Svend Gønge

Svend Poulsen
Svend Poulsen Gønge (right), luring the Swedish colonel Sparre into an ambush while disguised as a Swede
Nickname(s)	Gøngehøvdingen
Born	c. 1610
Died	c. 1680
Allegiance	Denmark
Service/branch	Danish Army (Dutch Army)
Years of service	1625-1660 1675-1679
Rank	Major
Battles/wars	Torstenson War, Second Northern War, Scanian War

Svend Poulsen (c. 1610 – c. 1680), also referred to as Svend Poulsen Gønge (Swedish: Svend Gjönge Povlsen) was a Danish military commander in the 17th century, serving in the armies of Christian IV, Frederick III, and Christian V. He fought in the Torstenson War, Second Northern War, and the Scanian War, and led the snaphane militia in guerilla warfare against Sweden in occupied Zealand from 1658 to 1659. He was popularized under the name Gøngehøvdingen (English: the Gønge chieftain) in 1853, when his exploits were fictionalized under that name by Danish author Carit Etlar. The historicity of his aliases has since been disputed.

Little is known for certain about the youth of Svend Poulsen. He was probably born around 1610 in north-western Scania or southern Halland. He was a soldier in the army of Christian IV during the 1625-1629 Danish intervention in the Thirty Years' War, and also served in the Dutch Army. He was made an officer in the Danish army in the Torstenson War from 1643 to 1645. He was a citizen of Laholm in Halland, even after it came under Swedish reign in 1645. During the 1657–1658 Dano-Swedish War of the greater Second Northern War theatre, Poulsen commanded a company of dragoons in April 1657, in the defence of Ängelholm in Scania against Sweden. He took part in a number of skirmishes, and was promoted captain in December 1657. After the cession of Scania and Halland at the Treaty of Roskilde of 1658, Svend Poulsen and his dragoons moved to Zealand, where they were ordered to disband.