Elisa Bernerström
Encyclopedia
Floruit
Floruit , abbreviated fl. , is a Latin verb meaning "flourished", denoting the period of time during which something was active...
1809), was a woman
Woman
A woman , pl: women is a female human. The term woman is usually reserved for an adult, with the term girl being the usual term for a female child or adolescent...
who served in the Swedish army dressed as a man during the Finnish War
Finnish War
The Finnish War was fought between Sweden and the Russian Empire from February 1808 to September 1809. As a result of the war, the eastern third of Sweden was established as the autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland within the Russian Empire...
between Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
and Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
1808-1809. She was decorated for bravery in battle, and was the only confirmed woman decorated for bravery in battle on land, while Brita Hagberg
Brita Hagberg
Brita Christina Hagberg, née Nilsdotter, alias Petter Hagberg, , was a woman who served as a soldier in the Swedish army during the Russo-Swedish War...
and Anna Maria Engsten
Anna Maria Engsten
Anna Maria Jansdotter Engsten was by King Gustav III of Sweden awarded with a medal in silver for Valour in Battle at Sea for her acts during the Russo-Swedish war of 1788-1790....
were decorated for bravery at sea.
Elisa Bernerström, a maid, met the soldier Bernard Servenius when his regiment was stationed in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
. They fell in love and were married, and when the regiment left for war Elisa disguised herself as a man and enlisted as a soldier in the regiment herself, "as she had decided to live and to die with her husband". This regiment was either the King's lifeguard (livgardet) or the Queen's regiment (drottningens livregemente).
Her husband was believed killed in action at the Battle of Ratan and Sävar
Battle of Ratan and Sävar
The Battle of Sävar and Ratan is actually two separate battles fought a day apart. They are mentioned together as it was the same armies that fought both battles and the later battle was essentially an extension of the first one. The battle of Sävar and Ratan was the last battle on Swedish soil...
, while she herself collected the ammunition of the enemy and gave it to her fellow soldiers during the battle. For this action Wachtmeister
Wachtmeister
Wachtmeister was a German, Austrian and Swiss military rank of non-commissioned officers. It was also adopted into Russian Army vakhmistr and was used as Sergeant-grade rank in cavalry , then Special Corps of Gendarmes and Cossack cavalry and Cossack Leib Guard units...
recommended that she be decorated for bravery in battle. During the march to Piteå
Piteå
Piteå is a locality and the seat of Piteå Municipality in Norrbotten County, Sweden. The town has 22,650 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 41,000 in 2008.- Geography :...
, when for the third time she prepared to "in her ability serve her country", her gender was discovered and she was fired.
After the war, it was discovered that her husband had been captured rather than killed in action. He was released from his Russian prison, and they were reunited in Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
, after which they continued to follow the regiment.
Bernerström is mentioned in the famous memoirs of the queen, Hedvig Elisabeth Charlotte, who wrote in her diary
Diary
A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
: Speaking of the latest expedition to Västerbotten, I forgot to mention, that an amazon
Amazons
The Amazons are a nation of all-female warriors in Greek mythology and Classical antiquity. Herodotus placed them in a region bordering Scythia in Sarmatia...
appeared on the battle field
Wachtmeister informed the queen of the case in a report, were he asked her to provide Bernerström with an economic gift, as Bernerström was a member of the Queen's own regiment.
In the report to the queen, this version was given: Bernerström hid in the boat which took the regiment of her husband away. She was discovered, but allowed to remain despite her sex. At Ratan, she marched at her husbands side dressed in a uniform, nursed the wounded, collected the ammunition from the fallen and handed it to her fellow soldiers during the battle. Her husband was reported dead, but she was convinced he was alive and a prisoner, and followed the army to Piteå in a new regiment. During this expedition, her biological sex was discovered by her new comrades. Officers, who knew her from the earlier expedition, informed admiral Puke and recommended that she should be spared from further inconvenience. Puke informed himself of her conduct during the battle at Ratan and decided to award her with the medal for bravery in battle
För tapperhet i fält
För tapperhet i fält and För tapperhet till sjöss are two Swedish military medals awarded to officers and soldiers of the Swedish Armed Forces who have—as the medal names suggest—shown valour in the field or at sea in wartime...
.
Wachtmeister described Bernerström to the queen as a former kitchen maid, with "energetic, expressive eyes, vivid in her ways and appearance, and even intelligent, so much so as one could ask from a person of her class", and that she "made herself noted with a natural fearlessness before danger". When asked, if she was afraid during the firing on the battle field, she had replied:
Why would I be? I am with my husband, for him I would do anything, and also, I wish to help the wounded. I ask nothing more than to do it again, if needed; I do not mind the flying of the bullets the least bit, you will die someday anyway, this way as well as another.
The queen was impressed with her, and commented: Truly a philosophic way of reason from a woman of the people and a proof of wisdom as well as judgment.
Elisa Bernerström is not the only woman in Swedish history to have served as a soldier dressed as a man, but she is one of very few of these women who were officially recognized and decorated for such an act.