Henrik Horn

Cavalry officer from a military family

Henrik Horn (1618–1693) served in the Swedish army from the 1630s. He commanded cavalry in the Thirty Years' War, took charge of a Finnish cavalry regiment in 1645 and became a major general in 1654. He came from a large Horn family with recurring names, a frequent cause of confusion in accounts of the Deluge.¹

Warsaw and Prussia in 1656

During the invasion he led about 3,000 horsemen from Pomerania toward Prussia and then served with Gustav Otto Stenbock. The Swedish biographical dictionary places him at the three-day Battle of Warsaw in July 1656 and at Filipów in October. A Polish museum account names reiters under “Gustav Horn” sent against Tatar troops at Warsaw. The older Field Marshal Gustav Horn was in Sweden from 1655 to 1657, making Henrik the likely identification, although command of that particular detachment should be treated cautiously.¹²³

Later service and culture

He later fought in Denmark and became a field marshal and governor-general of Bremen-Verden. Late in life he was given command of a fleet despite lacking naval experience and lost to Denmark at Køge Bay in 1677. These later events distinguish him from Gustav Horn, who died in 1657. Henrik has no confirmed separate role in Hoffman's film.¹⁴