| Battle of Tistedalen | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theSwedish–Norwegian War of 1814 | |||||||
 Tistedalen in 1826, byThomas Fearnley | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Norway |  Sweden | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Johan Spørck | Pehr Brändström | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 400–600 | 1,500 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 27 killed or wounded 45 captured | 3 killed 13 wounded | ||||||
 | |||||||
TheBattle of Tistedalen was a series of skirmishes in theSwedish–Norwegian War of 1814, atTistedalen,Norway.
At July 30, a Swedish army underHans Henric von Essen crossed the southern Norwegian border (among them theRégiment Royal-Suédois). A small Norwegian force of a couple hundred men, under Johan Henrik Spørck, withdrew to an advantageous position behind theTista, at Veden, to delay the Swedes long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Essen sentEberhard von Vegesack to block the Norwegian fortress ofFredriksten, while a smaller force of 1,500 men under Pehr Brändström marched towards Spørck, in an attempt to force the crossing;[1] after receiving some reinforcements, Spørck's army counted between 400 and 600 men.[2][3]
At 1 August, Brändström opened up with two cannons to force the Norwegians to retire but without result; instead he ordered a battalion of theVästmanland Regiment to wade over the river opposite the Norwegian left flank, while other unitsfeinted attacks elsewhere. Once across, the Västmanland battalion launched a bayonet attack which, after two hours of fighting, drove the Norwegians away.[1] The Swedes had lost 3 killed and 13 wounded;[2][3] the Norwegians had over 27 killed and wounded and 45 men captured. Essen reached Torpum the next day and there united his forces with the SwedishCrown Prince Charles John.[1]
