Antoni Paweł Sułkowski
Légion d'honneur Order of the White Eagle |
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Prince Antoni Paweł Sułkowski (born 31 December 1785 in
Napoleonic Wars
He began his military service in 1806 during the
In the 1812 War against Russia (which Napoleon referred to as his "Second Polish Campaign") he commanded a cavalry brigade in Count Józef Poniatowski's 5th Corps. The Polish poet and playwright Aleksander Fredro, who served under him, recalled that while Sułkowski was courageous and honorable, he had trouble acquiring the full confidence of his men, partly because he tended to use infantry tactics (Sułkowski's previous command) when in charge of a cavalry unit.[2]
In the War of the Sixth Coalition he was a division general and led the 4th Cavalry Corps of Michał Sokolnicki. After the death of Poniatowski on 19 October 1813, Sułkowski was briefly the main commander of the Polish Corps, even though he was only twenty eight years old at the time. Sułkowski however, did not wish to fight outside of Poland again, and acting on behalf of his unit's sentiment, vowed that Polish troops would not cross the Rhine. After Napoleon made a personal appeal to Polish soldiers they became willing to follow the emperor which put Sułkowski in a difficult position; if he continued to lead his troops he would have to break the oath he made earlier.[3] As a result, he submitted his resignation which was accepted by Napoleon and returned to Poland. The remaining Polish forces from then on were commanded by Jan Henryk Dąbrowski.
Political activity in Congress Poland
After the
In 1818 he settled permanently in Rydzyna (part of the
During the November Uprising against Russia in Congress Poland in 1830, Sułkowski considered joining the insurrection but made a condition of his involvement that he be given his own separate military unit to command. However, personal and family considerations precluded him from following through on this commitment. Nonetheless after the uprising was suppressed he actively campaigned against repression of the insurrectionists and advocated for a general amnesty.
He received the Cavalier's Cross
Personal life
He was the son of
He studied in Wrocław and at the University of Göttingen.
In 1808 he married Ewa Kicka, the daughter of the former
In 1836 he caught scarlet fever from one of his children and died. He was buried in a family crypt in the Church of Saint Stanisław in Rydzyna.[2]
Commemoration
Today, in the city of Kołobrzeg a major street is named after Sułkowski in commemoration of his part in the Siege of the city in 1807. There are also streets and plazas, as well as schools named after him throughout Poland, including in his home town of Rydzyna.
References
- ^ a b Samuel Orgelbrand, Encyklopedja Powszechna, Volume 14, 1903, pg. 163
- ^ a b c Antoni Paweł Sułkowski (1785–1836), "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-09-23. Retrieved 2011-03-24.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link), last accessed, 3/25/2011 - ^ David R. Stefancic, Armies in Exile, East European Monographs, 2005, pg. 45
- ^ Krasinski, V. (1851). Sketch of the Religious History of the Slavonic Nations: By Count Valerian Krasinski. Johnstone and Hunter. p. 259. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
- ^ "FEEFHS: Polish Order of the Virtuti Militari Recipients". Archived from the original on 2009-04-06. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
- ^ Almanach royal. Testu. 1830. p. 333. Retrieved 2015-02-09.
- ^ Walter Asmus, Johann Friedrich Herbart: Der Denker, 1776-1809, Quelle & Meyer, 1968, pg. 348
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