Friday, 13 July 2018
The Men of the Ruovesi Company in the Finnish War
A book about the ordinary soldiers of the Pori County Infantry Regiment's Ruovesi company area during the Finnish War 1808–09 — who they were, what happened to them, and why only about half came home.
Ruoveden komppanian miehet Suomen sodassa
2011 · ISBN 978-952-99106-8-7
Tutkimus Ruoveden komppanian sotilaista Suomen sodassa 1808–1809. Sisältää yksityiskohtaiset tiedot miehistöstä ja heidän kohtaloistaan.
The Finnish War of 1808–09 decided Finland’s fate — caught between Napoleon and Tsar Alexander, the country passed from Sweden to Russia. The Pori County Infantry Regiment’s Ruovesi company area covered the territory from northern Tampere to the Ostrobothnia border and into central Finland.
Ruoveden komppanian miehet Suomen sodassa (The Men of the Ruovesi Company in the Finnish War) is a book that puts ordinary soldiers in the spotlight — for the first time in a Finnish military history of this conflict. Who were they? Whose children were they? What happened to them?
About half of the men who marched to war returned home. This book traces their individual fates as far as the sources allow — through muster rolls, church records and poll tax registers — and sets them within the context of the war’s campaigns and the society that sent them to fight.
For genealogists with roots in the old Ruovesi area — encompassing what are now Virrat, Ruovesi, Keuruu, Ähtäri and surrounding communities — this book is an essential reference. The soldiers of the Ruovesi company were drawn from these communities, and tracing their service is a key step in understanding family histories from the early 19th century.