The Kalmar Regiment (), designations I 20, I 21 and Fo 18, 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 merged with another unit to form a new regiment in 1928. It was later reraised and disbanded again in 1997. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited from

Kalmar County Kalmar County () is a Counties of Sweden, county or ''län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Kronoberg County, Kronoberg, Jönköping County, Jönköping, Blekinge County, Blekinge and Östergötland County, Östergötland. To the ...

, and it was later garrisoned there.

History

The regiment has its origins in fänikor (companies) raised in Kalmar County in the 16th century. In 1616, these units—along with fänikor from the nearby

Kronoberg County Kronoberg County (; ) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. Kronoberg is one of three counties in the province of Småland. It borders the counties of Skåne, Halland, Jönköping, Kalmar, and Blekinge. Its capital is the city of V ...

—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 Smålands storregemente, of which twelve of the total 24 companies were recruited in Kalmar County. Smålands storregemente consisted of three field regiments, of which Kalmar Regiment was one. Sometime around 1623, the grand regiment was permanently split into three smaller regiments, of which Kalmar Regiment was one. Kalmar 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's first commander was

Patrick Ruthven, 1st Earl of Forth Patrick Ruthven, 1st Earl of Forth and Earl of Brentford ( – 2 February 1651) was a professional soldier and diplomat from Perthshire in Scotland. He spent nearly 30 years in the Swedish army, reaching the rank of lieutenant general before re ...

. The regiment was allotted in 1686. The regiment was given the designation I 20 (20th 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. The designation was changed to I 21 in 1892. The regiment was garrisoned in

Eksjö Eksjö is a locality and the seat of Eksjö Municipality in Jönköping County, Sweden, with 9,701 inhabitants in 2010. History The city of Eksjö most likely appeared sometime in the Middle Ages when it was the centre for the thing, a regio ...

from 1906, before it was merged with

Jönköping Regiment The Jönköping Regiment (), designation I 12, was a Swedish Army infantry regiment that traced its origins back to the 16th century. It was merged with another unit to form a new regiment in 1927. The regiment's soldiers were originally recruited ...

to form Jönköping-Kalmar Regiment in 1927. Kalmar Regiment was reorganised in 1994 as a local

defence district A defence district (, Fo) was a military subdivision of the Swedish Armed Forces created in 1914. It was a lower regional level subdivision, usually corresponding to a Swedish county. The commander of a defence district was the Defence District ...

with the designation Fo 18, although disbanded again just three years later in 1997.

Campaigns

*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

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) concerned control of Terra Mariana, Old Livonia (in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia). The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Denmark–Norway, Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom ...

(1570–1582) *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

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

Franco-Swedish War The Franco-Swedish War or Pomeranian War was the first involvement by Sweden in the Napoleonic Wars. The country joined the Third Coalition in an effort to defeat France under Napoleon Bonaparte. Background In 1803, the United Kingdom had dec ...

(1805–1810) *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

War of the Sixth Coalition In the War of the Sixth Coalition () (December 1812 – May 1814), sometimes known in Germany as the Wars of Liberation (), a coalition of Austrian Empire, Austria, Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia, Russian Empire, Russia, History of Spain (1808– ...

(1813–1814) *The Campaign against Norway (1814)

Organisation

;1686(?) * Livkompaniet *Överstelöjtnantens kompani *Majorens kompani *Östra Härads kompani *Uppvidinge kompani *Västra Härads kompani *Aspolands härads kompani *Konga härads kompani ;18?? *Livkompaniet *Vedbo kompani *Aspelands kompani *Östra Härads kompani *Seveds kompani *Uppvidinge kompani *Västra Härads kompani *Konga kompani

Heraldry and traditions

Colours, standards and guidons

The regiment has carried a number of colours over the years. On 24 June 1866, major general P E Lovén presented a new colour to the two battalions of the regiment, which then replaced the previous colours. The colours were used until the disbandment of the regiment, and were carried by Jönköping-Kalmar Regiment (I 12) from 1928 to 1954. When Kalmar Regiment was re-raised in the form of a defense district staff, the regiment was assigned a new colour. The new Kalmar Regiment adopted the same colour as the Kalmar Regiment which was disbanded in 1927. However, the regiment did not inherit the 1866 colour, but was presented with a new colour model 1994. The colour was presented in Kalmar by the Chief of the Army, lieutenant general

Åke Sagrén Lieutenant General Karl Åke Sagrén (26 January 1935 – 12 December 2022) was a Swedish Army officer. He was Chief of the Army from 1990 to 1994 and Chief of Army Command from 1994 to 1996. Early life Sagrén was born on 26 January 1935 in M ...

on 10 October 1992. It was used as regimental colour by Fo 18 until 15 December 1997. The colour is drawn by Bengt Olof Kälde and embroidered by machine and hand in insertion technique by Gunilla Hjort.

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 red cloth in the centre on a circular yellow shield the provincial badge of Smaland; a red lion rampant, armed blue, in the forepaws a red crossbow with a white arrow and black bow, string and trigger. On a yellow border at the upper side of the colour, battle honours (

Varberg Varberg () is a Urban areas in Sweden, locality and the seat of Varberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden, with 35,782 inhabitants in 2019. Varberg and all of Halland are well known for their "typical west coast" sandy beaches. In Varberg th ...

1565,

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 ...

1581,

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, Tåget över Bält 1658, Kliszow 1702,

Helsingborg Helsingborg (, , ), is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Scania County, Scania (Skåne), Sweden. It is the second-largest city in Scania (after Malmö) and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, ninth ...

1710, Svensksund 1790) in red." File:AM.010723.jpg, 1766 colour of Kalmar Regiment. File:AM.010728.jpg, 1849 colour of 1st Battalion, Kalmar Regiment. File:AM.010722.jpg, 1849 colour of 2nd Battalion, Kalmar Regiment.

Coat of arms

The coat of the arms of the Kalmar Regiment (Fo 18) 1994–1997 and the Kalmar Group (''Kalmargruppen'') 1997–2004.

: "Quarterly: I and IV or, the provincial badge of Småland, a double-tailed lion rampant gules, armed and langued azure, in the forepaws a cross-bow gules, arrow-head argent, bow and string sable. II and III azure, the provincial badge of Öland, a stag passant or, gorged with a necklace and armed, both gules. The shield surmounted two muskets in saltire or".

Medals

In 1997, the ''Kalmar regementes (Fo 18) minnesmedalj'' ("Kalmar Regiment (Fo 18) Commemorative Medal") in silver (KalmregSMM) of the 8th size was established. 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 ...

is divided in red, yellow, red, yellow and red moiré. File:AM.019707.jpg, Kalmar Regiment Commemorative Medal in silver. File:AM.085132.jpg, Miniature medal of the Kalmar Regiment Commemorative Medal in silver.

Heritage

In connection with the disbandment of Kalmar Regiment through the Defence Act of 1996, its traditions was continued from 1 December 1998 onwards by Kalmar Group (''Kalmargruppen''). From 1 July 2013, the Kalmar Battalion, within Kalmar and Kronoberg Group (''Kalmar- och Kronobergsgruppen''), is the traditional keeper of Kalmar Regiment.

Other

The original regiment had "Kalmar regementets marsch" (Meissner) and "Kaiser Friedrich-Marsch" (Friedemann) as their marches. The new Kalmar Regiment adopted the march "Kalmarbrigaden" (Badman), originally awarded to the Kalmar Brigade (IB 42).

Commanding officers

Regimental commander active at the regiment during the years 1623–1927 and 1994–1997. *1623–16??: Patrick Ruthven *1630–1639: David Drummund *1639–1645: Thure Bremer *1645–1656: Alexander Irving *1656–1662: Gustaf Kruse *1662–1674: Barthold *1674–1677: Henrik Wulfvenkhu *1677–1686: Erik Soop *1686–1698: Hans v. Dellinghausen *1698–1699: Magnus Stenbock *1699–1700: Nils Djurklou *1700–1701: N Djurklow *1701–1709: G Ranck *1709–1716: C Björnberg *1716–1730: S Sture , *1730–1733: G Zülich *1733–1734: F C Marschalk *1734–1736: L von Muners *1736–1739: C de Frumerie *1739–1740: A J Giertta *1740–1747: L Fahlström *1747–1757: C G von Roxendorff *1757–1757: N Djurlkou *1757–1770: E G Lillienberg *1770–1772: E Armfelt (never took position) *1772–1778: A W von Baltzar *1778–1779: F Posse *1779–1795: A D Schönström *1795–1802: C Mörner *1802–1804: A L von Frisendorff *1804–1816: J H Tavast *1812–1813: M F F Björnstjerna (acting) *1813–1814: C M Klingström (acting) *1816–1826: E G Ulfsparre *1826–1832: C M Klingström *1832–1847: C J Hederstierna *1847–1853: G E A Taube *1853–1859: G G H Stierngranat *1859–1865: F M L Dandenell *1865–1877: E O Weidenhielm *1871–1877: P S W Björkman (acting) *1877–1888: P S W Björkman *1888–1894: O G Nordenskjöld *1894–1895: H F Gyllenram *1895–1902: Fredrik Kugelberg *1902–1910: Carl Gustaf Knut Eklundh *1910–1914: Carl Adam Constans Stålhammar *1914–1926: Sam Gustaf Laurentius Myhrman *1926–1927: Natanael Wikander *1990–1994: Birger Jägtoft *1994–1995: Birger Jägtoft *1995–1997: Dan Albin Snell

History

Campaigns

Organisation

Heraldry and traditions

Colours, standards and guidons

Coat of arms

Medals

Heritage

Other

Commanding officers

Names, designations and locations

See also

Footnotes

References

Notes

Print

Further reading