the lion of the russian army - Florida State University

The fighting continued for over four hours until 3:00 a.m. on 27 February, when
Muller recalled his troops to rest. The same morning, Adlercreutz received orders to
retreat as soon as possible to Tavastheus. However, his troops were tired after the
previous night fighting and faced Bagration’s superior forces ready to attack. So,
Adlercreutz initially moved his left wing to proceed from Lahtis to Okerois to cover the
retreat of his remaining forces. However, in confusion, the Swedish garrison of Okerois
withdrew from the village prior to the arrival of Adlercreutz’s left wing forces. Bagration
exploited this mistake and, on 28 February, he occupied Okerois with the 26 th Jager
Regiment. The Swedes attempted to dislodge the Russian regiment to clear their line of
retreat, but Bagration reinforced it with Kulnev’s detachment and repulsed every attack. 33
Adlercreutz gathered his forces between Konkaantaka and Sairakkala and marched to
Tavastheus. 34
At the same time, Gorchakov’s troops rushed into Helsingfors and carried the
town after a brief engagement. The Swedes retreated into Sveaborg. The Russians
captured 124 men, 19 guns, 20,000 cannonballs, 4,000 mortar shells and numerous
munitions. Simultaneously, in central Finland, Tuchkov’s column slowly advanced in
deep snow from Neschlot to Rantasalmi and defeated small Swedish detachment to seize
Kuopio. Delighted by such successes, Buxhöwden announced to the Emperor that the
Russian army secured eastern Finland. He wrote, “Neither severe cold, nor deep snow, in
which [Russian troops] had to cut their way, decreased the ardor of our troops; even the
enemy is bewildered by the speed of our marches across the terrain, previously
considered impassable.” 35 Buxhöwden left some 2,000 men at Helsingfors and ordered
Bagration to seize Tavastheus, 36 “a town situated…in the midst of a fertile country, at the
junction of all the [main] lines of communication from the north, the east and the south of
33 Ibid., II, 88-89.
34 Bagration reported Swedish losses as 58 killed and some 40 wounded, who were
evacuated. The Russian casualties are unknown. Journal of Military Operations in Finland, 42.
35 Buxhevden to Alexander, February 1808, in Mikhailovsky-Danilevsky, War in Finland, 23.
36 Ordin, Conquest of Finland, I, 34-35, 74.
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