Christian Thomsen Carl (1676 29 March 1713) was a Royal Dano-Norwegian Navy officer. He is known not only for his military career, but also for saving the town council's archives in Greifswald as well as the whole town of Anklam from being burned during the Great Northern War.
Biography
Family Christian Thomsen Carl was born in 1676 in Assens on the Danish isle of Funen as the son of Helvig Jensdatter (†1717) and Thomas Iversen,Lützow (1788) as cited by Topsøe-Jensen & Marquard (1935), p. 232; Lützow (1788) as cited by With-Seidelin (1888), pp. 374-375. also spelled Iffversen.Sander (1914), pp. 27-28. Carl's father was a wagoner and owned a ferry, then a typical reward for former naval officers; on 5 October 1665 he had received the privilege to maintain a ferry from Frederick III of Denmark.Sander (1914), p. 28. Iffversen on 28 November 1667 received another privilege granting him the right to maintain an inn in Assens, where he became a member of the town's council on 25 November 1673 and a mayorSander (1914), p. 28; Lützow in Topsøe-Jensen & Marquard (1935), p. 232. from 13 December 1682 to 1694. According to Johan Henrik Lützow,(da.wiki) Carl's father died in 1698, while Max Sander says he died between 1699 and 1702.
According to Lützow, Christian Thomsen Carl married twice, both times in Copenhagen's naval Church of Holmen, and both times into the Klaumann family: on 1 June 1702, he married Dorothea Klaumann (*~1675 in Copenhagen, †1704), daughter of Peter Klaumann (*~1635, †1710) and Eleonora Theresa Dulieu (†1679); and on 19 February 1706 he married Mechtilde Magdalene Klaumann (*in or before 1682, †1711), daughter of Nicolaj Klaumann (*~1646, †1707) and Apolonia Jensdatter Snistorph (†1733).
Sander however, with reference to the rigsarkivet, reports similar names but in a different setting. According to Sander, Carl married Megtilde Magdalene Klaumann on 1 June 1702, and with her he had at least the following children: Peter Klaumann Carl (*~1703/5, †17 September 1770), captain commander, Thoma Hedewig (*1706) Apelone Sophie (Maria) (*1707, †1709) Nikolai Klaumann (*1709, †1709) Megtele Dorothea (*1711, †13 May 1711) Sander says that after Christian Thomsen Carl's death, one of his sisters and his son Peter Klaumann Carl were still alive; the sister had married Assens' mayor Lauge Hansen. Based on Hansen's correspondence, Sander says that the abovementioned privilege to maintain a ferry - which Christian Thomsen Carl had inherited from his father - was desired by Hausen, because of his marriage, as well as Peter Klaumann Carl; the former received the privilege in turn for an annual payment of 120 rigsdaler to the latter.
In the Personalhistorisk Tidsskrift(da.wiki) of 1920, there are entries for two marriages, in 1702 and 1706, by Carl and the respective Klaumann family members similar to Lützow's report.Personalhistorisk Tidsskrift 7.VI (1920), pp. 24, 27.
Career After apprenticeship in Denmark, Christian Thomsen Carl on 17 January (Sander) or 28 February 1696 (Lützow) was allowed to serve in a foreign army, and began his military career in the navy of the Dutch Republic.Sander (1914), p. 27. He was promoted 2nd lieutenant on 31 December 1697.Lützow in Topsøe-Jensen & Marquard (1935), p. 232; Sander (1914), p. 27; Garde (1835), p. 634. On 26 February 1698, he got permission to enter Russian service for three years,Lützow in Topsøe-Jensen & Marquard (1935), p. 232; Sander (1914), p. 28. and was promoted 1st lieutenant on 30 January 1700.Lützow in Topsøe-Jensen & Marquard (1935), p. 232; Sander (1914), p. 28; Garde (1835), p. 634. By then, a coalition of Denmark-Norway, Russia and Saxony had just started the Great Northern War against Sweden; Denmark dropped out in August 1700 and re-entered in June 1709.
Christian Thomsen Carl served on the Danish vessel Dronning Charlotte Amalie and on 26 April 1701 entered the new naval cadet company as a lieutenant. In 1704, he served on the vessel Prins Carl, and was promoted captain lieutenant on 31 January 1705.Lützow in Topsøe-Jensen & Marquard (1935), p. 232; Sander (1914), p. 28; Garde (1835), p. 635. After serving on the yacht Kronen and the vessel Swærdfisken, he asked for graduation from the naval cadet company on 16 April 1708 and left the company on 30 July. According to Lützow, he was promoted to the rank of a captain on 14 April 1708; according to Sander and Hans Georg Garde(da.wiki), he was characterized captain on 24 April 1708 and actually became captain on 16 April 1709.Sander (1914), p. 28; Garde (1835), p. 635.
In 1709, Christian Thomsen Carl was sent to the Kattegat to monitor British naval maneuvers. In September 1709, he became the commander of the vessel Wenden, a flagship in the fleet of Ulrik Christian Gyldenløve, and in 1710 commanded the vessel Delmenhorst. He took part in the battle of Køge bay on 4 October 1710, and in 1711 commanded the Prins Carl. In 1712 and 1713, he commanded the vessel Ditmarsken and was put in charge of vice-admiral Christen Thomesen Sehested's Pomeranian fleet during his absence. Carl took part in the action of 21–23 June 1712 and the action of 31 July 1712. In early 1713, he had established his headquarters in the sconce of Swedish Pomeranian Wieck near Greifswald, occupied by the allies of the anti-Swedish coalition. According to Sander and Garde, his rank was that of a captain commander on 6 June 1710, and that of a commander on 17 December 1712.
Achievements and death in Pomerania
When Christian Thomsen Carl was in Wieck, nearby Greifswald was a front town commanded by the marquis de Saisan (actually Monsieur de Villenouvette, Comte de SaissanRousseau (1769), p. 418), a Frenchman in Saxon service.Hahn (1860), p. 80. The Saxons had occupied Greifswald on 31 August 1711, and were joined by Russian forces in January 1712; tsar Peter the Great visited the town in August.Hahn (1860), p. 79. Most of Swedish Pomerania was in the hand of the allies, who besieged the remaining Swedes at Stralsund.
Greifswald town fire
On 1 March at about 10:00 pm, a fire broke out in Greifswald's stables, which were used by the Saxon horse.Gesterding (1827), pp. 319 ff.; Hahn (1860), p. 81. The marquis de Saisan alleged a conspiracy of Greifswald's burghers against the occupation forces. He ordered the Greifswalders near the stables to be dislodged, and had the streets leading to the site fenced off by his troops. The situation was precarious as the town's arsenal near the fire site, holding large amounts of gunpowder, threatened to destroy much of the town when it blew up. When the fire had already encroached on the roofs of several houses, including the town hall, the marquis discarded the conspiracy theory and allowed the Greifswalders to extinguish the fire. They were however unable to do so effectively, as their fire fighting devices had been damaged by the occupation forces.Hahn (1860), pp. 81-82.
Christian Thomsen Carl decided to help, bringing with him his crewmen and fire fighting devices.Biederstedt (1962), p. 172; Wächter (2000), p. 88; Gesterding (1827), p. 322; Hahn (1860), p. 82. Carl ordered his crew to approach Greifswald at a run from their quarters in Wieck, located about east of the town. While much of the town hall and 36 houses burned down,Gesterding (1827), pp. 321-322. the fire was extinguished before it reached the basements containing the council's archive.Carl(son)'s crucial role in saving the archive emphasized by Meier (2007), p. 60 and Biederstedt (1962), p. 172; thorough record of the events in Gesterding (1827), pp. 319 ff. and Hahn (1860), p. 82. The documents had been retrieved from the burning house by Carl's crewmen during the operations. Afterwards, the town awarded the crewmen an "Ohm" of brandy, containing about .
Rescue of Anklam
Other Swedish Pomeranian towns were ordered by tsar Peter the Great to be systematically burned down.Christoph Helwig the Younger (1713/1714) as edited and annotated by Thümmel (2002), p. 215. This order was issued on 16 March to retaliate for the burning of Danish Altona by Swedish forces under Magnus Stenbock in January. Subsequently, Gartz and Wolgast were burned down, and Anklam was to be the next town to burn. The order was to be carried out by baron von Staff, a German in Russian service, who had already burned down Wolgast on 27 March. Also on 27 March, while encamped at Friedrichsstadt in Holstein,Stolle (1772), p. 745. Menshikov on his own authority revoked the tsar's order, in turn for a contribution of 1,000 reichstalers per town spared. Menshikov's decision had been preceded by the intercedings of the marquis de Saisan and king Frederik IV of Denmark.Stolle (1772), pp. 744-745. However, since the courier from Friedrichstadt would only arrive in Greifswald on 3 April, Anklam was nevertheless scheduled for destruction, and the burning of Demmin was also announced.Stolle (1772), pp. 745-746.
Staff prepared to leave for Anklam to carry out the tsar's conflagration order, but first fought a duel with Christian Thomsen Carl on 29 March on the market square in Greifswald.29 March 1713 is recorded by Lützow in Topsøe-Jensen & Marquard (1935), p. 233, and also by Christoph Helwig the Younger (1713/1714) as edited and annotated by Thümmel (2002), pp. 214 (Latin), 215 (German translation); Sprengel (1754) as cited by Stavenhagen (1773), p. 294, reports the Thursday before Judica 1713, which is 30 March N.S. (calendar) , but in contradiction to the rest of the text printed as 30 April (corrected to 30 March in the 1899 edition published by Süssermann, p. 241). In the course of the duel, Staff stabbed Carl to death, perforating the right ventricle of his heart.
In most German secondary literature, it is maintained that the duel took place because Carl called Staff a "murderous incendiary" ("Mordbrenner");e.g. Sprengel (1754) as cited by Stavenhagen (1773), p. 295; Stolle (1772), p. 745; Heller (1829), p. 232; Hahn (1860), p. 80; Kosegarten (1857), p. 274; Bemowski (1989), p. 56; Thümmel (2002), p. 215 (footnote); Thümmel (2011), p. 124. while Sander (1914) says that the primary sources retrieved by him, mostly from Denmark, do not reveal the reason for the duel - he nevertheless assumes that Carl already knew about his king's efforts in rescinding the tsar's order and that his argument with Staff was about that issue.Sander (1914), p. 29. On 24 March, Christen Thomesen Sehested actually ordered Carl to intervene - because of king Frederick IV's discontent - against the devastation of Swedish Pomerania by the Russians, but without alienating them; yet, this order arrived in Greifswald only on 30 March and was answered by the Danish captain Michael Gude, who informed Sehested about the duel and Carl's death.Letters printed and annotated in Danske Magazin III.3 (1851), pp. 30-32; Gude's letter translated and dated by Sander (1914), p. 30; Sehested's letter referenced by Garde (1852), p. 38: "De Allierede og især Russerne huserede slemt i Pommern under Opholdet der, og Ordrer fra Sehestedt til Carlsen og Rosenpalm om at søge at forhindre dette, dog uden at støde Russerne, vidne om Kong Frederiks Mishag dermed," and Sehested (1904), p. 91: "De Forbundne, især Russerne, huserede slemt i Pommern den Vinter, plyndrede og brændte den ene By efter den anden. Sehested skrev fra Hamborg den 24de Marts til Carl, at han skulde protestere paa Kong Frederiks Vegne mod denne Fremfærd.'" Lützow, who reports an "exchange of words" as the reason for the duel and also notes that Staff was the one who called Carl out, further says that the duel happened directly before Carl would have left for Denmark.Lützow (1788) as cited by With-Seidelin (1889), p. 375: "Umiddelbart forinden Hjemrejsen kom han i Ordvexling med en russisk General de Staff, der udfordrede ham [...]."