Hakkapeliitta

Hakkapeliitta, also known as Hackapelit, Hackapelite or Haccapelite, was the name given in Germany to the Finnish horsemen of King Gustav II Adolph of Sweden during the Thirty Years War.

Related Topics:
King Gustav II Adolph - Thirty Years War

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It comes from the war cry "Hakkaa päälle!", meaning "hit on!" in Finnish.

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The Finnish Hakkapeliitta Cavalry was first used during Sweden's so-called Polish Wars. The main battles in which they took part during the Thirty Years War were Breitenfeld (1631), the Lech (1632), Lützen (1632), Nördlingen (1634), Leipzig (1642), Jankau (1645) as well as Lens (1648).

Related Topics:
Cavalry - Polish Wars - Breitenfeld - 1631 - The Lech - 1632 - Lützen - Nördlingen - 1634 - 1642 - Jankau - 1645 - 1648

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200 Hakkapeliter were also part of the army which Swedish King Karl X Gustav led across two ice-frozen Danish straits in the winter of 1658, enabling him to conquer Terra Scania from Denmark by the Treaty of Roskilde.

Related Topics:
Karl X Gustav - 1658 - Terra Scania - Denmark - Treaty of Roskilde

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The Swedish army had then three cavalry regiments from Finland:

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• Nyland and Tavastehus County Cavalry Regiment, in Swedish Nylands och Tavastehus läns kavalleriregemente.
• Åbo and Björneborg Country Cavalry Regiment, Åbo och Björneborgs läns kavalleriregemente.
• Viborg and Nyslott County Cavalry Regiment, Viborgs och Nyslotts läns kavalleriregemente.

Their most famous commander was Torsten Stålhandske, who was commissioned as a lieutenant-colonel with the Nyland and Tavastehus Cavalry Regiment in 1629 and led it for the first time into the Thirty Years' War.

Related Topics:
Torsten Stålhandske - Nyland and Tavastehus Cavalry Regiment - 1629 - Thirty Years' War

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The original provincial regiments (landskapsregementen) had been raised by splitting the old Grand regiments (Storregementen, also "Land regiments" (landsregementen), organized by Gustav II Adolph at the end of the 1610s, forming 21 infantry and eight cavalry regiments as written in the Swedish constitution of 1634.

Related Topics:
Gustav II Adolph - 1610s - Constitution - 1634

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The Hakkapeliitta cavalry was fast, lightly armored and its greatest advantage was its charge. They typically had two pistols and a sword, and sought protection from a helmet, a leather armor or a breast-plate of steel. They would attack at full (galloping) speed, discharge the first pistol at 20 paces, the second at 5 paces and then draw the sword. The horse itself was used like another weapon, as it was used to trample enemy infantry.

Related Topics:
Charge - Horse - Infantry

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Some of their enemies even said the Hakkapeliitat (plural of Hakkapeliitta) were made unbreakable by witchcraft and Catholic churches had reserved a place for them in their prayers:

Related Topics:
Witchcraft - Catholic

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:"A horribile Haccapaelitorum agmine libera nos, Domine".

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:("O Lord, deliver us from the terrible army of the Haccapelites")

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The name Hakkapeliitta was also taken up by Nokian tyres in 1936 for its winter tyres.

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Hakkapeliitta: Hakkapeliittain Marssi ? March of the Hackapelites ►