CHAPTER XX

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Operations of the Lithuanian corps.--Battle of Raygrod and defeat of the Russian corps of Saken.--Importance of this first success in Lithuania.--General Gielgud neglects to follow up his advantages.--He loses time by passing the Niemen at Gielgudyszki, and enables the enemy to concentrate his forces in Wilno.--Entrance into Lithuania and reception by the inhabitants.--Position of the two main armies.--The Russian forces remain inactive and receive supplies from Prussia.--Death of marshal Diebitsch.

On the 27th of May, the corps of general Gielgud, attached to which were generals Rohland, Szymanowski, Dembinski, and colonel Pientka, left Lomza, and commenced their march into Lithuania. On the evening of that day, they arrived at Stawisk, passing through Szczuczyn and Graiewo. In the last town they were joined by the little corps of general, then colonel, Sierakowski, which, as we have already remarked, had been employed in observing general Saken, and was here occupying an advantageous position. The force of this corps has been already stated.

BATTLE OF RAYGROD. [_Plan_ XXXII.]

I have divided this battle into two different periods, marked by the two different positions which the enemy successively took.

On examining the plan of the first position of the Russians, it will be at once seen that they had no knowledge of the arrival of our corps. They supposed that they were acting against the corps of colonel Sierakowski alone, and they had conceived the design of out-flanking him. On the morning of the 29th, our whole corps, quitting the little town of Graiewo, met, at the distance of about a quarter of a league, the Russian flankers, against whom our own were immediately sent out. The Russian cavalry began to retire. Our columns continued their march slowly, having the forces of colonel Sierakowski in front, as an advanced guard,[66] and we thus arrived at the lake of Raygrod, the advanced guard meeting only small detachments of the Russian cavalry, which retired as we approached. On reaching the lake, our advanced guard were fired upon by the Russian skirmishers, concealed in the woods on the opposite side of the lake, which bordered upon the causeway. Colonel Sierakowski received orders to engage with them. He sent forward his own light troops, and placed two cannons upon the causeway, with which he commenced a fire upon the woods. The Russian infantry instantly evacuated the woods, and allowed our skirmishers to occupy them. By this manoeuvre, the Russians intended to lead on our forces with the view to attack them on their flank, and even to surround them, by sending detachments (_a_, _b_) to the right and left, as will be seen on the plan. In a short time our larger force, under general Gielgud, commenced debouching between the two lakes. A strong column (_c_) of our infantry took a direction towards the forest, to the left, and another column (_d_) to that on the right, to dislodge the enemy, if he should be found to have occupied either. At the same time our artillery (_e_), to the number of fourteen pieces, taking a position at the side of the causeway, opposite to that of the enemy (_f_), commenced firing. The whole of our cavalry, and the greater part of our infantry remained in the centre, and constituted a formidable front.

In a few moments after these dispositions were made, a brisk fire of tirailleurs was commenced on our left wing (A). The Russian centre (B), suffering from the fire of our artillery, and taken by surprise at the unexpected strength of our forces, began to waver. This was a signal for our advance. Colonel Pientka, who commanded the artillery, gave the order. A strong column of three battalions of infantry commenced the hurrah, and charged with the bayonet, upon the wavering columns of the enemy. At the same time, general Dembinski gave the order to our cavalry (_g_) to charge upon that of the enemy on the right and left. The first squadron of the lancers of Poznan received the order to throw themselves forward, and fall upon the breaking columns of the enemy. The greatest consternation and disorder began to exist in the Russian ranks. It was no longer a retreat; it was a flight. This squadron of lancers, commanded by the brave major Mycielski, performed prodigies of valor. They entered the town simultaneously with the Russian columns, cutting down immense numbers of the enemy, and taking many prisoners. This squadron courageously remained in the streets of the city, exposed to the fire of the enemy's infantry, who had occupied the houses, until the arrival of our own infantry. In this exposed situation they lost their commander.[67]

These several attacks, which did not occupy two hours, caused an immense loss to the enemy. Three entire battalions, which formed their right wing (C), consisting of 2,000 men, were taken prisoners, with three superior officers, and fourteen of a lower grade. By the entry of our forces, the enemy were driven from the town, and took another position (D) upon elevated ground, on the opposite side of a small stream, near the town. This position was strong, and commanded the town and the whole of the other side of the stream. General Saken would certainly have remained long in this position, if our right wing under colonel Koss had not, as we shall see, succeeded in passing the stream at a higher point (_i_), and acted on his flank. The Russian general, as soon as he had established himself in his new position, commenced a fire upon the town, which was returned by our artillery. It was during this fire that colonel Koss succeeded in passing the stream, at a quarter of a league above the city, on the right. This was effected by demolishing the buildings in the vicinity, and making a passage for the artillery from their materials. General Saken, seeing his left wing thus menaced, evacuated his position, in which, as we have said, but for this attack on his flank, he could have well supported himself for some time.

At 3 o'clock the Russians commenced their retreat upon the road to Kowno, and thus terminated a battle of the most advantageous character for us, and with which begins an important era in our affairs.

By this battle the Polish forces had made the acquisition of great advantages, both in respect to strategy and tactics, and the highest hopes might reasonably be cherished in regard to the future.

It was, as it were, a return of the state of things brought about by the victory of Iganie, and which menaced the enemy with total ruin. Our main army was then near to Warsaw, composed of a force of considerable strength, and which, under the command of Skrzynecki, had been victorious in every battle. New troops had been formed there. Neither provisions nor forage had failed, for they were constantly sent from Warsaw to the army, in whatever quarter it might be.

The Russian army was, in the mean while, suffering under all the disadvantages which we have before described. Wearied and discouraged by the disasters of the campaign, posted in regions which they had devastated, and therefore suffering from scarcity; without hospitals for their sick and their wounded,--for the towns which contained them had been destroyed,--and with the cholera ravaging their ranks, that army was in the most precarious situation. The communications between the Russian provinces and the army were entirely cut off by the Polish Lithuanian corps. They received their provisions exclusively from Prussia; and, but for this assistance of Prussia, no one can doubt that Diebitsch would have been, before this, under the necessity of withdrawing from the country. The reader will also remember that at this time, the brave and skilful general Chrzanowski, had obtained repeated advantages over Rudiger, in the environs of Zamosc, and that the little corps of general Chlapowski which had entered, on the 20th of May, the Russian department of Bialystok, was acting with great advantages. From the Baltic to the Black Sea, the provinces of Podolia, Volhynia, Ukraine, as well as Lithuania and Samogitia, containing a population of twelve millions of inhabitants, were in a state of excitement, and would soon have risen in the holy cause. They were waiting only the arrival of our victorious troops. It cannot but be assumed, therefore, that if general Gielgud, at the head of the Polish corps in Lithuania, had acted with promptness and energy, the most happy results would have been achieved. It is, therefore, with the deepest chagrin, that I have to record that from the moment of the termination of the fortunate battle of Raygrod, all the operations of general Gielgud were not only deficient in energy, but altogether wrongly planned. The first fault which he committed, was not continuing to press the attack upon general Saken, after he had retired from Raygrod. Under the pretext that the soldiers were fatigued, the corps was encamped. This pretext was groundless, for the soldiers themselves demanded to be led in pursuit of the enemy. In this camp we passed the whole night, and left it [_Plan_ XXXIII.] at the hour of nine the following morning; having given fifteen hours to the retreating enemy. We continued our march to Kowno, through the duchy of Augustow. On the 30th of May, we arrived at Suwalki (1) its capital, and remained there a day and a night, without any conceivable reason. The enemy, profiting by the slowness of our movements, escaped the certain destruction with which he had been threatened. On the 1st of June, we arrived at Kalwaryia (2), and at that town our corps was very uselessly divided into two parts, the larger (_a_), under general Gielgud, took the road to Gielgudyszki (3), on the Niemen,[68] to pass the river at that point. General Dembinski, with the remainder of the corps (_b_), continued on the main road, and on the 3d of June arrived at Alexota (4).

This separation of our forces into two bodies, to pass the Niemen at Gielgudyszki, was not recommended by any conceivable advantage, and, indeed, operated much to our injury. This plan of operations was also in opposition to the instructions, not only of the general in chief, but of the National Government, and obstructed the rapid execution of the great designs of the campaign.

In any plan for the occupation of a foreign country, the first object should be to get possession of the principal towns, for at those points are chiefly concentrated both the moral and physical resources of the country. Of Lithuania, the town of Wilno (5) is the capital. Against it all our plans should have been directed; and, in fact, the instructions of the government to general Gielgud were all to this effect. By a prompt occupation of that city, we should have unquestionably reaped the greatest advantages. As Wilno was the residence of the principal officers of the government of the province, it would have been there that all the arrangements could best be made for a provisional administration, and for the convocation of a conventional Diet of the people. In regard also to the formation of new forces, Wilno was the place that presented the greatest facilities.

Taking all these circumstances into view, it must be conceded that after the battle of Raygrod, the first object of general Gielgud ought to have been to march upon and to occupy Wilno with the utmost promptness. With this view, his course should have been, after masking his movement at Kowno, to have passed the Niemen (N) at Rumszyski (6), a village which was about sixteen English miles above Kowno (7) and in the direction of Wilno, while Gielgudyszki, on the other hand, was thirty-two miles below Kowno, and forty-eight from Rumszyski, and out of the direction of Wilno. With the exception of that of general Saken, no other Russian force was interposed between us and Wilno. Indeed the corps of general Chlapowski (_c_), with which he had traversed the department of Bialystok, was at that moment between Kowno and Wilno, and had we passed at Rumszyski, we should have been within but one day's march of him. It is evident, then, that Wilno would have fallen into our hands without a blow. All these advantages were sacrificed by making the passage at Gielgudyszki. General Saken, meeting with no interruption, thus escaped a second time, and marched from Kowno to Wilno. At the same time several other Russian corps began to concentrate themselves at Wilno.

The corps of general Dembinski, having maintained a moderate fire upon Kowno for two days, in order to mask our movements from the enemy, marched for Gielgudyszki, to follow the other corps in the passage of the river, at that point, on the 7th of June. Our troops thus entered the province of Lithuania, an interesting day for us, thus engaged in the effort to re-unite this dissevered portion of our country to its ancient parent. The manner in which the inhabitants of every village received us, expressive of the warmest satisfaction, showed that they regarded us as brothers. This reception deeply affected both soldiers and officers. They hailed us as their deliverers, and it is now a mournful reflection that, owing to the misconduct of our commanders, that enthusiasm, instead of leading to happy results, proved, in the end, only an aggravation of their misfortunes.

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Leaving the corps of general Gielgud upon the Niemen, we will return again to the operations of the grand army, and of the different detached corps. Our main body, which, after the battle of Ostrolenka, retired towards Warsaw, was now at Praga, where the head-quarters of the commander in chief were fixed. General Skrzynecki, during the repose of the army, occupied himself with its re-organization.

In the environs of Zamosc, the corps of general Chrzanowski, in which the brave general Romarino commanded a brigade, was sufficient to keep the different Russian corps in check.

On the 3d of June, the Russian army, which, up to the present time, continued in the environs of Ostrolenka, on the left bank of the Narew, commenced its operations upon the right bank of that river. A considerable corps, amounting to 20,000 men, passed that river in the neighborhood of Prasnysz. The principal object of this corps was not to re-ommence hostilities, but to protect the large transports of provisions which were sent daily from Prussia. In the environs of Brzesc was the corps of general Kreutz. The Russian army thus fed by Prussia, remained inactive in their position at Ostrolenka, during which interval, and while he was perhaps contriving new plans for our subjugation, occurred the sudden death of marshal Diebitsch. He died at Kleczkowo, not far from Ostrolenka, on the 9th of June.[69]

The provisional command of the Russian army was taken by general Toll.

If the reader should examine closely the operations of the two armies after the battle of Ostrolenka, he will, perhaps, be astonished at their inactivity. He will, however, acknowledge that the blame of that inactivity cannot rest upon the Polish side. The retreat which we made was necessary; first, for the sake of the re-organizing of the army; secondly, for the object of leading the enemy to the environs of Praga, which were in a state of devastation, and generally into the region between the Bug and the Liwiec, where he would not be able to support himself; and in this manner to force him either to attack the fortifications of Praga, to attempt a passage of the Vistula, or to evacuate the country. That either of the two first would be attempted, while the insurrections in Lithuania and Samogitia, &c, were in progress, and after our success at Raygrod, was hardly to have been expected; for the one would cost too great a sacrifice of men, and the other would be attended with too much hazard. If, then, the Russian forces undertook nothing, it was a consequence of their critical situation. We can, in fact, safely assume that it was their intention to evacuate the country; for to have obtained sufficient supplies by their own means was almost impracticable. When, therefore, this army remained there, it was only because it was fed by Prussia, who did not scruple openly to succor the enemy in his perilous position, by sending enormous transports by the roads of Neydenburg and Mlawa. It was those transports which saved the Russian army from the utmost extremity. I leave to the reader to judge, then, whether it was with one enemy alone that the Poles had to contend. The Prussian government, which arrested all the volunteers who were passing through its territory to augment our ranks, and which stopped all the aids of money and arms sent to us by the generous friends of liberty in other countries, took every occasion to aid and protect our enemy. If that government has satisfied its own inhuman will, by this interference to injure a cause so sacred as that of the Poles, they have unintentionally aided that cause by raising its merit in the eyes of the present and future ages, who will know with what difficulties we had to struggle. In return for these good offices of the Prussian government, the Poles will only say,--Przyidzie kryska na malyska,'--'Every one has his turn.'

If the two main armies were at rest, it was not so with the corps in the palatinate of Lublin, where general Chrzanowski beat, on the 10th of June, general Rudiger, between Zamosc and Uchania, and took from him numerous prisoners. General Rudiger was forced, by this action, to retire to Lublin, and to cease offensive operations. General Chrzanowski then prepared to surprise this corps, with the aid of the garrison of Zamosc.

It was on the 12th of June, that after being apprized of the continual victories of general Chrzanowski, the general in chief concluded to re-commence hostilities. His plan was, to act in concert with this corps, and to crush the enemy in all the southern parts of the kingdom. He would afterwards have to do only with the Russian main army, which had commenced passing the Narew and entering into the palatinate of Plock, to keep its communications open with Prussia, and where it would have been in a manner cooped up between the Narew and the Vistula, with insurrectionized Lithuania in its rear, and our army in its front or flank, according as that army should operate, at Stanislawow, at Wyskow, or at Ostrolenka.

It was here again that our commander in chief felt his hopes renewed, confiding always in the fortunate result of the operations in Lithuania, which had so happily commenced; but he was to be again mournfully disappointed, by the pusillanimity of the generals to whom the all-important expedition to Lithuania had been entrusted.

FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 66: This disposition was made, expressly with the view of confirming the Russian general in the idea, that he was opposed by colonel Sierakowski alone.]

[Footnote 67: The reader will allow me to give some details of this charge of cavalry, which was, indeed, of an extraordinary character. At the moment that the Russian centre began to waver;--with the view to continue and augment the disorder of the enemy, and to break their front, order was given to the cavalry to push their attacks, without intermission, on the sides of the great road. With this force was the 1st squadron of the lancers of Poznan, of between 80 and 100 men. This squadron threw themselves upon the Russian columns, and, simultaneously with them, entered the town, which was full of the enemy's infantry. Far from being discouraged by this overwhelming force, the brave Poznanians penetrated the different streets, and continued their attack on the enemy on every side. But the Russian infantry protected themselves within the houses, and behind the walls, and commenced a fire of musquetry, which fell like hail upon this brave handful of lancers, so that it would have been thought that not a man would have escaped. It was impossible for our lancers either to advance or retire, for the streets before them were commanded by artillery, and the enemy's columns of infantry had closed in behind them; there was only one outlet for them, which was by a small street, issuing out of the town to the left, and that was also occupied by the enemy. There was no alternative but to force their way through it. Our Hulans then, forming a phalanx of lances, opened a passage through the enemy, and quitted the town. It was here that the brave Mycielski fell. The brave Poznanians, leaving the town, by the side of the lake, whither the Russian right wing had retreated and were about entering the city, presented to the Russians the impression that the city was in possession of our troops, and supposing themselves between two fires, they no longer hesitated to lay down their arms to the pursuing force.]

[Footnote 68: Gielgudyszki was the paternal estate of the Polish general.]

[Footnote 69: The reader may be curious to know some details of the career of marshal Diebitsch. He was born in Silesia, not far from Wroclaw, the capital of that province. His father was a major in the Prussian service, and young Diebitsch was sent by him at an early age to the military school at Berlin. It was, perhaps, in about the year 1805, that he first entered the Russian military service, as a cadet in one of the regiments of the guard, from which he was, in 1807, transferred to the corps of engineers. In this service he advanced rapidly, not so much by real talent, as by a certain art which he had of exhibiting himself to the best advantage. In the place of aid-de-camp of the late emperor Alexander, to which he was soon advanced, he was known to have intrigued in opposition to the interest of Poland. These intrigues, as well as those which he afterwards practised, to supersede Wittgenstein, in the command of the army against Turkey, degraded him in the esteem of all upright men. He was never regarded by us as a general of talent, and the truth of our estimate will be by this time conceded.

One cannot but be impressed with the fate which has awaited the two greatest enemies of Poland, Diebitsch and Constantine. Arrested by Providence, amid the persecutions which they had inflicted, and were designing to inflict upon our country, they perished in disgrace. They died acting the part of the enemies of humanity, and their names thus rest, sealed with the eternal reproach of history. Here is a fate which ought to alarm despots. The thought that in the moment that they are most deeply engaged in contriving the oppression of their fellow-men, a sudden death may come upon them, and thus stigmatize their names forever, should teach them an impressive lesson.]

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