Johan Christopher Toll - Military Commander

Military Commander

In the War against Napoleon, Toll assisted in the defence of Stralsund. The fortress was compelled to surrender on August 20 by Marshal Brune, whereupon the Swedish army of 13,000 men, which had retired to Rügen, seemed irretrievably lost. It was saved by Toll, who cajoled the French marshal into a convention whereby the Swedish army, with all its munitions of war, was permitted to return unmolested to Sweden on September 7, 1807. For this exploit Toll received his marshal's baton. It was in the camp of Toll, then acting commander-in-chief in Scania, that Gustavus IV was about to take refuge when the western army rebelled against him, but he was arrested in the capital before he could do so. Toll retained his high position under Bernadotte, who, in 1814, created him a count. He died unmarried.