Nils Christian Frederik Hals (April 23, 1758 – June 27, 1838)''Danmarks adels aarbog''. 1897. Volume 14. Copenhagen, p. 173. was a Norwegian military officer with the rank of lieutenant colonel. Hals was born in

Eidsberg Eidsberg was a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality was the List of cities in Norway, town of Mysen. In 2020, Eidsberg was absorbed into the Indre Øst ...

. In March 1814 he was named commander of

Fredrikstad Fortress Fredrikstad fortress (''Fredrikstad festning'') was a fortification in Fredrikstad, Norway. It was the base of the Østfold Regiment, with defence related responsibilities for the east side of Oslofjord. History Fredrikstad Fortress was construc ...

after the commander at the time had declared the fortress to be in such poor condition that it could not be defended in the event of an attack. Hals was of the same opinion and was not eager to take on the position. He received a verbal assurance from the regent of Norway, Christian Fredrik, that the fortress would not be defended if it were attacked. In 1814, the fortress was attacked and encircled by Swedish forces. Among other things, they had landed at Tangen at the southern tip of

Kråkerøy Kråkerøy is an island and a former municipality in Østfold, Norway. The island of Kråkerøy was separated from Glemmen as a municipality of its own January 1, 1908. At that time Kråkerøy had a population of 3,311. The rural municipality wa ...

and advanced to a position later named Svenskeberget (literally, 'Swedish hill') southwest of the fortress. From there, the Swedish forces had good positions and the advantage of the height of the terrain, which allowed them to fire their cannons directly into the fortified town. After a brief bombardment, Hals surrendered the fortress on August 4, 1814.Johansen, John. 2014. Georg Apenes vil ha et monument over kommandant Hals. ''Fredriksstad Blad'' (November 7).
/ref> Hals was severely criticized for having surrendered the fortress without permission.Kristiansen, Svein. 2013. Kongen overga festningen. ''Fredriksstad Blad'' (September 10).
/ref> He was sentenced to death by the

Supreme Court of Norway The Supreme Court of Norway ( Norwegian Bokmål: ; Norwegian Nynorsk: ; lit. 'Highest Court') is the highest court in the Norwegian judiciary. It was established in 1815 on the basis of section 88 in the Constitution of the Kingdom of Norway, ...

on December 17, 1816; however, in 1817 he was granted a royal pardon from Crown Prince Charles John of Sweden and Norway and dismissed from military service. Hals then lived at the Solberg farm in

Trøgstad Trøgstad was a municipality in Østfold county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Skjønhaug. The municipality included the parishes of Skjønhaug, Havnås and Båstad. The parish of ''Trygstad'' was estab ...

, where he died.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hals, Nils Christian Frederik 1758 births 1838 deaths People from Fredrikstad People from Eidsberg People from Trøgstad Norwegian Army personnel Norwegian prisoners of war in the Napoleonic Wars Norwegian prisoners sentenced to death Prisoners sentenced to death by Norway Recipients of Norwegian royal pardons Danish army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars Norwegian colonels