The death march of the Caroliners is the retreat of the Caroline Infantry under the command of Karl Gustav Armfeldt after the failed siege of Trondheim at the final stage of the Northern War .
| Death Caroliners March | |||
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| Main Conflict: Great Northern War | |||
 Monument dedicated to the dead Swedish soldiers | |||
| date | November 14, 1718 - January 1719 | ||
| A place | Trøndelag | ||
| Total | victory of the Danish-Norwegian army | ||
| Opponents | |||
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| Commanders | |||
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| Forces of the parties | |||
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| Losses | |||
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Content
Background
In the fall of 1718, Charles XII invaded Norway . Armfeldt's army was tasked with an offensive in the closest to the coast location to capture Trendelag , and, most importantly, Trondheim . They had to go deep only 80 kilometers. This maneuver split the country into two parts, which would aggravate the situation of the Norwegians.
On August 29, 1718, Armfeldt crossed the Norwegian border. After a short resistance, the Norwegians retreated, deciding to strengthen the approaches to Trondheim. General Buddha ordered the destruction of all bridges and theft of all boats in order to stop the Swedes. As a result, the Swedes stopped 35 kilometers from the city. The first snow fell. Due to food shortages, Armfeldt was forced to issue a retreat order. And only a month later, on October 26, having stabilized the situation a little, the general launched a second attack on Trondheim.
During this time, the size of his army decreased from 9.2 thousand people to about 6 thousand people.
Having traveled 75 kilometers along a mountain road, the army approached the city on November 6. On November 14, after a failed assault on the city, Armfeldt lifted the siege and proceeded to block Trondheim. For almost a month, small skirmishes continued with small groups of Norwegians appearing in the rear. At this time, or rather December 11, during the siege of the fortress Fredriksten, under mysterious circumstances, Charles XII died. Before Armfeldt, this message, along with the order to retreat to Handel, came on December 17, according to other sources - on January 7.
Death March
Armfeldt decided to retreat along the shortest route to Sweden via Tudal and further to Händel. Having left Haltdalen, the Swedes traveled 30 kilometers to two farms in Tudal. The next morning, the army, accompanied by a local guide, moved on, and 55 kilometers remained to the village of Händöl in Sweden. If it were not for the blizzard, the path would have taken two days. In the afternoon a strong snowstorm began, and Armfeldt decided to settle down on the northern slope of the Eifelle mountain on the shore of Lake Essand. In desperate attempts to warm themselves, the soldiers burned dwarf birches, heather, their own rifle butts and sledges, but this was of little use. About 200 people froze that night.
The storm continued, and the next day the retreat became chaotic, the soldiers were scattered across the hills. The bulk of the forces reached the Swedish border and camped in Enailven. The storm was still raging when the first units, led by Armfeldt, entered Handel. Most of the survivors arrived there on January 15 and 16. After that, the main goal was to get to Duveda, where housing for soldiers was arranged. Several hundred people could not overcome this last segment of such a difficult path.
Memory
Every year in January in Tudal, an open-air theatrical performance “Karolinerspelet” is held, which is designed to highlight the dramatic events that occurred here during the Death March.
In Roros , another Norwegian city visited by Swedish soldiers, an annual open musical theater performance called Elden is held at the mines in late July and early August. The show is one of Norway's largest open-air theater productions.
Swedish Sabaton Group in its sixth studio album Carolus Rex in the song “Ruina Imperii” mentions the Death Caroliners March and also mentions it in the song “Long Live the King”