Battle of Ratan

Overview

The Battle of Ratan was the last battle fought on Swedish soil during the Russo-Swedish War of 1808–1809. It took place a day apart from the Battle of Sävar, on 20 August 1809. Having conquered Finland from Sweden, the Russians had a small force in the northern areas of Sweden, which the Swedes sought to eliminate through a combined assault from land and sea. The Russians moved rapidly to defend, defeating the Swedish force landed at Ratan at Sävar on 19 August. The next day, on 20 August, the Swedish riflemen was attacked and pushed out of Ratan, turning to the flotilla and starting the evacuation. At the same time, artillery fire from Swedish warships kept the Russians at bay. Peace negotiations followed the heavy fighting.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Ratan was the last engagement fought on Swedish soil during the Finnish War of 1808–1809. It formed the concluding action of a Swedish operation aimed at eliminating the Russian force that had advanced into northern Sweden following Russia's conquest of Finland. The Swedish plan combined a land assault with naval support, but the operation unraveled over two days: Russian forces defeated the Swedish landing at Sävar on 19 August, then on 20 August pushed the Swedish riflemen out of Ratan entirely, forcing an evacuation covered by warship artillery. Swedish casualties reached 2,000 from a force of 5,420. The battle's immediate consequence was the opening of peace negotiations, marking the effective end of hostilities and confirming Russia's retention of Finland — the central territorial outcome of the war.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (3)