During the days between Christmas and New Year 1718 five thousand frostbitten, emaciated, sick and badly equipped Soldiers of Carl XII where gathered far in the Norwegian borderland near the village of Tydalen. It was a heavily reduce, very much the worse for wear, force from General Carl Gustaf Armfeldts legendary army, Armfeldt himself had his headquarters in Gammeljens- farmyard in Östby in Tydalen. It was only 20 mils from Sweden as the crow flies – but it was a trackless trail that led over, dangerous Winter Mountains.

Armfeldts situation was highly distressing. He was shut-in from tree sides: General Budde was in Trondheim, from the south the Sunnanfjeldska army approached, whom after the death of the King and the quick march, by the Swedish troops in south, out from Norway they had been released and could with impunity fall Armfeldt in the back. Besides that, there was the hardest cold weather that had occurred within living memory. His army had suffered terribly, first there had been a continuous rain, and then there had been long strenuous marches, lack of food, lack of clothes and bivouacking lasting for months under the open sky. Daily rations had shrieked to minimum since the line of communication backward with Duved fortlet on the border of Jämtland almost had broken. It had gone so long, that the Finnish soldiers had been eating ungrounded grain, drowned in water and many soldiers lacked shirts, others had no shoes and almost all was without coats. It was to tell the truth not an army for a march over uninhabited and dangerous Winter Mountains.

In the beginning of December there had been some roomers that said that the King had been killed in Frerikshald, but Armfeldt had not been capable of get it confirmed. The information had been contradictory and all that depended on the patrols that was sent from Sweden had been obstructed or killed by Norwegian attack corps. They did not come through and therefor he didn’t get it conformed.

It was first the 27^th or 28^th of December that he came to clearness and therefor he now stood in the cold days between Christmas and New Year in his headquarters in Tydalen. There he saw how the Soldiers of Carl XII was gathered round log-fires or running around in circles and tried to heat their frozen arms by buffet one’s arms against one’s sides. Armfeldt and his Generals had been brought up against a fateful decisive. Something must happened – and it must happen immediately, even how the power of the weather was.

On New Year’s evening the food supplies was shared out to the troops, two pieces of bread and two slices of raw meat. It was all the supplies that existed and the following morning, long before dawn, General Armfeldt gave the order to the Drummer to give the March signal. In the advance guard the Jämtläningarna and Björneborgarna went, in that advance guard did also General Armfeldt ride. As guide they had Mountain farmer Lars Bresvendsen, to that they brought, under not so little threats, as hostages two women’s from Tydalen, it was Ingeborg Östbyhaugen and Brynild Tuset, but they were released quite soon and were allowed to go home.

It was calm, but the could was severe. Detachment after detachment brooks up and went east: rest of Jämtlands regiment, rest of Björneborgs regiment, Hälsinge regiment, Jämtlands Cavalry regiment and a Finnish recruited battalion. When the troops came up to the high mountain they met the storm. – The only just calm, moonlighted mountains turned into smoking maelstrom in a few hours. The storm increased in strength and heave up the loose new fallen snow to the lashing sky, that no man could fight him self through – at least not a man badly equipped.

Tragedy on the Border Mountain had begun. The storm and snowfall increased. It lashed the march columns so hard that the solders walked bent and many begin to creep on their hands and knees to at all get forward. Many of them fall and could never more rise up. Death began taking its harvest.

They took camp at the lake Essand. Fires were made up in the thin tree line and against the mountainside there the snows had hoarded up and gave some protection too them witch digs oneself in, down in to the drifted snow. But many froze to death during the night.

When the troops continued early next morning on the second of January, the horses was not capable of continuing in the deep snow hauling the small canons up for the precipitous slope, the soldiers had to help them with ropes and sledges. Many horses was killed here and it has been told that the Finnish soldiers at once throw them self’s over the stemming carcass and cut out pieces of horsemeat and eaten it raw.

Everything was confusion and dissolution. Save them who can. The second night the surviving camped at the river Enan and her many were killed. Her was the corpse stack into high stacks. Even the Norwegian guide froze to death hear. Quite large unit got lost, they went south to Sylarna, and there many froze to death. One solider from Jämtland cut a hole in the ice on the river Enan and so in witch direction the water float. They followed the river downstream and come to Handöl. That village was only 3 small farms at that time and even when they used all possible rooms there was only room for a fraction of all the frostbitten, starving soldiers that needed help.

The Death march over the Mountains has been called "Biggest Fateful tragedy of Scandinavian", 3500 soldiers froze to death during the 3 days, most of them at the Mountain "Snashögarna". To die in a snowstorm might not be so glories for a soldier as it had been to die on the battlefield, but to die without murmuring under the most horrifying conditions is a proof for the self discipline that the Soldiers of Carl XII had learned. The ability to without murmuring and fear, met a horrifying fate, is something that I respect and admire for the Soldiers of Carl XII that served General Armfeldt.

I have been reading about similar hardship during the Second World War when the Finnish soldiers was outnumbered and under dreadful conditions fighted the Red Army. In Finland they have a special word for it, its called "SISU". It can’t been translated but if you met someone from Finland you can always ask him or her about it.