Stanisław Mokronowski (1761-1821) was a prominent member of the

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the ''gentry'', is a largely historical British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. While distinct from, and socially below, the British peerage, th ...

Bogoria coat of arms Bogoria is a Polish coat of arms. It was used by several szlachta families in medieval Poland and later under the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, branches of the original medieval Bogoriowie family as well as families connected with the Clan ...

. A

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

and a royal Chamberlain

Mokronowski took part in both the

Polish–Russian War of 1792 The Polish–Russian War of 1792 (also, War of the Second Partition, and in Polish sources, War in Defence of the Constitution ) was fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on one side, and the Targowica Confederation (conservati ...

(War in the Defence of the Constitution) and Kościuszko's Uprising of 1794.

Early life

Stanisław Mokronowski was born in 1761 to Ludwik Mokronowski and Józefa née Czosnowska. Educated by

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

s, he later studied at the Szkoła Rycerska (Knight's School, also known as the Cadet Corps) in Warsaw, and later in Paris. He entered the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct ...

service in Poland, but for a few years he served in the

French military The French Armed Forces (french: Forces armées françaises) encompass the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force and the Gendarmerie of the French Republic. The President of France heads the armed forces as Chief of the Armed Forces. France ...

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Four-Year Sejm

He returned to Poland in 1788, and on the

sejmik A sejmik (, diminutive of ''sejm'', occasionally translated as a ''dietine''; lt, seimelis) was one of various local parliaments in the history of Poland and history of Lithuania. The first sejmiks were regional assemblies in the Kingdom of Pol ...

Wyszogród Wyszogród is a town in central Poland, in Masovian Voivodeship, in Płock County, by the Vistula River. The population of Wyszogród was 2,793 in 2004. History The settlement dates back to the 7th century, when there was a Slavic pagan templ ...

land he was elected the deputy to the national

Sejm The Sejm (English: , Polish: ), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (Polish: ''Sejm Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej''), is the lower house of the bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of t ...

(parliament), thus becoming a member of the famous Great Sejm

He became allied to the

Poniatowski family The House of Poniatowski (plural: ''Poniatowscy'') is a prominent Polish family that was part of the nobility of Poland. A member of this family, Stanisław Poniatowski, was elected as King of Poland and reigned from 1764 until his abdication ...

. In 1792, during the War in the Defence of the Constitution he held the rank of vicebrigadier (''wicebrygadier''), and after distinguishing himself at the

battle of Zieleńce The Battle of Zieleńce was a battle in the Polish–Russian War of 1792, in defence of the Polish Constitution of 3 May 1791. The battle took place on 18 June 1792, between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Army of Józef Poniatowski and an I ...

was promoted to the rank of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a three-star military rank (NATO code OF-8) used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the ...

. In the aftermath of the

, Mokronowski became the fourth person to receive the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', pl, Order Wojenny Virtuti Militari) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was created in 1792 by Polish King Stan ...

order, after prince

Józef Poniatowski Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski (; 7 May 1763 – 19 October 1813) was a Polish general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of the French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. A nephew of king Stanislaus Augustus of Poland (), ...

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko ( be, Andréj Tadévuš Banavientúra Kasciúška, en, Andrew Thaddeus Bonaventure Kosciuszko; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, an ...

and Michał Wielhorski.

Kościuszko Uprising

In 1794, he was the commander of Polish troops in Warsaw, and took part in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising ( pl, powstanie warszawskie; german: Warschauer Aufstand) was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from German occupation. It occ ...

against the Russian garrison occupying the city. The Russians were defeated in two days, and retreated from the city with very heavy losses. During the insurrection he held the position of commander of the city of Warsaw and the National Forces of the Masovian Duchy (''komendant miasta Warszawy i Siły Zbrojnej Księstwa Mazowieckiego''). He was elected to the Provisional Temporary Council (Polish: Rada Zastępcza Tymczasowa), but due to his criticism of

he was removed from the political body. As a military commander, he was important in the defense of Warsaw (commander of the defense at the battle of Błonie), and in

Lithuania Lithuania (; lt, Lietuva ), officially the Republic of Lithuania ( lt, Lietuvos Respublika, links=no ), is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea. Lithuania ...

, where he led the retreating Commonwealth forces towards Warsaw. Together with prince

, Michał Wielhorski and Eustachy Sanguszko, he formed the core of the "court" faction among the insurrectionists. After the defeat of the Uprising, he retired to Italy.

Congress Poland

He returned to Poland shortly before his death. He was engaged in the construction of the monument of Józef Poniatowski in Warsaw.

Personal life

Family

In 1793, he married Maria Marianna Sanguszko-Kowelska. In 1804 his daughter, Antonina Mokronowski, was born.

References

Jozef Poniatowski, biography, mentions several facts about Stanisław Morkonowski
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mokronowski, Stanislaw Members of the Great Sejm 1761 births 1821 deaths People from Włocławek County Generals of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Polish generals Generals of the Kościuszko Uprising Kościuszko insurgents Recipients of the Virtuti Militari Polish nobility