Battle of Langnes
Encyclopedia
The Battle of Langnes, or the Battle of Langnes Entrenchment, was a battle fought between Norway
Norway in 1814
1814 was a pivotal year in the history of Norway. It started with Norway in a union with the Kingdom of Denmark subject to a naval blockade being ceded to the king of Sweden. In May a constitutional convention declared Norway an independent kingdom. By the end of the year the Norwegian parliament...

 and Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

 as a part of the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814. The battle, even as it ended inconclusively, served as a tactical victory to the Norwegians since they now could avoid an unconditional surrender
Unconditional surrender
Unconditional surrender is a surrender without conditions, in which no guarantees are given to the surrendering party. In modern times unconditional surrenders most often include guarantees provided by international law. Announcing that only unconditional surrender is acceptable puts psychological...

 to the Swedish.

Background

The Norwegian Army had earlier suffered several defeats against the Swedish forces in Eastern Norway, and when Fredrikstad Fortress
Fredrikstad Fortress
Fredrikstad fortress was a fortification in Fredrikstad, Norway. It was the base of the Østfold Regiment, with defence related responsibilities for the east side of Oslo Fjord.-History:...

 surrendered on the 4th of August it was clear that it was only a matter of time before Sweden would win the war. At this time the Norwegian forces in Østfold were trying to reorganize themselves east of Askim
Askim
is a town and a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Askim. Askim was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 ....

 by the Glomma
Glomma
The Glomma or Glåma is the longest and largest river in Norway. The long river has a drainage basin that covers a full 13% of Norway's area, all in the southern part of Norway.-Geography:...

 river, and had built a pontoon bridge
Pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge or floating bridge is a bridge that floats on water and in which barge- or boat-like pontoons support the bridge deck and its dynamic loads. While pontoon bridges are usually temporary structures, some are used for long periods of time...

 at Langnes to help speed up the withdraw. At the same time the bridge was built so that the bridgehead would be easy to defend in case of a Swedish attack.

Preparations for the Swedish attack

Colonel Diderich Hegermann placed his forces in posision to defend the bridgehead at the same time as it was possible for retreating Norwegian troops to cross the bridge. In addition to the two regiments from Kristians Amt
Oppland
is a county in Norway, bordering Sør-Trøndelag, Møre og Romsdal, Sogn og Fjordane, Buskerud, Akershus, Oslo and Hedmark. The county administration is in Lillehammer. Oppland is, together with Hedmark, one of the only two landlocked counties of Norway....

 and three divisions of sharpshooters from Valdres
Valdres
Valdres is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between Gudbrandsdal and Hallingdal.Administratively, Valdres belongs to Oppland. It consists of the municipalities Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre Slidre, Vang and Etnedal. The main town in the region is...

, he had eight guns available, four of which were laid on the small hill to fire at the Swedish attackers.

The Swedish advance

The Swedish forces consisted of several infantry regiments from Västergötland
Västergötland
', English exonym: West Gothland, is one of the 25 traditional non-administrative provinces of Sweden , situated in the southwest of Sweden. In older English literature one may also encounter the Latinized version Westrogothia....

 and Värmland
Värmland
' is a historical province or landskap in the west of middle Sweden. It borders Västergötland, Dalsland, Dalarna, Västmanland and Närke. It is also bounded by Norway in the west. Latin name versions are Vermelandia and Wermelandia. Although the province's land originally was Götaland, the...

 under the leadership of General Eberhard Ernst von Vegesack Gotthard and Lt. Colonel Bror Cederström
Bror Cederström
Bror Cederström was a Swedish baron and general and Minister of War.-Biography:From 1816 to 1822 he headed the Cederströmska husarregementet in Skåne...

. The force had marched towards the Norwegian bridgehead since the 8th of August, and several armed patrols were sent out to reconnoiter. During the night to the 9th of August the first Swedish troops arrived at Langnes.

Colonel Hegermann had sent out Norwegian patrols to keep track of how far the Swedish advance had arrived, and there were several skirmishes between the Norwegian and Swedish forces in the darkness. It was unusually bad weather that night, and a Norwegian captain who came into contact with a Swedish scout survived because the flashpan powder in the Swedish flintlock
Flintlock
Flintlock is the general term for any firearm based on the flintlock mechanism. The term may also apply to the mechanism itself. Introduced at the beginning of the 17th century, the flintlock rapidly replaced earlier firearm-ignition technologies, such as the doglock, matchlock and wheellock...

 musket was wet. The scout charged with his bayonet, and in a dramatic fight the captain broke his sword, but managed to kill the Swedish soldier. The captured gun is still exhibited in the Norwegian Museum of Defence.

Norwegian surprise attack

Colonel Hegermann tried to exploit the confusion caused by the bad weather, and before dawn he put in a surprise attack against the Swedish troops. In the rain and darkness, the attack quickly turned to a bayonet and gun butt fight, with the Norwegians beating the tired Swedes back. Not knowing the rate of the Swedish advance and fearing to be cut off from his own lines, Hegermann ordered a retreat back to the entrenchment in the morning hours.

The Swedish attacks

At the break of dawn, the Swedes had learned of the Norwegian defensive line and commenced their battle plan to evict them from their entrenchment. The Swedish troops was sent forth in columns from a small rise where Langnes Station
Langnes Station
Langnes Station is a railway station located at Langnes in Askim, Norway on the Østfold Line. The station is served by the Oslo Commuter Rail line 560 from Oslo S during rush hour. The station was opened in 1932.-External links:*...

 on the Østfold Line is today, about half a kilometre from the Norwegian lines. The open fields between the small rise and the cannon battery gave the Norwegian field artillery a good field of fire. The fields, being sodden by the nights rain, slowed the Swedish advance in front of the Norwegian guns. Colonel Hegermann ordered his men to hold the fire until the Swedes had advanced right up to the entrenchment, allowing the cannons to fire into the side of the advancing column with canister shot
Canister shot
Canister shot is a kind of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons. It was similar to the naval grapeshot, but fired smaller and more numerous balls, which did not have to punch through the wooden hull of a ship...

s. Hegermann later described how shots from the Norwegian cannons “made it look like a wagon had rolled through the them from head to queue”.

The first attack turned out to be costly for the Swedes, who lost the majority of their fallen in the battle during the first attack. As the attack broke down, some Swedish forces took refuge on the Langnes farm itself. They were driven off by more cannon fire, shooting the buildings asunder.

The Swedes reorganized and advanced a second time through rain and mud. They were again met by concentrated fire, and the attack petered out without the Swedish forces having breached the Norwegian line.

Late in the morning the Swedes attacked a third time. This time they organized their troops in skirmisher
Skirmisher
Skirmishers are infantry or cavalry soldiers stationed ahead or alongside a larger body of friendly troops. They are usually placed in a skirmish line to harass the enemy.-Pre-modern:...

 formation, keeping up a continuous fire on the Norwegian line to suppress return fire and also presenting a dispersed target, making it difficult to use the cannons effectively. The Swedes had better gunpowder
Gunpowder
Gunpowder, also known since in the late 19th century as black powder, was the first chemical explosive and the only one known until the mid 1800s. It is a mixture of sulfur, charcoal, and potassium nitrate - with the sulfur and charcoal acting as fuels, while the saltpeter works as an oxidizer...

, giving their musket
Musket
A musket is a muzzle-loaded, smooth bore long gun, fired from the shoulder. Muskets were designed for use by infantry. A soldier armed with a musket had the designation musketman or musketeer....

s better range. The attack of the skirmishing line had a devastating effect on the cannon battery, that had been placed on a hillock
Hillock
A hillock or knoll is a small hill, usually separated from a larger group of hills such as a range. Hillocks are similar in their distribution and size to small mesas or buttes. The term is largely a British one...

, without a proper breastwork
Breastwork (fortification)
A breastwork is a fortification. The term is usually applied to temporary fortifications, often an earthwork thrown up to breast height to provide protection to defenders firing over it from a standing position...

. Swedish riflemen
Rifleman
Although ultimately originating with the 16th century handgunners and the 17th century musketeers and streltsy, the term rifleman originated from the 18th century. It would later become the term for the archetypal common soldier.-History:...

 reinforced the skirmishing chain, killing several Norwegian artillerists, among them lieutenant Hauch. Colonel Hegermann got the battery reorganised and drove the sharpshooters off with several well aimed cannon shots. Though effective use of the cannons had forced the Swedes to withdraw for the third time, the Norwegian command had realized that the battery had been badly placed, and would not be able to hold off the Swedes in the long run.

Norwegian withdrawal

Though the battle was not as bloody as the Battle of Matrand
Battle of Matrand
The Battle of Matrand was a military battle on 5 August 1814 between Norwegian and Swedish forces as part of the Swedish-Norwegian War of 1814...

, the Swedish forces had taken substantial losses. The young king Christian Frederik
Christian VIII of Denmark
Christian VIII , was king of Denmark from 1839 to 1848 and, as Christian Frederick, king of Norway in 1814. He was the eldest son of Hereditary Prince Frederick of Denmark and Norway and Sophia Frederica of Mecklenburg-Schwerin, born in 1786 at Christiansborg Palace in Copenhagen...

 had spent the night at the nearby Spydeberg
Spydeberg
Spydeberg is a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Spydeberg. It is divided into the parishes Spydeberg, Heli, and Hovin. Spydeberg was established as a municipality on 1 January 1838 .The village of Spydeberg has approximately...

 farm was woken by the cannon fire. Rushing up to the pontoon bridge, he was met by soldiers carrying the body of lieutenant Hauch across. According to period sources, the young king exclaimed Too much blood for my sake! The soldiers answered Not too much my Liege, to little! However, in light of the overall strategic situation, the king ordered a withdrawal. Colonel Hegermann was planning a counter attack and a dispute with the king ensued. The king is quoted as having said But by God, have you not sacrificed enough of these fair folks blood?

The Norwegian losses behind their entrenchment had been insignificant, with only 6 men dead (among them the young lieutenant Hauch) and 9 or 10 wounded. Having crossed open, rain-sodden ground in column formation in the charge at the battery, the Swedish losses were substantial and are believed to have been around a hundred men dead or wounded. They had also lost the initiative, and decided to withdraw to the South.

At noon the 9th of August 1814 the final shots of the last major engagement between Norwegian and Swedes petered out. With the Swedes no longer a threat, the Norwegian withdrawal across the makeshift bridge was undisturbed and went swiftly. Being short on horses, the Norwegian command decided to ditch three cannons into the river Glomma which runs deep at this point, to vehement protest from the soldiers. The bridge was then dismantle by cutting the moorings for the boats.

Aftermath

After the Norwegian forces had withdrawn to the Western bank of Glomma, colonel Hegermann marched his troop South to reinforce the defences of the Glomma Line. The Swedes had taken the islands of Tune
Tune, Norway
Tune is a former municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The former municipality originally covered the current Sarpsborg municipality with the exception of Skjeberg and with the addition of Rolvsøy.-History:...

 and Rolvsøy
Rolvsøy
Rolvsøy is an island and a former municipality in Østfold county, Norway.It was created by a split from Tune on 1 January 1911. At that time Rolvsøy had a population of 2,381. On 1 January 1994 Rolvsøy was incorporated into the municipality of Fredrikstad, the neighboring municipality to the south...

, threatening the Norwegian position. The experienced Swedish soldier prince Charles John
Charles XIV John of Sweden
Charles XIV & III John, also Carl John, Swedish and Norwegian: Karl Johan was King of Sweden and King of Norway from 1818 until his death...

 had ordered his troops to secure the whole of the Eastern bank of the river, and several skirmishes took place along the river until 14th of august.

Despite having held the Swedes back at Langnes, it was becoming obvious that it was just a matter of time before the war itself would be lost. The Norwegian Army was short on supplies, having food only for two more weeks. Well before the battle, prince Charles John had offered negotiations. The Norwegians may have won the battle, but five days later they lost the war as king Christian August accepted a ceasefire. The following negotiations led to the Convention of Moss
Convention of Moss
The Convention of Moss was a cease fire agreement, signed August 14, 1814, between the Swedish King and the Norwegian Storting. It followed the Swedish-Norwegian War due to Norway's claim to sovereignty...

, which began the process of establishing the century long union between Sweden and Norway
Union between Sweden and Norway
The Union between Sweden and Norway , officially the United Kingdoms of Sweden and Norway, consisted of present-day Sweden and Norway between 1814 and 1905, when they were united under one monarch in a personal union....

.

The Norwegian resistance had however not been in vain. The army had safely withdrawn across Glomma intact. Even though the War in Eastern Norway had gone badly for the Norwegians, the spirited defence of the bridgehead at Langnes had boosted moral. With the Norwegians having a largely intact and battle ready army on the eastern side of the river, it was obvious tho the Swedes that a military victory could be costly. The victory at Langnes had thus given the Norwegian the diplomatic room needed to avoid the Swedes outright dictating the terms of surrender. As a secret part of the treaty the young king abdicated and was to never again set foot on Norwegian soil, but the Norwegians were allowed to keep their constitution
Constitution of Norway
The Constitution of Norway was first adopted on May 16, 1814 by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly at Eidsvoll , then signed and dated May 17...

, securing the parliament substantial power, thus laying the foundation for the dissolution of the union in 1905.
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