The Battle of Komarów was fought near Zamość at the end of August 1920, culminating on 31 August, during the Polish-Soviet War1. After the Polish victory at Warsaw, Semyon Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army tried to strike north, but Polish forces held Zamość and the Polish 1st Cavalry Division under Colonel Juliusz Rómmel attacked it at Komarów1. In a series of mounted charges and clashes the Soviet army was badly beaten and barely escaped encirclement2. It is often called the last great cavalry battle in Europe.2
In the summer of 1920 Semyon Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army was the most feared force on the Eastern Front. At the end of August, near the village of Komarów, Polish cavalry met it in the open, sabre against sabre, and broke it.
After Warsaw
After the Polish victory at Warsaw, Budyonny's 1st Cavalry Army, already delayed by battles such as Zadwórze, was ordered north to strike the flank of the advancing Polish armies3.
The Zamość ring
By the time the Soviet cavalry reached Zamość at the end of August, the Poles had gathered forces to meet it. The town's garrison held out2, while Polish units, including the assault battalion of Captain Stanisław Maczek, fought delaying actions and the Polish 1st Cavalry Division closed in.
31 August
On 31 August the 1st Cavalry Division under Colonel Juliusz Rómmel attacked near Komarów. In a day of mounted charges and counter-charges, the Polish uhlan regiments drove back the Soviet cavalry divisions, in fighting that included some of the largest cavalry clashes of the war.
Escape from the trap
Threatened with encirclement, Budyonny's army broke out to the east4 and retreated with heavy losses. After the battle its morale collapsed3, and it was no longer the force it had been.
The last great cavalry battle
Komarów is often described as the last great battle in Europe in which cavalry fought as cavalry, rather than as mounted infantry. It completed the victory of 1920 and is remembered with pride in the traditions of the Polish cavalry.
