Battle of Ostrołęka (1831)

Battle of Ostrołęka

Part of: November Uprising

"Battle of Ostrołęka"
painting by Karol Malankiewicz (1838)

date	May 26, 1831
place	Ostrołęka
output	Polish defeat

Parties to the conflict
Russia	Poland
Commander
Hans Karl von Diebitsch-Sabalkanski	Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki
Troop strength
35,000 men with: 5000 riders, 72 guns	33,200 men with: 3200 riders, 72 guns
losses
4870 = 13.9%	8270 = 24.9%

The Battle of Ostrołęka (German partly also Ostrolenka ) on May 26, 1831 was one of the main battles during the November uprising between Polish and Russian troops. It was associated with high losses, especially for the Poles, and was one of the turning points in the war. It is to be distinguished from the battle of the same name in 1807.

prehistory

After the Battle of Grochów on February 25, 1831 there was initially no major fighting. Both sides took the opportunity to reorganize their troops. On the Polish side, the previous Commander-in-Chief Michał Gedeon Radziwiłł was replaced by Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki . He sometimes appointed other commanders and enlarged the Polish army. The war did not move again until mid-March. The Russian field marshal Hans Karl von Diebitsch-Sabalkanski marched up the Vistula with the main force of his army to find a suitable place for a river crossing. The Russian units were pulled far apart. The Poles used this opportunity to defeat Russian units under Georg Andreas von Rosen and Caspar von Geismar in some skirmishes . However, the Poles did not succeed in significantly weakening the Russian troops, also because their commander-in-chief shied away from a major battle. He dropped his strategic advisor Ignacy Prądzyński because of his insistence on energetic action. In the south of Poland, the independently operating corps under Józef Dwernicki failed while trying to carry the uprising to Volhynia and Podolia with his troops . He was attacked by Russian troops and eventually had to evade across the border into Austria.

Diebitsch, who saw the guard troops under Grand Duke Michael in danger, marched against them and crossed the Bug on May 21st . Skrzynecki then marched back to Ostrołęka on May 22, but missed the opportunity to use General Gielgud's corps standing in front of Lomscha for their own reinforcement.

course

The battle of Ostrolenka 26 May 1813.

The main Polish army crossed the right bank of the Narew at Ostrołęka on May 25th . Only one division remained on the other bank. The Russian commander-in-chief Diebitsch as well as the guard division of General Bistram followed the Poles and united on May 25 at Ostrołęka.

Diebitsch actually only wanted to force the crossing over the Narew river on May 26th (Julian time May 14th) and only later force the Poles into a battle. Ostrołęka was fortified by the Poles, Ostrołęka is to the left of the Narew at the junction of the Lomza - Warsaw and Myszyniec - Ostrow roads . Two bridges led to the right bank. A road ran along the right bank. There was a swamp behind the road. The path led away from the river, initially over flat terrain on wooded hills.

The battle began at 9 a.m. when the advance guard of the Russian corps von der Pahlen under Count von Berg attacked the Polish division Lubienski , which had remained on the eastern bank . These units were pushed back into the city and the crossings were finally captured by the Russians after heavy fighting. A number of Russian battalions managed to cross the bridges by 11 a.m. and these formed a kind of bridgehead on the other side of the river. This position was protected by the Russian artillery. The Russian artillery also prevented the Poles from destroying the two bridges. From noon to evening the Russians had brought 14,500 infantry across the Narew, one after the other. The whole afternoon there were varied Polish attacks to recapture the bridges, with the divisions under Rybinski and Malachowski being deployed in particular .

Towards evening General Skrzynecki gathered his troops in order to finally drive the Russians back to the other side of the river. The general, who placed himself at the head of his troops, refrained from an orderly attack, covered by guns, and had the bridgehead attacked head-on with an infantry brigade. After this was also repulsed, further Polish attempts followed with high losses. General Henryk Kaminski, commander of the Polish 5th Division, like General Kicki, was fatally hit by Russian artillery fire. The Polish Generals Pac and Boguslawski were wounded, and General Manderstern fell on the Russian side .

In a last large attack by the Poles - supported by the light artillery of Józef Bem - Skrzynecki had the Rybinski division brought forward again and their Muchowski brigade advanced. It was still possible to drive the Russian troops back onto the bridges, but the darkness forced the fighting to stop.

consequences

Poem by Julius Mosen: "The last ten of the fourth regiment"

As a result, both sides were able to maintain their respective banks that day. However, the Poles withdrew the next day. The Polish army was severely weakened and demoralized. Hans Karl von Diebitsch-Sabalkanski did not, however, have this pursued with much energy. Overall, the battle is considered a turning point in the war, which ended with the defeat of the Poles.

The battle later became a symbol of the failed uprising as a whole. The German poet Julius Mosen glorified the bravery of the Polish insurgents in the poem “The Last Ten of the Fourth Regiment”. The poem has been translated into different languages. The contemporaries Johan Sebastian Welhaven and Richard Wagner were also very impressed by the events.

literature

• W. Riistow: The military art of the 19th century. Vol. 2 Zurich 1879, pp. 159–162
• Karl von Rotteck: General History. Vol. 10 Braunschweig 1861, pp. 254 ff.
• Adolf von Horsetzky: War-historical overview of the most important campaigns of the last 100 years. Vienna 1894, pp. 243–244
• Hermann Kunz: "The Polish-Russian War of 1831" Berlin 1890, pp. 108–125
• Alexander Puzyrewsky / Valerian Mikulicz: The Polish-Russian War 1831 . Volume II, Verlag Kreisel and Gröger Vienna 1893, pp. 42–77

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Numbers according to: Otto Berndt: The number in the war. Statistical data from recent war history in graphic representation. Vienna, 1897
2. ↑ Julius Mosen: The last ten of the fourth regiment.