Carolean Death March

The Carolean Death March (Swedish: karolinernas dödsmarsch) or the Catastrophe of Øyfjellet refers to the disastrous retreat by a Swedish Carolean army under the command of Carl Gustaf Armfeldt across the Tydal mountain range in Trøndelag around the new year 1718–1719.

In 1718, after several defeats in the Great Northern War, Sweden had lost its eastern territories to Russia. Too weakened to retake these, Charles XII of Sweden planned an attack on Norway to force the Dano-Norwegian king Frederick IV into great concessions in subsequent peace treaty negotiations.

After the defeat at Storkyro, Lieutenant-general Carl Gustaf Armfeldt had retreated to the area of Gävle with the mauled army of Finland. He was now ordered to make a diversionary attack from Jämtland towards Trondheim in Trøndelag with his poorly equipped soldiers. After assembling a host of 10,000 soldiers in Duved, he set off towards Norway on 29 August 1718. Four months later, the campaign in Trøndelag had failed: the defenders of Trondheim had successfully held off Armfeldt. The army of 10,000 had dwindled to around 6,000, and the surviving soldiers were exhausted and starved, their clothing tattered and threadbare. Bad weather made resupplies from Sweden impossible, so the army had to live off the land, causing untold suffering to the Norwegian civilian population.

After Charles' death on 11 December 1718 during the siege of Fredriksten, all Swedish forces in Norway were ordered to retreat back to Sweden. Armfeldt received notice of Charles' death on 7 January 1719, when his force was in Haltdalen, Gauldal with about 6,000 men. He decided to take the shortest route to Sweden: first over the mountains to Tydal and from there over the Tydal mountain range back to the fort of Hjerpe. So far the winter had been mild with scant to no snow cover. Skis were therefore not needed, but the army was poorly equipped and exhausted from the campaigning in Trøndelag.

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