The Hälsinge Regiment (), designations I 14, I 14/Fo 49 and I 14/Fo 21, was a

Swedish Army The Swedish Army () is the army, land force of the Swedish Armed Forces of the Kingdom of Sweden. Beginning with its service in 1521, the Swedish Army has been active for more than 500 years. History Svea Life Guards dates back to the year 1 ...

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

that traced its origins back to the 16th century. It was disbanded in 1997. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the provinces of

Hälsingland Hälsingland (), sometimes referred to by the Latin name Helsingia, is a historical Provinces of Sweden, province or ''landskap'' in central Sweden. It borders Gästrikland, Dalarna, Härjedalen, Medelpad and the Gulf of Bothnia. It is part of ...

and

Gästrikland Gästrikland () is a historical province or ''landskap'' on the eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Uppland, Västmanland, Dalarna, Hälsingland and the Gulf of Bothnia. Gästrikland is the southernmost and the most densely populated of the No ...

, and it was later garrisoned in Gästrikland.

History

The regiment has its origins in fänikor (companies) raised in

and

in the 1550s and 1560s. In 1615, these units—along with fänikor from the nearby provinces of

Medelpad Medelpad ( or ) is a historical province or ''landskap'' in the north of Sweden. It borders Hälsingland, Härjedalen, Jämtland, Ångermanland and the Gulf of Bothnia. The province is a part of Norrland and as such considered to be Northe ...

Ångermanland Ångermanland ( or ) is a historical province (''landskap'') in the northern part of Sweden. It is bordered (clockwise from the north) by Swedish Lapland, Västerbotten, the Gulf of Bothnia, Medelpad and Jämtland. The name is derived from the ...

and

Västerbotten Västerbotten (), sometimes called West Bothnia or Westrobothnia, is a province (''landskap'') in northern Sweden, located by the Gulf of Bothnia. It borders the provinces of Ångermanland, Lapland and Norrbotten. The region is famous for Väs ...

—were organised by

Gustav II Adolf Gustavus Adolphus (9 December N.S 19 December">Old_Style_and_New_Style_dates.html" ;"title="/nowiki>Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 19 December15946 November Old Style and New Style dates">N.S 16 November] 1632), also known in English as ...

into

Norrlands storregemente ''Norrlands storregemente'' or ''Landsregementet i Norrland'' (Norrland Grand Regiment, Regiment of the Land in Norrland) was one of the nine grand regiments organized by Gustavus Adolphus in the late 1610s and split into smaller regiments in th ...

, of which eleven of the total 24 companies were recruited in Hälsingland and Gästrikland. Norrlands storregemente consisted of three field regiments, of which Hälsinge Regiment was one. Sometime around 1624, the grand regiment was permanently split into three smaller regiments, of which Hälsinge Regiment was one. The regiment was officially raised in 1630 although it had existed since 1624. Hälsinge Regiment was one of the original 20 Swedish infantry regiments mentioned in the Swedish

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

of 1634. The regiment was also called Joakim Brahe's Regiment after its first commander Joakim Brahe. It was allotted in 1682 as the second Swedish regiment to be so, after

Dalarna Regiment The Dalarna Regiment (), designation I 13, is a Swedish Army infantry unit that traced its origins back to the 16th century. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from the province of Dalarna, where it was later garrisoned. The unit ...

. The regiment was given the designation I 14 (14th Infantry Regiment) in a

general order A general order, in military and paramilitary organizations, is a published directive, originated by a commander and binding upon all personnel under his or her command. Its purpose is to enforce a policy or procedure that is not otherwise addres ...

in 1816. Hälsinge Regiment was garrisoned in

Gävle Gävle ( ; ) is a Urban areas in Sweden, city in Sweden, the seat of Gävle Municipality and the capital of Gävleborg County. It had 79,004 inhabitants in 2020, which makes it the List of cities in Sweden, 13th-most-populated city in Sweden. I ...

from 1909. In 1973, the regiment gained the new designation I 14/Fo 49 as a consequence of a merge with the local defence area Fo 49. When the local defence area changed designation to Fo 21 in 1982, the designation changed to I 14/Fo 21. The regiment was disbanded in 1997, and the

barracks Barracks are buildings used to accommodate military personnel and quasi-military personnel such as police. The English word originates from the 17th century via French and Italian from an old Spanish word 'soldier's tent', but today barracks ar ...

that had been refurbished in 1995–1996 were turned into a

college campus A campus traditionally refers to the land and buildings of a college or university. This will often include libraries, lecture halls, student centers and, for residential universities, residence halls and dining halls. By extension, a cor ...

for the

University College of Gävle A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

Campaigns

*The

Swedish War of Liberation Swedish or ' may refer to: Anything from or related to Sweden, a country in Northern Europe. Or, specifically: * Swedish language, a North Germanic language spoken primarily in Sweden and Finland ** Swedish alphabet, the official alphabet used by ...

(1521–1523)Participated as the various '' fänikor'' that later formed the regiment. *The

Northern Seven Years' War The Northern Seven Years' War (also known as the ''Nordic Seven Years' War'', the ''First Northern War,'' the ''Seven Years' War of the North'' or the ''Seven Years War in Scandinavia'') was fought between the Kingdom of Sweden (1523–1611), K ...

(1563–1570) *The War against Russia (1590–1595) *The Polish War (1600–1629) *The

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

(1630–1648) *The

Torstenson War The Torstenson War was fought between Sweden and Denmark–Norway from 1643 to 1645. The name derives from Swedish general Lennart Torstenson. Denmark-Norway had withdrawn from the Thirty Years' War in the 1629 Treaty of Lübeck. After its vic ...

(1643–1645) *The

Northern Wars "Northern Wars" is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern Europe, northern and northeastern Europe from the 16th to the 18th century, primarily between the territorial rivals of the Swedish Empire, Tsardom of Russia, Poland–Lithuani ...

(1655–1661) *The

Scanian War The Scanian War (; ; ; ) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and Swedish Empire, Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish ...

(1674–1679) *The

Great Northern War In the Great Northern War (1700–1721) a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern Europe, Northern, Central Europe, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the ant ...

(1700–1721) *The Hats' Russian War (1741–1743) *The

Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War, 1756 to 1763, was a Great Power conflict fought primarily in Europe, with significant subsidiary campaigns in North America and South Asia. The protagonists were Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and Kingdom of Prus ...

(1757–1762) *The

Gustav III's Russian War Gustav, Gustaf or Gustave may refer to: *Gustav (name), a male given name of Old Swedish origin Art, entertainment, and media * ''Primeval'' (film), a 2007 American horror film * ''Gustav'' (film series), a Hungarian series of animated short cart ...

(1788–1790) *The

Finnish War The Finnish War (; ; ) was fought between the Gustavian era, Kingdom of Sweden and the Russian Empire from 21 February 1808 to 17 September 1809 as part of the Napoleonic Wars. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established a ...

(1808–1809) *The Campaign against Norway (1814)

Organisation

;1634(?) * Livkompaniet *Överstelöjtnantens kompani *Majorens kompani *Alfta kompani *Delsbo kompani *Ovansjö kompani *Arbrå kompani *Jervsö kompani ;1814(?) *Livkompaniet *Forssa kompani *Järvsö kompani *Delsbo kompani *Färnebo kompani *Arbrå kompani *Alfta kompani *Ovansjö kompani

Heraldry and traditions

Colours, standards and guidons

The regiment have carried a number of colour over the years. In 1897, King

Oscar II Oscar II (Oscar Fredrik; 21 January 1829 – 8 December 1907) was King of Sweden from 1872 until his death in 1907 and King of Norway from 1872 to 1905. Oscar was the son of King Oscar I and Queen Josephine. He inherited the Swedish and Norweg ...

presented a new colour to the two battalions of the regiment, which then replaced the 1850 colour. On 29 September 1952, the 1897 colour was replaced when the regiment was presented with a new colour in Gävle by His Majesty the King

Gustaf VI Adolf Gustaf VI Adolf (Oscar Fredrik Wilhelm Olaf Gustaf Adolf; 11 November 1882 – 15 September 1973) was King of Sweden from 29 October 1950 until his death in 1973. He was the eldest son of Gustaf V and his wife, Victoria of Baden. Before Gustaf ...

. It was used as regimental colour by I 14/Fo 21 until 1 January 1998. The new colour was similar to the 1850 colour. It was white and black, which is also the regimental colour, and taken from

(black) and

(white). The colour is drawn by Brita Grep. It has not been possible to discover who has manufactured the colour. It is embroidered by hand in insertion technique.

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

: "On cloth per saltire black and white the provincial badge of Hälsingland; a rampant yellow buck, armed red. On a yellow border at the upper side of the colour, battle honours (

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

1611,

Warszawa Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at 1.86 million residents within a greate ...

1656,

Fredriksodde Fredericia () is a town located in Fredericia Municipality in the southeastern part of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The city is part of the Triangle Region, which includes the neighbouring cities of Kolding and Vejle. It was founded in 1 ...

1657, Tåget över Bält 1658,

Lund Lund (, ;"Lund"
(US) and ) is a city in the provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, southern Swed ...

1676,

Landskrona Landskrona is a town in Scania, Sweden. Located on the shores of the Öresund, it occupies a natural port, which has lent the town at first military and subsequent commercial significance. Ferries operate from Landskrona to the island of Ven, an ...

1677,

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

1700,

Düna The Daugava ( ), also known as the Western Dvina or the Väina River, is a large river rising in the Valdai Hills of Russia that flows through Belarus and Latvia into the Gulf of Riga of the Baltic Sea. The Daugava rises close to the source of t ...

1701, Jakobstadt 1704, Gemäuerthof 1705, Malatitze 1708,

Gadebusch Gadebusch () is a town in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania in the district of Nordwestmecklenburg. Halfway between Lübeck, Schwerin and Wismar, it is part of the Hamburg Metropolitan Region. The town is known for two notable monuments: the ''Stadt ...

1712) in black". File:AM.009050.jpg, 1850 colour of the 1st Battalion, Hälsinge Regiment. File:AM.010446.jpg, 1897 colour of the 1st Battalion, Hälsinge Regiment. File:AM.010447.jpg, 1897 colour of the 2nd Battalion, Hälsinge Regiment.

Coat of arms

The coat of the arms of the Hälsinge Regiment (I 14/Fo 21) 1977–1997 and the Gävleborg Group (''Gävleborgsgruppen'') since 1997.

: The provincial badge of Hälsingland, saltire sable and argent, a buck rampant or, armed and langued gules. The shield surmounted two muskets in saltire or".

Medals

In 1959, the ' ("Hälsinge Regiment (I 14) Medal of Merit") in gold (HälsregGM) of the 8th size was established. The same year, the ' ("Royal Hälsinge Regiment Medal of Reward") in gold (HälsregGM) was established. In 1959 and 1985, the ' ("Hälsinge Regiment Medal of Merit") in silver (HälsregSM) were established. The medals from 1959 and 1982 are of the 8th size. In 1992, the medals were reinstated as a

Jeton Jetons or jettons are tokens or coin-like medals produced across Europe from the 13th through the 18th centuries. They were produced as counters for use in calculation on a counting board, a lined board similar to an abacus. Jetons for calcul ...

, but then of the 12th size. The

medal ribbon A medal ribbon, service ribbon or ribbon bar is a small ribbon, mounted on a small metal bar equipped with an attaching device, which is generally issued for wear in place of a medal when it is not appropriate to wear the actual medal. Each cou ...

s are divided in black and white moiré.

Heritage

In connection with the disbandment of the regiment, its traditions came from 1 January 1998 onwards to be continued by Gävleborg Group ('). From 1 July 2013 the Gävleborg Battalion, within the Gävleborg Group.

Commanding officers

Regimental commanders active at the regiment during the years 1627–1997.

Commanders

*1630–1360: Joachim Brahe *1630–1638: Åke Ulfsparre *1638–1645: Johan Oxenstierna *1645–1645: Johan Strijk *1645–1654: Gustaf Saabel *1654–1655: Gustaf Oxenstierna *1655–1660: Carl Larsson Sparre *1660–1669: Henrik Johan Taube *1670–1673: Anders Månsson Arenfeldt *1673–1683: Gustaf Karl von Wulffen *1683–1698: Ludvig Wilhelm Taube *1698–1700: Carl Gustaf Frölich *1700–1708: Jöran von Knorring *1708–1723: Gideon Fock *1710–1717: Reinhold Henrik Otto Horn *1717–1724: Lorentz von Nummers *1723–1738:

Henrik Magnus von Buddenbrock Henrik Magnus von Buddenbrock (22 July 1685 – between 16 and 27 July 1743) was a Swedish baron and Lieutenant General. He and Carl Emil Lewenhaupt were executed for negligence in the Russo-Swedish War, in the aftermath of the defeat at Villma ...

*1739–1750: Johan Karl Silversparre *1750–1762: Reinhold Otto Fock *1762–1772: Anders Rudolf Du Rietz *1772–1776: Fredrik Gyllenswan *1776–1782: Arvid Nils Stenbock *1782–1809: Gustaf Wilhelm von Kaulbars *1809–1815: Fredrik Christian von Platen *1815–1847: Adolf Ludvig von Post *1847–1856: Charles Emil Rudbeck *1856–1860: Alexander Reuterskiöld *1860–1861: Sven Peter Bergman *1861–1864: Nils Henrik Hägerflycht *1864–1868: Axel Krister Gregersson Leijonhuvud *1868–1874:

Ernst von Vegesack Ernst Mathias Peter von Vegesack (June 18, 1820 – January 12, 1903) was a Swedish Army officer and volunteer in the Union Army during American Civil War and later on was a member of the parliament of Sweden. After his return to Sweden, he was ...

*1874–1882: Johan Gottlieb Wilhelm von Rehausen *1882–1893: Carl Bror Munck af Fulkila *1893–1901: Knut Robert Fabian Reuterskiöld *1901–1902: Johan Kasimir De la Gardie *1902–1909: Wilhelm Ernst von Krusenstjerna *1909–1915: Carl Alexander Fock *1915–1923: Georg Nyström *1923–1932: Henning Stålhane *1932–1933: Ernst Hortelius *1933–1934: Colonel Ernst af Klercker *1934–1940: Casper Ehrnborg *1941–1946: Carl Hamnström *1946–1955: Hans Berggren *1955–1957: Colonel

Curt Göransson General Curt Ture Engelbrecht Göransson (15July 1909 – 11November 1996) was a Swedish Army officer. Göransson's senior commands include Chief of the Defence Staff 1957–1961, military commander of the I Military District 1961 ...

*1957–1967: Axel Henriksson *1967–1968: Colonel Nils Sköld *1968–1971: Jan Smedler *1968–1969: Carl-Henrik Gåsste (acting) *1971–1973: Carl-Henrik Gåsste *1973–1975: Allan Månsson *1975–1977: Colonel

Robert Lugn Generalmajor (Sweden), Major General Per Erik Robert Lugn (12 February 1923 – 16 April 2016) was a Swedish Army officer. His senior commands include Chief of the Army Staff (Sweden), Chief of the Army Staff and the General Staff Corps (1979–1 ...

(acting) *1975–1982: Senior colonel Carl-Henrik Gåsste *1982–1987: Ingmar Arnhall *1987–1991: Karl-Evert Englund *1991–1992: Folke Ekstedt *1993–1994: Senior colonel

Hans Berndtson Generallöjtnant, Lieutenant General Hans Göran Berndtson (born 2 July 1945) was a Swedish Army officer. His senior commands include commanding officer of the Middle Army Division, head of the General Training and Management Directorate in the S ...

History

Campaigns

Organisation

Heraldry and traditions

Colours, standards and guidons

Coat of arms

Medals

Heritage

Commanding officers

Commanders

Deputy commanders

Names, designations and locations

See also

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

Further reading