Battle of Maciejowice

Battle of Maciejowice
Part of the Kościuszko Uprising
Kościuszko's capture in battle, by Jan Bogumił Plersch
Date 10 October 1794 Location Maciejowice Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Poland-Lithuania	Russian Empire
Commanders and leaders
Tadeusz Kościuszko  (POW)	Ivan Fersen Fyodor Denisov  [ ru ]
Strength
7,000 [1] : 194	14,000 [1] : 194
Casualties and losses
4,000 killed, wounded and captured [1] : 208	2,000 [2] – 2,500 [3]

A memorial of the battle near Podzamcze

The Battle of Maciejowice was fought on 10 October 1794, between the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and the Russian Empire during the Polish Uprising of 1794.

The Poles were led by Tadeusz Kościuszko. Kościuszko with 6,200 men, who planned to prevent the linking of three larger Russian corps, commanded by generals Fyodor Denisov, Ivan Fersen and Alexander Suvorov. He also had requested the support of Adam Poniński (who had 4,000 soldiers), but Poniński failed to arrive on the battlefield in time. ^{[1] : 205}

Battle

Kościuszko had spent the night in an abandoned manor house of the Zamoyskis with his army in the field in front flanked by woods, and a river behind the house. ^{[1] : 206} Denisov and then Fersen attacked the next morning, and the Poles burned the village on their left flank to prevent it being used as cover. ^{[1] : 207} Initially, the Russian advance was slowed by the mud, but after three hours the Poles ran out of ammunition for their cannons. ^{[1] : 207} The Russian infantry then made a bayonet charge and slaughtered the Poles for the next three hours. ^{[1] : 208}

After three horses were shot from under him, Kościuszko finally tried leaving the battlefield, but his horse tripped. ^{[1] : 208} A Cossack stabbed him with a pike from behind, followed by a second Cossack who stabbed him in the left hip. ^{[1] : 208} Attempting to take his own life, Kościuszko found his pistol empty, and then passed out in the mud, but was not identified as the Polish commanding general. ^{[1] : 208} He was stripped by two unknown horsemen, but then saved and carried away from the battlefield by Denisov's Cossacks and later taken prisoner. ^{[1] : 208}

Aftermath

Kościuszko was taken to St. Petersburg by General Alexei Khrushchev and two thousand Russian soldiers. ^{[1] : 210} The news of the fall of Warsaw reached him on 17 November. ^{[1] : 211}

The Battle of Maciejowice is commemorated on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw, with the inscription "MACIEJOWICE 10 X 1794”.

References

1. Storozynski, A., 2009, The Peasant Prince, New York: St. Martin's Press, ISBN   9780312388027
2. Leśniewski, Sławomir (2024-02-06). "Ostatnia bitwa Tadeusza Kościuszki. Dlaczego poniósł tak dotkliwą klęskę?". WielkaHistoria (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-04-16.
3. "Bitwa pod Maciejowicami" (in Polish). Retrieved 2025-04-16.

External links

• 10.10.1794. Battle of Maciejowice, Fersen's Corps OOB
• Соловьев С.М. История падения Польши». — Москва, 1863.
• Рапорт А. В. Суворова П. А. Румянцеву, 3 октября 1794 г., № 433 (РГВИА. ф. ВУА, д. № 2731. ч. I. л. 188).
• Донесение Ф.П. Денисова А. В. Суворову, 30 сентября 1794 г. (РГВИА, ф. ВУА. д. № 2731, ч. I. лл. 180 — 182).
• Рапорт генерал-поручика И. Е. Ферзена А. В. Суворову, 12 октября 1794 г. о сражении при Мацеевицах.

51°42′22″N21°36′17″E / 51.70624°N 21.60479°E / 51.70624; 21.60479