Full resolution (TIFF) - On this page / på denna sida - XIV. Reign of Ulrica Eleonora and Frederick I, 1719–1751 - E. War with Russia, 1741–1743
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
Below is the raw OCR text
from the above scanned image.
Do you see an error? Proofread the page now!
Här nedan syns maskintolkade texten från faksimilbilden ovan.
Ser du något fel? Korrekturläs sidan nu!
This page has never been proofread. / Denna sida har aldrig korrekturlästs.
War with Russia 255
The Opening of the War. The war opened in the fall
of 1741 with a defeat of the Swedes near the Russian
border. The loss of life in this battle, however, was not
as great as that in the winter quarters of 1741-42. The
soldiers suffered from poor and insufficient food. For
a long period they had to camp in dugouts, dark and
damp, where the clothes molded and rotted on their
bodies. What wonder that sickness and death raged!
Insubordination in the Army. But there was a worse
evil in the army even than sickness, and that was in-
subordination. The commander in chief was Charles
Emil Lewenhaupt. He had been one of the "champions"
of Charles XII, and that was sufficient evidence of his
bravery. His honest and frank bearing and his stately
appearance won him many friends and supporters. At
the Riksdag in which the war was declared, he pre-
sided in the Estate of the nobles and was one of the
most zealous supporters of that measure. But all this
did not necessarily prove his fitness for the chief com-
mand.
In one of the many pamphlets published after the
Rigsdag we read: "Where can we find in our army,
today the subordination that existed in the days of
Charles XII? Will not each ensign, if corrected by the
general, at once think of the equality existing among
the peerage?" It was a striking prediction of what
happened in the army. Officers of noble rank found it
difficult to see in Lewenhaupt the general instead of
the president of their Estate and their party leader.
All the members of the Estate wished to command, no
one would obey. They were not able to do the simple
and necessary thing, to hold their peace and do their
<< prev. page << föreg. sida << >> nästa sida >> next page >>
