1788-1808
In the following year, at the invitation of Catherine II of Russia, he formally entered the Russian service. When the Russo-Swedish War of 1788-1790 began, Sprengtporten received the command of a Russian army corps directed against Finland. He took no direct part in the Anjala conspiracy but urged Catherine to support it more energetically. His own negotiations with his fellow countrymen, especially after Gustav III of Sweden had brought the treacherous army officers of the Anjala conspiracy back to their allegiance, failed utterly. Nor was he able to serve Russia very effectively in the field for he was seriously wounded at the battle of Porrassalmi 1789. At the end of the war, indeed, his position was somewhat precarious, as the High Court of Turku condemned him as a traitor, while Catherine regarded him as an incompetent impostor who could not perform his promises. For the next five years, therefore 1793-1798, he thought it expedient to quit Russia and live at Teplice in Bohemia. He was re-employed by the emperor Paul of Russia who, in 1800, sent him to negotiate with Napoleon concerning the Maltese Order and the interchange of prisoners. After Paul’s death Sprengtporten was again in disgrace for seven years, but was consulted in 1808 on the eve of the outbreak of hostilities with France. On December 1, 1808 he was appointed the first Russian Governor-General of Finland with the title of count, but was so unpopular that he had to resign his post the following year.
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