Maciej Rybiński (General)

Maciej Rybiński (German Mathias Rybinski ) (born February 24, 1784 in Slavuta , † January 17, 1874 in Paris ) was a Polish general. He was the last commander in chief during the November uprising of 1830/31.

Maciej Rybiński

Life

He attended the academy in Lviv . In 1806 he joined the French army. He served there temporarily on the staff of General Louis Gabriel Suchet . He did not follow the general to his mission in Spain, but stayed in Poland. There he joined the army of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw . As a company commander, he attacked the town of Radzymin , which was defended by two Austrian battalions, in 1809 and captured it. He was wounded in the face. In the following years he also distinguished himself through bravery and was awarded the Virtuti Militari order by Józef Antoni Poniatowski . In 1812 he took part in Napoleon's Russian campaign. During the Battle of Smolensk , Emperor Rybiński awarded the Legion of Honor the Cross . As a result, he has since been promoted to Colonel , won various battles. After returning to Poland, he went to Krakow, where he set up a new regiment. This joined the Polish army, which was now part of the Kingdom of Saxony . Rybiński also won several battles in the campaign that followed. After the Battle of the Nations near Leipzig , in which the Polish troops covered the retreat of the French troops, Rybiński was taken prisoner. He negotiated with Alexander I for an honorable handover, which he was also assured. Rybiński himself was interned in Hungary.

After the establishment of Congress Poland, he returned to Poland and joined the army of the kingdom. He also devoted himself to scientific studies. He stayed away from political endeavors, but was monitored by the Russian government because of his well-known Polish patriotism.

After the beginning of the November uprising, he marched with the 1st Infantry Regiment that he commanded to Warsaw and submitted to the Polish national government. In the battle of Wawer on 19./20. In February 1831 he was able to capture 400 Russian soldiers and numerous officers, and he sent the captured flags to the Commander-in-Chief. In the Battle of Grochów (February 26), in which he commanded the 4th Infantry Regiment, he repulsed several Russian attacks.

On May 26, the Poles suffered a defeat in the Battle of Ostrołęka , in which he also took part with his division. Finally he took part in the withdrawal of the Polish troops to Warsaw and the march to the Modlin Fortress . After the Battle of Warsaw (1831) by the Russians, he was promoted to the rank of division general on September 8th. On September 10, 1831, he reluctantly took over the post of Commander-in-Chief when the Sejm met in Płock . After the commander-in-chief Kazimierz Małachowski resigned from command, Rybiński only accepted after a long hesitation. He soon found that the army lacked weapons, food and other goods. After a first armistice there was further fighting, before the general concluded another armistice to rally the Polish troops. As a result, there was resistance against him and he was declared deposed by the government. The army did not recognize this and re-elected him as commander in chief. As a result, more and more signs of disintegration spread throughout the army.

General Rybiński realized that the uprising was lost and decided to lead the army across the border into Prussia . In addition to corresponding daily orders, he published a manifesto to Europe and wrote to the Prussian king asking for protection for the defeated army. On October 5, 1831, the army crossed the Prussian border. The general went into exile in France. There he was the leader of an exile organization. After the beginning of the February Revolution of 1848, he campaigned for the establishment of a Polish legion under French command.

literature

• Jerzy Jan Lerski: Historical dictionary of Poland, 966-1945. Westport, 1996.
• Joseph Straszewicz: The Poles and the Polish women of the revolution of November 30, 1830. Stuttgart 1832–1837, pp. 261–284.