Göran Påhlman (1782 – 1830)

The Valiant Commander

A twice-decorated military officer, Göran Påhlman was imprisoned during the Russian-Swedish War but returned home to greater success.

Göran Påhlman was born at Ugglansryd on 10 May 1782, the son of Anders Otto Pahlman and his wife Christina Margareta Unge. His mother died when he was just two years old, and he – along with his five siblings – was raised by his father and possibly by maids or other help employed by Anders Otto. One maid, Stina Jönsdotter, who lived on the premises, had six children with Göran’s father between 1791 and 1802.

In 1798, when Göran was 16, Anders Otto sold Ugglansryd and the family may have moved to Agunnaryd, a parish in Kronoberg county. Two years later, on 4 September 1800, Göran became a driver in the Kronoberg regiment, rising to the position of staff ensign on 16 December 1802.¹“Påhlman nr 501”, Adelsvapen-Wiki, https://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/Påhlman_nr_501, accessed: 20 October 2023 From 1804 to 1806, he was in Pomerania (Stralsund) and Bonarpshed (Skåne).²Rolf Carlsson, “Ansedel Göran Påhlman 1782-1830”, Ljungby Kompani, https://www.ljungbykompani.se/000/022/845.htm, accessed: 20 October 2023 Between 1807 and 1808, he was a company officer at the military academy.

On 27 and 28 September 1808, Göran fought in the battles of Viais and Helsinge³J.C. Collin, Lefnadsteckningar Öfver De Utmarktare Personerna Under Kriget Emot Ryssland Åren 1808 Och 1809 [Life Sketches of the Prominent Persons During the War Against Russia in 1808 and 1809] (Stockholm: J. L. Brudins förlag, 1861), 102 in the Russian-Swedish War, and was taken prisoner and exiled to Mechovsk in Kaluga. 

“At Viais, the Finska Guard was a bit slow and 46 were taken prisoner when dragoons charged the mansion. […] The Kronoberg Battalion fought well, fighting hour after hour and retreating only when superior forces outflanked it. But on the beach in Helsinge the situation was deplorable. […] Bagration’s aide-de-camp, Captain Ofrosimoff, took command of some cossacks and charged the Swedish guns abandoned on the beach. Besides prisoners, they also took two guns, three howitzers etc.”⁴Stefan Spett, “Four Actions in Finland during the Russian-Swedish War of 1808-09”, The Napoleon Series Archive, June 2005, https://www.napoleon-series.org/military-info/battles/1808/Finland/c_finnish1.html, accessed: 20 October 2023

The following year, Göran was promoted to lieutenant on 10 July, and only returned home to Sweden on 20 December 1809. On 20 March 1810, he was transferred to the N. Sunnerbo company in the Kronoberg regiment.⁵Carlsson, “Ansedel Göran Påhlman 1782-1830” On 30 June the same year, he became a decorated officer, receiving the gold medal “För tapperhet i fält” (“For Valour in the Field”; abbreviated GMtf) – this version of the medal had been instituted only a year prior for higher ranking officers.

Göran became a captain on 7 July 1812, and was married later that year, aged 30, to Sofia Brita Lagerbielke in Borsna.⁶Daughter of the late Rutger Nils Lagerbielke and Beata Christina Stockenberg; the marriage took place on 12 November. Borsna is located in Ljungby, Kronoberg. The couple had four sons – Otto Adam (1813-1882), Carl Adolf (1816-1891), Göran (1817-1869) and Anders Gustaf (1821-1894). They lived in Smedjemåla, and Göran’s father Anders Otto likely lived with them until his death in 1815.

More success awaited Göran – in 1819, he became a regimental quartermaster (27 March) and was awarded the Order of the Sword (24 June). He became company commander on 26 August 1823. The following year, the family moved from Smedjemåla to Strättö, where Göran’s wife died on 31 August 1825. Göran remarried four years later, on 25 January 1829, to Hedvig Gustava Lundéen. The marriage was short-lived, however; Göran died on 16 October 1830 of a stroke.

Footnotes

• 1
  “Påhlman nr 501”, Adelsvapen-Wiki, https://www.adelsvapen.com/genealogi/Påhlman_nr_501, accessed: 20 October 2023
• 2
  Rolf Carlsson, “Ansedel Göran Påhlman 1782-1830”, Ljungby Kompani, https://www.ljungbykompani.se/000/022/845.htm, accessed: 20 October 2023
• 3
  J.C. Collin, Lefnadsteckningar Öfver De Utmarktare Personerna Under Kriget Emot Ryssland Åren 1808 Och 1809 [Life Sketches of the Prominent Persons During the War Against Russia in 1808 and 1809] (Stockholm: J. L. Brudins förlag, 1861), 102
• 4
  Stefan Spett, “Four Actions in Finland during the Russian-Swedish War of 1808-09”, The Napoleon Series Archive, June 2005, https://www.napoleon-series.org/military-info/battles/1808/Finland/c_finnish1.html, accessed: 20 October 2023
• 5
  Carlsson, “Ansedel Göran Påhlman 1782-1830”
• 6
  Daughter of the late Rutger Nils Lagerbielke and Beata Christina Stockenberg; the marriage took place on 12 November. Borsna is located in Ljungby, Kronoberg.