Wincenty Aksamitowski (September 15, 1760 – January 13, 1828) was a

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

artillery officer who rose to the rank of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

, serving with the

Polish army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

and

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (, , ), is the principal Army, land warfare force of France, and the largest component of the French Armed Forces; it is responsible to the Government of France, alongside the French Navy, Fren ...

during the

Napoleonic War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Napoleonic Wars , partof = the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars , image = Napoleonic Wars (revision).jpg , caption = Left to right, top to bottom:Battl ...

s. He was born in Nagórzany near

Kamieniec Podolski Kamianets-Podilskyi (, ; ) is a city on the Smotrych River in western Ukraine, western Ukraine, to the north-east of Chernivtsi. Formerly the administrative center of Khmelnytskyi Oblast, the city is now the administrative center of Kamianets ...

, Poland, and died in

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 ...

. In 1802 as commander of the 2nd Polish Legion, he was involved in uncovering an anti-French Masonic plot which had been instigated by the

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and High ...

brigade commander H. M. Aurora. Although this damaged his reputation in the eyes of his men, it did facilitate the transfer of his unit to the French armies payroll. However this came with a price: they were transferred to

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

. Aksamitowski however did not accompany them. He was appointed Chief of Brigade in 1803, and Brigadier General in 1806. He was given command of the artillery of the

Grand Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw (; ; ), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during the Napoleonic Wars. It initially comprised the ethnically Polish lands ceded ...

in 1806. In 1808, he was appointed a staff officer in the

Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

in the 3rd Corps of

Louis-Nicolas Davout Louis-Nicolas d'Avout (; 10 May 1770 – 1 June 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, was a French people, French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolution ...

, and then commanded a brigade of the 1st Polish Legion in the Armée d'Allemagne attached to the 3rd Corps. In 1813, he commanded a cavalry brigade and was a member of

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also ; ; ; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French Army officer and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the military titles of Marshal of the ...

's personal staff.

References

Bibliography

*R. Bielecki – Encyklopedia wojen Napoleońskich, Warszawa 2002 *Henryk P. Kosk – Generalicja polska, tom I, Oficyna Wydawnicza "Ajaks", Pruszków 2001, *Jan Pachoński, Oficerowie Legionów Polskich 1796–1807, część II: Słownik biograficzny oficerów Legionów Polskich 1796-1807 (do druku przygotowali Kamil Stepan i Adam Roliński), Fundacja Centrum Dokumentacji Czynu Niepodległościowego, Księgarnia Akademicka, Kraków 1998–2003, s. 4-6 1760 births 1828 deaths People from Khmelnytskyi Oblast People from Podolia Voivodeship Polish generals Polish legionnaires (Napoleonic period) Critics of Freemasonry {{Poland-mil-bio-stub