The meeting at Ratan 1809

The Russian army controlled the whole of Finland and advanced south through Västerbotten. Umeå was under siege. Sweden mobilised a counter-attack by sending a fleet from Stockholm to be landed in Ratan. The idea was that this force would achieve a pincer manoeuvre using the southern army, which was off the Öre River, and capture the Russian troops in the middle.

The first battle took place in the Battle of Sävar the day before, the bloodiest battle of the Finnish War and the last major battle on Swedish soil, although the store at Piteå 5 days later was the very last actual hit.

During the Battle of Sävar, the Swedish general Wachtmeister ordered a retreat first to Djäkneboda and then to Ratan. 3000 Russian soldiers were on their heels, and in Ratan 5,400 Swedish soldiers were waiting. The course of events is said to have been as follows:

“Strax före klockan 15.00 den 20 augusti 1809 strömmade de ryska soldaterna in i Ratan. Där möttes de av en förödande artillerield från kanonsluparna. På Ledskär fanns ytterligare sju kanoner och på Rataskär även ytterligare två kanoner som gav oavbruten eld in mot byn. Striderna pågick i fyra timmar. Framemot klockan 8 på kvällen insåg Kamenskij att läget var hopplöst och beordrade reträtt. Samma kväll sammankallade han ett möte med general Wachtmeister och hotade att anfalla på nytt om inte svenskarna avseglade från Ratan.” – Wikipedia

By the time the smoke had cleared, 26 people had died on the Swedish side, 122 were wounded and 2 were captured. On the Russian side, 150 soldiers died and were wounded. Less than a month after the fighting at Ratan, on 17 September 1809, the peace treaty was signed, which meant that Sweden lost the eastern half of Finland to Russia.

When the Ratan people returned to their shattered village after the end of the war, the Swedish army started a collection for the villagers. Over 590 riksdaler was collected, which was no small sum at the time. A cow cost 12 riksdaler, a sheep 2 riksdaler, and a day's work was worth 1/3 riksdaler.

I Ratan finns idag ett minnesmärke i form av två krigsgravar enligt Wikipedia (dock ingen källa angiven): “I den ena ligger fänrik Hägerflycht som sårades vid striderna i Sävar och sedan avled på ett lasarettsfartyg i Ratan. Den andra stenen är ingen grav utan en minnessten som restes i samband med 100-årsjubileet av anhöriga till Johan Nisbeth som stupade i Sävar men vars kropp aldrig återfanns.”

“Ännu är Ratan en undangömd vrå af världen, där man kan njuta av fullständigt lugn i den härligaste skärgårdsnatur, tämligen oberörd af kultur och societetsliv”. (Svenska Turistföreningens årsbok 1906)

Read more

• Svenska Slagfält: “Sävar och Ratan 1809: Svensk Final” (2005) sid. 420-429
• Hollinder, C. (2007). Ratan. pp. 137-150
• Lövgren, S.. In the wake of war. pp. 5-11, 26
• Ratan.se

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