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Battle of Pulkkila 1808

Battle of Pulkkila: Pulkkila 1808
Image: Magnus Adlercreutz (1868–1923), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.

Key facts

Date2 May 1808Wikidata
Year1808Wikidata P585 (point in time)
Era19th century (1800–1913)derived from year
LocationFinlandNatural Earth (modern borders)
ContinentEuropeNatural Earth
War / conflictFinnish WarWikidata P361
Coordinates64.2681, 25.8667Wikidata P625

About the battle

The Battle of Pulkkila was fought between Swedish and Russian forces near Pulkkila in Northern Ostrobothnia on 2 May 1808 during the Finnish War.

At the battle of Pulkkila on 2 May 1808, Johan August Sandels marched eastwards to liberate those parts of Finland that were under Russian control. During the march they encountered some Russian troops at Pulkkila. Sandels used about 800 men for the attack; of which 350 from the Västerbotten Regiment and 80 from the Savolax jägers. The Russian troops were led by Colonel Obuhov. The Russians were soon surrounded and tried desperately to break out, but they were forced back to a nearby village where the Russians were defeated after some vicious fighting. The Russian commander was forced to surrender to the attacking Swedes. The Swedes then went on and retook the town of Kuopio in the middle of Finland.

Sandels' offensive was one of the most remarkable operations of the entire war. During his operations against Barclay de Tolly's troops, he captured Russian depots, constantly harassed their rear areas, and committed actions that won him respect among both friends and foes.

Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Pulkkila (revision 1370272365), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.

Location

64.2681, 25.8667 · Finland

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Nearby battles

Other battles of the Finnish War

All 27 battles of the Finnish War →

Browse more: battles in Finland · Europe · 19th century battles

Further reading