On 4 April 1794, twelve days after the start of the Kościuszko Uprising, Tadeusz Kościuszko's small army defeated a Russian force under General Alexander Tormasov near the village of Racławice, northeast of Kraków. The decisive blow came late in the day, when peasant volunteers armed with scythes charged a Russian battery and took the guns. The victory was small in military terms, but it gave the uprising a legend, the kosynierzy, and helped spread the revolt to Warsaw.
An uprising against the partitions
After the Second Partition of 1793 the remaining Polish state was in practice run by the Russian ambassador. In March 1794 the cavalry general Antoni Madaliński refused an order to cut his brigade and marched south from Ostrołęka, and the Russian garrison left Kraków to stop him. On 24 March Tadeusz Kościuszko, already known for his service in the American War of Independence, swore an oath in Kraków's market square and took command of the insurrection.1
On the morning of 1 April Kościuszko marched out of Kraków. Joined by Madaliński and General Józef Zajączek, his force numbered, according to dzieje.pl, 2,200 infantry, 2,000 cavalry and about 2,000 peasants armed with pikes and scythes, but only 12 guns. Peasants who could not be given firearms carried scythes refitted as pole weapons, and became known as kosynierzy, the scythemen.2
Two Russian generals
Against him stood a Russian corps under Generals Fyodor Denisov and Alexander Tormasov, about 5,000 men with a dozen or more guns. The two commanders disliked each other, and their plan was to outflank Kościuszko and crush him quickly. Early on 4 April Zajączek's patrols clashed with Cossacks and took prisoners who gave away the Russian line of march. Kościuszko could now choose his ground, while Denisov marched on to the empty Polish camp at Koniusza and left Tormasov without support.3
Tormasov's men held the high ground of Zamczysko and the Kościejów hills near Racławice. At about 3 p.m. they attacked the Polish left, which partly broke under artillery fire and a cavalry charge. Some of the fugitives reached Kraków with news of a defeat and set off a panic in the city. Kościuszko restored the line with Madaliński's cavalry, but the Russians then pushed their guns out in front of their infantry, and one battery in particular was doing heavy damage to the Polish ranks.4
The scythemen take the guns
Kościuszko decided to settle the battle with a frontal attack. According to dzieje.pl he picked 320 scythemen and led them forward himself with the cry “Take those guns, boys! God and Fatherland! Forward!”. The column moved up under cover of a long, narrow gully and then burst out onto the open ground, running at the battery. According to dzieje.pl, a Russian volley killed sixteen of them before they reached the guns, while the education ministry's account has the gunners caught before they could fire.5
The first man to reach a gun was Wojciech Bartosz, a peasant from Rzędowice, who put out the burning fuse with his cap. The scythemen overran the gunners and the grenadiers guarding the battery fled. The fight went on on the Polish left until Kościuszko threw his reserves there, and the Russians gave way. Denisov arrived only in the evening, fired a few volleys and withdrew east.6
Victory and legend
The victory was not exploited. The Polish ranks fell into disorder, some scythemen began looting the dead, and around midnight Kościuszko, fearing an attack by Denisov, fell back to Słomniki. The historian Stanisław Herbst, quoted by dzieje.pl, called it a tactical victory but an operational failure. In Kraków the captured guns were paraded, and in Wawel Cathedral Kościuszko made Bartosz an ensign and gave him the name Głowacki.7
Kościuszko's printed report on the battle began the legend of Racławice. On 17 April Warsaw rose against its Russian garrison, and the revolt became a national one. The part played by the peasants also shaped the Proclamation of Połaniec of 7 May, which limited serfdom. The uprising itself ended in defeat in November 1794, but Racławice remained one of the best known Polish battles. The full story is in our article on the Battle of Racławice.8
