Chapter 7

18th July, 1705 – The Battle of Copenhagen

What a massacre! The battlefield is strewn with bodies and the buzzards are sure to have a grand feast tonight. Many times have I read about great battles, but to survive one firsthand is indeed a sobering experience. I don’t know whether I will be able to sleep tonight after today’s bloody business. But I digress. Let me start from the beginning...

Today morning, after almost two years of siege and faced with the prospect of starvation, the Danish General Frederick Carlsson finally led his army out of the fortified city in a full scale attack on the defending Swedish lines. And so it was that the two great armies faced each other on the battlefield in a decisive encounter that would decide the fate of their two nations!

<The Swedish 1st Army>

I remember standing in line, scared out of my wits. Sure I had been in a battle before, but that had been a mere skirmish as compared to this. Just a few hundred feet away, was the main Danish Army – more than 21,000 Danish troops, bent on defending their beloved capital to the last man and killing the invaders, who had dared to lay foot on their soil. We had more than 24,000 men in our 1st Army and 18 cannons, but the Danish were fighting for their very lives and that of their families. This would be a tough battle indeed!

A bugle sounded. Thousands of musket carrying Swedish infantry stepped forward in unison and stopped a few feet from the front lines, lining up in ranks two deep, so as to maximize the number of guns brought to bear on the enemy. The artillery crew in the center of the formation lined up their guns and prepared to unleash hell on the Danish. And behind the front infantry lines, the two provincial cavalry regiments waited to the flanks, preparing to charge at the first opportunity. General Gustav and his bodyguards stayed deep in the rear, issuing orders through runners.

Meanwhile, the enemy had adopted a similar formation, with most of their Line Infantry and Militia regiments on their left flank and the Armed Citizenry regiments to the right. After a brief pause, the entire army started moving. Thousands of smartly clad Danish troops, marching in perfect formation. And then an even more dreaded sight appeared – an entire regiment of Danish cavalry, heading towards the Swedish lines.

<Swedish artillery opens fire>

Then suddenly a series of heavy thuds cut through the air and the ground shook as the Demi-Cannons of the Imperial Artillery Corps fired at the approaching Line Infantry to the right. At such extreme range most of the shots missed. A few shots hit home, causing casualties, but the enemy kept advancing.

The enemy cavalry regiment suddenly launched a full charge at the rightmost Line Infantry. That was a mistake. Anticipating this move General Gustav had moved one of the Line Infantry regiments to the right. As the enemy cavalry thundered ahead, they were caught in a crossfire between two regiments. A series of volleys erupted as the experienced Swedish infantrymen opened fire. I watched an enemy Dragoon clutch his heart and then fall. The horse, terrified, ran off still trailing its unfortunate rider as his leg was caught in the stirrup. Many others fell. Smoke covered the ground.

The surviving cavalry pressed on bravely and soon smashed into the Swedish lines. The thin lines were breached and the cavalry swung around to attack from behind. That was when the 1st Provincial Cavalry regiment slammed into their unprotected rear.

<Charge of the 1st Provincial Cavalry>

Meanwhile, the enemy infantry had reached our lines. We found ourselves again facing one of the Danish Militia regiments. I breathed deeply, trying to calm my nerves, as I trained my musket on the enemy. And then the entire rank fired as they came in range.

<Accurate rifle fire from the 19th Regiment of Foot cuts down the Danish militia>

The shots hit home and several Danish militia fell. Despite the casualties suffered, the Danish regiment calmly took aim and fired. I actually flinched as one of the metal balls whizzed past and hit the soldier behind me. A few others were hit. Then, instead of reloading for the next salvo, the enemy charged!

Like a vision of hell, the Danish soldiers emerged from the smoke and charged us, determined to take revenge. They reached us before we could reload for another round. And then it became pure chaos.

The militia soldier slashed his gun down, hoping to deal a fatal blow, but I somehow managed to block the blow with my gun. As the enemy prepared for another blow, another Swedish soldier plunged his bayonet into the man’s heart. As he fell, mortally wounded, I turned my attention to another enemy soldier, who slammed his rifle stock into the skull of a nearby Swedish soldier, smashing his head, killing him immediately. Anger filled my heart and I lunged at the Dane, my bayonet sliding into the big man’s stomach. As he collapsed, I looked around wildly for more enemies. The battle was bloody, but we were gaining the upper hand...

-----

I was dead tired. As I forced my exhausted body to continue the fight, a shout could be heard. I turned to see Colonel Hansson gesticulating desperately to the left. As I and my fellow soldiers turned, our blood ran cold. Another enemy regiment, this time a regiment of Armed Citizenry was heading our way!

Block, thrust, dodge, lunge, thrust. The same action over and over again, as the troops danced the complex dance of death. The ground was littered with hundreds of bodies. This was savage human nature at its very best.

I desperately parried a thrust by yet another enemy and smashed the butt of the rifle into his face, following up with a thrust into his heart once he had fallen. I grunted as another almost fatal thrust burned into my left arm, narrowly missing my heart as I dived to the side. Ignoring the fierce pain in my arm I raised his rifle in a desperate attempt to block the next blow. I barely managed to parry the thrusting bayonet, losing my footing in the process. As the enemy rushed in for the killing blow, I desperately thrust my bayonet into his stomach. Hearing a scream I turned to see yet another enemy fall to the ground followed by another Swedish soldier. The battle continued...

The entire battlefield was a picture of perfect carnage. More than forty thousand soldiers were locked in close combat or were shooting at each other. Men were screaming. Guns were roaring. From time to time, entire sections of men were being blown apart by the relentless Swedish artillery. Then the guns were overrun, as the gunners fought for their very lives. The smoke was blinding, obscuring everyone’s view. Bodies of men lay everywhere. The left flank held firm, but the right flank was slowly being overwhelmed with sheer numbers.

<Danish armed citizens falling to massed gunfire from the Swedish left flank>

Then, things began to change as the exhausted Danish armed citizens on the left could take no more of the slaughter and broke. General Gustav took this opportunity and ordered the entire Swedish left flank to rotate and attack the enemy to the right.

The angry Swedish infantrymen fell like wolves on the remaining Danish. Pushing aside their exhaustion, they fought like possessed demons, powered by the need for revenge of their fallen comrades. The Danish were taken by surprise at the sudden attack from their rear. Outmaneuvered and under attack from all sides, they began to falter.

The Danish General led his bodyguards in a desperate charge on the flanking troops. That was a brave but foolish move. A series of volleys felled many of the Danish cavalrymen. General Carlsson died when his horse was shot and he fell, breaking his neck on the bloodied ground. His death crushed the already failing Dutch morale and a mass retreat broke out.

<The unbroken line of the 19th>

I watched in disbelief as I saw the Danish troops break formation and ran and as the other Swedish regiments roared and took up the chase. In fact, I almost felt sorry as I saw the 1st and 2nd Provincial Cavalry regiments, heading towards the fleeing men, ready to cut them down to the last man.

The battle was finally over. The massacre was just beginning…

----

The Battle of Stockholm was one of the bloodiest battles in Danish history. At the end of the battle more than 18,000 Danish troops lay dead, or dying in the fields outside the city. Many of them had been cut down mercilessly by Swedish cavalry or infantry while they tried to desperately retreat to the safety of their gates. Very few Danish survived (mainly just armed citizens). More than one and a half centuries after the famous Swedish War of Liberation, Copenhagen itself was at its most vulnerable to a triumphant Swedish Army.

However, our victory celebrations were muted. While our casualties were far less, we mourned the loss of 7,210 good men, 430 of them from our regiment. This night we spend in somber silence, in remembrance of all those brave Swedes who had made the ultimate sacrifice for their nation.

Tomorrow, we resume our siege. Running desperately short of food and essential supplies, it is only a matter of months before the Danish forces surrender and Copenhagen is ours. The end is near.

But this night is sure to be long...