Having only recently arrived in the display cabinet, Marshal Bernadotte thought it would be a good idea to hold a full parade of the Swedish Division to introduce himself as their new C-in-C. He was pretty pleased with the turnout – from left to right are Regiments Abo, Kajana and Alderkreutz.
Here we can see the Swedish commanders conferring during the manoeuvres. General Klingspor is on the left and General Alderkreutz the right, Marshal Bernadotte is the chap in the middle.The day was tinged with sadness however with the news that some of their compatriots will be leaving them shortly due to a couple of eBay sales completing tonight. During a recent inventory check I decided that I just have way too many of them and with vintage Hinton Hunt and Clayton figures pushing their way to the front of the painting queue, I took the decision to prune them. I will still have enough figures left to make up another three Regiments however so Bernadotte can rest assured that he will continue to hold an important command in my armies.
3 comments:
Swedes, swedes...They are a forgotten army: Bernadotte carried them back home almost without losses...
Best regards
Rafa
Yes Rafa, it appears that the allied high command forgot them too or that Bernadotte forgot where Leipzig was until the noise of the guns had died down.
The Swedes had a rough ride from the Russians in a war in 1808 IIRC and brought in Bernadotte to get an alliance with Napoleon. Napoleon was, however, furious that the Gascon gambler Bernadotte, who had been accused of hanging back against the Austrians was suddenly makaing himself a king without Napoleon's permission.
Bernadotte was then clever enough to see how the balance of power lay and joined in when everyone else attacked the French after the disastrous retreat from Moscow. Unfortunately Sweden was dirt poor and had to rely on handouts from the other allies to clothe and equip its men. Also Sweden could not afford to have casualties because it was already exhasted. So Bernadotte danced around , suffered few losses and got to the peace conference as a winner!!!
The Swedes loved him!!
Roy
And still they love his descendants!
Regards
Rafa
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