CHAPTER XVI

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Position of the two armies after the battle of Iganie.--Plan of a simultaneous attack upon the Russian forces upon opposite sides.--Instructions to the different corps.--Operations on the enemy's front.--Unfortunate operations of general Sierawski, and the _first defeat_.--Details of those operations.--Operations of general Dwernicki.--He defeats Rudiger; but by a false operation exposes himself to be attacked disadvantageously by two Russian corps.--In the course of the action the Austrian frontier is passed by the combatants.--An Austrian force interposes, and general Dwernicki consents to go into camp.--His arms and prisoners are taken from him, while the enemy is permitted to leave the territory freely.--Reflections on the conduct of Austria.--Consequences of the loss of Dwernicki's corps.--The cholera makes its appearance in the two armies.

The positions of the two armies, [_See Plan_ XXII,] were now as follows:--The Russian army was divided into four principal bodies, having no communication with each other. First, their main body (_a_), consisting of about 60,000 men and 130 pieces of cannon, were between Lukow (1) and Cock (2). Secondly, the remains of the corps of Rosen and Giesmar (_b_) were at Siedlce (3). They could be counted at about 20,000 men and perhaps 50 pieces of cannon. Thirdly, at Ostrolenka (4) was the Imperial guard (_c_), consisting of 18,000 men and 36 cannon. Fourthly, in the palatinate of Lublin, were the combined corps of Witt and Kreutz (_d_), consisting of 30,000 men and 60 pieces of cannon. Their different scattered detachments might be counted at 10,000 men. This separation of their different corps invited a sudden attack on either, before it could receive succor from the others.

[Illustration:

_XXII. p. 234_]

[Illustration:

_XXIII. p. 243._]

Our main body (_e_), composed of four divisions of infantry, and three of cavalry, making in all about 30,000 men and 80 pieces of cannon, was placed between Iganie (5) and Siennica (6). Our reconnoissances were pushed along the left bank of the river Liwiec (L), as far as its junction with the river Bug (B). On the right, those reconnoissances reached Zelechow (7). This was nearly the same as our first position, and it was strong. Besides this main force, was the division of cavalry of general Uminski (_f_) upon the right bank of the Narew, at Nasielsk (8), amounting to 3,200 horse and 24 pieces of artillery, placed there to observe the Russian guard. In the environs of Pulawy (9) was a small partizan corps, under the command of general Sierawski (_g_), with 3,000 men and four pieces of cannon. The corps of general Dwernicki (_h_) was in the environs of Zamosc, (10) and consisted of 4500 men, and 30 pieces of cannon. This corps, though at a distance from the rest of our forces, could not be cut off, having the fortress of Zamosc as a _point d'appui_. If the reader will examine a map of the country, or even the small plan in the preceding pages [_No._ VI, _or_ XXII,] he will be satisfied that by our forces, small as they were, the Russian army was already surrounded, and that on the least advantage which Dwernicki, in conjunction with Sierawski, might gain over Witt and Kreutz, that army could have been taken in the rear, by means of a diversion upon Kock (2) and Radzyn (11). In a word, the moment approached at which our commander had determined to give the enemy a last decisive blow, by attacking him at the same time on every side; and for this object, the following instructions and orders were given.

First. The generalissimo renewed the order for strengthening the fortifications of Warsaw and Praga, as well as those on the whole plain of Grochow. From the first day of April, as many as 5000 Russian prisoners were continually employed upon those fortifications. Warsaw, which was already, as the reader is informed, defended by a girdle of lunettes and redoubts, communicating with each other, received the additional defence in some places of block-houses. To strengthen the fortifications of Praga, besides the bridge-head, there were constructed, within the distance of an English mile, a line of circumvallation, which could hold more than twelve thousand men. Still farther, at a distance of two miles beyond, or nearly upon the field of Grochow, was constructed a third line of lunettes and redoubts, which occupied the whole distance from Kawenczyn to the marshes of Goclaw, or the entire field of battle of Grochow, as seen in the plan of that battle. In fine, the approach to Praga was so defended, that the enemy, before reaching it, would have to pass three different lines of fortification. The general in chief gave instructions to the governor of Warsaw in regard to the defence of the city, in which he placed his chief trust upon the national guard. The guard counted it an honor to be entrusted with this duty, and were unwilling that a single soldier of the regular army should be detailed for the service. How admirably they executed their noble resolutions, when the occasion came, is probably well known to every reader.

After his plans for the defence of Warsaw were communicated to the authorities of the city, he gave particular attention to those points on which he intended to support all his operations, and, relying on which, he could at any time hazard the boldest attempts. Having thus made Warsaw an axis, upon which all his operations could revolve, he proceeded to arrange his attack. In the first place he sent orders to general Dwernicki (_h_) to attack immediately the combined corps of generals Witt and Kreutz (_d_). In this attack the small corps of general Sierawski (_g_) was to aid, and the two corps were to preserve a constant communication with each other. For that object general Sierawski was to pass the Vistula at Kazimierz (12), and, avoiding an engagement with the enemy, to endeavor to join, as soon as possible, the corps of general Dwernicki, who received orders to leave Zamosc and approach Lublin (13). These two corps were to take such a position, that they could at any time retire upon Zamosc or Kazimierz. General Dwernicki was also informed that a third small corps would be sent in the direction of Zelechow (7) and Kock (2), to act in concert with him on the enemy's rear. If they should succeed in the attack, general Dwernicki was to endeavor to force the enemy to take the direction of Pulawy (9), to drive him into the angle formed by the Vistula (V) and the Wieprz (P); in fine, so to act as to cut off those two corps from all communication whatever with their main body. Leaving the corps of general Sierawski to continue to observe them, and to push his advantages over them, Dwernicki himself was to pass the Wieprz at Kock, and from thence by forced marches to leave in the direction of Radzyn (11) for Lukow (1) or Seroczyn (14), as circumstances might direct, and according as he should ascertain the position of the enemy to be. Arrived at Lukow or Seroczyn, as the case might be, he was to await there the orders of the general in chief, to join in the attack upon the main force of the enemy under Diebitsch (_e_), in which attack he was to act on the enemy's left wing. The main body of the enemy, thus taken in front and in flank, simultaneously, could not but have been broken up. For all these operations the general in chief had destined fourteen days only.

On the night of the battle of Iganie, the general in chief having decided upon the above plan, sent officers in every direction with orders and instructions. The officers sent to the corps of general Dwernicki were enjoined to communicate their orders to him with the utmost haste.

The generalissimo, while making his preparations for this last blow, continued an unremitting observation upon all the movements of the enemy, even to the minutest details, and in order that the enemy might be constantly occupied, and diverted from suspecting our plans, he directed small attacks to be continually made upon his front. For this object the second division, posted at Siennica, received orders to advance to the small town of Jeruzalem. The division, in executing that order, fought the enemy for three successive days, the 12th, 13th and 14th of April, at Jedlina, Wodynie, and Plomieniece, and always with advantage. In one of those attacks, at Jedlina, a small detachment of sixteen Krakus attacked a squadron of Russian hussars, coming from Wodynie, dispersed them, and took some twenty prisoners. This division received also the order to communicate constantly with the corps of general Pac at Zelechow. This last general was to send continual reconnoissances towards Kock, to keep a constant observation upon the Russian corps of Kreutz and Witt. Of the movements of those two corps, the generalissimo was each day to receive the most accurate information, in order to be ready prepared to prevent, at any moment, a junction which might be attempted between those corps and their main body.

General Skrzynecki, seeing that the enemy had fallen into his plan, (of which, indeed, he could not have had the least suspicion,) and full of the brightest hopes, waited impatiently in his strong position, for intelligence from general Dwernicki, and the approach of the moment for his attack upon Diebitsch. Almost sure of the successful execution of his admirable arrangements, what can express his disappointment on hearing of the unfortunate operations of the corps of general Sierawski, and of the defeat of that corps at Kazimierz in the palatinate of Lublin, _the first defeat in the whole war_. That general, in neglecting the instructions of the commander in chief, not to engage with the enemy, on account of the inferiority of his own forces, (with which forces in fact he could not expect to act but in

## partizan warfare,) approached Lublin, where the two corps of Kreutz and

Witt were supposed to be posted, while his orders were, by avoiding those corps, and taking the most circuitous roads, to endeavor to join as secretly and as soon as possible, the corps of Dwernicki. He was probably deceived by false information as to the direction of the enemy's corps, and led to believe that those two corps had quitted Lublin, to attack general Dwernicki at Zamosc. He therefore probably took the direction of Lublin, with the idea of acting upon the rear of the enemy at the moment of his attack upon Dwernicki. In this manner general Sierawski, quitting Kazimierz, arrived on the 16th of April at Belzyca. To his great astonishment he found there a strong advanced guard of the above mentioned corps. To avoid compromitting himself, he engaged with this advanced guard, when, observing the very superior force and the advantageous position of the enemy, he ordered a retreat, which retreat was well executed and without much loss. This general should have continued his march the whole night, with as little delay as possible, in order to repass quietly the Vistula, and thus be protected from all molestation by the enemy. But, for what cause it is almost impossible to conjecture, he awaited the enemy in order of battle the next day, at Serauow. Perhaps, finding himself in rather a strong position, he thought that the corps of general Dwernicki might arrive to his aid. The enemy approached the next day with his whole force against Sierawski, and as warm an action commenced as the nature of the ground would admit, it being covered by woods with patches of open ground intervening. Some squadrons of young Kaliszian cavalry, led by the general himself, advanced to the attack of the enemy's artillery, which being disadvantageously posted, was exposed to be captured. That cavalry, however, by a false direction of their charge, fell among the concealed masses of the enemy's infantry, and their attack failed.

This unsuccessful attack had unfortunate results. The corps of general Sierawski was obliged to evacuate its position, and along its whole retrograde march continual attacks of the enemy were pressed upon it. The peculiar nature of the ground, and the extreme brevity of general Sierawski, a veteran of between sixty and seventy, who, at the head of the detachments of his rear guard always led the charges against the enemy, and held him in check, was all that saved the corps from destruction. At length the corps reached Kazimierz, the point which it had left; and here again, instead of passing the Vistula, Sierawski awaited another attack from the overwhelming force of the enemy, and that too with only the half of his corps, for the other half was sent to pass the Vistula. This course was inexplicable, and excited much remark in the army. On the 18th, the Russians reached Kazimierz. The town was vigorously attacked by them, and their assaults were repeatedly repulsed by the new Kazimierz infantry, under colonel Malachowski, who, with a scythe in his hand, marched at their head. But the death of that brave patriot spread among the ranks of those new soldiers a degree of disorder, and the city was taken by the enemy. We must again thank general Sierawski for having saved the rest of the corps from ruin; having executed the evacuation of the town with such order that he passed the Vistula at the point of Borowa, not far from Kazimierz, without being molested in the attempt. He then took a position on the left bank.

Although the unfortunate affairs of those two days were not attended by severe losses, yet they were deeply afflictive to the general in chief. They threatened the entire disarrangement of his plans, and were followed by the more important disasters of general Dwernicki. The latter general, who, as is known to the reader, commenced his career so gloriously; whose very name, indeed, was a terror to the Russians, and who, by his successive victories over the three corps of Kreutz, Wirtemberg, and Rudiger, had established the strongest claims upon the gratitude of his country,--this general, I must repeat it with pain, finished his great career in the most unfortunate manner. His case should serve as a strong example, that it is not bravery alone which is required in a great general, for in that it would be difficult to find his equal, but that this bravery loses its value when not united with circumspection.

The following are the details of the operations of general Dwernicki. [_See Plan No._ XXIII.] We cannot well imagine the cause which induced that general to quit Zamosc (1), and the important operations in the palatinate of Lublin, and, neglecting all his instructions and orders, to have crossed the Bug (B) and entered the province of Volhynia, unless it were the reception of some certain news of a fresh insurrection in that province, and of the collection of insurgent forces there, who might be waiting for his approach, and who needed his protection. He might, perhaps, have thought to be able so to accelerate his movement as to avail himself of such new strength before a superior Russian force should arrive in that province to crush such insurrection, and disperse the insurgents. At the moment when Dwernicki might have conceived such a plan, there was, in fact, only a corps of about 12,000 men and some 20 pieces of cannon, under Rudiger, in the province. This corps, Dwernicki perhaps intended to attack, in his way, and crush them, and then attaching the insurgents to his corps, to return to the palatinate, or if circumstances might make it expedient, to follow up his blow into the heart of Volhynia. In fine, on the 15th of April, this general quitted the environs of Zamosc, taking the direction of Uscilog (2), where, on the evening of the 16th, he passed the river Bug. On the 17th he continued his march in the direction of Dubno (3), where the insurgents were perhaps supposed to be awaiting him. On the road to that town he received information that the corps of Rudiger had marched from Radziwilow (4) and was now in the direction of Milatyn (5). General Dwernicki turned immediately from the direction in which he was marching, to throw himself upon this corps, which he found on its march, at the village of Boromel (6), where, without giving the enemy time to take position, he attacked and overthrew him. The enemy was routed, and lost several hundred in killed and prisoners, with eight pieces of cannon. That in this fine, and the last fine battle of Dwernicki, the Russian corps was not wholly destroyed, was owing to the circumstance that a branch of the river Styr (S), over which the bridge had been destroyed, stopped our pursuit. The Russians, during the night of the 18th, evacuated their position, and took the road to Beresteczko (7), where they took a new position. In regard to tactics, the corps of general Rudiger could not have chosen a worse direction than that of the angle formed by the river Styr, and the frontier of Austria (F). General Dwernicki, by a passage to the right bank of the Styr, could have cut off all the enemy's communications with his other corps, and could have again fought him at the greatest advantage. It was here then that our brave Dwernicki committed his great fault, and in place of acting upon the right bank of the river, where he would have had an open field for the most enlarged operations, he chose to follow up the attack; and as he saw that the enemy could not be safely assailed in front, on account of his strong position between two small lakes, but found that this position was open towards the frontier of Austria,--there it was that the unhappy idea occurred to him, of marching to the environs of Kolodno (8), on the frontier of Austria, and attacking the enemy on that side, feeling sure of victory. But general Rudiger did not wait for this attack. Perceiving his exposed position between the river and the frontier, he was satisfied with being permitted to escape, and declined battle. Upon observing that general Dwernicki was manoeuvring upon the frontiers of Austria, general Rudiger repassed the Styr, avoided the attack by this manoeuvre, and was in a situation to join himself with all the Russian detachments which might come into the province from the heart of Russia, by the different directions of Krzemieniece, Ostrog, &c, and to act with them in surrounding Dwernicki, who was confined in this above described angle. This is what in fact took place.

Dwernicki remained, for what reason we cannot conceive, at Kolodno until the 23d of April, whence, following along the frontiers of Austria, he took the direction of Wereszczaki (9). There dispersing a Russian detachment, he arrived on the 26th at Knielce and Wielkie (10). Knowing that the Russians were observing him, he determined to remain there and take advantage of a strong natural position. He wished in this position to await the enemy and give him battle, hoping by a victory to free himself from the contracted space in which he was confined. In fact, on the next day, the corps of general Rudiger (_b_) made its appearance, having come in the direction of Krzemienic (11). The battle commenced, and in the midst of the action another Russian corps (_c_) was seen approaching in the direction of Proskirow (12) and Stary-Konstantynow (13) under the command of general Rott, acting thus upon the right wing and even the rear of general Dwernicki's corps. To avoid being turned, general Dwernicki retired in such a manner as to lean his right wing upon the Austrian frontier. The Russians, not regarding this, passed that frontier, and proceeded to push their attack upon his flank. This obliged general Dwernicki to withdraw his left wing, and indeed his whole front, upon the Austrian territory, where, in fact, the line was not distinctly marked, all the while being engaged with the enemy. The action having continued thus for some hours, a detachment of Austrian cavalry, under colonel Fac, approached and threw themselves between the combatants, calling on them to respect the neutrality of the territory. In this manner the combat ceased. General Dwernicki gave his parole to discontinue hostilities, and consented to advance farther into the interior, and, placing himself in camp, waited the result of the decision of the Austrian government upon what had occurred. The Russian corps, which had just passed the frontier, and which had in fact entered it with its whole force, was permitted to leave freely. The first duty which general Dwernicki thought imposed upon him in his present situation, was to make a full and true report of what had occurred to the National Government and the general in chief, which he was permitted to do. He also sent a letter to the commander in chief of the Austrian forces in Gallicia, explaining how it was that, in a necessary manoeuvre he had passed over a point of land on the Austrian territory without the intention of occupying it. Having done this, he supposed that he would be permitted to remain in camp, retaining his own arms, those taken from the enemy, and his prisoners, until conferences between the governments should decide respecting the course to be taken. But the Austrian government, far from giving such a reasonable permission, collected a strong corps in the environs of Tarnopol, and the Austrian commander in chief demanded of general Dwernicki to surrender both his own arms and those taken from the enemy. General Dwernicki, although this Austrian corps was not formidable to him, yet being anxious to avoid the serious political consequences which might possibly follow resistance, submitted to this unjust demand, which will be an eternal reproach to the Austrian government. The Austrians returned their arms to the Russian prisoners, whom they liberated, and retained the arms of the Polish troops. The whole corps was conducted into the interior, and thus ended the career of that important body of our forces.[55]

The conduct of Austria, in regard to the corps of Dwernicki, I am sure will excite the indignation of the reader. If general Dwernicki had entered upon the Austrian territory, he was forced to do it by the Russian corps, which had already passed the frontier; and that cannot be regarded as an intentional invasion of the frontiers which was done without design, and was a mere transition over an indistinct line, made necessary by the position which the enemy had taken. Such a case certainly should have formed an exception to a general rule. To the Russian corps all the prisoners were returned, without any consent obtained from our government, to whom they, in fact, belonged, and should have been considered as belonging, until the end of the war.

It was in this manner that those intriguing cabinets repaid the debt of gratitude which they owed to Poland. They had forgotten the times of John Sobieski, who, in 1683, delivered their capital, and their whole territory, from destruction at the hands of the Turks. They had forgotten that they thus owe their very existence to Poland.

At present, regardless of all obligations of justice, they concert with our enemy for our ruin. But if by this unjust treatment of their benefactors, the Austrians may have gained some temporary advantages, the reader will acknowledge that in reference to their ultimate good, they have acted with a most short-sighted and mistaken policy. The aggrandizement of Russia can never be an advantage to Austria.

There were few more melancholy events in our war than this. The disaster of this corps grievously paralyzed all the fine plans of the general in chief. It reinforced the Russian superior force by 40,000 men;--for the different corps of Kreutz, Witt, Rudiger and Rott, could now rejoin their main army without obstruction.

To these disasters of the two corps of Dwernicki and Sierawski, which were deeply felt by the nation, was now to be added the appearance of that horrible malady, the cholera, which after the battle of Iganie commenced its devastations in our ranks. On the night of that battle several hundreds of our troops fell sick. This terrible disease caused us, on the first few days, the loss of nearly 1,000 men; but if it was terrible with us, nothing can express the suffering it produced in the Russian camp, aided by the want of comfort in the arrangements of that camp, and the acid food upon which the Russian soldiers were habitually fed. Thousands of those wretched sufferers were left exposed to the open air, and died upon the field. The Poles took even more care of them than of their own sick. They were brought together, and transported to Menie, where there was a large convent, which was turned into an hospital for their use. The total number of those sufferers may be imagined, when it is stated, that, in that hospital and village alone, two thousand Russian sick were reported.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 55: This unfortunate and painful event should serve as an impressive example, which cannot be too often brought to mind, of what disastrous consequences may follow from the neglect of observing a constant communication between corps acting together, and, above all, the departing from orders which are given upon a general plan, the absolute control of which should belong to the general in chief. Had general Dwernicki, conforming to his instructions, acted only against the corps of Kreutz and Witt, and in concert with the corps of Sierawski, he would have been apprised of that general's quitting Kazimierz, and both of those two corps could have joined in the attack, in which they would have been aided by another corps which was to be sent, as the reader is aware, to act against the enemy's rear. If those corps of Kreutz and Witt had been defeated, immense advantages would have followed; indeed the war would have been over, for the Russian main army would have been taken in flank and rear, and, in fact, completely cut off.]

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