Henrik Otto von Fieandt (1762–1823) was a Swedish

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....

 Colonel

Colonel

Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...

 who fought in the 1788–90 war with Russia

Russia

Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...

. He appears in Johan Ludvig Runeberg's

Johan Ludvig Runeberg

Johan Ludvig Runeberg was a Finnish poet, and is the national poet of Finland. He wrote in the Swedish language....

 epic poem The Tales of Ensign Stål

The Tales of Ensign Stål

The Tales of Ensign Stål is an epic poem written in Swedish by the Finland-Swedish author Johan Ludvig Runeberg, the national poet of Finland...

as an eccentric but valorous commander.

Life

Otto von Fieandt was born into a military family in 1762. His father was a Lieutenant

Lieutenant

A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...

 in the Swedish Savolax musketeer regiment. By the time of the Russo-Swedish War of 1788 he was captain of a regiment, and participated in the Anjala conspiracy

Anjala conspiracy

The Anjala conspiracy of 1788 was a scheme by disgruntled Swedish officers to end Gustav III's Russian War of 1788–90. Declaring Finland an independent state was part of the plot, although it is disputed what importance the conspirators connected to that aspect.- Rising anger against the king...

, for which he was pardoned. He came to fame in the Finnish War

Finnish War

The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...

, in which he held the rank of lieutenant colonel. After the war he remained in Finland. He died in 1823 on an estate near Vyborg

Vyborg

Vyborg is a town in Leningrad Oblast, Russia, situated on the Karelian Isthmus near the head of the Bay of Vyborg, to the northwest of St. Petersburg and south from Russia's border with Finland, where the Saimaa Canal enters the Gulf of Finland...

.

In literature

Von Fieandt is the titular character of the tenth poem comprising The Tales of Ensign Stål. Runeberg paints him as an eccentric figure, stating that he spoke Finnish to his men, that he used a whip instead of a sword, and that he went into battle smoking a pipe.

A monument known as the "Stones of Otto von Fieandt" stands in Karstula

Karstula

Karstula is a municipality of Finland founded in 1867. It is located in the province of Western Finland and is part of the Central Finland region. The municipality has a population of and covers an area of of which is water...

in commemoration of the Battle of Karstula, in which his Swedish forces were forced to retreat.