The cavalry regiment of the longest 15-year past in the Napoleonic Age, formed in 1799 and formed in 1815, entered the legend of Polish driving as “lansiers of hell”. About what made this nickname stick to the hives from the Vistula River, writes Colonel Rez. Andrzej Łydka in the latest issue of the quarterly “Army Poland. History’.
A companion of the national cavalry, the grenadier of the Naddunai Legion, the lansjer of the Naddunai Province, the 4th Regiment of the Polish Kingdom. Public domain
The Uławów Nadwiślanski Regiment was 1 of the most perfect and effective tools in the hands of individual commanders of the corps of the French large Army. It is the oldest regiment of Polish day riding Napoleonic.
The beginning of the regiment was a riding squadron formed at the appeal of General Henryk Dąbrowski of 31 December 1798 in the Second Legion of Polish Legions in Italy. A day earlier, in the conflict of Gaeta, Polish legionaries captured more than 120 Kyrassian horses along with rows, which enabled the formation of a squadron consisting of 2 companies (called the Polish standard of banners). General Dąbrowski's appeal was large, but due to the limited number of horses held for the squadron only the best legionaries with experience in the cavalry were selected. It included cavalry from the Polish-Russian War of 1792, and erstwhile prisoners of the Galician regiments taken prisoner by the French at the conflict of Saint George close Mantua on 15 September 1796. They were equipped with rifles and guns purchased from funds obtained by General Dąbrowski and swords and – archaic, but effective – lance. The uniforms were modelled on the uniformation of the 1792 national cavalry. Within 8 days, the squadron was ready for duty, and on 9 January 1799 entered action. The tasks were typically cavalry: reconnaissance, escorting, maintaining communication, and the pursuit and elimination of guerrilla troops and loose band of robbers, alleged Brigantaggio – robbery. In this uphill war, the Lansiers learned to fight an irregular opponent, taking his tactics, which came in useful in Spain a fewer years later. It was a ruthless war, where guerrillas and foremen brutally murdered previously tortured prisoners, resulting in the consequence of legionaries, who in retaliation captured foremen “decorated” roadside trees. Along with subsequent conquests in the form of horses and rows, the following companies were formed. In February there were already 2 two-companion squadrons. In May 1799, the regiment counted 300 men and 200 horses. It was commanded by General Aleksander Karwowski at the time. The first of respective battles and skirmishes was recorded under Cortona on 13 May 1799. Over the next fewer months, the regiment bled out heavy and as of early December presented the force of the squadron. On 13 March 1800, by decree of the consuls, the remnants of the legionary riding regiment passed to the town of Metz and were incorporated into the Legion of Nadduna, General Karol Kniaziewicz, in which the riding regiment was restored. This regiment under Colonel Alexander Rożniecki took part in the conflict of Hohenlinden on December 3, 1800. In this battle, Brigadier Jan Pawlikowski, along with the French sage, took 57 Austrian infantrymen into captivity, and Ulan Antoni Trandowski, who was promised a bottle of good wine for the prisoner of war, ran a gallop and brought Prince Jan of Liechtenstein “walking” in front of the Austrians.
The regiment was in the service of the Cisalpine Republic from 31 December 1801, followed by the Kingdom of Naples and from 2 February 1807 on the service of the French. After the defeat of the Prussian army on 14 October 1806 under Jena – in accordance with the plans of General Dąbrowski – all legionaries who survived the legionary epic (1350 infantry infantry troops and about 5 100 riding troops) were to march on Polish dirt to form the foundation of the Polish Army played in Poznań, Kalisz and Warsaw. This provoked the opposition of King of Naples Joseph Bonaparte, who did not want to lose the best regiments of his army.
Polish-Italian Legion
Napoleon Bonaparte appointed on 5 April 1807 by decree of Legia Polska (called after the treaty of peace in the Tylża Polish-Italian Legion) in the composition of 3 infantry regiments and a regiment of lancers and intended to leave her in the composition of the French army. Its core was to be mentioned 2 legion regiments, which were changed to the route, moving them to Silesia to supplement the states. By the same decree, he ordered the manager of the War of the Commission of Government in Warsaw to send 6,600 recruits to Wrocław to bring them to the Legion. After arriving in Silesia, a regiment of lansjers at the command of General Charles Lefebvre-Desnoëttes took part in the conflict between Struga and Szczawne, crashed the Prussian troops on 15 May 1807 and took prisoners and 12 cannons.
Volunteers for infantry regiments were recruited in the towns of Wrocław, Brieg and Neisse (Brzeg and Nysa), and to the regiment of lansjers – Friedland, Zülz and Neustadt in Oberschlesien (Korfants, White and Prudnik). Volunteers acquainted with horse riding were accepted into the riding regiment. Since their incarnation, recruits have undergone intensive training in individual and squad action led by experienced faiths from the Italian run and from an expedition to San Domingo. After the completion of the formation, on October 13, 1807, the full Legia was transferred into the 9th corps of Hieronim Bonaparte, and from November 11, 1807, after its introduction into Kassel to the throne of King Westphalia, the Legion was on the service of that Kingdom. There, under Colonel Jan Konopka's command, 300 cavalrymen from 1st Polish Hussar Regiment were incarnate.
The Nadwiślanska Legion
In March 1808 Napoleon Bonaparte by decree renamed the Polish Legia as the Nadwiślanska Legia and accepted it back for the French service. The lansjer regiment was named after the Nadwiślańska Ulan Regiment and consisted of 4 two-companious squadrons. He had the post of staff and a cast of officers and a sub-office company the same as French light-horse linear regiments. The companies counted 128 bachelors each. Additionally, the 8th Company was a flanking division and its task was to conduct the reconnaissance and supply the regiment's cover. In the opinion of the later general, prof. Dr. Marian Kukiel – the staff of the Legion as "amalgam of an old fine soldier with a fresh recruit gave here extraordinary results, the Nadwiślanie regiments placed in the order of the most crucial components of the army". A separate character was given to the Nadwiślański Ulan Regiment: “half of the regiment was created by veterans, who had been conducting the war for 10 years or more, terrible in combat mortar, iron endurance, contempt of death, savagery in constant battles, always brave, frequently cruel.” Among the staff of the officer's regiment was the Grossmajor (sub-Colonel) Stanisław Klicki "full of light officer, widely respected and loved by all", chiefs of squadrons (majors) Telesfor Kostanecki and Andrzej Ruttié, captains Piotr Linkiewicz, Kajetan Stokowski, Kazimierz Tanski, Maciej Rybałtowski, Adam Huppe (horse artillery), Fortunat Skarżyński, Józef Schultz, Donat Porycki, Józef Fijałkowski and Michał Ojrzanowski.
Lance
Upon arriving in Bajonna, on 28 May 1808 a regiment commanded by Colonel Jan Konopka held a revel (review) before Napoleon, who issued command to the regiment as for infantry. As a reward for good training, the regiment was equipped with rifles for officers and enlisted officers. Napoleon’s decision – as a consequence of Colonel Konopka’s individual intervention – left lance to the legionaries: “Sire, only due to his lance’s dimension is simply a weapon that, in the hands of an experienced user, can give a considerable moral advantage over the enemy, due to the fact that he can be injured or killed without approaching the swords. In addition, proponents scare the horses of hostile Huzars and Dragoons, which gives us a immense advantage.” Lance utilized in the regiment was 265 cm long and were made of ash wood impregnated with tar. Light and useful were very effective and dangerous weapons in the hands of trained lansiers. The following day, at the request of General Lefebvre-Desnoëttes, the Emperor gave the regiment 24 crosses of the Legion of Honor for merit in the conflict of Struga and Szczawne in Silesia and earlier buoys in Italy.
Fighting in Spain
The war in Spain began on May 2, 1808 with the anti-French uprising in Madrid, which as a consequence of French repression turned into a struggled war (Spanish guerrilla) and covered the full peninsula. To appease and pacify the uprising, Napoleon transferred over 160 1000 troops to Spain, including the Nadwiślanska Legia. The Podwiślańsk Ulan Regiment crossed the Spanish border on 1 June 1808 and 2 days later joined the French troops commanded by Gen. Lefebvre-Desnoëttes to operate in Aragon.
First buoys los infiernos picadores
The beginning of the combat way of the lansjers in Spain was not very fortunate. As early as 5 June 1808, the division of General Lefebvre-Desnoëttes left Pampeluna and reached Spanish positions under Tudela on 8 June morning. The Spanish forces consisted of respective 100 soldiers and respective 1000 insurgents from the city commanded by the Marquis de Lazan, having large military experience. During the fire of the city by the French artillery, a squadron of lansjers under the command of the chief of Kosanecki's squadron marked an attack on Spanish positions in the steamhouses and after being shot by insurgents began a retreat, prompting the Spanish to counterattack. erstwhile the counterattacking insurgents found themselves in open ground, the squadron changed the front by 180 degrees and fenced the infantry, purging almost all the lances. The French captured the bridge on Ebro and occupied Tudela and six rounds of ammunition. Captain Huppe of these departments and respective twelve lansjers, erstwhile artillerymen, formed an improvised horse artillery battery that in future effectively supported regiment squadrons. Only 1 squadron could participate in the fight, due to the fact that during the erstwhile night the lansmen allowed horses to be seized (they gave them a crop with besides much wheat content, resulting in 2 100 horses dying). This stopped further pursuit and most likely allowed the Spaniards to order up and prepare Saragossa for defense, which prevented the capture of the city from marching.
The next clash with Spanish cavalry and respective 1000 insurgents occurred on 13 June 1808 under Mallén. Kajetan Wojciechowski noted: “A fewer skillful evolutions and a daring outing of our squadron led by Captain Skarżyński, the fast firing of artillery, at the velocity of our troops by Captain Huppe formed, dispelled the enemy, to whom our squadron, having crossed through the river, took the back way. Then the Spaniards run for Ebro and we pursuit them down. There the slaughter was murderous, for not a word understood their language, whether they asked to spare life or despise pardon, without respect for anything unmerciful, they drowned or stabbed everyone.” The next day, at Alagón, on the Jalón River, the regiment met Spanish columns again, crashed them again and drove all the way to Saragossa. Polish lances caused panic hard to control. The different rage in the attack, the fierceness and ruthless attitude of the owlans towards the Spaniards during the first clashes brought the regiment the nickname los infiernos picadores (the hellish lansjers), under which he fought until the end of the war in Spain and under which he passed and to history, and to national mythology. In Zaragoza, the regiment met an equal opponent – insurgents and a determined civilian population. The first storm on the town was attended by 3 regiment squadrons with 2 French infantry companies and with 2 troops of Captain Huppe, he attacked through the Santa Engracia gate. The gallop squadron ran through Saragossa all the way to the square at the back of the Portillo gate attacked from outside by the French. any of the owlans took part in the conquest of the Carmen monastery, where Lieutenant Wojciech Dowięcki was decorated. Unfortunately, the allies failed to capture the Portillo gate and the squadron under the force of the hostile crowd retreated slow and with difficulty to the Santa Engracia gate under fire led from the floors of the buildings. After a full day's heat fight, the mortally weary and starving lansjers lay fewer 100 metres from the city walls. They were not awakened until the next day at dawn. After this assault, Cavalry General Lefebvre-Desnoëttes entered the regular siege of Saragossa and then handed command of the infantry general to Jean Antoine Verdier. During the siege, the lansjers participated in many clashes with upcoming Spanish meals and in a criminal expedition to the village of Richle, whose residents cruelly murdered a 20-man French infantry patrol. The last attack on the city was organised on 4 August 1808, but it was not successful. 2 days later, the besieged were ordered to destruct the occupied positions and withdraw. The siege ended on 15 August 1808.
In the fresh offensive of Napoleon in Spain in November 1808, the Regiment of the Nadwiślani Ulans took part in the cavalry brigade of General Lefebvre-Desnoëttes, subordinate to the 3rd corps of Marshal Bon Adrien Jeannot de Monkey on the left wing of the French troops commanded by Marshal Jean Lannes (28 1000 soldiers).
At Tudela there were 2 Spanish armies commanded by José de Palafox and Francisco Javier Castaños, a full of 40,000 soldiers. Marshal Lannes, not waiting for all forces to arrive, successfully attacked the right wing of the José de Palafox army on 23 November 1808, pushing the opponent towards Tudela. After another hit, this time in the center of the group, the Spaniards rushed to flee and were cut off by General Lefebvre-Desnoëttes' cavalry. In this skirmish of the Nadwiślański Regiment with its lances, he showed large effectiveness in the fight.
Lannes' next strike directed against Castaños' army, which began to appear on Calatayud. In pursuit of her, too, the Nadwiślani lansjers were used.
After the battle, Marshal Michel Ney took Monkey “the celebrated Polish lansiers” to his 6th Corps, leaving 1 company as Monkey's individual escort. This step began the process of dividing the regiment between the individual French corps. Each of the commanders wanted to have this reliable deadly tool to fight the insurgents, as the lansiers were thought. By the end of the Spanish war, the regiment had no more full force. However, the squadron, with regimental signs, or banners, inactive received during the war in Italy, was considered the main part of it.
Loss of banners
On 24 March 1809, a squadron of regiments (three 100 Ulans) led by Colonel Jan Konopka surrounded 5 Spanish cavalry regiments commanded by d’Albuquerque. The commander of the regiment along with the chief of Ruttié's squadron and a fistful of ulteriors escaped from the mountain lap to the village of Orghaz and to the site of the cavalry division halt in Mora, and the remainder of the ultariers were taken from the lap by the chief of Kostanecki's squadron, who formed a formation and broke through Spanish lines to Consuegra, and then joined the division in Mora. It would have been an undisputed success, but it turned out that the squadron's fleet, including a van carrying 4 banners of the regiment, was lost in the lap. This was contrary to Napoleon's order, who ordered them to be deposited in the Madrid arsenal or in 1 of the fortresses cast by the French to not get into the hands of the Spaniards. However, erstwhile respective fortresses were captured by the British, Colonel Konopka decided that the banners would be kept secret. Their failure became a stain on the honor of the regiment, which then, until the end of their stay in Spain, the lansiers sought to wash distant “the long, bloody snout, a series of acts of heroism and sacrifice.” The regiment was not formed, but Colonel Konopka had to leave it for respective months.
From April to July 1809, part of the regiment was accommodated in the village of Valdepeñas, surrounded by vineyards, with large supplies of food and wine. due to the immense amounts of this beverage, the lansians praised the place, utilizing wine even to wash off-duty horses. In July, they were alerted by a Polish soldier, who belonged to a group of twenty-man healers marching from the lasaret in Toledo to their infantry regiment. He told that after the group had been settled in the village of Villa-Ferdinando, the local villagers at night had disarmed, collected in the square and set fire. He got away. The Lansjers were no longer able to save the infantry. In retaliation, the village was "burned to bits, and residents without sex and age difference, were pierced".
Somosierra Konopki
In November 1810, a division of dragoons of General Éduard Milhaud and a cavalry brigade (a associate of the Uwani Nadwiślani Regiment) of General André Thomas Perreimond stationed a garrison in the city of Baza. 2 Spanish divisions commanded by General Joaquín Blake y Joyes attempted to enter the kingdoms of Jaen and Granada. As they approached the Base, General Milhaud removed the army from the garrison and attacked the positions of the rear Spanish defender close Cullar on the Almanzor River on 4 November 1810. That's erstwhile Konopka's lancers had their Somosierra. General Blake's corps was stretched in a marching column for respective kilometres. Colonel Konopka asked Milhaud's approval to strike at the centre of the rear defender position equipped with a cannon: “Let me hit the mediate of the enemy, and in an hr it will be after the battle!” He then issued the command: "Flankers forward, regiment to attack with squadrons from the right, march! March!". A leading, first platoon of flankers commanded by Kajetan Wojciechowski, despite welcoming him with cardigans, caught the batteries and opened the way for the remainder of the regiment, which interrupted the position.
Wash distant the shame under Albuera
Napoleon's decree of 7 February 1811 formed the 2nd Podwiślański Ulan Regiment, and Konopki Regiment received the number “1”. The regiment was part of the 5th Corps commanded by Marshal Nicolas Jean de Dieu Soult, Prince of Dalmatia. The Corps in the strength of 25,000 soldiers and 48 guns marched on a rescue besieged by Arthur Wellesley fort Badajoz. After arriving at Albuera on 16 May 1811, he encountered the British-Spanish corps of Marshal William Beresford, numbering 35,000 soldiers and 48 guns.
During the attack by Soult's division on the right wing commanded by General Blake by Spanish forces, General Beresford struck the 2nd English Division against the side of attacking French columns, causing confusion in them. General John Colborne's brigade with Captain Andreas Cleeve's cannon battery walked in the first pitch. At this critical minute Soult called to Konopka: “Colonel, save the honour of France!” The Lansjers went to charge. A regiment of Huzars followed them. no of Colborne's 3 brigade regiments managed to form a quadrilateral to repel the lansier's charge and in a short time these regiments were abolished. The English were fiercely defending themselves, as shown by the advanced losses of lansiers and huzaries. More than 8 100 Britons went into captivity, the survivors were saved, the remaining wounded or killed. Chargers of lansier have captured 5 banners. The next 1 in line was Cleeve's battery, firing cards at the last minute. The Lansiers and the Hussars took 5 cannons, and their service took out. The 4th English Dragon Regiment counterattack was repulsed. tiny groups of owlans and husasars penetrated the rear of the opponent and reached the position of General Beresford. All the prisoners and 1 cannon were brought from the battleground due to the horse-shoeing of the team. The regiment lost 22% of its personnel status, including sixteen dead and injured officers. These were any of the highest losses of the regiments riding in this battle. This charge of the Ulanów Nadwiślański Regiment went to the legend of Polish driving. The Lansjers considered the conflict to have washed distant the shame after the lost under the Yevenes regimental banners. The British then accused the authorities of not giving a pardon to the British infantry and killing the wounded with lances. This was indicated by the ratio of the number of killed and wounded in the Colborne brigade.
Rename
Napoleon's decree of August 6, 1811, the Uławów Nadwiślański Regiment was renamed the 7th Szwolezer-Lansjer Liniow Regiment (chevau-légers-lanciers de la ligne) and under this name took part in the battles under Olivza, Base and Berlanga. Also, the 2nd Nadwiślański Ulan Regiment became the 8th Szwolezer-Lansjer Liners Regiment. The change of name was connected with the task of creating 9 lansjer regiments in the French Army – 7 French and 2 Polish before the Second Polish War, that is, the expedition to Moscow. It was a tribute dedicated to the Polish lance and its usefulness in the fight. On the same day, Colonel Jan Konopka was appointed general, and his eleven subordinates were given the Crosses of the Legion of Honor for the charge at the conflict of Albuera. Napoleon ordered to bring in lance instructors from the Duchy of Warsaw, and General Konopka became inspector of training fresh regiments.
Faithful to the End
After leaving Spain in 1813, the 7th Regiment of Swiss-Lancers of Liners fought in subsequent campaigns until the end of the Napoleonic era. He struggled in the battles of Budziszyn 19 May 1813, under Dresden 27 August 1813 and 7 October – 11 November 1813, under Pirna 17 October 1813, under Ligny 16 June 1815 and under Waterloo 18 June 1815. He was besides the last regiment of the large Army, whose troops saluted the emperor with a tight line. This occurred on June 29, 1815 on a road close Rambouillet erstwhile Napoleon was second deported to exile. Polish lansjers proved to be the most faithful of the faithful. The same branch on July 2, 1815 decorated in defence of the bridge in Sèvres. After the surrender of Paris, the regiment did not surrender to the authority of Emperor Alexander I, remained in France and on December 27, 1815 was disfigured.
Andrzej Łydka Lieutenant-Colonel of the Reserve, Doctor Engineer, Assistant at the Institute of Legal Sciences of the University of Opole, veteran of activities abroad in Kosovo, Iraq, Georgia and Afghanistan.
Sources of quotes
G.C. Dempsey, with Napoleon. abroad units in the French Army during the time of the Consulate and Empire 1799–1814, crowd K. Bażynska-Chojnacka,
P. Chojnacki, Warsaw 2005, p. 152.
M. Kukiel, The past of Polish Arms in the Napoleonic Age, Poznań 1912, pp. 197–198, 214, 221.
K. Wojciechowski, My Diaries in Spain, Warsaw 1845, pp. 2, 22–23, 51–52, 73.
Bibliography
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