Östergötland Infantry Regiment

The Östergötland Infantry Regiment (Swedish: Östgöta infanteriregemente) was a Swedish Army infantry regiment with origins tracing back to the 16th century. In 1791, they were merged into another unit to form a new regiment, the Life Grenadier Regiment. The regiment's soldiers were recruited from the province of Östergötland.

Östergötland Infantry Regiment
Östgöta infanteriregemente
Active1636–1791
Country Sweden
BranchSwedish Army
TypeInfantry
SizeRegiment
ColoursWhite
Battle honoursNone[1]

History

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The regiment originated in 16th century Östergötland as fänikor (companies). In 1619, these units—along with the fänikor from nearby Jönköping County—were organised by Gustav II Adolf into the Östergötland Grand Regiment, where 9 out of 24 companies were recruited from Östergötland. Östergötlands storregemente consisted of three field regiments, one of which was the Östergötland Infantry Regiment. Sometime between 1623 and 1628, the Östergötland Grand Regiment was split into three smaller regiments.

The regiment was officiated in 1636 although it had existed since the 1620s. The Östergötland Infantry Regiment was one of the original 20 Swedish infantry regiments mentioned in the Swedish constitution of 1634. The regiment's first commander was Johan Banér. It was allotted in 1685.

In 1791, the Östergötland Infantry Regiment was merged with the Östergötland Cavalry Regiment to form the Life Grenadier Regiment. The reorganisation and renaming to "life grenadier" was done because of the regiment's achievements during the 1788 Russo-Swedish War. Within the new regiment, the Östergötland Infantry Regiment was renamed to Livgrenadjärregementets rotehållsdivision and retained some form of independence.

Campaigns

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Organisation

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Name, designation and garrison

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Name Translation From To
Östgöta infanteriregemente Östergötland Infantry Regiment 1636 1791
Designation From To
No designation
Training ground
or garrison town
From To
Malmen 17th century 1791

See also

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References

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Print
  • Braunstein, Christian (2003). Sveriges arméförband under 1900-talet. Stockholm: Statens Försvarshistoriska Museer. ISBN 91-971584-4-5.
  • Holmberg, Björn (1993). Arméns regementen, skolor och staber: en sammanställning. Arvidsjaur: Svenskt militärhistoriskt bibliotek. ISBN 91-972209-0-6.
  • Kjellander, Rune (2003). Sveriges regementschefer 1700–2000: chefsbiografier och förbandsöversikter. Stockholm: Probus. ISBN 91-87184-74-5.
  • Nelsson, Bertil (1993). Från Brunkeberg till Nordanvind: 500 år med svenskt infanteri. Stockholm: Probus. ISBN 91-87184-23-0.
  • Svensk rikskalender 1908. Stockholm: P.A. Norstedt & Söner. 1908.
Online

Notes

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  1. ^ The Östergötland Infantry Regiment was never awarded any battle honours, but the successor unit 1st Life Grenadier Regiment was awarded five such honours, of which all five battles were fought under the name of Östergötland Infantry Regiment. These five battle honours were Lützen (1632), Leipzig (1642), Helsingborg (1710), Gadebusch (1712) and Valkeala (1790). The successor unit to the 1st Life Grenadier Regiment, the Life Grenadier Regiment, was in turn was awarded another three honours for battle that were fought under the name of Östgöta infanteriregemente. These three battle honours were Varberg (1565), Breitenfeld (1631) and Holovczyn (1708).
  2. ^ a b c Participated as the various fänikor that later formed the regiment.