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202
’^’’’
’’"tn/eXJliuo’r’’’*’’’ HISTORY OF THE SWEDES. Voyage to Pomeratiia.
I.aiiQiiig on Usedcini. [1628—
for diligence and assiduity. Next year the king
gave liim a like commission in reference to the
public revenues.
On the 19th of May, Gustavus Adolphus sum-
moned befoi-e him the estates of the realm then
at hand in Stockholm, and presented to them his
young daughtei-, now hardly four years old, as
"the heiress of his kingdom, commended her to
their fidelity, clasped her in liis arms, and took a
moving farewell. From his speech, which left no
eye tearless, we extract what follows :
"
Seemg
that many perchance may imagine that we charge
ourselves with this war without cause given, so
take I God the most high to witness, in whose face
1 here sit, that 1 have undertaken it, not out of my
own pleasure, nor from lust for war ;
but for many
years have had most pressing motive thereto,
mostly for that our oppressed brethren in religion
may be freed from tlie papal yoke, which by God’s
grace we hope to effect. And since it usually
comes to pass that the pitcher which is carried
often to the well is broken at last, so will it go
with me too, that I who in so many trials and
dangers have shed my blood for Sweden’s welfare,
and yet until now escaped, through God’s gracious
protection, with life unharmed, must lose it one
day ;
therefore will I before my departure at this
time commend you, the collective estates of Sweden,
both present and absent, to God the most high,
wishinn’ that after this wretched and burdensome
life,
we may by God’s good pleasure meet and
consort in that which is lieavenly and imperish-
able." Thereupon he addressed some woi’ds to
each particular estate, and concluded by a prayer
from the ninetieth psalm of David.
On the 30th May the king embarked in the fleet,
which was then lying in the harbour of Elfsnabben,
and was divided into four squadrons. In the first
of these the king himself commanded, and under
him the general of infantry John Bauer *, in the
second the high-admiral Charles Carlson Gyllen-
hiehn, in the third the ship-major Bubbe, in the
fourth admiral Eric llyning. The fleet, in case it
were dispersed by storm, was first to reassemble
off the northern point of Oeland, afterwards if need
were under Bornholni, but to take the direct course
from Elfsnabben to the coast of Fore Pomerania,
and the so-called isle of Greifswald ^. A throng of
administrative affairs of various kinds claimed his
attention at the last moment, which may be ad-
duced as .proofs both of this king’s activity, as also
of the fact that in Sweden the least as well as the
greatest matters are the sovereign’s care. Instruc-
June 3, in the same year, it is stated that the Palsgrave
shall have the ’military command more especially of the for-
tress of Calmar, in F.ast-Gothland and Smaland, the general
in Upland and Norrland, tieldmarslial Herman Wrangel
in Vcrnieland, West-Gotliland, and the fortress of Elfsborg.
As de la Gardie now, so Clas Fleming, the president of tlie
Chamber of Accounts, subsequently had the Palsgrave joined
with, or set over him in his department. We find that this
great confidence of the king did not make the Palsgrave
equally agreeable to the council.
s His patent as general-in-chief of the infantry was first
made out after the landing in Germany, and is dated Stettin,
July 13, 1(530. Reg.
^ Chemnitz.
6 Warrant for Herman Meijer to he preceptor of Guslave
Gustaveson, with four hundred rixdoUars salaiy. Elfsnab-
ben, June 3, 1630. Reg.
lions to the administration and council ; important
communications to Axel Oxenstieriia in Prussia,
whei-e the king apprehended a diversion of the im-
perialists, and begs him therefore not to detach too
many of his troops ; rescripts to the lieutenants,
the bishops, and inhabitants of the provinces, in
reference to the assessment of subsidies ;
confirma-
tions of donations to the university of Upsala,
directions for the education of his natural son *,
writs of process, letters of freeliold for the quarter-
men of the hundreds and their farms, grants of
pension for old soldiers or their widows (an object
to which Gustavus Adolphus gave especial regard),
all these we find under the king’s hand dated from
on board the fleet itself. A continued south-west
wind long hindered the fleet from running out,
compelled it, after it had got to sea, again to come
into port, and made the passage, which lasted five
weeks, so tedious and difficult, that new supplies of
provisions were obliged to be drawn from the sea-
towns ^. On Midsummers-day of the year 1630 (it
was remarked that just a century had expired
since the delivery of the Augsburg Confession), the
king anchored off the little island of Ruden, near
the w^estermost of the three mouths of the Oder,
during a violent thunderstorm. The coast seemed
full of fires. These had been kindled by the
enemy, who nevertheless had retreated to his camp
by Anldam. The king, who had placed himself in
a l)oat for recognoscence, was the bearer of these
tidings to his troops, and gave immediate orders
for the landing. This was effected in the flat-
bottomed boats already mentioned, not on the
island of Ruden, but on that of Usedom ’. The
king first set foot on shore, fell on his knees, and
poured out his heart in fervent prayer. There-
after he himself first took spade in hand, and while
the debarcation was proceeding, one half of the
troops which had landed worked incessantly at the
erecti(m of sconces, the other stood under arms
ready for battle ^. Thus eleven regiments were
landed in the course of the night ; the others fol-
lowed ;
the cannon, baggage, and cavalry last. The
retrenchments which had remained here from the
time of the Danish inroad into Pomerania, were
now found available. Soon the army stood in an in-
trenched camp mounted with artillery, which com-
prehended within its limits the village of Peene-
munde. Thereafter the king addressed his soldiers.
Not alone for his own sake and his kingdom’s, he
said, but for the I’elief of their afflicted brethren in
the faith he had engaged in this war, by their com-
pletion of which they would gain undying renown in
the after-world ; they liad no need to fear this new
foe, the same whom they had i-outed in Prussia;
9 " We are in the greatest embarrassment by reason of the
strong and irksome contrary wind, as our stores are mostly
consumed. We cannot take to sea again without danger of
ruin, before we have provi>ioned ourselves for some time."
The king to the council of state, Middelsteu’s Haven, June
14, 1630. Reg.
’ " We are happily arrived, and have landed without
opposition on Usedom. Now we need but a supply, especi-
ally at the first, until we can become possessed of some
places. Assist our councillors of the treasury. Hasten sup-
plies from Sweden according to our directions." Usedom,
June 29, 1630. Reg. Uuder the same date the king thanks
the Palsgrave for his great assiduity.
2 The Swedish Intelligencer, London, ]C34.i. 49 This
appears to be by an eye-witness.
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