Battle Of Radzymin (1809)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

The Battle of Radzymin took place on 25 April 1809, during the brief
Polish–Austrian War The Austro-Polish War or Polish-Austrian War was a part of the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809 (a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and allied states). In this war, Polish forces of ...
. The battle occurred at
Radzymin Radzymin is a town in Poland and is one of the distant suburbs of the city of Warsaw. It is located in the powiat of Wołomin of the Masovian Voivodeship. The town has 8,818 inhabitants (as of 2008, but the surrounding commune is heavily populate ...
, some north-east of
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
.


Pre-battle

Following the Battle of Raszyn on 19 April, the Polish forces commanded by 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 the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lit ...
left Warsaw undefended and withdrew to several fortresses located nearby (most notably to
Modlin Fortress Modlin Fortress () is one of the largest 19th-century fortresses in Poland. It is located in the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin (village), Modlin on the Narew river, approximately 50 kilometers north of Warsaw. It was original ...
and
Serock Serock is a town at the north bank of the Zegrze Lake, Zegrze lake in the Legionowo County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, around north of Warsaw. It has 4,109 inhabitants (2013). History The stronghold was founded in the 10th century, shortly ...
). The Austrians seized the Polish capital on 23 April, but it was a
pyrrhic victory A Pyrrhic victory ( ) is a victory that inflicts such a devastating toll on the victor that it is tantamount to defeat. Such a victory negates any true sense of achievement or damages long-term progress. The phrase originates from a quote from ...
, as the Austrian force was now seriously overstretched and had a still unbeaten enemy in the vicinity of Warsaw, as well as new Polish forces gathering strength behind their lines in
Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...
. Prince Este garrisoned Warsaw with 10,000 soldiers, and split his remaining forces, sending some 6,000 troops under Gen. to the right bank of the Vistula, and the rest towards
Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...
and other targets on the left bank. The borough of Praga, located right across the Vistula from Warsaw, was initially left in Polish hands, garrisoned by a small force of 600 men. Mohr's force crossed the river near
Karczew Karczew (; ''Kartshev'') is a town in Otwock County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland. It is the seat of the urban-rural administrative district of Gmina Karczew, with 10,271 inhabitants (2010). Karczew is a part of the Warsaw metropolitan area, Wars ...
and on 24 April besieged the small Polish garrison of Praga. However, the following day the besiegers were assaulted from the back by a Polish division-sized sortie from the Modlin Fortress under Gen. Michał Sokolnicki. In what became known as the Battle of Grochów, the spearhead of the Austrian force was defeated and the Poles withdrew successfully. Simultaneously, further to the north-east, at Radzymin, a Polish force mounted yet another attack on overstretched Austrians. The town was held by relatively small Austrian forces consisting of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions from the 63rd ''Graf Baillet'' Infantry Regiment (under Ludwig Graf Baillet de Latour, younger brother of Field Marshal Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour) and a detachment of
hussars A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...
. The Polish force was similar in size and consisted of a squadron of
uhlans Uhlan (; ; ; ; ) is a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. The uhlans started as Lithuanian irregular cavalry, that were later also adopted by other countries during the 18th century, including Poland, France, Russia, Prussia, ...
under Capt. Piotr Strzyżewski and a single infantry battalion from the 6th Infantry Regiment under Julian Sierawski. The force was supported by a single 2-gun battery of mounted artillery.


The Battle

Overnight on 24 April the Polish force left Serock and crossed the
Narew The Narew (; ; or ) is a 499-kilometre (310 mi) river primarily in north-eastern Poland. It is a tributary of the river Vistula. The Narew is one of Europe's few braided rivers, the term relating to the twisted channels resembling braided h ...
, reaching Radzymin before daylight. In the early hours of 25 April the force attacked the town from two sides and commenced a synchronised attack. The Austrians withdrew to the town's centre, but soon their cavalry was forced to retreat and the infantry battalions were now isolated. After a brief close quarters fight, the two Austrian battalions with their remaining 37 officers surrendered.


Result and aftermath

The losses for the Polish side were 19 killed and 27 wounded. The losses for the Austrians included approximately 2,000 prisoners of war and many killed and wounded. Although the battle was not a decisive defeat for the Austrians, it was one of a series of skirmishes they lost on the eastern bank of Vistula. Finally on 2 and 3 May the entire corps under Gen. Mohr was defeated at Ostrówek and its
pontoon bridge A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, is a bridge that uses float (nautical), floats or shallow-draft (hull), draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the support ...
across the river was destroyed, thwarting any further attempts to advance further east. This gave Poles enough time to leave the Austrians locked in Warsaw to their fate and liberate much of Galicia without much opposition from the enemy.


Notes


References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Radzymin 1809 Battles of the War of the Fifth Coalition involving Austria Battles of the Napoleonic Wars involving Poland Austro-Polish War Military history of Warsaw 19th century in Warsaw April 1809