Battle of Langnes The Battle of Langnes , or the Battle of Langnes Entrenchment , was a battle fought between Norway and Sweden as a part of the Swedish - Norwegian War of 1814 . The battle , even as it ended inconclusively , served as a tactical victory to the Norwegians since they now could avoid an unconditional surrender to the Swedish . Background . The Norwegian Army had earlier suffered several defeats against the Swedish forces in Eastern Norway , and when Fredrikstad Fortress surrendered on the 4th of August it was clear that it was only a matter of time before Sweden would win the war . At this time the Norwegian forces in Smaalenenes Amt were trying to reorganize themselves east of Askim by the Glomma river , and had built a pontoon bridge at Langnes to help speed up the withdraw . At the same time the bridge was built so that the bridgehead would be easy to defend in case of a Swedish attack . Preparations for the Swedish attack . Colonel Diderich Hegermann placed his forces in posision to defend the bridgehead at the same time as it was possible for retreating Norwegian troops to cross the bridge . In addition to the two regiments from Kristians Amt and three divisions of sharpshooters from Valdres , he had eight guns available , four of which were laid on the small hill to fire at the Swedish attackers . The Swedish advance . The Swedish forces consisted of several infantry regiments from Västergötland and Värmland under the leadership of General Eberhard Ernst von Vegesack Gotthard and Lieutenant Colonel Bror Cederström . The force had marched towards the Norwegian bridgehead since the 8th of August , and several armed patrols were sent out to reconnoiter . During the night to the 9th of August the first Swedish troops arrived at Langnes . Colonel Hegermann had sent out Norwegian patrols to keep track of how far the Swedish advance had arrived , and there were several skirmishes between the Norwegian and Swedish forces during the night between the 8th and 9 August . It was unusually bad weather that night , and a Norwegian Captain who came into contact with a Swedish scout survived because the flashpan powder in the Swedish flintlock musket was wet . The scout charged with his bayonet , and in a dramatic fight the Captain broke his sword , but managed to kill the Swedish soldier and steal his gun . The captured gun is still exhibited in the Norwegian Museum of Defence . The Battle . Norwegian surprise attack . Colonel Hegermann tried to exploit the confusion caused by the bad weather , and before dawn he put in a surprise attack against the Swedish troops . In the rain and darkness , the attack quickly turned to a bayonet and gun butt fight , with the Norwegians beating the tired Swedes back . Not knowing the rate of the Swedish advance and fearing to be cut off from his own lines , Hegermann ordered a retreat back to the entrenchment in the morning hours . The Swedish attacks . At the break of dawn , the Swedes had learned of the Norwegian defensive line and commenced their battle plan to evict them from their entrenchment . The Swedish troops was sent forth in columns from a small rise where Langnes Station on the Østfold Line is today , about half a kilometre from the Norwegian lines . The open fields between the small rise and the cannon battery gave the Norwegian field artillery a good field of fire . The fields , being sodden by the nights rain , slowed the Swedish advance in front of the Norwegian guns . Colonel Hegermann ordered his men to hold the fire until the Swedes had advanced right up to the entrenchment , allowing the cannons to fire into the side of the advancing column with canister shot s . Hegermann later described how shots from the Norwegian cannons " « [ . . . ] made it look like a wagon had rolled through them from head to queue » " . The first attack turned out to be costly for the Swedes , who lost the majority of their fallen in the battle during the first attack . As the attack broke down , some Swedish forces took refuge on the Langnes farm itself . They were driven off by more cannon fire , shooting the buildings asunder . The Swedes reorganized and advanced a second time through rain and mud . They were again met by concentrated fire , and the attack petered out without the Swedish forces having breached the Norwegian line . Late in the morning the Swedes attacked a third time . This time they organized their troops in skirmisher formation , keeping up a continuous fire on the Norwegian line to suppress return fire and also presenting a dispersed target , making it difficult to use the cannons effectively . The Swedes had better gunpowder , giving their musket s better range . The attack of the skirmishing line had a devastating effect on the cannon battery , that had been placed on a hillock , without a proper breastwork . Swedish riflemen reinforced the skirmishing chain , killing several Norwegian artillerists , among them lieutenant Hauch . Colonel Hegermann got the battery reorganised and drove the sharpshooters off with several well aimed cannon shots . Though effective use of the cannons had forced the Swedes to withdraw for the third time , the Norwegian command had realized that the battery had been badly placed , and would not be able to hold off the Swedes in the long run . Norwegian withdrawal . The young king Christian Frederik had spent the night at the nearby Spydeberg farm was woken by the cannon fire . Rushing up to the pontoon bridge , he was met by soldiers carrying the body of Lieutenant Hauch across . According to period sources , the young king exclaimed : " « Too much blood for my sake ! » " , to which the soldiers answered : " « Not too much my Liege , to little ! » " However , in light of the overall strategic situation , the king ordered a withdrawal . Colonel Hegermann was planning a counterattack and a dispute with the king ensued . The king is quoted as having said " « But by God , have you not sacrificed enough of these fair folks blood ? » " The Norwegian losses behind their entrenchment had been insignificant , with only 6 men dead ( among them the young Lieutenant Hauch ) and 9 or 10 wounded . Though the battle was not as bloody as the battle of Matrand , the Swedish forces had taken substantial losses . Having crossed open , rain - sodden ground in column formation in the charge at the battery , the Swedish losses are believed to have been around a hundred men dead or wounded . They had also lost the initiative , and decided to withdraw southwards . At noon the 9th of August 1814 the final shots of the last major engagement between Norwegian and Swedes petered out . With the Swedes no longer a threat , the Norwegian withdrawal across the makeshift bridge was undisturbed and went swiftly . Being short on horses , the Norwegian command decided to ditch three cannons into the river Glomma which runs deep at this point , to vehement protest from the soldiers . The bridge was then dismantle by cutting the moorings for the boats . Aftermath . After the Norwegian forces had withdrawn to the Western bank of Glomma , Colonel Hegermann marched his troops southwards to reinforce the defensive positions along Glomma , which had been threatened after the Swedes had taken the islands of Tune and Rolvsøy . The experienced Swedish soldier , Crown Prince Charles John had ordered his troops to secure the whole of the Eastern bank of the river , and several skirmishes took place along the river until the final ceasefire order were signed on the 14th of August . Despite having held the Swedes back at Langnes , it was becoming obvious that it was just a matter of time before the war itself would be lost . The Norwegian Army was short on supplies , having food only for two more weeks . Well before the battle , Crown Prince Charles John had offered negotiations , and even though the Norwegians may have won the battle , they lost the war five days later as king Christian Fredrik accepted a ceasefire . The following negotiations led to the Convention of Moss , which began the process of establishing the century long union between Sweden and Norway . The Norwegian resistance had however not been in vain . The army had safely withdrawn across Glomma intact . Even though the War in Eastern Norway had gone badly for the Norwegians , the spirited defence of the bridgehead at Langnes had boosted morale . With the Norwegians having a largely intact and battle ready army on the eastern side of the river , it was obvious to the Swedes that a military victory could be costly . The victory at Langnes had thus given the Norwegian the diplomatic room needed to avoid the Swedes outright dictating the terms of surrender . As a secret part of the treaty the young king abdicated and was to never again set foot on Norwegian soil , but the Norwegians were allowed to keep their constitution , securing the parliament substantial power , thus laying the foundation for the dissolution of the union in 1905 .