On 17 March 1863, in the valley of the Nida in southern Congress Poland, Russian troops attacked the insurgent force of Marian Langiewicz, one of the strongest of the January Uprising, near the village of Chroberz. Langiewicz, who had just taken the title of dictator of the uprising, held the Russians off and marched on. The next day he fought again at Grochowiska, and within days his short command was over.
A rising and its dictator
The January Uprising broke out on 22 January 1863 against Russian rule in the Kingdom of Poland. Radio Kielce's history of the rising describes it as the largest Polish national uprising against Russia, a war of small bands that fought more than a thousand clashes over about a year and a half. Langiewicz commanded one of the strongest insurgent groups in the Holy Cross Mountains and won a series of actions in February and early March, among them Małogoszcz, Pieskowa Skała and Skała.1
After the first dictator, Ludwik Mierosławski, was beaten and left the country, Langiewicz took the title of dictator of the uprising. Radio Kielce and the history portal dzieje.pl date this to 11 March 1863, and Radio Kielce adds that the Central National Committee recognized him. The Polish state education portal ZPE lists his battles in order, from Staszów and Małogoszcz in February to Pieskowa Skała and Skała in early March, and then Chrobrze on 17 March and Grochowiska on 18 March.2
The fight on the Nida
After its February battles Langiewicz's force had withdrawn south toward Galicia. In March, about 3,000 strong, it tried to make its way back into the Holy Cross Mountains and fought the Russians on the way, among other places at Chroberz on the Nida. There the insurgents beat off a Russian attack. The regional chronicle published by Radio Kielce speaks of the beaten detachments of Czengery and Zwierow, which Langiewicz pursued the following day.3
Among Langiewicz's troops were the Zouaves of Death, a volunteer unit commanded by the French officer François Rochebrune, whose name came from their oath never to retreat or surrender. The historian Kamil Kartasiński writes that at Chroberz the Zouaves first covered the insurgents' withdrawal across the Nida, then beat off a charge of Russian dragoons and, under constant fire, fought their way back to Langiewicz's main force, where the dictator and the commanders hurried to shake Rochebrune's hand.4
Losses and the day after
Casualty figures are rough. The regional chronicle published by Radio Kielce gives the insurgents' losses at Chroberz and Grochowiska together as about 300 killed and wounded, while the Pińczów museum's historian, quoted by Radio Kielce, put the insurgent dead at Grochowiska alone at 300. According to dzieje.pl, the dead of both sides at Grochowiska came to about 600.5
According to Radio Kielce, quoting the regional museum in Pińczów, the insurgents went to rest at Wełecz after the battle and reached Grochowiska the next morning, tired and short of food. There, on 18 March, about 3,000 insurgents met a larger Russian force, some 3,500 men under Generals Ksawery Czengery and Aleksander Zwierow according to dzieje.pl. After several bayonet charges led by Langiewicz the insurgents drove the Russians from their positions, and Rochebrune was among those who distinguished themselves. The Poles held the field, but their losses were heavy.6
The end of a dictatorship
Instead of fighting on, Langiewicz handed over command and crossed into Austrian Galicia, where the Austrians detained him. Radio Kielce and dzieje.pl date his arrest to 19 March, the day after Grochowiska, and dzieje.pl adds that he was taken to Tarnów. The uprising continued without him under other leaders until 1864, the longest national rising in Polish history, as the Pińczów museum's historian put it to Radio Kielce. More of the long Polish struggle is told in our guide to the greatest battles in Polish history.7
Also on this day
- 1864: Battle of Jasmund. Off the Jasmund peninsula on Rügen, a Prussian squadron sortied against the Danish ships blockading the Baltic coast during the Second Schleswig War.
