Axel Erik Roos

Axel Erik Roos, born in 1684 in Årnäs in Västergötland, died December 14, 1765 in Lövåsen, Gestad, Dalsland was a baron, lieutenant general in the Swedish army of Charles XII of Sweden, and governor of Dalsland.

Career

Roos started as a 16-year-old page at court of Charles XII in 1700, then accompanied the king during the Great Northern War war and participated in a number of the battles. He was wounded at Kliszów and Fraustadt, was appointed second lieutenant in the Södermanland regiment and, in 1707, lieutenant in the Värmland regiment. He was appointed to ”corps of Drabants” in 1708 and accompanied the king to Bendery. There he excelled himself with brilliant bravery in the skirmish at Bender and saved the king's life three times the same day, including protecting the king with his own body. Roos gave a detailed account of the skirmish at Bender in a letter which he personally delivered to the Swedish Queen Ulrika Eleonora. The account was printed in 1757 and has since been reprinted on several occasions. The letter is considered to have great historical value and the original is kept in the National Archives of Sweden.

Roos was appointed Adjutant General in 1713 and the same day to colonel in the Scanian cavalry. In the following years, Roos was employed by the king in several demanding and secret missions. During one such trip in 1716 he was captured by the Danish enemy, but managed to escape to Scania. He also participated in the 1718 siege of the Fredriksten fortress in Norway, during which the king was killed. Roos was wounded 16 times in the Great Northern War campaign. The king had great confidence in him and called him "Roosen", and he almost always was in the king's immediate proximity during the war.

In 1725 he was promoted to major general and colonel of the Nyland cavalry brigade and the Tavastehus dragoons. In 1728, he obtained command of the Bohus dragoons. After his time as military commander he was 1740 appointed governor of Älvsborg County, finally retiring as a Lieutenant General. He lived on the Lövås manor and died 81 years old in 1766. His funeral brought together a large number of the most prominent nobles in the country. There, his life was described in a long speech by the member of the parliament Lennart Magnus Uggla from Värmland. The speech was distributed in printed form under the title: "Åminnelsetal öfver General, landshöfdingen mm Baron Axel Erik Roos."

It is considered that the man "Axel" in Esaias Tegnér's eponymous poem is Erik Axel Roos. The noble house of Roos was extinguished by his death. Roos' sword and spurs were stored for nearly two hundred years in the church of Gestad until they were stolen in the 1980's during a burglary. They have not been recovered since.

Personal life

Axel Roos was the son of the General Carl Gustaf Roos, who is known among other things, that he took command of a infantry unit in the battle of Poltava. Two of his sons were killed being officers during the campaigns in Poland and Germany. It is said that Erik Axel Roos was not tall and that he retained a youthful appearance near the end of his life. There are several paintings of him, including one in Karlberg Palace, Stockholm.