Basic facts on the allotted (indelta) cavalry of the army of Gustav III (1788-90)
Main sources:
The drawings of the standards are based upon some photos I have taken while visiting the Swedish war archive. The details are based on the articles of Leif Törnqvist published in the Swedish army museums book "Between the imperial eagles".
The uniform drawings are based on the war archives on-line pictures of CG Roos paintings from 1783. for details I have used the article of Leif Törnqvist in the Swedish army museums book "Between the imperial eagles" and some photos taken by Dan Schorr numbersy years ago at library of the Swedish Army museum. The sources are however to some point contradictive. Since all sources refers to the work of CG Roos, I have chosen to follow his version.
The other information found below are drawn from the two books by Julius Mankell "Anteckningar rörande Svenska regementenas historia". and the "Anteckningar rörande Finska arméens och Finlands krigshistoria". The books are written in 1860-70 so there should be some new facts that mr Mankell have missed. I have also used the Generalstabens "Sveriges krig åren 1808 och 1809", GH Jägerhorn, "I fält för Gustav III" (editor Petra och Pertti Hakkala), CG Aminoff "Nyuppsatta truppförband i Finland mellan 1770 och 1808" and the Army museums great book "Between the imperial eagles".
The campaign in Finland was limited to the area close to the border river of Kymmene älv. Since I don't expect anyone to be familiar with the geography in that area I have downloaded a map showing the situation during the early 1800-hundreds. The scale is 1:500 000.
Alotted (indelt) cavallry
General information
At this time the the Swedish cavalry were still organised in companies of 125 men. The use of the word "squadron" tends to be shifting. Sometime it's used as an equal to the infantry's use of "battalion", and sometimes it was used for designating a group of two companies.
The standards:
For the allotted cavalry, the basic design remained the same as during the Great Nordic war, but the over-all design was adjusted to the fashion of the time. Most standards were also used during the whole Napoleon era.
The allotted regiments all carried the arm of the province or the major city where they were raised On the reverse was the the monogram of the King. The monogram was not changed when a new king stepped up. The standards were in most cases rectangular with the measures 3½ quarters (44,55 cm), in square. One quarter is 1/4 of an "aln" (ell in English). It is measured from the elbow to the tip of the little finger. 1 aln = 59,4 cm
To be able to display details when printed for 15mm figures, I have distorted some proportions and made some "simplifications". To compare with the originals, please check the photos.
The uniforms:
Several regiments were still using the older uniform in 1788. This older uniform was fairly similar to the uniform used during the Great Nordic War. The navy blue colour of the m /1779 uniform has unfortunately been distorted. The rest of the standards are ok. I will fix the navy-blue when I have the spare time.
If you would like to have the drawings in Power-Point just send me an e-mail.
I have excluded the "Adelsfanan" since the unit was not used during the war.
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Livregementet (The Life regiment) |
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The regiment was allotted in central Sweden. The standards were presented in 1724 and had the monogram of King Fredrik I. Each company had the arm of their province in the upper corner of the standard.
In 1791 the regiment was split into three corps: These units underwent a number of reorganisations until 1815. To 1810 the Cuirassiers used the old standards but this year they were presented new ones. These were white and carried the monogram of king Karl XIII. They also lacked the golden edges of the old ones. The Dragoons, who later was transformed into Hussars never used any standards. The light infantry corps was in 1808 transformed into a Grenadier corps and received white colours with a royal crown in each corner and the monogram of king Gustav IV Adolf.
In 1810 the colours was replaces by similar but with king the monogram of Karl XIII. |
 The "field uniform m/1779 were introduced in 1790. Meanwhile, the troops were ordered to change the old uniform to a similar style. |
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| Man power | 1000 men | |
| Number of companies | 8 companies | |
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Activities during the 1788-90 war: 1788
June One company is shipped to Helsingfors/ Helsinki but later the same year,
the unit is shipped back
September The remainder of the
regiment (780 men) are mobilised and sent to Gothenburg to face the 1789 15 september Three
companies are shipped to Finland. They are deployed as coast guards
along the coast 30 oktober The Compagnies are sent to Åbo as garrison. 1790 End of June Parts of the unit is present in Werälä
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Västgöta kavalleriregemente |
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The regiment was allotted in the province of Västergötland. The standards were presented in 1768 and had the monogram of King Adolf Fredrik. I don't know if the two white stars were used on both side of the standard.
After the war the regiment was subjected to several changes and in 1811 they were finally dismounted and transformed into the Västgöta infantry regiment. In 1812 they was presented colours of a completely new design.
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 Uniform m/1779. Note the lighter blue colour. I have no info of when the uniform were introduced. |
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| Man power | 1000 men | |
| Number of companies | 8 companies | |
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Activities during the 1788-90 war:
1788 I have
no notes about activities this year, but they must have been engaged in
the defence against 1789 In September the regiment is sent to Karlskrona to serve onboard the fleet. 1790 Once again sent to Karlskrona as reserves for the fleet. Most of the personnel were left ashore.
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Östgöta kavalleriregemente |
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The regiment was allotted in the province of Östergötland. The standards were presented in 1776 and had the monogram of king Gustav III. Please note that the provincial arm and the royal monograms are placed differently than what's usual.
In 1791 the regiment was dismounted and formed the "Rusthålls division", one of the two divisions of the Life Grenadier Regiment. The former Östgöta infantry regiment formed the other division of the new regiment. In 1816 the two divisions was once again to gain regimental status and the Rusthålls division was now named " The Second Life Grenadier regiment". The two divisions used their old colours or standards, but in 1800 the regiment received white colours with a royal crown in each corner and the monogram of king Gustav IV Adolf.
In 1810 the colours was replaces by similar but with king the monogram of Karl XIII. |
 Uniform m/1779 introduced in 1785. |
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| Man power | 1000 men | |
| Number of companies | 8 companies | |
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Activities during the 1788-90 war:
1788 I have
no notes about activities this year, but they must have been engaged in
the defence against
1789 In
spring 700 men from the regiment are sent to Karlskrona to serve onboard the fleet.
Participate in 1790 In april the regiment is ordered to serve on the archipelago fleet.
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Smålands kavalleriregemente |
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The regiment was allotted in the province of Småland. The standards were presented in 1776 and had the monogram of king Gustav III. Please note that the provincial arm and the royal monograms are placed differently than what's usual.
In 1801 the regiment was renamed to "the Småland Light Dragoon Regiment" and in 1806 " the Småland Dragoon Regiment. As a light unit the regiment carried no standards. In 1812 one of the battalions was dismounted and designated as "the Infantry Battalion of the Smålands Dragoons" (in some sources the unit is referred to as "the Grenadier battalion"). The infantry unit was only presented with the Life colour. It was white with a royal crown in each corner and the Swedish great coat of arms at the centre. |
 Uniform m/1779. I have no info of when the uniform were introduced. |
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| Man power | 1000 men | |
| Number of companies | 8 companies | |
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Activities during the 1788-90 war:
1788 I have
no notes about activities this year, but they must have been engaged in
the defence against 1789-90 In both 1789 and 1790 the regiment serves onboard the fleet.
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Norra skånska kavalleriregementet (The Northern Scanian cavalry regiment) |
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The regiment was allotted in the North and western parts of the province of Skåne. The standards were presented in 1729 and had the | ||
