Battle of Praga

Battle of Praga
Part of the Kościuszko Uprising
Obrona Pragi, Aleksander Orłowski
Date 4 November 1794[a] Location Praga, Warsaw, Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Result Russian victory Capitulation of Warsaw Suppression of the uprising [1]
Belligerents
Russia	Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Commanders and leaders
Alexander Suvorov Pavel Potemkin Wilhelm Derfelden Ivan Fersen Georgy Shevich [ru] Others Yermolov Barclay de Tolly Kulnev Wittgenstein	Józef Zajączek (WIA) Tomasz Wawrzecki Jakub Jasiński † Władysław Jabłonowski (POW) Berek Joselewicz Jan Giessler (POW) Jan Meyen [pl] (POW) Gen. Krupiński (POW)
Strength
22,000: regulars;  • 2,000 Cossacks.[7] 86 cannons[5]	30,000: regulars;[b]  • 12,500 irregulars.[7] 104 cannons[5]
Casualties and losses
1,540–4,000 killed and wounded[13][c][14]	9,000–10,000 killed, died of wounds and drowned (excluding civilians)[d] 11,000–13,000 captured (including wounded and unarmed)[e] At least 101 guns[1]
12,000 Polish civilians killed[f]

The Battle of Praga or the Second Battle of Warsaw of 1794, also known in Russian and German as the storming of Praga

Praga was a suburb ("Faubourg") of Warsaw, lying on the right bank of the Vistula river. In 1794 it was well fortified and was better strengthened than the western part of the capital, located on the left bank of the Vistula.^[16] Historian and professor Friedrich Christoph Schlosser labelled Praga as "the key to Warsaw".^[5]

Eve of the battle

Previous events

Russian commander Alexander Suvorov inflicted a series of defeats on the rebels: the Battle of Krupczyce on 17 September, where Suvorov's 12,000 soldiers were opposed by 4,000 Polish; the Battle of Brest on 19 September,—9,000 Russians fought here against 16,000 Poles; and the Battle of Kobyłka on 26 October, with 10,000 Russians ran into 4,500 Polish forces. After the Battle of Maciejowice, General Tadeusz Kościuszko was captured by Russians.^[17]: 210 The internal struggle for power in Warsaw and the demoralisation of the city's population prevented General Józef Zajączek from finishing the fortifications surrounding the city both from the east and from the west. At the same time, the Russians were making their way towards the city.

Battle

The Russian forces reached the outskirts of Warsaw on 2 November 1794, pushing back Polish-Lithuanian outposts with bayonets, launching the reconnaissance and declaring the disposition. Immediately upon arrival, they started erecting artillery batteries and in the morning of 3 November started an artillery barrage of the Polish-Lithuanian defences. This made Józef Zajączek think that the opposing forces were preparing for a long stay there; the Russians disguised the forthcoming attack in order to give the rebels reason to expect a siege. The Polish artillery responded with vigour. However, Suvorov's plan assumed a fast and concentrated assault on the defences rather than a bloody and lengthy siege.^[21][1][8]

At 3 o'clock in the morning of November 4, the Russian troops silently reached the positions just outside the outer rim of the

General Wawrzecki arrived in Praga at 4 a.m. on 4 November and was talking with Zajączek. Suddenly shots rang out. Wawrzecki rushed to the left flank, where Jasiński commanded, and Zajączek to the right. Then Wawrzecki also went to the right flank. There were no orders for the reserves to operate in the inner field, and the battle turned into a random, very persistent on the ramparts, but completely disorderly.^[25][8]

Derfelden and Potemkin's actions

Derfelden's columns took possession of the rampart without much difficulty. The Polish island batteries and on the Vistula's left bank tried to act in the flank of General Major Lacy's first column,^[i] led by the column-master Semyonov, but its shots did not reached their enemy and the 22 guns of Captain Begichev's battery answered their enemy with rapid fire. The Polish cavalry could easily hold Lacy in the open field behind the rampart, and the infantry in the narrow passage between the Vistula and the buildings; but it failed. Part of the Polish cavalry began to line up in front of the first column, but two squadrons of the Kiev Horse Jaeger under the command of Zoss "jumped over the ditch and with the greatest eagerness rushed on the crowd of enemy cavalry" and instantly knocked it down. The private reserve of the first column (Lieven's Tula Regiment) came in the interval between the columns, rushed to assault at the same time as the first column's main forces seized the rampart, and immediately began to arrange the crossing. Captain Begichev with his artillery and Brigadier Polivanov, who was covering him, bored with inaction and seeing the success of the storming, rushed forward of their own accord, crossed the passage of the Tula Regiment and began an artillery fire in flank and rear of the batteries of the third line of trenches.^[26][27][28]

Artillery Captain Sakovich (of Begichev's command) was wounded in the breast, but continued to operate his guns.^[27]

Lacy was wounded; Colonel Zherebtsov took the command instead of him, and Colonel Kokhovsky with his

The second and third columns also took possession of the rampart almost without delay, so that in a very short time the rampart west of Piaskowa Góra (eng. "Sand Mountain") was in Russian hands. Prime Major Markov with the first battalion of the Apsheron Regiment climbed up the assault ladders on the rampart, hit the Poles from here with jaeger rifle fire, then broke into the fortress, drove the enemy in front of him, and took possession of the battery. The second battalion of the Apsheronians came in the rear of another battery, and no one escaped. Opposed on the rampart, the Poles joined with reinforcements and again rushed on the Apsheron battalion, but in vain, the Polish cavalry tried to take in the third column's flank, but two battalions of Kherson Grenadiers lined the front and rushed with bayonets—the Polish cavalry retreated. Then the second and third columns rushed straight into Praga.^[26][30][28]

Fourth column

Wawrzecki rushed from side to side, but order could not be restored.^[30]

Hardest of all was the fourth column of General Major Buxhoeveden, which attacked Piaskowa Góra and the menagerie.^[31][30][28]

The Byelorussian Jaeger Corps, at the head of the fourth column marched to the cavalier; the fourth battalion of the Livonian Jaeger Corps marched to the coal battery and to the menagerie.^[30][28]

Heavy artillery fire from the batteries, then from the cavalier, and rifle fire from behind the line of abatises entailed heavy losses, but the Russians did not stop; The Second Major Kharlamov of the Azov Regiment crossed the trous de loup and ditch, beat back two cannon, "through which he gave the whole column a way to go"; near the menagerie there was a fierce melee, which forced Buxhoeveden to divide the column into parts to facilitate the attack on the menagerie's vast park. The Poles, outflanked, finally gave up this stronghold as well; about this time the Polish powder cellar exploded, which further increased the disorder among the Poles. General Giessler, who commanded here, was taken prisoner with 20 officers. In the struggle with Buxhoeveden's column the 500 regiment of Jews showed strong persistence; but their colonel, also a Jew, Hershko, was not at this time with the regiment and preferred to remain in Warsaw.^[32][28]

Fifth and sixth columns' actions

If the fourth column endured a hard fight, but together with the first three columns, it made Fersen's task very easy. The fifth column of General Major Tormasov almost in one moment seized the ramparts and batteries, on the heels of the retreating broke into the suburb and reached the bridge after the first column. General Major Rakhmanov's ^[ru] sixth column was slightly delayed by the Poles, but also soon arrived in Praga.^[31][33][28]

Denisov's attack

General Major Denisov ^[ru] with the seventh column still at night occupied the Las village in front of the fortifications of Lieutenant Colonel Jabłonowski. A Polish deserter and prisoners told about the location of his batteries, trous de loup and the number of troops.^[33]

Under flank fire from the Vistula's left bank Denisov's troops moved forward through the trous de loup, in front went Colonel Count Apraxin with Kozlov Infantry Regiment; part of the troops went to the Polish rear waist-deep in water. Having taken possession of the batteries, Denisov sent his cavalry (6 squadrons of the Elizabethgrad Cavalry Regiment and Cossacks of Krasnov, Second Major Denisov and Colonel Popov) for pursuit. Having cut off the Poles' retreat; Denisov drove them to a spit, in the corner between the Vistula and a swampy channel; the cannons of Captain Rezvoy's artillery pierced through his enemy's crowd thickly huddled on the spit; the extermination was merciless; the Poles, seeking escape, threw themselves into the Vistula and perished in great numbers. And on the opposite bank of the Vistula, only half a kilometre (0.3 mi), the inhabitants of Warsaw were gathered, and their brethren perished before their eyes.^[34][28]

According to Denisov's testimony, the Poles lost 1,218 men killed, several hundred drowned, 16 cannons, and 3 artillery caissons; Jabłonowski himself and 1,300 officers and lower ranks were taken prisoner. Denisov then arrived at the bridge almost simultaneously with the first column. Warsaw was defenceless. The first, fifth and seventh columns were at the bridge and were free to cross to the Vistula's left bank. Panic spread among the Poles. Zajączek, lightly wounded by a bullet in the stomach, hurriedly left for Warsaw. "A real zając (hare)", the Poles said of him afterwards, alluding to his surname.^[35][34][28]

Fighting in the streets of Praga

General Wawrzecki tried to stop the fleeing Polish regiments, but all was for nothing. Accompanied by an officer and two natives, he rode through Praga. It was as if a tetanus had come over him, so that an officer and two soldiers took him off his horse, brought him to his senses, and carried him across the bridge on foot for greater safety. It was dawning; the day was quiet and clear, the sun was shining and illuminating the bloodshed that was taking place in the suburb; the Russian jaegers were entering the bridge, and the Polish commander-in-chief was horrified,—what a terrible and near danger threatened the capital! Near the bridge stood cannon, but the artillerymen hid in the houses, so Wawrzecki himself pulled out one, brought him to the cannon and forced him to shoot. At last the Polish guard came out, and the inhabitants joined it and began to break the bridge. The Russians on the other side broke part of the bridge, "burned and thus interrupted the enemy's withdrawal"—the immediate transition to the left bank was not part of Suvorov's calculations. The fire shifted from the bridge to the suburb houses and Praga went up in flames.^[35][36][28]

The main rampart was taken by the Russians in 1,5 hours after the assault beginning, and at 9 a.m. Praga was occupied.^[37]

Suvorov himself was on a hill, a kilometre (0.6 mi) from the Polish fortifications at Piaskowa Góra, i.e. he was approximately in the middle of the line of his troops, which facilitated the task of monitoring and controlling the battle course. By the speed with which the Russians appeared at the fortifications and moved forward, as well as by the reports of orderlies and chiefs, he saw that the troops fought not only with special energy, but also with extreme fierceness.^[35][37]

Brief summary

Thus, the defenders were completely surprised and shortly thereafter the defence lines were broken into several isolated pockets of resistance, bombarded by the Russians with canister shots with a devastating effect. General Zajączek retreated from his post, leaving the remainder of his forces without a single command. This made the Poles and Lithuanians retreat towards the centre of Praga and then towards Vistula.

The heavy fighting lasted for four hours and resulted in a complete defeat of the Polish-Lithuanian forces. Joselewicz survived, being severely wounded,^{[citation needed]} but almost all of his command was annihilated; Jasiński was killed fighting bravely on the front line. Only a small part managed to evade encirclement and retreated to the other side of the river across a bridge; hundreds of soldiers and civilians fell from a bridge and drowned in the process.

Massacre

After the battle ended, the Russian troops, against the orders given by Suvorov before the battle,

See also

• Cross "For the Capture of Praga"
• List of massacres in Poland
• Siege of Izmail

Notes and references

1. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o} Petrushevsky, Alexander (1884). Generalissimo Prince Suvorov (in Russian). Vol. 2 (1st ed.). Типография М. М. Стасюлевича. pp. 99–125.
2. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Duffy C. Eagles Over the Alps: Suvorov in Italy and Switzerland, 1799. Ch. 2 "Suvorov. The Man and his Armies". Emperor's Press, 1999. P. 16
3. ^ ^{a b c} Dixon S. The Modernisation of Russia, 1676-1825. Cambridge University Press. 1999. P. 41
4. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Duffy C. Russia's Military Way to the West: Origins and Nature of Russian Military Power 1700-1800. Routledge. 2015. P. 196
5. ^ ^{a b c d e f g} Schlosser F. C. History of the Eighteenth Century and of the Nineteenth Till the Overthrow of the French Empire. Volume VI. Chapman and Hall. 1845. P. 256
6. ^ ^{a b c} Anthing 1813, p. 107.
7. ^ ^{a b} See Opposing forces subsection
8. ^ ^{a b c d e} Anthing 1813, p. 105.
9. ^ "Obrona Pragi (2–4 listopada 1794)"
10. ^ ^{a b c d} Arsenyev & Petrushevsky 1898.
11. ^ ^{a b c d e f} Suvorov, Alexander (1795). Польская кампания (1794-1795 гг.) (Суворов)  (in Russian) – via Wikisource.
12. ^ ^{a b} Blease 1920, p. 173.
13. ^ ^{a b} (in Russian) Бантыш-Каменский Д. Биографии российских генералиссимусов и генерал-фельдмаршалов. СПб.: В тип. 3-го деп. Мингосимуществ, 1840; [1]
14. ^ ^{a b c d e} Bodart, Gaston (1908). Militär-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618-1905) (in German). Vienna & Leipzig: C. W. Stern. p. 300. Retrieved 11 September 2023.
15. ^ #Aftermath
16. ^ Anthing 1813, pp. 104–105.
17. ISBN 9780312388027
18. ^ Tgnacy Schipper, Żydzi Krolestwa Polskiego w dobie Powstania Listopadowego, Warszawa, 1932.
19. ^ Orlov 1894, pp. 70–71.
20. ^ ^{a b} Orlov 1894, p. 72.
21. ^ ^{a b} Longworth 1966, pp. 202–203.
22. ^ ^{a b} Orlov 1894, pp. 75–76.
23. ^ Orlov 1894, p. 70.
24. ^ Orlov 1894, p. 73.
25. ^ ^{a b} Orlov 1894, pp. 84–85.
26. ^ ^{a b} Longworth 1966, pp. 203–204.
27. ^ ^{a b} Orlov 1894, p. 85.
28. ^ ^{a b c d e f g h i j} Anthing 1813, pp. 105–107.
29. ^ Orlov 1894, pp. 85–86.
30. ^ ^{a b c d} Orlov 1894, p. 86.
31. ^ ^{a b} Longworth 1966, p. 203.
32. ^ Orlov 1894, pp. 86–87.
33. ^ ^{a b} Orlov 1894, p. 87.
34. ^ ^{a b} Orlov 1894, p. 88.
35. ^ ^{a b c d e} Longworth 1966, p. 204.
36. ^ Orlov 1894, pp. 88–89.
37. ^ ^{a b} Orlov 1894, p. 89.
38. ^ Longworth 1966, p. 202 recalls Suvorov's words, "Work quickly, swiftly and bravely, like true Russians, don't enter homes; give quarter for those who ask for it; don't kill the unarmed; don't fight with women; don't touch youngsters. For those of us killed, the Kingdom of Heaven; for the living, glory! glory! glory!"
39. ^ Madariaga: Catherine the Great: a Short History (Yale) p.175
40. ^
    ISBN 0-19-506162-4
    , p. 317
41. Faddey Bulgarin (21 August 2015). Воспоминания
    [Memoires] (in Russian). Российский Мемуарий.
42. ^ "According to one Russian estimate 20,000 people had been killed in the space of a few hours" (Adam Zamoyski: The Last King of Poland, London, 1992 p.429)
43. ^ Longworth 1966, p. 207.
44. ISBN 1-84212-511-7, Google Print, p.446
45. ISBN 0-19-822575-X, Google Print, p.216
46. ^ Denis Davydov (31 March 2009). ВСТРЕЧА С ВЕЛИКИМ СУВОРОВЫМ. Lib.ru/Классика (in Russian).
47. ^
    ISBN 83-207-1795-7, fragment online Archived March 25, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
48. ISBN 0-19-820171-0, Google Print, p.722
49. ^ Madariaga: Catherine the Great p.175
50. ISBN 978-0-253-21771-4
    .
51. ^ Marc Ferro, The Use and Abuse of History: Or How the Past Is Taught to Children, Routledge, 2003, ISBN 0415285925, Google Print, p.259
52. ^ Norman Davies, God's Playground, Columbia University Press, 1984, ISBN 0231053517 Google Print, p.571

Sources

• Longworth, Philip (1966). The Art of Victory: The Life and Achievements of Field-Marshal Suvorov, 1729–1800.
  Holt, Rinehart and Winston
  .
• Anthing, Johann Friedrich (1813). History of the Campaigns of Count Alexander Suworow-Rymnikski. London: W. Green and T. Chaplin. Retrieved 23 June 2023.
• Constable & Co Ltd
  . Retrieved November 6, 2023.
• ISBN 978-5-4460-5018-5
  . Retrieved 7 October 2023.
• Arsenyev, Konstantin; Petrushevsky, Fyodor (1898). Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (in Russian). Vol. XXIVa: "Полярные сияния — Прая". Friedrich A. Brockhaus (Leipzig), Ilya A. Efron (St. Petersburg). p. 934. Retrieved 6 July 2023.
• "Obrona Pragi (2–4 listopada 1794)". TwojaHistoria.pl (in Polish). Retrieved 28 February 2024.

External links

• Map: "Storming of Praga 4.11.1794"
• 04.11.1794. Battle of Praga, Suvorov's Corps OOB
• (in Polish) 4 listopada 1794 r. O jeden most za mało, Gazeta Wyborcza, 2007-11-06

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