The Swedish plan was sound on paper. With Finland already lost to Russia, Sweden sought to improve its negotiating position by liberating Vasterbotten, which Russian forces had occupied since June. Admiral Johan af Puke commanded the naval expedition that landed Swedish troops at Ratan, a village north of Umea, on 17 August. The idea was a classic pincer: Wachtmeister's landing force would march south toward Umea while Fabian Wrede advanced from the south, crushing Kamensky's Russians between them. But Wachtmeister moved with excruciating caution. He failed to reach Umea before Kamensky recognized the danger, passed through the city, and marched straight north to meet the Swedish force head-on. The trap had been designed to catch a stationary enemy. Kamensky refused to be stationary.

On the morning of 19 August, Kamensky's 3,850 Russians attacked Wachtmeister's roughly 2,300 to 2,800 Swedes at Savar. The fighting centered on the heights of Krutbranet, a tactically vital position that dominated the surrounding terrain. Rather than immediately pulling his troops behind the Savar river -- where his artillery could have controlled the field -- Wachtmeister chose to contest the heights against a numerically superior enemy. He had only two guns in position against eight Russian pieces. The decision to fight for Krutbranet rather than defend the river line cost Swedish lives without gaining Swedish ground. Meanwhile, Kamensky sent a diversionary force south toward Ytterboda to threaten the Swedish flank, stretching Wachtmeister's attention across multiple axes of attack.

Around midday, Wachtmeister finally withdrew his troops from Krutbranet across the river to Savar. He now held the advantageous ground he should have defended from the start, with his artillery finally able to dominate the field. He also had five battalions still uncommitted in reserve. But Kamensky was not finished. Russian troops crossed the river, with half attacking toward Ytterboda -- where the Swedes had been fighting successfully -- and the other half assaulting Savar directly. Cut off from his forces at Ytterboda and facing intensifying pressure at the river crossing, Wachtmeister made the decision that would define his reputation: he ordered a full retreat. His army did not feel beaten. His officers protested. He still had reserves. But Wachtmeister, perhaps influenced by the king's earlier instruction not to waste Sweden's last strategic reserve, chose survival over victory.

The casualties at Savar were heavy on both sides. Swedish losses reached approximately 844 men -- 482 killed or captured and 362 wounded. Russian casualties were even higher, with Kamensky reporting roughly 1,350 killed, wounded, or captured at Savar alone. The following day, the two armies clashed again at Ratan, where the Swedes achieved a partial success that prevented their expedition from becoming a complete disaster. Kamensky's army, running desperately short of supplies and unable to receive them by sea due to Swedish naval superiority, was in serious trouble despite its tactical victory. The twin battles achieved Sweden's underlying strategic goal. When negotiators met at Fredrikshamn, the border was drawn not at the Kalix River -- as Tsar Alexander I had demanded -- but roughly along the line that separates Sweden and Finland today. Savar was the last pitched battle on Swedish soil, the final act of a war that turned Finland from a Swedish province into a Russian Grand Duchy. The village is quiet now. The heights of Krutbranet are just a wooded hill. But the peace those soldiers fought for -- imperfect, painful, negotiated in exhaustion -- has endured for more than two centuries.