How to Research Infantry Soldiers in the GMRs - Sweden (1a)

Introduction

This article will show how to research an infantry soldier in an allotment regiment in the military rolls. It presents how to search for infantry soldiers in the Army general muster rolls, GMR (generalmönsterrulla). However, researching allotted cavalrymen is done in a similar manner. Researching Navy sailors (båtsman) is similar too but you then research the Navy rolls. If you are researching enlisted soldiers (värvad soldat) you have no help of Grill's work since it only covers the allotted regiments (indelta regementen). The image to the right shows infantry soldiers in uniform m/1860 and cap m/1865. The image is shown with consent of Anders Thorstensson.

Rote and Rusthåll

Swedish military records are not difficult to research. However, to get the greatest benefit it helps to know how soldiers and sailors were recruited into the Swedish military. Two terms that are of importance to understand are rote and rusthåll. The Allotment System was an old system of organizing and financing the Swedish military. It was in use between 1682 and 1901. In the Allotment System, the basic unit of military organization was the rote (plural: rotar). This translates roughly as “military district” or “military ward.” Each individual infantry soldier or navy sailor was assigned to a particular rote. Rusthåll was the cavalry equivalent. Each rote or rusthåll was associated with a farm (or farms) in the rural countryside. Large towns and cities did not have military districts (with the exception of some navy units). Rotar were established based on the size and prosperity of the farms in a given region. Large, wealthy farms might support more than one rote. Less prosperous farms were grouped together into a single rote. Rotar generally were for “ordinary” soldiers of rank-and-file no higher than corporal. Every rote and rusthåll was assigned a number that denoted its position within the army or navy unit with which it was associated. This was the “rote number/soldier number”. Each rote was required to provide one soldier or sailor and an appropriate uniform for the man to wear. An infantry regiment normally numbered 1,200 soldiers. Therefore, each province was divided into 1,200 districts (allotments) called rote. Each rote was required to provide one soldier to the regiment of that province. In return the farmers/freeholders were exempted from having to serve as soldiers (as long as they provided soldiers). Note, some provinces had more than one regiment and each unit therefore had rotar in the same province.

The Parish Records, HFL

Allotted Units

Spend enough time tracing your Swedish ancestors and it's likely you will eventually discover someone who served in Sweden's armed forces, i.e. been a soldier in an infantry regiment, horseman in a cavalry regiment, artilleryman in an artillery regiment or a sailor in the Navy. You may have first become aware your ancestor was a soldier from a notation in the household examination rolls (husförhörslängd, HFL), the parish records. In the following example we will search for soldier Gustaf Jonsson Asp in the military general muster rolls. In the example below, we have found Asp in the Husby parish records (Södermanland, D). Asp was born on 1826-01-19. Source: Husby-Oppunda AI:13 (1846-1850) Image 181 / page 175. The Household Examination Rolls - "Husförhörslängd, HFL" is a type of parish record in which you can follow your ancestors, year by year. The parish record lists also his soldier number, 47, and the name of the rote he belonged to, Ekeby rote. See image below. You don't always find this detailed information about soldiers in the household examination rolls. The soldiers in this parish are listed together in a section of their own which in not common. Also, Asp's patronymic is listed in the roll, Jonsson. This was common in the 19th century but not earlier. Asp is his soldier name.

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Tutorial 1: How to Research Infantry Soldiers,

Sweden (1a)

Above, extract from Husby-Oppunda parish book, Husby-Oppunda husförhörslängd AI:13 (1846 - 1850), page 175 (AID: v59355.b181.s175). The above image shows soldier Gustaf Jonsson Asp (b. 1826-01-19 in Husby) and his wife Stina Cajsa Ersdotter Nyberg (b. 1822-11- 13 in Stora Malm) and their children; illegitimate daughter (oäkta) Mathilda (b. 1842-02-21 in Lerbo) and daughter Edla Christina (b. 1849-04-27 in Husby-Oppunda). The family moved to the soldier croft (cottage) in 1846; Gustaf from Bettna parish and Stina Cajsa från Lerbo parish. The couple was married on 1847-04-24. This information is not visible on the extract above but are on the referenced page in the roll. At the top of the image we see Asp's soldier number, 47, and the name of the military rote, Ekeby..

Above, extract from Husby-Oppunda birth book, födelseboken Husby-Oppunda C:3 (1742-1836) Image 331 (AID: v59371.b331, NAD: SE/ULA/10418) for 1826. The extract above shows Gustaf Jonsson Asp's birth entry in the birth book. Gustaf's birth date was 1826-01-19. His parents were tenant farmer (torpare) Jonas Svensson and his wife Maria Olofsdotter.

Above, extract from Husby-Oppunda marriage book, vigselboken Husby-Oppunda EI:1 (1836-1861) Image 15 (AID: v59377.b15, NAD: SE/ULA/10418) for 1847. The extract above shows Gustaf Jonsson Asp's and Stina Cajsa Ersdotter's entry in the marriage book. The couple was wedded on 1847-04-24, in other words after when Gustaf was recruited as a soldier.

Matching a Soldier to a Regiment and Company by the help of Grill's

work

Before you can locate a soldier's military records, you must first identify the military unit in which he served. The basic unit of the Swedish army before 1900 was the regiment. Each regiment was divided into smaller units called companies. Most army regiments had eight companies of roughly equal numbers of men. You must identify both the regiment and company to which your soldier was assigned in order to locate his military records. A very valuable source for the military researcher is Lieutenant Colonel Claes Grill's work "Statistiskt sammandrag af svenska indelningsverket I - IV" (Statistical Summary of the Swedish Allotment System) from 1856. This was a detailed analysis of the allotment system regiments as they existed in the 1850s. This is the best source to locate the unit a soldier served in. Grill's work consists of 4 volumes and are available at libraries in Sweden. Grill's work may be found today in many research libraries in the US, such as the LDS Family History Libraries and at the University of MN, Wilson Library. However, Grill's works are digitalized too and the database software is available on CD-ROM. If you have a subscription with Arkiv Digital, you can browse the digitalized version online. In Arkiv Digital you search for "Tryckt litteratur" (Printed literature). Note: Grill's work only contains the allotted regiment, not the enlisted regiments. The image to the right shows the front page of the first volume of Grill's work. Grill's work is a valuable tool for matching a soldier rote with a specific regiment and company. Among the contents of these works are tables of all the allotted infantry, cavalry and navy rotar, organized by regiment and company. The regiments are listed regiment-by-regiment and per regiment parish-by-parish. Per parish you will find the "rotar" the regiment had in these parishes. In the tables you will find information on which company each rote was a part of. A regiment of 1,200 soldiers consequently had 1,200 "rotar" (pl.). Normally the rote had the same name as the main farm of the rote that supported the soldier. Grill's work has a parish index. If you know the name of the parish and the name of the rote it is easy to find the regiment and the company the soldier served in. You have to be aware that some provinces had more than one regiment. Different regiments and Navy units could have "rotar" within the same parish. This makes it a bit more difficult to find the correct regiment for a soldier. An example of a province with two regiments is Östergötland. This province had an infantry regiment as well as a cavalry regiment plus "rotar" within the Navy Allotment System. Begin with browsing the parish index (sockenregister) for the parish in question to find the unit(s) which had rotar or rusthåll in that particular parish. The parish index is located in the beginning of volume 1. Our soldier Gustaf Jonsson Asp above, lived in Husby-Oppunda parish, Södermanland, when he was a soldier (that's where his soldier croft was located) so we begin with browsing Grill's parish index for Husby-Oppunda parish to find which military units had rotar/rusthåll in this parish. Then we browse the unit the parish index refers to. The Södermanland Regiment (infantry) had 20 rotar, the Life Regiment Grenadier Corps 2 rotar in the parish. [It is rote in singular and rotar in plural.] We know from the parish record that the name of the rote was Ekeby. Grill's work shows that the Södermanland Regiment had one rote in Ekeby (rote 47) while the Life Regiment Grenadier Corps had none. This tells as that Gustaf Jonsson Asp served in the Södermanland Regiment. The Ekeby rote belonged to the Life Company of the regiment. The soldier numbers listed in Grill are the numbers used within the companies, normally 1 - 150.

Grill

Note, Claes Grill's work "Statistiskt sammandrag af svenska indelningsverket" is a detailed analysis of the allotment system regiments as they existed in the 1850s. Many regiments have been carrying different names throughout the centuries and the regimental names in Grill are the names the units had in the mid-1800s. Further, regiments have been divided or been consolidated into new units. An example of a regiment that has been divided into two new independent units is the Närke-Värmland Regiment which in 1812 was divided into the Närke Regiment and the Värmland Regiment. It is these two regiments that are listed in Grill's work, not the original Närke- Värmland Regiment. If you do research of soldiers in the Närke-Värmland Regiment prior to 1812 you don't have much help of Grill's work since the rotar in the Värmland Regiment do not match the rotar in the Närke-Värmland Regiment. Even if many rotar have the same name they have different rote numbers. When the Närke-Värmland Regiment was divided all rotar were renumbered. More information about the different military unit's names and history. Note, Grill's work only lists the allotted units in the army and navy. Enlisted units are not listed in Grill!

The images below show in detail how to locate the military unit in Grill with the help of the parish index.

Above, an extract from Grill's parish index (sockenregister), Tryckt litteratur GrillReg:1 (0-9999) Bild 330 / sid 30 (AID: v792967.b330.s30, NAD: SE/AD/00001). The image shows, among other parishes, Husby-Oppunda parish; Husby-Oppunda, Söd. "Söd" is short for Södermanland. Grill's work at Arkiv Digital is a digitalized version of the original work by Grill and the references to each volume in the parish index are handwritten. The references to the different volumes are written in Roman digits. Volume 1 is referred to as I followed by a number which is the page number in volume 1. II is volume 2, III volume 3 etc. Volume I contains cavalry regiments, Volume II infantry regiments, Volume III Navy companies and Volume IV the Extra roteringen. For each parish name in the index there are a references to volumes followed by a page number in that volume where you will find the military unit which had rotar in that parish. According to the extract above, Husby-Oppunda parish has 3 references: • I 121, volume I page 121 - Cavalry. Page 121 refers to the Life Regiment Grenadier Corps. • II 39, volume II, page 39, Infantry - in this case Södermanland Regiment. This is the reference to rote 47, Ekeby! • IV 12, volume IV, page 12, "Extra roteringen" in the Army, Södermanland. We open volume II and go to page 39 where we find information about the Södermanland Regiment. See below:

Above, page 39 of volume II of Grill; Tryckt litteratur Grill:2 (1856-1856) Bild 240 / sid 39 (AID: v792654.b240.s39, NAD: SE/AD/00001). The above extract is page 39 of volume II and shows the different rotar the Södermanland Regiment had in Södermanland, Oppunda Härad (Hundred). The second column is the parish column (Socken). In the lower part of the image we find Husby (Husby-Oppunda parish). To the right of the parish name we find the names of the rotar in this parish. They are numbered from 39 to 58, in total 20 rotar. Ekeby is rote 47. See the red ellipse in the image above. To the right of the listing of rotar there is a column for each company of the regiment. Figure "20" for Husby is the total number of rotar in Husby and it is in the first column which is the column for the Life Company (1st Company) - N:o 1 Lif-Kompaniet. In other words, all of the 20 rotar in Husby belonged to the Life Company. Note, only the first four companies are visible in the extract above. Now we know that soldier Gustaf Jonsson Asp served in the Life Company of the Södermanland Regiment.

The General Muster Rolls, GMR

Infantry Regiments

The basic unit of the Swedish army was the regiment. An infantry regiment generally comprised 1,200 soldiers (soldiers of rank-and- file and Corporals). Beside the 1,200 soldiers there were a great number of officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) per regiment. Each regiment was divided into smaller units called companies. Most infantry regiments had eight companies of roughly 150 men. The 1st Company was always called the Life Company (Livkompaniet). The regiments were organized into two battalions which were the combat units. Each battalion consisted of 4 companies (600 men). A company was subdivided into 6 "korpralskap" of 24 men led by a corporal (in total 25 men). The Regimental Commander normally held the rank of Colonel. The rank of a Company Commander was normally Captain.

The General Muster Rolls

The best resource for military research is the general muster roll. Army and navy units periodically called a “general muster”, an official gathering of all its service members at one place so everyone could be counted and inspected. The results were written down in a “general muster roll” (GMR). General musters were often recorded in great detail. They can hold information about soldiers’ enlistments, promotions, transfers, discharges and even deaths. One can frequently find personal details about individual soldiers, such as his age, years of service and height. Cavalry regiment muster rolls included information on each soldier's horse such as age, years of service and coat color. We know that soldier Gustaf Jonsson Asp served in the Life Company of the Södermanland Regiment. This information will be valuable in finding him in this regiment's general muster rolls for the time period when he was a soldier. Asp was born in 1826 so he ought to have been recruited at the age of 20, in other words around 1846. The next step will be to find out which general musters the Södermanland regiment called mid-1800s. A search online at Arkiv Digital shows that the regiment had a general muster in 1848 which we will take a look at. Arkiv Digital and SVAR are two online providers of parish and military records and are both subscription-based online services. Muster rolls were a method of record keeping used by a regiment. Usually, a GMR included all companies in the regiment. The Life Company is always the first company and therefore located first in the general muster rolls, after the regimental commanders (the regimental staff). The 1848 general muster of the Södermanland Regiment was held on June 21. The date is listed in the preamble of the muster roll as well in the preamble of respective company. The regimental commander at this time was Major General Carl Ulrik Kuylenstierna (1791 - 1856). He was the regiment's commander between 1837 - 1856. The company commander of the Life Company was Baron Captain Christian Georg Lovisin. Browse through the muster roll until you find the Life Company (Livkompaniet). This section of the roll begins with the company commanders followed by the soldiers. Continue browsing until you find soldier 47 Asp at Ekeby rote. Source; general muster roll: Generalmönsterrullor - Södermanlands regemente 161 (1848-1848) Image 630 (AID: v372955.b630). Image 630 of the muster roll shows soldier 47 at Ekeby rote. The entry for rote 47 Ekeby tells us that the former soldier at the rote was transfered (transporterats) to rote 48 Öksund on October 6, 1845. Rote 47 has been vacant since then until April 20, 1846, when the rote got a replacement, the new recruit Gustaf Asp.

Extract from the Södermanland Regiment's General Muster Roll June 21, 1848

The Regimental Commander:

Above, extract from the GMR: Generalmönsterrullor - Södermanlands regemente 161 (1848-1848) Image 350 (AID: v372955.b350, NAD: SE/KrA/0023). Date June 21, 1848. The image above is from the Regimental Staff Section of the 1848 GMR and shows the Regimental Commander, Major General Carl Ulrik Kuylenstierna. A regimental commander's rank was normally Colonel but Kuylenstierna's military rank was Major General which is rank higher than Colonel. The first column above is rank (Grad) and Gen. Major is short for Generalmajor (Major General). The second column is labeled Lön (Salary) which shows his position in the regiment. His position was "Regts Chef" which is short for Regementschef (Regimental Commander). Although his rank was Major General he held a position as a Regimental Commander and therefore was paid as a Regimental Commander. According the the third column, Namn (Name) Kuylenstierna was appointed Major General on May 30, 1848. He was also a holder of The Swedish Order of the Sword (Riddare af Kongl. Svärdsorden). Major General Kuylenstierna was at the time of the general muster in June 1848, 57 years old and had served in the military for 40 years. His age is listed in the second rightmost column (Ålder) and his service years in the rightmost column (Tjänsteår). The Company Commander of the Life Company:

Above, extract from the GMR: Generalmönsterrullor - Södermanlands regemente 161 (1848-1848) Image 470 (AID: v372955.b470, NAD: SE/KrA/0023). The image above is from the Company Staff Section of the Life Company and shows the Company Commander, Baron Captain Christian Georg Lovisin. The first column above is rank (Grad) and Lovisins rank is Captain. The second column is labeled Lön (Salary) which shows his position in the regiment. His position was Captain and Company Commander. He held a position as a Captain and was paid as a Captain. Friherre = Baron. Captain Christian Georg Lovisin was at the time of the general muster in June 1848, 45 years old and had served in the military for 29 years. His age is listed in the second rightmost column (Ålder) and his service years in the rightmost column (Tjänsteår).

Above, extract from the GMR: Generalmönsterrullor - Södermanlands regemente 161 (1848-1848) Image 630 (AID: v372955.b630, NAD: SE/KrA/0023). If we browse through the Life Company's entries we will soon find soldier 47 at Ekeby rote. The entry above shows that the former soldier at rote 47 was Gustaf Träff. On October 6, 1845, he was transferred (transporteras) to rote 48 Öksund. Rote 47 was then vacant until April 20, 1846, when the new replacement arrived at 47 Ekeby; recruit Gustaf Asp. Asp was born in Södermanland (Sörml.) See the text after his name. Asp's age (Ålder) at the general muster in June 1848 was 22 years and 5 months (22 5/12) and he had then 2 years and two months (2 2/12) of service time (Tjänsteår). His height (Längd) was 5 foot (fot) 11 inches (tum). Asp was unmarried (ogift) at the time. • Nummer = Number (Soldier number) • Nummer - Regementets = Soldier number within the regiment (1- 1200) • Nummer - Kompaniets (Compagniets) = Soldier number within the company (1- 150) • Rotens namn = The name of the rote. • Manskapets namn, födelseort och sedan sista general mönstringen med varje nummer skedda förändringar = The soldiers name and place of birth and changes made after the previous general muster • Ålder = Age • Tjänsteår = Service years • Längd, fot = Height, foot • Längd, tum, Height, inches • Gift eller ogift = Married or unmarried The soldier number To the far left we have the soldier numbers. It can be one or two columns of soldier numbers. An infantry regiment had 1,200 soldiers organized into 8 companies of 150 soldiers per company. The soldier numbers that normally is listed are the numbers within the company (1 - 150). However, it is also common that the number within the regiment (1 - 1,200) is listed in the GMRs. The image above has two columns, one for each series of numbers. Note, the soldier number belonged to the rote. If a soldier was transferred from one rote to another he was always given a different soldier number, a number that belonged to the new rote. Soldier Gustaf Asp above served in the 1st Company (Life Company) and the two series of soldier numbers are always identical for the 1st Company. Gustaf's number was 47 both within the company as well as within the regiment.

The column to the far right in the GMR contains notations regarding the current general muster (Nävarande generalmönstrings anteckningar). The notation for Gustaf Asp in the image above is approberas. Approberas means Approved which tells us that recruit Asp was approved of as a soldier at the 1848 general muster. Asp was enrolled as a recruit in April 1846. A recruit was to be approved or discarded at the following general muster. The next general muster wasn't called until 1848 and at this muster Asp was approved as a soldier. Thereof the notation "approberas". The column second to the far right (Sista generalmönstrings anteckningar) contains notations from the previous general muster. This column is not shown above.

Gustaf Asp's Military Career

We now know that Gustaf Asp was enrolled as a recruit on April 20, 1846, in the Life Company of the Södermanland Regiment, and was approved as a soldier in the following general muster on June 21, 1848. What was his military career like and when was he discharged? To get answers to these questions we have to browse through the following general muster rolls for the Södermanland Regiment until we find a notation about his discharge.

Extract from the Södermanland Regiment's General Muster on June 20, 1851

The regiment's next general muster was held in 1851. The general muster rolls in the middle of the 1800s contain more personal details than the older ones. The soldier's patronymic are now listed together with the soldier names in the rolls. The extract below shows Gustaf Asp's patronymicon, Jonsson, as well as his date of birth, January 19, 1825 in Husby parish, Nyköping County. Nyköping County was an old name of Södermanland County (Län).

Above, extract from the GMR: Generalmönsterrullor - Södermanlands regemente 162 (1851-1851) Image 620 (AID: v372956.b620, NAD: SE/KrA/0023). The image above contains personal details about soldier Gustaf Asp: previously known as G. Jonsson, born in Husby parish, Nyköping County on January 19, 1826. Enrolled on April 20, 1846. At the time of the general muster in June 1851 Asp was 25 years and 5 months old and had 5 years and 2 months' service time. His height was 5 foot 11 inches. Asp was now married (gift).

The column to the far right, Nävarande generalmönstrings anteckningar, (current general muster notations) holds a notation that soldier Gustaf Asp was absent at the muster. At the time of the muster he had received orders for service in the Carlsborg Fortress, Västergötland; "Commenderad till Carlsborg". Carlsborg was at the time an important fortress for the defense of Sweden. Carlsborg (Karlsborg) Fortress: The construction of the fortress began in 1819 to realize the so-called central defense idea adopted by the Swedish military after the Finnish and Napoleonic Wars. The intent of the central defense idea was that the King, the Council, the Riksdag (the Parliament) and central command functions would, in the event of an attack against the kingdom, pull back and ensconce themselves in this fortress, located in the middle of the country. Even the gold reserves of the central bank of Sweden were to be safeguarded in the fortress in times of trouble. The fortress is one of northern Europe's largest buildings and consists primarily of limestone from Omberg Mountain. Construction begun in 1819 and occupy 100 hectares of land. The fortress was to house a garrison of 6,000 soldiers plus an additional 10,000 people. The walls were complete in 1830. The image to the right is from Karlsborg fortress. Free image Wikiedia. The 1855 General Muster: The next general muster of the Södermanland Regiment was called on June 11, 1855. This muster roll lists a new Company Commander of Life Company, Captain Gustaf Wilhelm Alexander Warenberg (age 39). Warenberg replaced the former Company Commander Baron Captain Carl Johan Georg af Schmidt. There is no new information about soldier Gustaf Asp in this muster roll. Asp was present at the muster which is noted as "pr" (presens) and means he was present. This notation was found in the column to the far right, Nävarande generalmönstrings anteckningar, which contain notations regarding the current general muster. The 1859 General Muster: The general muster following the 1855 muster was held on June 15, 1859. Like the previous muster roll this roll contains no new information about Gustaf Asp's military career. Asp was present at the muster. The regiment has a new regimental commander though, Count Colonel Filip Verner von Schwerin (Regimental Commander between 1856 and 1859).

Extract from the Södermanland Regiment's General Muster on June 18, 1863

The general muster following the 1859 muster was called on June 18, 1863. The Södermanland Regiment has yet another new Regimental Commander, Count Colonel Samuel August Sandels (age 52), Regimental Commander between 1859 and 1863.

Above, extract from the GMR: Generalmönsterrullor - Södermanlands regemente 165 (1863-1863) Bild 630 (AID: v372959.b630, NAD: SE/KrA/0023). This muster roll has no further personal details about Asp but the information listed in the roll is more detailed. The second column above (The name of the rote) for example has beside the name of the rote also the parish name, Husby. The roll has like the previous GMR information about Asp's birthdate, birthplace and his patronymic: previously known as G. Jonsson, born in Husby parish, Nyköping County on January 19, 1826. Enrolled on April 20, 1846. At the time of the general muster in June 1863 Asp was 37 years and 5 months old and had 17 years and 2 months' service time.

Above; The column to the far right in the roll, "Nävarande generalmönstrings anteckningar", (current general muster notations) holds a notation regarding Gustaf Asp's health. Apparently he was in poor health. There is a notation "Ställes på ett års förbättring för sjuklighet" which roughly means that he was put on one year's sick leave for improvement of his health condition. In other words, he wasn't fit to be a soldier for reasons of health and was given one year to get better. Next general muster roll will show if he was reinstated or discharged.

Extract from the Södermanland Regiment's General Muster on June 25, 1866

The following general muster of the regiment was called on June 25, 1866. The Södermanland Regiment has a new Regimental Commander, Colonel Johan Henrik Rosensvärd (age 50), Regimental Commander between 1864 and 1870. This muster roll shows that Gustaf Asp was discharged on June 19, 1864. See below:

Above, extract from the GMR: Generalmönsterrullor - Södermanlands regemente 166 (1866-1866) Bild 590 (AID: v372960.b590, NAD: SE/KrA/0023). Obviously Gustaf Asp's health condition wasn't improved during his sick leave and he wasn't reinstated as a soldier. Asp was put on a one-year sick leave on June 18, 1863. The above extract shows that Asp was discharged (avsked) on June 19, 1864. Gustaf Asp was replaced by a new soldier on rote 47, Carl Gustaf Asp. The new soldier was assigned the same soldier name as his predecessor, i.e. Asp. The new soldier, Carl Gustaf Asp, was previously known as Carl Gustaf Träff, born on September 3, 1844, in Husby parish, Nyköping County. He was enrolled on November 29, 1865. Top of page

The Gustaf Asp Family Moved Out of the Soldier Croft in 1864

Soldier Crofts: During the time of the allotment system, the farms of a particular rote had contractual responsibility to provide a dwelling for its soldier and his family. The soldier croft (soldattorp) was a cottage on the property of one of the farms in the rote. Use of the dwelling was part of the soldier’s pay. The soldattorp also included a small field (1-2 acres), some farm animals and a few outbuildings. The soldier could live at the soldattorp only while he served in the military. When a soldier retired (or died) he and his family had to move out. The farmers of the rote were then required to provide a new soldier, who would take over the soldier croft. If the soldier died his family had to vacate the croft within three months. Gustaf Asp: Soldier Gustaf Asp was enrolled on April 20, 1846, and was discharged on June 19, 1864. He had then served as a soldier for rote 47, Ekeby, in the Life Company of the Södermanland Regiment for 18 years and 2 months. When he was discharged he was obliged to move out of his soldier croft, 47 Ekeby. The new soldier of the rote was now moving in to the soldier croft, Carl Gustaf Träff Asp. So, the Gustaf Asp family had to move-out of the croft. Gustaf Asp did not receive a pension from the Army since he hadn't the stipulated 30 service years. In order to receive a pension, the retired soldier had to be 50 years old (or older) and have at least 30 service years. Asp served only for 18 years. The household examination roll (parish record) has a notation that the family moved out of the croft in 1864. Source: Husby-Oppunda AI:16 (1861-1865) Image 128 / page 123. See below: Parish Records; Husby-Oppunda household examination rolls (husförhörslängd) AI:15 and AI:16

Above, extract from Husby-Oppunda parish book, Husby-Oppunda AI:15 (1856-1860) Image 121 / page 113 (AID: v59357.b121.s113, NAD: SE/ULA/10418). The above image shows the Gustaf Asp family at the soldier croft, 47 Ekeby as of 1856 to 1860.

Above, extract from Husby-Oppunda parish book, Husby-Oppunda AI:16 (1861-1865) Image 128 / page 123 (AID: v59358.b128.s123, NAD: SE/ULA/10418). The above image shows the Gustaf Asp family at the soldier croft, 47 Ekeby as of 1861 to 1865, i.e. when Asp was discharged from the regiment. Column labeled "Gift" shows Gustaf and his wife's date of marriage, April 24, 1847. His wife was Stina Cajsa Nyberg.

Above, extract from Husby-Oppunda parish book, Husby-Oppunda AI:16 (1861-1865) Image 128 / page 123 (AID: v59358.b128.s123, NAD: SE/ULA/10418). The image above is from the right-hand side of the parish roll showed further above. Column "Utflyttad" (moved-out) shows that the family moved out of the soldier croft in 1864 to Ekeby estate. Gustaf Asp died in 1905: Soldier Gustaf Asp, born on January 19, 1826, in Husby-Oppunda parish, Södermanland, died on October 9, 1905, at the poorhouse, Lidingö, Stockholm County. He became a widower in 1895. Source: The Swedish Death book 1901 - 2013. Asp was discharged at the age of 38 due to poor health. He wasn't granted a pension since he didn't fulfill the requirements. His future prospects weren’t looking very good, not being able to work. However, he died at the age of 79, nevertheless at a poorhouse.

The Uniform

Which type of uniform wore infantry soldier Gustaf Asp?

What type of military uniform did soldier Gustaf Asp wear when he served in the Södermanland Regiment (infantry) 1846 - 1864? The infantry uniform at that time was the m/1845. The blouse (jacket) was dark blue with yellow lining and had a stand-up collar and shoulder straps on each shoulder. The trousers had the same dark blue color as the blouse. Alongside the trouser legs was on each side a yellow stripe. The trousers also came in a white color for summer use. The headgear was a black leather helmet. See image below:

Infantry uniform m/1845, soldiers of rank-and-file, Södermanland Regiment.

Tutorials:

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Soldier 47 of the Life Company, Ekeby rote:

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Images

Images Hans Högman, 2015.

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How to Research Infantry

Soldiers in the GMRs - Sweden

(1a)

Introduction

Rote and Rusthåll

The Parish Records, HFL

Allotted Units

1

Tutorial 1: How to

Research Infantry

Soldiers, Sweden (1a)

Above, extract from Husby-Oppunda parish book, Husby-Oppunda husförhörslängd AI:13 (1846 - 1850), page 175 (AID: v59355.b181.s175). The above image shows soldier Gustaf Jonsson Asp (b. 1826-01-19 in Husby) and his wife Stina Cajsa Ersdotter Nyberg (b. 1822-11-13 in Stora Malm) and their children; illegitimate daughter (oäkta) Mathilda (b. 1842-02-21 in Lerbo) and daughter Edla Christina (b. 1849-04-27 in Husby-Oppunda). The family moved to the soldier croft (cottage) in 1846; Gustaf from Bettna parish and Stina Cajsa från Lerbo parish. The couple was married on 1847-04-24. This information is not visible on the extract above but are on the referenced page in the roll. At the top of the image we see Asp's soldier number, 47, and the name of the military rote, Ekeby..

Above, extract from Husby-Oppunda birth book, födelseboken Husby-Oppunda C:3 (1742-1836) Image 331 (AID: v59371.b331, NAD: SE/ULA/10418) for 1826. The extract above shows Gustaf Jonsson Asp's birth entry in the birth book. Gustaf's birth date was 1826- 01-19. His parents were tenant farmer (torpare) Jonas Svensson and his wife Maria Olofsdotter.

Matching a Soldier to a Regiment

and Company by the help of Grill's

work

Before you can locate a soldier's military records, you must first identify the military unit in which he served. The basic unit of the Swedish army before 1900 was the regiment. Each regiment was divided into smaller units called companies. Most army regiments had eight companies of roughly equal numbers of men. You must identify both the regiment and company to which your soldier was assigned in order to locate his military records. A very valuable source for the military researcher is Lieutenant Colonel Claes Grill's work "Statistiskt sammandrag af svenska indelningsverket I - IV" (Statistical Summary of the Swedish Allotment System) from 1856. This was a detailed analysis of the allotment system regiments as they existed in the 1850s. This is the best source to locate the unit a soldier served in. Grill's work consists of 4 volumes and are available at libraries in Sweden. Grill's work may be found today in many research libraries in the US, such as the LDS Family History Libraries and at the University of MN, Wilson Library. However, Grill's works are digitalized too and the database software is available on CD-ROM. If you have a subscription with Arkiv Digital, you can browse the digitalized version online. In Arkiv Digital you search for "Tryckt litteratur" (Printed literature). Note: Grill's work only contains the allotted regiment, not the enlisted regiments. The image to the right shows the front page of the first volume of Grill's work. Grill's work is a valuable tool for matching a soldier rote with a specific regiment and company. Among the contents of these works are tables of all the allotted infantry, cavalry and navy rotar, organized by regiment and company. The regiments are listed regiment-by-regiment and per regiment parish-by-parish. Per parish you will find the "rotar" the regiment had in these parishes. In the tables you will find information on which company each rote was a part of. A regiment of 1,200 soldiers consequently had 1,200 "rotar" (pl.). Normally the rote had the same name as the main farm of the rote that supported the soldier. Grill's work has a parish index. If you know the name of the parish and the name of the rote it is easy to find the regiment and the company the soldier served in. You have to be aware that some provinces had more than one regiment. Different regiments and Navy units could have "rotar" within the same parish. This makes it a bit more difficult to find the correct regiment for a soldier. An example of a province with two regiments is Östergötland. This province had an infantry regiment as well as a cavalry regiment plus "rotar" within the Navy Allotment System. Begin with browsing the parish index (sockenregister) for the parish in question to find the unit(s) which had rotar or rusthåll in that particular parish. The parish index is located in the beginning of volume 1. Our soldier Gustaf Jonsson Asp above, lived in Husby- Oppunda parish, Södermanland, when he was a soldier (that's where his soldier croft was located) so we begin with browsing Grill's parish index for Husby- Oppunda parish to find which military units had rotar/rusthåll in this parish. Then we browse the unit the parish index refers to. The Södermanland Regiment (infantry) had 20 rotar, the Life Regiment Grenadier Corps 2 rotar in the parish. [It is rote in singular and rotar in plural.] We know from the parish record that the name of the rote was Ekeby. Grill's work shows that the Södermanland Regiment had one rote in Ekeby (rote 47) while the Life Regiment Grenadier Corps had none. This tells as that Gustaf Jonsson Asp served in the Södermanland Regiment. The Ekeby rote belonged to the Life Company of the regiment. The soldier numbers listed in Grill are the numbers used within the companies, normally 1 - 150.

Grill

Note, Claes Grill's work "Statistiskt sammandrag af svenska indelningsverket" is a detailed analysis of the allotment system regiments as they existed in the 1850s. Many regiments have been carrying different names throughout the centuries and the regimental names in Grill are the names the units had in the mid-1800s. Further, regiments have been divided or been consolidated into new units. An example of a regiment that has been divided into two new independent units is the Närke-Värmland Regiment which in 1812 was divided into the Närke Regiment and the Värmland Regiment. It is these two regiments that are listed in Grill's work, not the original Närke-Värmland Regiment. If you do research of soldiers in the Närke- Värmland Regiment prior to 1812 you don't have much help of Grill's work since the rotar in the Värmland Regiment do not match the rotar in the Närke-Värmland Regiment. Even if many rotar have the same name they have different rote numbers. When the Närke-Värmland Regiment was divided all rotar were renumbered. More information about the different military unit's names and history. Note, Grill's work only lists the allotted units in the army and navy. Enlisted units are not listed in Grill!

The images below show in detail how to locate the military unit in Grill with the help of the parish index.

Above, an extract from Grill's parish index (sockenregister), Tryckt litteratur GrillReg:1 (0-9999) Bild 330 / sid 30 (AID: v792967.b330.s30, NAD: SE/AD/00001). The image shows, among other parishes, Husby- Oppunda parish; Husby-Oppunda, Söd. "Söd" is short for Södermanland. Grill's work at Arkiv Digital is a digitalized version of the original work by Grill and the references to each volume in the parish index are handwritten. The references to the different volumes are written in Roman digits. Volume 1 is referred to as I followed by a number which is the page number in volume 1. II is volume 2, III volume 3 etc. Volume I contains cavalry regiments, Volume II infantry regiments, Volume III Navy companies and Volume IV the Extra roteringen. For each parish name in the index there are a references to volumes followed by a page number in that volume where you will find the military unit which had rotar in that parish. According to the extract above, Husby-Oppunda parish has 3 references: • I 121, volume I page 121 - Cavalry. Page 121 refers to the Life Regiment Grenadier Corps. • II 39, volume II, page 39, Infantry - in this case Södermanland Regiment. This is the reference to rote 47, Ekeby! • IV 12, volume IV, page 12, "Extra roteringen" in the Army, Södermanland. We open volume II and go to page 39 where we find information about the Södermanland Regiment. See below:

Above, page 39 of volume II of Grill; Tryckt litteratur Grill:2 (1856-1856) Bild 240 / sid 39 (AID: v792654.b240.s39, NAD: SE/AD/00001). The above extract is page 39 of volume II and shows the different rotar the Södermanland Regiment had in Södermanland, Oppunda Härad (Hundred). The second column is the parish column (Socken). In the lower part of the image we find Husby (Husby- Oppunda parish). To the right of the parish name we find the names of the rotar in this parish. They are numbered from 39 to 58, in total 20 rotar. Ekeby is rote 47. See the red ellipse in the image above. To the right of the listing of rotar there is a column for each company of the regiment. Figure "20" for Husby is the total number of rotar in Husby and it is in the first column which is the column for the Life Company (1st Company) - N:o 1 Lif-Kompaniet. In other words, all of the 20 rotar in Husby belonged to the Life Company. Note, only the first four companies are visible in the extract above. Now we know that soldier Gustaf Jonsson Asp served in the Life Company of the Södermanland Regiment.

The General Muster Rolls, GMR

Infantry Regiments

The basic unit of the Swedish army was the regiment. An infantry regiment generally comprised 1,200 soldiers (soldiers of rank-and-file and Corporals). Beside the 1,200 soldiers there were a great number of officers and non-commissioned officers (NCOs) per regiment. Each regiment was divided into smaller units called companies. Most infantry regiments had eight companies of roughly 150 men. The 1st Company was always called the Life Company (Livkompaniet). The regiments were organized into two battalions which were the combat units. Each battalion consisted of 4 companies (600 men). A company was subdivided into 6 "korpralskap" of 24 men led by a corporal (in total 25 men). The Regimental Commander normally held the rank of Colonel. The rank of a Company Commander was normally Captain.

The General Muster Rolls

The best resource for military research is the general muster roll. Army and navy units periodically called a “general muster”, an official gathering of all its service members at one place so everyone could be counted and inspected. The results were written down in a “general muster roll” (GMR). General musters were often recorded in great detail. They can hold information about soldiers’ enlistments, promotions, transfers, discharges and even deaths. One can frequently find personal details about individual soldiers, such as his age, years of service and height. Cavalry regiment muster rolls included information on each soldier's horse such as age, years of service and coat color. We know that soldier Gustaf Jonsson Asp served in the Life Company of the Södermanland Regiment. This information will be valuable in finding him in this regiment's general muster rolls for the time period when he was a soldier. Asp was born in 1826 so he ought to have been recruited at the age of 20, in other words around 1846. The next step will be to find out which general musters the Södermanland regiment called mid- 1800s. A search online at Arkiv Digital shows that the regiment had a general muster in 1848 which we will take a look at. Arkiv Digital and SVAR are two online providers of parish and military records and are both subscription-based online services. Muster rolls were a method of record keeping used by a regiment. Usually, a GMR included all companies in the regiment. The Life Company is always the first company and therefore located first in the general muster rolls, after the regimental commanders (the regimental staff). The 1848 general muster of the Södermanland Regiment was held on June 21. The date is listed in the preamble of the muster roll as well in the preamble of respective company. The regimental commander at this time was Major General Carl Ulrik Kuylenstierna (1791 - 1856). He was the regiment's commander between 1837 - 1856. The company commander of the Life Company was Baron Captain Christian Georg Lovisin. Browse through the muster roll until you find the Life Company (Livkompaniet). This section of the roll begins with the company commanders followed by the soldiers. Continue browsing until you find soldier 47 Asp at Ekeby rote. Source; general muster roll: Generalmönsterrullor - Södermanlands regemente 161 (1848-1848) Image 630 (AID: v372955.b630). Image 630 of the muster roll shows soldier 47 at Ekeby rote. The entry for rote 47 Ekeby tells us that the former soldier at the rote was transfered (transporterats) to rote 48 Öksund on October 6, 1845. Rote 47 has been vacant since then until April 20, 1846, when the rote got a replacement, the new recruit Gustaf Asp.