About the subsequent events that followed these, the historian N. I. Kostomarov wrote. in his monograph “The Last Years of the Commonwealth” it is said: “Igelstrom sent General Denisov's troops against the rebellious Madalinsky and the troops who had adhered to him, who stopped at Skalmerzh, and sent a detachment to the enemy under the command of Major General Tormasov. Expecting that the enemy still had little strength, Denisov gave Tormasov a small detachment, only two battalions and two infantry companies, six cavalry squadrons and a Cossack regiment. Kosciuszko learned that Madalinsky was in danger, left Krakow and connected with Madalinsky before Tormasov reached him. With Kosciuszkoy were brigades of Manget and Walewski, Zionchek with the people's cavalry and 16 cannons. According to Russian news, he had 7 battalions, 26 squadrons and 11 cannons with him, and up to two thousand men with pikes and scythes. In addition to the troops, detachments of the gentry from the provinces of Ravsky, Sieradz and Lenchitsky came to Kosciuszka and were led - young landless gentry, who had almost nothing to lose. … …
Diorama "Battle of Racławice". Polish soldiers escort Russian prisoners.
The hostile troops met at the village of Racławice. A deep valley separated both troops. Tormasov made an attack. At first, things went well for the Russians. The people's cavalry could not withstand the attack and fled. But Kosciuszko, concentrating his forces, struck at the Russians; the cosigners rushed forward - claps armed with scythes; the Russian army turned out to be smaller, and it entered the valley, where it was inconvenient to turn. Tormasov ordered to break through with bayonets. But the Poles pressed on them so hard that the Russians could not stand it.
Diorama "Battle of Racławice". The climax of the fight. Polish cosigners attack the Russian battery.
Fragment of the panorama. "Fight for the guns".
Fragment of the panorama. “Desperate hand-to-hand combat: Russian soldiers against Polish kosinieri”.
Diorama "Battle of Racławice". Russian artillerymen are trying to withdraw the guns from the position. By the way, Tadeusz Kosciuszko wrote the following about Russian artillery: “The Russian artillery corps is usually numerous. The attack of the army corps is preceded by continuous volleys of this artillery. The artillerymen shoot quite quickly, but they are poorly controlled, and they have poor aiming from the guns. " One could not believe it - after all, the enemy writes, but at that time very many of those who served in our army wrote about the poor state of the artillery of the Russian army. So it is not surprising that the Poles could not stop the volleys of Russian guns in this battle!
Diorama "Battle of Racławice". Tadeusz Kosciuszko personally leads the Kosiners into the attack!
Fragment of the panorama. Tadeusz Kosciuszko in sukman "a la muzhik" leads the attacking cosigners.
The first to run was Count Tomatis's grenadier battalion, throwing away its guns. Tormasov sent a company of the Uglitsky regiment into the slaughter, but this company followed the example of its comrades and, abandoning its guns, fled. The third battalion held out more than the others, but that, too, was finally mixed and ran into the forest. Colonel Muromtsev with four squadrons rushed to the enemy cavalry, but was killed. The Russian cannons went to the winners. The Russians numbered killed: two staff officers, ten chief officers and privates 425. Among those killed, besides Muromtsev, there was another staff officer, Lieutenant Colonel Pustovalov, who had previously been distinguished by his bravery. Kosciuszko made two claps to the officer for the bravery shown in the capture of the Russian cannons.
But this is a "small panorama". In the center is the layout of the battle site, and around the perimeter there are figures in the uniforms of the participants in the battle.
Denisov, meanwhile, hurried to Tormasov to help, but it was too late. Kosciuszko, having defeated the Russians, retreated and stood in a fortified camp near Promnik, not far from Krakow. (Kostomarov NI The last years of the Commonwealth. Historical monograph. - 2nd ed. - St. Petersburg, 1870. - SS. 708-709.) This was the description of the battle near Racławice - one of the first battles during the uprising of Tadeusz Kosciuszko against the Russian Empire. It happened on April 4, 1794 near the village of Racławice in the territory of the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
Polish infantry in 1794.
For the conduct of hostilities, Kosciuszko at this point managed to collect the following troops:
Strength Regiment name and commander Number of soldiers
2 battalions. Chapsky Infantry Regiment: 400 bayonets
2 battalions. Infantry Regiment Wodzitsky: 400 infantry
2 battalions. Infantry Regiment Ozarovsky: 400 bayonets
1st battalion. Raczynski Infantry Regiment: 200 infantry
10 cavalry squadrons. Under the command of Madaliński: 400 sabers
10 cavalry squadrons. Magnet's command: 400 sabers
4 cavalry squadrons. Under the command of Bernatsky: 160 sabers
2 auxiliary squadrons. Duke of Württemberg: 80 sabers
Total: 2,440 people.
Polish cavalry in uniforms from 1794.
In addition, the Lesser Poland Voivodeship was able to supply the rebels with 11 cannons and another 2,000 peasants armed with scythes converted into lances (the so-called "cosigners"), who played a decisive role in this battle.
Cosigner flaps in their traditional zhupans.
And that's them too. Some are shown in a very funny way, isn't it ?!
Unfortunately, there is no exact description of this fight. Descriptions from different authors sometimes differ quite significantly. However, on the whole, we can reconstruct its course in approximately the following way. First of all, it should be noted that General Tormasov, having met the enemy and having at his disposal significant forces that were superior to the enemy's forces, attacked the Polish troops, turning towards them with a front. Russian troops advanced in a traditional closed formation, forming in a line, shoulder to shoulder, in several rows. That is, everything was done in the best traditions of the linear tactics of the Prussian military school of Frederick II. Such a formation made it possible to conduct frequent and effective fire at the enemy, when the first rank fired a volley from the knee, and the second over the heads of the first. The disadvantage of such a three-gear system was its poor maneuverability and dependence on the terrain.
Well, these are Russian soldiers in the famous "Potemkin uniform."
Meanwhile, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, who fought in the 1775-1783 War of Independence, had more advanced tactics. His soldiers, like the Americans in clashes with the British, fired at the enemy, applying to the terrain, using natural cover. While there was a fire fight, detachments of men-kosigners, whom Kosciuszko commanded personally, were able to quietly bypass the positions of the Russian detachment and ended up in his rear. Tormasov did not notice this, and when the Kosiners went on the attack it was already too late. The attack of the Kosiners turned out to be so swift that they managed to capture all the Russian cannons and thereby forced the Russian troops to flee from the battlefield. But, although this was a victory, the forces of Kosciuszko were still too small compared to the forces of the Russian army for him to decide to pursue Tormasov's detachment, so that the Russian troops, after the defeat suffered, were able to continue their actions in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship.
Monument to Bartosz Glovatsky, who managed to rivet one of the Russian guns.
That is, the victory at Racławice was only a tactical success, although it helped to raise the fighting spirit of the rebels. After him, most of the Polish lands, as well as Lithuania and Courland, joined them, after which an uprising began in Warsaw itself. It forced Russian troops to leave the city on April 17. Well, after the battle, Kosciuszko noted the volunteer peasants who distinguished themselves in it, who were awarded the title of cornet for their valor. Moreover, in honor of the victory in Warsaw at the parade, the cosigners marched in their national dress of Malopolska peasants, that is, in sukmans, which were long-sex homespun caftans. One of the serfs who participated in the battle - Bartosz Glovatsky, riveted a Russian weapon, later became a national hero of Poland.
On the site of this battle today, there are monuments everywhere … Well, the small people of a small state want "great victories" over a strong neighbor. Let not now, so at least in the past.
By the way, it is interesting that the "confederate" hats worn by the troops during the days of this Polish uprising, and the two crossed braids during the Second World War, became the emblem of the Polish 303rd Fighter Squadron.
However, I found out about the squadron later, and it was then that I was already very much pressed for time. Although very close to the building of the diorama there were three museums at once: the National, the Technical and the Museum of Architecture, as well as a monument to the victims of the UPA, which I would also very much like to look at. But time was running out. So I looked at the map and went, and I went very quickly. The glance noted how many language centers in Wroclaw, all sorts of "tasty eateries" and restaurants, there were very few foreign tourists on the streets (not at all, for example, what you can see in Prague), downright incredible cleanliness on the streets and everywhere new tiled roofs …
There was especially no time to take pictures at such a speed. But this stone cat was simply impossible not to capture. I hope that fans of cats and cats, of which there are quite a few in VO, will like it. It stands in some alley and seems to be even for sale …
To the rendezvous point - a taxi rank near the Opera House, I walked exactly one minute to the next. I simply could not photograph a lot of things, but “my women” managed to take a number of photographs.
For example, here is a photo of this street. Houses on it are just like toys or from a fairy tale about a princess and a flint.
Well, this clock tower belongs to the old town hall. They appeared on it in 1550.
There was also some kind of museum in front of which this effigy stood, which they specially photographed for me. But what kind of museum this is and who owns this effigy I never got to know.
We'll have to visit Wroclaw again …
