The First Battle of Ignacewo was one of many clashes of the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

. It took place on May 8, 1863, near the village of Ignacewo, which at that time belonged to

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

’s

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. I ...

. Insurgent forces commanded by

Edmund Taczanowski Edmund Taczanowski (1822, Wieczyn – 1879, Choryń) was a Polish general, insurrectionist, member of the Taczanowski magnate dynasty (he was grandson of the famous privateer Maksymilian Taczanowski), and Lord of the estate of Choryń in the p ...

clashed with a 2,000-strong detachment of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

led by Andrei Brunner. The battle ended with Russian victory, and Poles lost some 160 men. Taczanowski all together had 1,100 men under his command, including 500 infantry riflemen, 550 kosynierzy and 50 cavalry, together with 3 cannons. The insurgents camped in the village of Ignacewo, with their positions reinforced by

abatis An abatis, abattis, or abbattis is a field fortification consisting of an obstacle formed (in the modern era) of the branches of trees laid in a row, with the sharpened tops directed outwards, towards the enemy. The trees are usually interlaced ...

and a rampart. Russian detachment had some 2,000 men, commanded by General Brunner. Their initial attack was repelled, but after some time, the Russians found a passage across local swamps, and clashed with weak left wing of the Poles. After breaking into the camp, they destroyed Taczanowski's party, killing 160, also by deliberate murdering of the wounded insurgents. Polish painter

Juliusz Kossak Juliusz Fortunat Kossak ( Nowy Wiśnicz, 15 December 1824 – 3 February 1899, Kraków) was an Austrian Polish historical painter and master illustrator who specialized in battle scenes, military portraits and horses. He was the progenitor of a ...

dedicated one of his paintings, Bitwa pod Ignacewem (1893), to the battle.

References

Sources

* Stefan Kieniewicz: Powstanie styczniowe. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1983. . Ignacewo 1863 in Poland Ignacewo May 1863 events {{Russia-battle-stub