The French fought bravely on 1 April at Lüssow, Lüdershagen and Voigdehagen, but were eventually forced to withdraw; the Swedes captured Greifswald the next day, after a brief confrontation.

[5] The first year of war turned out to be a major disappointment for the Swedes, as only half-hearted attempts were made by the Swedish king to advance his positions, combined with several decisive defeats for his allies.

[6] Further setbacks occurred in late 1806, during the War of the Fourth Coalition, as 1,000 unarmed Swedish soldiers were forced into captivity in the Battle of Lübeck, as they were caught in the process of shipping away towards Stralsund.

[8] After several skirmishes with shifting luck,[9] and as the French numbers quickly dwindled as they were needed at the Siege of Kolberg—while the Swedish force progressively received reinforcements[10]—the Swedes started planning for a breakout by way of a great sortie.

[11] As Mortier quit Stralsund with the bulk of the French army he left a 5,000–6,000 strong division, under Charles Louis Dieudonné Grandjean, to oppose the Swedes.

[12] Essen disregarded the request and instead, on 31 March, prepared his army for a great sortie by splitting it into two columns; the right column, led by Tawast with Essen himself in command, would encircle the left flank of the French forces—it consisted of one battalion each from the Uppland, Jönköping, Dalarna and the Queen's regiments, with six squadrons from the Mörnerian Hussars and four guns, in all 2,500 men; the left column, led by Eberhard von Vegesack with Gustaf Mauritz Armfelt in command, would attack the French center—it consisted of one battalion each from the Skaraborg, Södermanland, Västgöta-Dals, Närke-Värmland and Engelbrecht regiments with one squadron hussars and nine guns, in all 2,300 men.

[14] Next Lüssow was attacked, which was defended by a couple of hundred French soldiers; only after combined Swedish assaults from both front and flanks, with the support of artillery, could they be beaten back towards Lüdershagen.

[19] The right column, led by Tawast with Essen in command, continued their march from Loitz 8:00 in the morning to intercept the French baggage train, protected by 800 men, at Demmin.

[20][21] In the morning Armfelt also broke camp with his two left-columns; Vegesack marched towards Lüssow (Gützkow) and Cardell towards Ziethen and Anklam, where he arrived on the evening, after having crossed the border to Prussia.

[22] After a few hours of insignificant firefight, Cardell, with 50 men from the Västmanland Regiment, crossed the river in a pram and launched a surprising bayonet charge which forced the French away from the bridge.

[4] As predicted by Grandjean, the news of their defeat produced a certain alarm in the rear of the French army; especially in Berlin, where an humbled enemy "sought food for its hopes".

[29] French retaliation did not wait as 13,000 men under Mortier arrived from Kolberg and defeated the Swedish left flank on 16 April,[3] at the Battle of Belling; the 2,000 Swedes under Vegesack commenced a fighting retreat,[30] to Anklam and across the Peene.

[31] The Swedish king denounced the armistice on 3 July, with a 10-day notice; by this time, however, the Treaties of Tilsit had just deprived Sweden of all her allies but the United Kingdom.

Sweden was ultimately forced to surrender on 6 January 1810 and enter the Continental System, after having suffered a Russian invasion from the east, as well as a Danish attack from the west.