. King Charles XII had donned a brand new uniform that day, partaken in eucharist and soon after left for the trenches in a genuinly good mood. Around 9 o clock, the king climbed up on one of the old trenches to check out the progress of building the new ones. The officers implored him to climb down but king Charles, being the daredevil he was, stayed. Soon followed disaster. An eye witness describes that "at around the fourth cannon shot we could head the bullet strike his majesty's head with a sound similar to when one strikes two fingers against the hands". King Charles XII of Sweden was no more, killed by a no scope (obviously) headshot that had penetrated his skull through the temples, which probably happened around 21:30 that evening. Death was imminent, which was later proven in autopsies carried out as late as 1917. The first reactor was general adjutant Johan Fredrik Kaulbars (unknown date, probably late 17th century to early 18th century) who exclaimed "Lord Jesus, the king has been shot!" Similar reactions soon followed as soon as the rest of the officers found out. This was something that was needed to be covered up. Litteraly, as the king's corpse was put on a stretcher and covered with two cloaks, as well as a wig. This wasn't the best cover up as a slight trip uncovered the king's corpse for the rest of the soldiers...oops. It was coincidence that the king died just like that on the 30th of November. The Swedish trench digging was litterally bombarded by Norwegian cannons and bullets and Charles XII, being stupidly brave and, probably, wanted to act as a moral support to the soldiers, was one of many casualities.

Soon enough the siege, and with it the entire invasion of Norway, was called off. The king's death had brought a lack of moral for the war weary Swedish forces. The route back to Sweden was led by general Carl Gustaf Armfeldt (1666-1736) over the Norwegian mountain ranges...but due to being in the middle of winter countless of lives were lost along the way in what would be known as the Carolean Death March (1718-1719). You can read more about the fiasco here: Carolean Death March - 1718-1719

Who shot the Swedish king Charles XII has been a mystery ever to this day. Soon after his death theories of assassination amongst his own men started circulating, but most historians nowadays are generally sure that Charles XII was struck by an enemy shot. Even the type of ballistics have been unsure and has been suggested to either been a normal round bullet or a button. Who knows? I most certainly don't.

Thus ended, on this day 300 years ago, the life of king Charles XII of Sweden, the last king of the Swedish empire. And one could argue that the empire itself died with him, which would be diplomatically established at the peace of Nystad in 1721.