Carolean Death March The Carolean Death March ( ) or the Catastrophe of Øyfjellet refers to the disastrous retreat by a Swedish Carolean army under the command of Carl Gustaf Armfeldt across the Tydal mountain range in Trøndelag around the new year 1718 – 1719 . Background . In 1718 , after several defeats in the Great Northern War , Sweden had lost its eastern territories to Russia . Too weakened to retake these , Charles XII of Sweden planned an attack on Norway to force the Dano - Norwegian king Frederick IV into great concessions in subsequent peace treaty negotiations . After the defeat at Storkyro , Lieutenant - general Carl Gustaf Armfeldt had retreated to the area of Gävle with the mauled army of Finland . He was now ordered to make a diversionary attack from Jämtland towards Trondheim in Trøndelag with his poorly equipped soldiers . After assembling a host of 10 , 000 soldiers in Duved , he set off towards Norway on August 29 , 1718 . Four months later , the campaign in Trøndelag had failed : the defenders of Trondheim had successfully held off Armfeldt . The army of 10 , 000 had dwindled to around 6 , 000 , and the surviving soldiers were exhausted and starved , their clothing tattered and threadbare . Bad weather made resupplies from Sweden impossible , so the army had to live off the land , causing untold suffering to the Norwegian civilian population . After Charles ' death on December 11 , 1718 during the siege of Fredriksten , all Swedish forces in Norway were ordered to retreat back to Sweden . Armfeldt received notice of Charles ' death on January 7 , 1719 , when his force was in Haltdalen , Gauldal with about 6 , 000 men . He decided to take the shortest route to Sweden : first over the mountains to Tydal and from there over the Tydal mountain range back to the fort of Hjerpe . So far the winter had been mild with scant to no snow cover . Skis were therefore not needed , but the army was poorly equipped and exhausted from the campaigning in Trøndelag . The departure to Sweden . On January 8 , 1719 the army left Haltdalen and marched to Tydal , a distance of almost 30 kilometers . Due to the cold weather , about 200 men died on the mountains from exposure . On January 11 , Armfeldt ' s army was gathered on the Ås and Østby farms in Tydal , almost 5 , 800 men in total . A vanguard of 14 skiers was sent across to Jämtland to prepare for the main army ' s arrival in Sweden . The army left Østby on the morning of January 12 , 1719 ( New Year ' s Day according to the Swedish calendar ) , accompanied by Norwegian guide Lars Bersvendsen Østby , who had been coerced into aiding the enemy by having two kinswomen held hostage . The weather was very cold , but there was no snowfall . The distance to the village Handöl in present - day Åre Municipality is about 55 kilometers . Without the inclement weather the army could have reached Jämtland after a two day march . The storm . That afternoon a violent northwesterly blizzard struck , with its strong wind swirling up the light snow . The resulting poor visibility and biting cold forced Armfeldt to encamp on the northern mountainside of Øyfjellet by the lake Essand . In desperate efforts to keep warm , the soldiers set fire to dwarf birch , heather , their own rifle butt s and sled s , but to little effect . An estimated 200 men froze to death this first night . The storm continued the next day , and the retreat now became chaotic as the soldiers were scattered in the hills . The main part of the force reached the Swedish border and encamped at Enaälven . A hole was hacked in the ice on the Ena to see in which direction the water flowed : in that direction lay rescue . However , the severe weather continued to take its toll ; many of the draught horse s died and all equipment had to be abandoned on the mountain . The storm was still raging on January 14 as the first troops led by Armfeldt made their way to Handöl . The majority of the survivors arrived at Handöl on the January 15 and 16 . About 3 , 000 men remained on the mountain , frozen to death . During the continued voyage down to Duved , where lodging had been arranged for the soldiers , another 700 men died . About 600 of the surviving 2 , 100 soldiers were crippled for life . Aftermath . On January 18 , Norwegian major Emahusen set off up the mountain on the trail of the Swedish army . He found hundreds of dead Caroleans . The horses that were still alive ran around without riders , while others lay collapsed harnessed to fully loaded sleds , where the driver , with a glazed expression , still held the reins in a frozen grip . Norwegians took a great deal of booty that winter . They found masses of swords and rifles ; six smaller cannon s were found abandoned on the mountain . The locals plundered the dead of boots , coats , valuables and weapons . Rifle barrels could be used for hardware in fireplaces or for axles in grindstones . After the people were finished , then came the beasts of prey . Wolves , wolverine s and foxes discovered an abundance of carcasses . A local legend told that for many years these mountain tracts were one of the best hunting areas for fur - bearing animals . In Brekka Bygdetun in Tydal , an open air theatre performance of " Karolinerspelet " is held every other year in January , dramatizing the events of the Death March .