Petter Cavat (abt. 1732 - 1759)

Born about 1732 in Sweden

Husband of Cajsa Ingrid Johansdotter — married 14 Oct 1753 in Prästgård, Gärdserum, Östergötland, Sweden

Descendants

Died 1759 at about age 27 in Demmin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Justin Durand [send private message]

Biography

Petter Cavat was a Prisoner of War during Seven Years' War.

Petter Cavat Died in Military Service during Seven Years' War.

Born Abt 1732. Sweden^[1]

Residence Kamdalen u Svenserum, Gärdserum, Östergötland, Sweden.

Marriage Husband Petter Jonsson Cavat. Wife Casja Ingrid Johansdotter. Marriage 14 Oct 1753. Prästgård, Gärdserum, Östergötland, Sweden. ^[2] Child: Jonas Pettersson Svanström. Child: Annika Pettersdotter.

He was a soldier. In 1752 he joined the army and took the military surname Cavat, which means "plucky" or "brave". He served in the Sevedes Company of the Royal Kalmar Regiment (Infantry). The regiment consisted of 1,184 men in two battalions of four companies. Each company had 137 privates and 11 officers, NCOs and musicians.

Petter was assigned to live at Kamdalen (No. 9 Svenserum), a soldier's croft about seven miles southwest of Gärdserum, on the shore of a small lake, Hemgöl. The rusthållare, or man responsible for equipping him as a soldier, was farmer Erik Gerdeman (1710-1779), of Svenserum. Prior to enlisting, Petter Cavat was probably a tenant of Gerdeman's, perhaps a relative, or at least a resident of the parish of Gärdserum.

From 1756 to 1763 Europe was disrupted by the Seven Years War with Sweden, Austria, France, Russia and Spain on one side, against England and Prussia on the other. In the North American colonies this conflict was called the French and Indian War. The Swedish name for the war was Pommerska kriget (the Pomeranian War).

A military roll dated 1757 says Petter Cavat was 23-12 years old and had served 4-34 years in the army. Petter's regiment remained in Sweden at the outbreak of the war, but in 1758 six companies (900 men) were sent to Pomerania as reinforcements against the Prussians, probably when Count Gustav David Hamilton took command on June 27. There are few details. On 18 November 1758 some elements of the regiment were present at the Battle of Güstow. On 25 November 1758, 160 men from the regiment were occupying a redoubt outside Werbelow, when a party of 40 men from another regiment took refuge there. The 200 men held off a Prussian assault until reinforcements arrived. Petter Cavat might have been involved in one or both these battles.

Gen. Hamilton resigned on 23 November 1758. Jacob Albrecht von Lantinghausen was appointed commander on 19 December. The Swedish forces wintered in Pomerania. On 9 January 1759 Gen. Lantinghausen and the Swedish army retired to Stralsund. The Prussians immediately surrounded Demmin and laid siege to the Swedish garrison there. On 17 January the Prussian battery made a gap in the Swedish defenses around Demmin. The Prussians then launched an amphibious attacked and drove the Swedes out of the outpost on the Meyenkebs side of the Peene. On 18 January, short of ammunition, Col. Lillienberg surrendered the town of Demmin. His troops were allowed to march out of the town with their colors, fifers and drummers before becoming prisoners of war.

In 1759 Petter Cavat was taken prisoner by the Prussians at Demmin, probably on 17 January, when the Prussian army captured the town, but perhaps on 22 October when the Prussians surprised the town (which had been re-taken by the Swedes), seized the Swedish war chest, and retired to Malchin. That morning, when the gates of Demmin were opened, the Prussians launched a surprise attack. The town was defended by only 60 men of the Posseska Infantry under the command of Capt. Kjull Kristoffer Baron Barnekow and Lt. Ehrencrona. The Posseska regiment was raised in 1743 at Stralsund, and consisted mostly of Germans. The small garrison threw itself into houses and bravely defended itself for an hour, losing 25 men dead or wounded, and was finally forced to surrender. The Swedish hussar who should have warned the garrison of the Prussian approach had gotten drunk on his way and had been captured by the Prussians.

Petter Cavat never returned. The Prussians had a tremendous hatred for the Swedes and he was probably killed by them. He was deleted from military rolls on 30 June 1764.

Ancestry

Petter Cavat was not the Per Jonasson, born 14 November 1732 at Kvarntorp in Gärdserum, son of Jonas Presser. That Petter was married at Gärdserum two years after this Petter died.^[3] Petter might have been a nephew or other relative of Ingeborg Persdotter Svanström, of Åtvid, who was born about 1713, married Nils Vedberg in 1741, and died in 1781 at Sjöbacka, Åtvid.

DNA testing shows the Svanström family are relatively close relatives of a Kruse family from Lütjenburg (Holstein) and of a Briese family in Prussia and Poland. Michael Briese, born about 1738 was a property owner (Eigenthümer) at Potzymowo in what is now Poland. Many German families settled in this area in the mid-1700s at the request of the local Polish nobility, who wanted to re-build estates that had been decimated by cholera and war. At the Second Partition of Poland in 1793, this area became part of Prussia.

Cavat seems to have been the name used for soldiers at Gårdveda in Målilla in the Royal Kalmar Regiment. The four Cavats listed in the Centrala Soldatregistret all came from that unit. None were named Johan or Jonas, so none would have been father of Petter Jönsson Cavat:

• Pehr Pehrsson Cavat, born 1698.
• Sune Amundsson Cavat, born 19 September 1705, died 5 july 1742.
• Magnus Sunesson Cavat, born 1728 (perhaps son of his predecessor).
• Pär Nilsson Cavat, died 19 July 1743.

Petter Cavat might have been the Peter Johansson, born 21 July 1732 at Målilla to Johan Samuelsson and Christina Jonsdotter (FamilySearch.org), but the identification is a long shot. Petter (Per), Jonas and Johan were common names, and the surname Cavat was probably not hereditary.

The soldiers known to have served at Svenserum were:

• Olof Andersson, unknown.
• Per Nilsson, unknown.
• Per Persson, unknown.
• Per Torsson, unknown.
• Sven Nilsson Lustig, born 1685, died 10 January 1739.
• Joel Broberg, born 1692.
• Lars Gerdström, born 1721.
• Petter Jönsson Cavat, died 1759.
• Jonas Svanström, born 30 July 1754, died 1811.
• Nils Andersson Nelli, born 1786.
• Carl Berggren, born 1787.
• Anders Blücker, born 1793, died 4 March 1850.
• Lars Petter Larsson Sund, born 23 January 1821.
• Anders Petter Johansson Spjut, born 29 April 1835, died 23 March 1919.
• Gustaf Albin Finn, born 21 February 1866.

Sources

1. ↑ Military record 1757 (age 23 1/2) .
2. ↑ Marriage record.
3. ↑ Behrendtz 2007.

• Personal communications, Barbro Behrendtz to Justin Swanström (2005-2010).
• "Family Tree," database, FamilySearch (http://familysearch.org : modified 01 August 2017, 15:51), entry for Petter Jönsson Cavat(PID https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/4:1:L8QB-MKT); contributed by various users.

For more on the Pomeranian war, see Project SYW at Kronoskaf.com, visited 17 Sept. 2009.