OS P RE Y · M EN -AT -ARM S SER IES

apoleons
'Polish
CJfoops
Text blOTTO VON I' IV K A
Colour plalrs bl M IC HAEL ROFFE
 ~ IE N - A T - A R~ IS SE R IE S
ED I T O R : ~ I,\R T I X W I X DRO W
ALBA :>' 1I0 0 K H RVIC r.s

'Polish CJfoops
T,,·, by OT T O VON P I VKA
Colour plates by ~IIC HAEL ROFFE

OS P R EY P U BLI S HI NG LIM ITED

Publabed in 19 74 by
Ckprey Publish ing Li d , P.O . Boll :.1 5,
107 Oxford ROiId, Readin g, Berkshir e
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ClI~ edition tsBS 085045 'J.J. 7 9

~per edinon bB~ 0 850~5 198 1

Pr in ted in Great Britain by

JarTold . Sons Lid, ::\"orwich

lJlf/Y}flt/rfiol/
25 Xovem ber 1795 the kingdom of Poland fell
10 her stro nger neig hbours, Russia , Pr ussia
Aust ria, a nd 'he third partition of t ha t un-
y, turbulen t sta te took place.
Tbe elected King of Polan d, Sranisla s Augustu s,
forced 10 a bd ica te and retired to R ussia with
prnsion of 200,000 ducats a year . HI"dirt! at 5 1
M1enburg (now Leningrad ] on 12 Febr ua ry 1798 .
HiI old kingdom was redistributed as follo...."I:
\.ustria took the la rg er part of t he pala tina te of
~., the pa latinates of Sandomir and Lublin
part of the d istr ict of Ch dm and th ose pa rts
tht- pa la tina tes of Brzecz, Podl ach ie a nd
it' which lay all the left bank of the Ri ver
Pru.ia look those parts of Podlachie and
-it' which lay on t he right bank of the Bug;
0( the palatinates of T ro ki a nd Sam ogitie
on the left bank of the Xiemen a nd one
t of the palatinate of Krakow .
ia took the rest of Lithuania up to th e
_iiemen, the rNI of the palatinates of Breece
'ovogrod("k and the greater part of Sa mogi rie
tht' rema ins of Wo lhynir-, Courland an d
nDCr- alo ne had opposed Poland 's treatment
ame Iht' natural refuge of all Polish exiles.
Polish offic("rs and men were still held a s
of ....·ar in T obolsk, P('I('rsburK, Mo scow ,
u.•.Magdeburg and ot her places, bUI among
In Pari s was one General J ean-Hr-nri
",~ki who on II October 1796 formed the
1 eeion' with xapolecn's aid.
cit" 287 of the French Cons rinnion d id
it the pr C5('nce of foreign troo ps on
d. Dom browsk i was sent 10 It aly to
I l~ work in the new repu blic crea ted a s
a result o f Napoleon's victories in Italy. After the
victory of Lodi, the Cispadane a nd Tran spadan e
Rep ublics were combined in to rhe Cisa lpi ne
Rep ublic, and the government of Ihis new 5[011(",
being un a ble to raise its own army, decided 10
enlist th e a id of foreign troops.
Dom brow ski arrived in Mil an on 2 Decem ber
1796 and presented his sch eme 10 Napoleon. On
4 January 1797 Napoleon wrot e to th e Council of
Stat e of Lom bard y 10 say t ha i Gen rra l Do mbro w-
ski was willing to raise a Po lish II"gion to help rhe
people of Lombardy. Xa poleon added that he
wo uld gladly la ke all measures necessary for this
operation.
T his offer was well received and on 9 J an uary
1797 a conve nnon was signed by which Domb row-
ski gua ran teed the s('rvices of his compatriots to
the republic in exchange for which his men
became Lombard citizens and received rhe same
pay and privileges as the other national troops.
The Poles retained their own unifonns and com-
ma nds were given in Po lish. T hey wore the French
cockade and com re-epauleues in Lom bar d y's
national co lours with th e inscription ' Gli uo mini
liberi sono Iratelli' (Free men arc br others},
3

w-•••, 1M ....... laiat:d.o... 01 rot..od.u.......u. (w .)
.......
__
s...-,. (rieJul _ • 50 _ _ coo.. I. 1107 ....
1 a ~ C a " " '.
O n 20 Janua!)· 179 7 Dom br o....~k i published a
proc lamation in four lan gu ages ca lling on Poles
10 t n t..r his n..w tegion.
T wo weeks lat ..r th.. Legio n co nsi te-d of 1,:200
me-n in Po lish uniform {kur tka , panta loons and
czapka in blu.. cloth .
\ Ian y o f hi men ca me from rh.. A usman Army
which indud r d in its ra n ks ollier rs a nd sold iers
origin ally from G alicia an d ma llY othe rs were
Polish ..x-prison..n of wa r an d d eseners.
I n \ Iarch th .. Legio n was sen! to th .. fort ress of
Ma nt ua , wh.. r.. it was joi ned hy a n..w ba tta lion .
At t h.. sam .. lim e its arril l..ry w as orga nized a t
\Iilan. II did not receive its bap tism o f fire u nt il
th e insurr..ct ion 4111 Brescia .
By April, Dombrowski had .),000 me-n r nrolled.
Dom bro....·ski, anxious for action, wan ted his
l..gio n augmen ted by 2,000 infantry, 500 cavalry
4
a nd sixty ca nnon from the Army of Ita ly in o n!
10 un dertak.. a raid th rough Croatia, Transylv,u
an d H un ga ry up into Ga licia. This was aim .
approved, and on 18 Apri l the Legion WaJ 4111 ,I
Leob-n P.. u preparing 10 march when Xapol-
forbad .. th .. scheme on the grounds th at it wo u l
not 5("("\... th .. political good of th .. Polish cause.
At this time occurred the massacr.. 011 VtTOn
and the troubles in V..nice; the Legion took at
active part in the assault on ,"..rona.
In \Ia y the Legion had so increased in sill" th a t
it .....as reorganized into two infantry legions, Ih.
first commandrd by (flonl:'Tal K nia ziewicz , the
second by Ge n..ra l Wielho rski.
Each co nsisted of th ree ba ttalions of ten com-
panics, eac h co mpany haying 12.) men. The corps
also had th ree companies of artillery co mmanded
by C he f de ba ta illon Axamirowski.
French regu latio ns were used for ga rrison
d uties; d rill and d iscipline wer e acco rdi ng to old
Poli sh regulation s but cor po ra l pun ishment was
fo rbid den, a. was the case in t he French Arm y
of th.. d ay.
I n J uly t 79 7 Dom bro wski a nd the grena di..r
ba tta lion went 10 supp ress the insurrection al
Reggi e du ring w hich the Poles much distinguished
themselves.
.\t th ....nd of 17~ the Xeapolitan Arm}
invaded th c Papal stat.. to expel th .. Franco,
Polish forces und ..r GC"ner,d Championn r t. K n ia-
ziewicz commanded the Polish Legion during
Domb ro wski·s able-nee and on .. December th ..
Xea pc litans wert" dc f..an-d at the Sault of Civira
Castellana. From th.. captured stocks ofhonn and
ha rness found in Ga ..l.. arsenal after this battle,
a regim..n r of ca v alry .....a. added to the Polish
Leg ion .
T he n..w regirn enr was commanded by Colonel
Ka rwowski; Elie T remo a nd Biern ack i wr-re
nom inate d Cht' fs d 'E scad ron s. Organi zati on was
no t co m ple te, ho we ver , before the a rmi stice of
I I J a nua ry. On 23 J a nua ry Na ples ca pit ula ted
and as a ma rk of respec t to the Polish services,
Gene ra l Kniaziewicz was sent to p a ris hy G..nera l
C hampionn et to lake back a ll the trophies cap-
iu red d uring th e campaign.
A new ann- French coalition was quickly formed
and considerable Ausrro-R ussia n fOTC.., under the
oommand of the- Russia n Feld M arschall Leutnant
 E., le o f Ihe 131h Infaall'}' ...d ( riSb l) ....1. . .Jd ... o f lb•
.... 011..... UI &11&110.., 1..1" Inf .nl l'}'.

____ _ _ _ _ J
-arc w soon advanced to threaten the young
blics founded in Italy.
For-cn available for their defence wrre few. The
French troops were in Egypt with Napoleon :
co mman d of the Army of I ta ly was held b)'
incom pe ten t Scherer; Championner had gone
~ was replaced as commander of the army of
. 'aples by Macd onald .
The Polish Legions, commanded by Widhorski
ADd Rynk iewica, were garrisoned in .\I a ntua at
the sta rt of the campaign and were employed
dis persed amongst the Fr ench uni ts. Co nstantly
eng aged in different battles, they suffered heavily ;
fro m 26 " la rch 10 5 Ap ril (a n er t he Battle of
. lagnano where General R yn kiewice was killed ).
Of the 4,000 men who had set OUI, only 2,000
effecu ves remained. The Second Legion retired
in to Mantua with their artillery under the com-
ma nd of W irl ho n ki. .M antua was commanded by
Ge nera l Foissac-Larour and was besieged and
capitulated (m uch against the wishes of the Poli h
officers) on 28July. The Austrians demanded the
retu rn 10 their service of all Poles corning from
N • .....-
f ...... UfeJ. M i
,.rI.. E.av-.....
..
UI" . . .--.: . . .
 Folluwin/it Illl' disasters which d1iKKI'd Ib,
French in Italv the Cisalpine Republic eli
appeared and the homele-ss debris of III.. l'Riull
found thrmsrhi" in France wht'rr tht')' prompt"
set about raising a new lCJ::wn.
Conditions in France had cha nged : 8unapartt'
Irll f4tYpt l('Cf('lIy and landed at Freju on
:2 October 1799. On 9 !\O\'em!xr he changed Ih t'
form of French government and was proclaimed
First Consul. He decreed that foreign troops could
be' taken into Frrnch service and ordered the
formation of Dew l("J{ions.
On to Fl'hrual)' 1800 the remnants of thl"
Polish- It alia n Legions were rcorRiinill"d at ~br·
scill" and renamed 'La l.iKion ltalique'.
Kn ia ziewicz meanwhile had received orders 10
form another Po lish legion ; this forrnanon, rhe
'Legion of the Da nube' , was organized as follow s:

Four batla lion~ of infanlry each of len companies

of 1:13 men
One r~imt':lIt of C3"alry of four squadrons
One balll'ry of hone artillery
s.e.-
from , R.".hul_..,. ........ I. _n........ h.ln
A_ria. i '..,. ...... ' • •n.c:k 11MF...-ell.
It s stre ngth w as 5.970 men and the commanders
were:
Au trian-comrolled Galicia and all had to revert
to the rank of private rtg;lrdlns of what position Lt:gion commander Gnteral KniaLit'wW:'z
tht')· had anained in the ILgMJJl. .:\xa.mito~lr.i and Chief of Suff GaWTO'W'ki
Old" de BriI(D Sokolnicki
150 men of the Legion escaped 10 I.)'ons disguised
Chefs de baOlillons 1'-IJZU, Druwiecki,
in French uniforms. General Widhonki, ~b.jor Kralevnki .nd \\'uikwr.ki
Kosinski and the ofiicen were imprisoned in Arlillery Nltel)' R<dd
Leoben and did not regain theif freedom until
after the Battle of Marengo. In ~I art h 1800 the infantry of the Danube Legion
This was the end of the Second Legion. went to the R hine and joined the COrpl of General
The Fint Legion, augmented by the ba ttalions St Suzanne on the kft .....ing of the '.\ rmh du
of grenadiers and vctugeurs of Mala c how ki and Rhin', T hey fought at the actions of Rrrg,
Jasinski and by Ka rwo wski's cavalry reg iment Bern heim and Offmburg and occupied the fortress
were directly-under Dombro wski's command. of Philipsbourg aflrr the armistice of I'andorf
Tceetber with two French demi-brigades they (ls July 1800).
were responsible fur establishing commun icat ions T he Dan ube Legion was also engaged at the
between the Army of lI al y and the Army of Ba ul e of H oh enlinden on 3 December 1800. A
" ", pia lancer of the Legion, Jan Paw likowski, disarmed
.\fl a ~Ia) the First Legion and a French dcmi- and captured f,(ty.sc\,cn Austria ns single-handed .
bricade formed the 1St Division of the joint army. Completely illiterate, he refused Oeaerat ~ fornu'l
T'brJT forIIowflI thr Bank- ofTrebbia P7, 18 and offer of a commi ion and a financial reward and
19 J uar ~ltr which the French ilnny withdrew .....as content with the rank of It'rgeant and the
to Cmoa.. tM Ban k of Xovi I.') Augusl ) and the presentanon of a carbine of honour from the
Ran k 01 Z lCh .l6 ptember which finally French Government bearing the inscription: 'La
broItt' ibe farcn the Aunro-Russian coalition. Repu bljque frant;aiJr a son defenseur, le citoven
6

Ma...._ . 0 - cLt RJvoli, pn-. " ' E••U.. ,; hi.
. , P ort.. . .1 I.. 18 10 _ . kah Hl loy 1M U .... of
' ·HI......
Pawl ikowski, lancier de la cavaleric polo naise,
pendant le bataille de 12 frimai re de I'an I X
R epublique, fit 57 prisonniers. '
campa ign ended on 25 December 1800.
xnbrowski. meanwhile, was organizing the
Legion' in Man eillt's after the 1799 ca m-
. Co nsisting of 9,000 men, t he Legion had
nI infant ry battalions and five co mpa nies of
aniII<n a>mp&D'
PnchH-n aed ~1 &D t
The Peac e of Lunn
end ed t h(' war bu t d id
liberation of Polan d . In proteSt,
resigned his command of th e Danubf:
Ge neral jablonowski took hi piau .
Dom browski ret ained command of rbe Po
It alian Legion and bot h thi s forma tion
Legion of the Dan ube were revie w ed b~ him ill
Mi lan on 2 1 March 1801 . At this time rhe I Wia.n
Legion had 303 officers and 6.432 men : tM
Dan ube Legion had abou t 6,000 all ranks .
The tempo rary peaceful clima te in Europe did
no thi ng to aid the Polish cause: on 21 Decem ber
1801 t he- French G overnment disbanded bo th
Polish Le gions and co nve ned them into three
for eign 'demi-b riga des' (a ne w term coined by
G('n('ral Carnot, Frenc h Ar my reform er}.
The It alian Legion (the old 1st Polish Legion
became the 'I·' and 2" Demi- Brigade Etrangere',
t he old Danu be Legion beca me th e '3· Dcmi-
8rigadf' Et ran gere' , By 18 .\ Iay 1802 th is latter
formation. now ren umbered the '113" Dcm i-
Brigade and cons isting of 118 officers and 2,235

.:k'l·
The Polish troops now released from the fort ress
. Ia ntua formed t he ca dres of th e 4th . 51h and
ba ttalions of the Legion ; t he cad re for th e 7t h
ttaHo n came from the I~t. and and grd ba tra-
of the Legion.
Karwowski's cavalry reg iment was sent to join
Danube- Legion. The remai nde r of the new
rui ts for both legions came fro m men of Polish
aigin among the Austrian priso ners of war now
Iadd in France.
On 8 Novem ber 1800 the It alian Legion un de r
Dombrowski joined the Arm y of It al y (com-
ma ndt'd now by M assdna, who ha d repla ced
Cha mpionm·t). T he-ir strengtb at this po int was
- . ,nn men in fou r infa ntry bat talio ns an d one
 l"'1~- : r.alions command ed hy Zagarski,
aed Plltru wier bvckl . wa forcibly em-
.&1 Lr.'OnIO for service in the French West

ladiae cx*:my of Sa in t Domingue. Two French

::~:od<' had 'escort ed ' the Poles on to the

T'1IIr Dnni-Brigade Errangere suffered a like

f'f'DWDOuni the I q ! Demi-Brigade, thev
~ 'nconcd' on to transports in Genoa with a
of n gh ty-St'''t' n officers and 2,7.50 men
'W"l iI, a bo for Saint Domingue, at the
~ of Februarv 1803.
Of Iftn,e two derni-brigades only about fifteen
oftian an d 150 men returned to Europe; the rest
had been killed in action or had died of yellow
k\t'r or were now in the English pr ison h ulks. N.pol '"1"' IU. G. . rd i .. II.. L".'prt"'... a.rlha.,
The I",r De mi-Br igade Eirangere was incor- "1""" hJ 1he SaaOD._P ru. . ... Ann" . 1 J"'. ... Itd
A.. "'r. l.dl.
porared into th e 1St It al ian Di vision of th e army
of t he newly formed Cisalpine R epubli c. T hey
were prtSt'nt at t he blockade (If Ven ice under Alexan der I of Russia a nd Ki ng Friedrich W ilhd m
G eneral Sr Cyr and fought the Austria ns under I I I of Prussia on a raft moored in the ce ntre of the
rhe Duc de Rohan at t he Battle of Canel-Frenco. R iH'TNiemen. One of the results of this treaty wa s
In 1806 they entered Naples with the corps of the creation of the 'Grand Duchy of Warsaw'
under nominal control of the King of Saxony who
Oe aeral St Cyr to secure thai state for its new king.
joseph, ..a poleo n' s youn~r brother. They were had been promoted from his previous rank of
still there when the Prussians were crushed at jena Kurfursr (Prince-e lector of the Holy Roman
and Auerstadt by Xapoleon on 14 October 1806. Empire] by. lapoleon for his support in the recent
Dombrow ki was called to Pari to discuss with campaign.
tM Emperor his plans for the reorganisation of The creation of the grand duchy was far below
Pobnd. the aim set hy Dombrowski and his compatriots
Joseph W)'bicki and Kosciuseko who had pressed
Napoleon to reconsriture the independent Polish
stale in her borders of 1795.

Cjtie (lrrllltl VI/ell)' I n exchange for a dubiously worded promise

from Napoleon to give the Poles back their home-
land, a guard of honour of about ant' hundred

of UJrI/Jf1W riders was formed in Posen in November 1806 and

command of this unit was given to U mins ki who
had bee n aide-de-camp to th c Polish General
~I ad a l i m k i in the 1795 campaign.
Ha\-'ing effectively destroyed the Prussia n Ar my Napoleon's progrl"SS through the old Polish
at Jrna. and forced Saxony and the Saxon d uchies areas was a series of delirious triumphs a nd the
t .&baDdon Prussia and to become his allies, Posen 'Garde d 'honneur' replaced the Emperor's
_-apokon proceeded to defeat Russia and the own French troops.
rnnaanu of . he Prussian Anny at the battles of The French advanced guard of Devout's corps
~ h Eytau 7 and 8 February 1807) and entered Warsaw on 28 November, and Xapoleon
Frirdb.Dd 14 J un e 1807). followed on 17 December.
Tbr culmination of the campaign W3.$ the The ' Poli h honeymoon' was soon over ; the:'
T "'nIY oC Tilsir, si~ro between Xapoleon, Tsar retreating Pru ians and Ru ians had destroyed

8
 stores which they could not carry away, but
insisted that Ihf' country provide his
army with supplies or he would hand
ba ck to her previous opprnson.
Poles had to find 100,000 rations of food
cia, for thdr French liberators and a reserve
000 ralions was to be held in the depots.
oeduct of the French troops in the duchy
to a drastic cooling of Franco-Polish
Dombrowski now srt about recruiting men for
alMfl," forces of the duchy and this scheme was
su pport ed by Napoleon.
alt h of irregular units existed and Dom-
formalized these into, initially, four
an d two cavalry regiments. All officers
o the ra n k ofcaptain had seen service under
Polish eagle, only the junior offict'n Wt'1T
nuli ta ry lift'.
a Decem ber 1806 Dombrowski had 3° ,000
IDClud ing 600 ea va try concentra ted at Posen .
_ ua ry 180 7 Xapcleon directed that tht' III
~s of the eight nt'wly formed Polish lint'
reai me nrs were 10 go to Bromberg to join
the Grande Arrnre-, Each
strong, and Dombrowski
which was divided int o t wo
General Axamitowski co~
I nfa nt ry Regimenu a nd t1K' (.
Cheval ; the and Brigade Gtnt-ra. Fi
the .Jlh-8t h Infantry Rtgimmt
Chasseurs a. Cheval. T otal di\'w ona l
6,400 men including 300 cavalry. There
one hattery of foot artillt'ry of six ~
A rt'Rimt'nt of ' Na t ional Cauillo
squadrons eac h of 12 0 men and the ' Levee ..
(th ree regiments of volunteers) a lso calT"
Bromberg later to strengthen Dom
cavalry.
At the same rime, the old 'Italian
(Ge neral Grabin~ki's demi-brieade abo je i
thc army with three battalions of infant", c;
800 . tron R, and Colonel Roaniecki's N'gi mt'O l
lancers.
•\notht'r newly raised Polish force _-as
'Legion du • iord' of 2,51)0 men und er Priece
~fichd Rarlziwi11; this legion had been raised
Ihl:' Rhine from Austrian and Prussian prUori
 /
1

\
, , .. ... .."" ..

'-~------------------
10
Polish extraction. It was sent 10 jo in t he Siege
lbnziJt. I
a dec ree of I f January 1807 Na poleon ern-
"'IT'd. the Po lish Go vern ment 10 negoeia te
sett lements with Prussia and R ussia and on
.l.Duary Dombrowski's divis ion was sent to
bnha l Lefebvre 's X Corps at the Siege of
•
-
. Ge neralZe jonczek, with four nrwly raisrd
ban aho es (form ed at Kalisz . joined the
h forces brsiC"Ring Graudenz and some days
apol eon gavr Prince Poniatowski comma nd
et her newlv formed Polish battalions for
d uty in Wa rsa w. Th e Posen 'Ga rde
Mur' was now anached 10 th e Imperia l
as Ihr ' u l R ~ im~n t of Pol ish C heva u-

hil(' tht' main Fre nch Arm y was beari ng the

sa l Pre ussisch Eyla u on 8 Februa ry 180 7.
a nd X Corps were employed redu cing th ose
n fi,rtrNiWs which still held ou t in his rear.
fron t of Dan zig. Do m browski captu red
II on '23 February 1807, ca pt uri ng se-ven
Pri...,. J...f P-u.1--.1U, .fll'r . C'OD" u n po.....,. ...... ~
I. Dn.d.... NOIIII', ... , ...cUtlo_1 PoU .h ....dl_r - ~
, ... l......t·. Iacot . , I'" C'OlI ar (ad D _ I ,. _ eM
u...w.rr.. I ...... 01 Poll.h I l'ans l.) .... , ...-.....-
..._n.d"'~

ca nno n a nd 800 men . :O-;a po lffi n deeribcr ed

tee n CTOUrS of the Lr gio n of Honour amon.: t
Poles for th is ac tion.
The forn', besieging Danz ig coraared of Dt:
bro wsk i's division 6,000 men , the I
Xord (2.500 me n • a division from Bad m
3,000 Fre nch troops.
LEe' L Da nzig capit ula ted on 26 ~ f a y t80i and
qu en rlv beca me a n ind ependen t Trpu r
th ou sand Poles from the Da nzig ~a rTllll*
Dom browski's fO T("('.
T he Polish C hevau-l egers R ~ mm r
~. 10 the Imp eri al G uard was incorpor.
i litt' bod y of t he French Ann\
PULKLEnl 1Azw decree of 6 Apri l 1807 isIuf"CI
headq ua rt ers at Finken trio. as t •
c hl' \"aultgC"T1 polonai se de La
O n I.f Junf' l80i :\"a pokoa
t he Banle of Fried la nd aDd
,. C" ", .U_r - ......... (pan of ~f oT1 if'r' s corpo: ar1lni r
rot of 1M 1st
pI" c
c~,...."
1HI1'r t.s _ "'rt. w_ 1 _
their cond uct in lhi-
leo k, .n fri- e - cord.. ... .. 1.. "I~ .....
eleven offict'n and 1
 UNIT ORGA~I ZAT IOX

Eac h infantry regiment had One Lieu tenant Four Lieutena n t.'! 1st Class
th ree battalions each of six One Second Lieut e na nt Four Lieute na nt, lind Class
co m pa nies indudinll: one II: r~ n a­ One Sergean t-majo r (sicl Sixteen Second Lieutenants
dier, one vohi/(eur and four Four Sergeants [.sic]
Roch compl1.n), tOrlSu t(d of:
fusilier co mpa nies (t he sta nd- One Fo urj-ier (com pa ny
One Captain
ard French (\ rmy sys t ~m), quarte rmas ter)
O ne Lieutenant
EiKht Corporals
THE ISFAr."TRY R EGI'dEST Two Second Lieutenants
T wo Drum mers
S taff of 0 regintln/ of inf o,,/o':
One Ma rechal des log-is chef
I I 7 Soldiers
One Colonel (serg ea nt-majo r)
TilE C A V A LR Y REGI'dENT Four Sergeants [sic I
One Ma jor
Three Ch~[~ d~ bataillon
One Fourricr
Each cavalry regi ment has
Onc Paymast~r Eigh t Corpora ls
fo ur sq uadrons each of two
Three Adjutant-majors
One Farrier (blac ksm it h)
companies except the Kuras-
One Colour bearer (Pt1r"I-oigle) Two Trumpeters
sie r regime nt which only ha d
One Surgeon lS I Class 79 Troopers
two sq uadrons.
Two Surgeons and Class One of t he companies wa s tile
Rtgintlnlal stnif:
Three Surgeon s grd Class 'elite company' ,
One Colonel
One Chaplain Tlu KUfasSln u gimmt of two
One Major
Six Adjutants K C.O.s Two Chefs d'escedron s squl1.d,ons had 1M following Ttgi.
Two ='I.Co. s (a nd and :lrd One Pa ymaster ntlnlo{ stoff:
Po,/t-oigu ) Two Adjutant-majors One Co lonel
One R~lI:imcntal drum majo r O ne Surgeon I st Class O ne Major
Onc Battalion drum major Two Surgeons lind Class One C hef d'escadron
Eight Mu si6ans One Pa ymaste r
T wo SUflo1eons 3rd Class
Three Ma ster C raft smen One Chaplain One Surgeon 1St C lass
{a r moure r, tailor and One Standard bearer One Surgeon and Class
bootmaker) Two Adjutant N.C,O ,s Two Surgeons 3rd Cla ss
Olfi m s Qj /he th,tt battalions: One T rumpet ma jor One Chapla in
Six Captains 151 Class One Veterinarian One Porte-etendard
Six Captains and Class Five Ma ster Craftsmen One Trumpet major
Six Ca pta ins 3rd Class (a r mo ure r, tailor. boot- One V eterinary su rgeon
;Xine Lieutenants 1St Class maker. breeches-maker and Five Ma ster C raftsmen
Nine Lieutenants end Class sa dd le r) (as for the other regime nts)
EiKhtee n Second Lieutenants RegimrolalOffiCtTs: Each company had the sa me
f A£h co rnp(m_~ consisted oj- T hree Captains 1St Class establishment as the other
One Captain Five Captains end Class ca va lry companies.

AR.\IY O RGAX IZAT ION

Ot;f';t; RA L STAF F 1ST DIVUiI ON

CommandtT-in-Chiif PrinceJo:;cph Poniatowski Command": G tnrral de Division Prince Joseph
G tniral de Division Pon iatowski
Chiif of Sioff: .\fajo r de Division Colonel
G'hiif of Staff G~ll tral de UriKade
Kamienecki J. Pa sakow ski
lNfA/liTRY lI R IG AD E
Cemm. of /M . 1,/illtT)' Gl:niral de nr i l( a d~
.-\ xa m itowski Ge neral de Hril{ade Luc Biegansk i
rst Re Kiment Colonel ~I i cjcl G rabowsk i
Insp.-Gen. of "ifan / ~y G~lleral de Brigade Fiszer and Re Kiment Colo nel Cornie Stanislaus
Insp.-Gen. of CovalT)' Grniral de Brigade Roaniecki Potoc ki

12
 j rd Re Kiment Co lonel Zultowski loth Rcgimcnt
.fth Re,{iment Co lonel ('. omte Felix Potocki
CA V A LR Y BRI GAV r; I I th RegimeJlt (

~: <Anira l de Brigade Sta nislas Woj c- 12th Rq(iment c

zyns lr.i CAVAUl Y B RIGADE
l it Regiment of Cbasseurs Colonel ~Iichd C~",m6fUUT; GencraJ de Bril(ildc •f
Dombrowski , IatCT 5th Rcgimcnt of C haucun Co.
I'n:ebendowski 6th R~imcnt of I....n an CoIond I>
an d Regiment of Lancers Co lonel Comte J) zicwa.n
Thadee Ty szkle- fOOT AkTILLERY
wicz 3rd Batrahon Chef de Kataillon Hlirt i ~
eoor A R T I L L E R '· AS F.S GINE ER Pf: TA< :HMk..lI.'
I t Battalion Ch ef de Bataill un J. Redel
"-"i E N e t N E E R DETACfnlLVT
In 180 7 the army of th e Grand D uc hy of W
and D IVIS IO N comprised 3 1,7 '3 infantry, 6 ,035 cavalry
{;jnt-ral de Oivi ion Zajon czc k guns including the horse a rt illcry batt"),
Ch ef d' Eta t ~Iajor Co lonel K 05.~ki at privat e cxpt'nSt' hy th e )'oung Count \\
lajor d e Division Skorzewski (Pa ul) Potocki.
IK ' A NT RY Three French officers were attach ed to
(~ nha l de Brigade Comte Isidore Krasinski organize the artillery and the engin eers.
~th Regi ment " Colonel Pr ince ~Iichd At Ihr sa m e time the re giment o f Chev a u-
Radziwill ofthc Guard was organized in the ca mp at. hr.
tKh Rcgi mcnt Co lon cl \'al en tin Skoru,"lr.i colonel wa s th e Count Vincent Krasi nski aDl.i .
-th R~ mmt Co lonel Sobolewski
four squadron commanders wer e Thom as Lc
R~cnt ('.oloncl ("oOdcbsk i
ski, J an Kceietubki, Ign ace Srolowsk i and H
A '· AL Il Y
Kami enski .
Ge neral de Brigadc :\iemojew'SJr.i
vd R~ imcn t of Lancers The o ld ' Polish-I talia n Legion ' arrived
('.olond Lo nczynski
.fth Regiment of Cha~u n ('.o Lond Kwasniew ski Silesia with Gcncral Grabinski a nd remained
T A Il.T I L L F.R Y
the kingdom of Wntfalia in order to reo~uW
m d Battalion Cbcf de Bataillon Gorski Comprising 6,000 men, it received the namc
the ' Legion of th e Visrula' and w as divided !
three regiments each of two battalions :
aD DIVISION
ut R~iment Co Jond Chlopicki
~: Grneral de Oi,,·i ion Jean Henri
~lajor Kons inow\ ki
[)om hro~ki
---f of StD-I; ~I ajor de Di vision
Chcfs de & ta illon Ruthic
Colonel Cz Pak a.z
Fon d zieb ki
' A.VTR Y B RIG A D E and Rcg imcn t Colo nel Bialowlcj slr.i
rr/1PI4nMr : Grll t'ral de Brigade Amil car Kosinsk i Maj or Szou
Ih Regiment Colonel Prince 3rd Re giment C...l olld Swidcrsk.i
Antoine Sulkowski Major Billing

.:~~ ~~,:;n~~~~~~I=~~';.~~~~ The cavalry of th e Legion Lancers of

4>,.....,., il .... d rtnlained at ran*- ... 1.... 1 ~ in I.... J-Y U
ranr ... ..\1 Ibr II~ ctlllw cna!ion of Itw Grvod l>u<hy of who la ter beca me th e 7th Lancers
.ana" il . . . .,nTl It... ("boiceof ~inilll in l rat< h MTV....
Anny, received Coloncl K lick i as
mInI' Ibr r..n"ft of \.... ~ d ....hy. On I I "\'«U'C <he men
............if'owni and IIw CjUoO:llDrft ~ ; aoch com pa ny ...rtrl place o f Colon el Rc en iecki who brc:uDe
h ~ y ;e Pnl.k8'· 1....... Il,·c Pnl.and '
.... fren<:h <>tficcn In !he l.oI!'~">n dcmandrd 10 br rrtainrd General of th e Cavalry.
n~~,~:~ ~:!:J~ :' ~r:: I: ~~ ~i~~7n;:'~\~; At the bcgin ninK of XOHmt C
ski receiv ed the ord er to rer re ~
 to being incorporated into till' French Army. AI'
( officers and men chose to serve their own country.
but Napoleon was adamant and the Legion wa
sent 10 K assel in the S('rvicc of rhe newly forme d
kingdom of Wn ilfalia.
xt a rsbal D a vo u t, who had French and foreig n
troops under his command, was in reality the
mili tary viceroy of the G rand Duchy of Waru~
with supreme control over the civil au thorities.
On I Sept em ber 1807 the G ra f von Schon feld,
Mini ster Pleni poren riary of the King of Saxony,
a rr ived in Wa ry w; on 5 September he assembled
the Provisional Government, dissolved it and
created by royal decree in its place a government
of one ministry having six members, almost all the
members of the old regime.
Stanislas Malach owski was President of the
Cou ncil , Prin ce Poniat ows ki retained. the folio of
Wa r M inister ,
On 21 Septem ber 1807 the King of Saxony,
Duke of \Va n aw, was received at the frontier by
t he President of t he Council, the minis ters and by
Gt'neral Dombrowski and arrived in state in the
capital with his wife and daughter. Frederick
Augustus liked the Poles and spoke their language
weil ; he was good, just and pious bUI was no
soldier,
The- Saxon king re mai ned in Wa rsaw until
21 Decem ber 1&:17, a nd on his departure he
reinst at ed th e ord er ' Vi rtut i Mil itari' which had
been created by St a nislas-Aug usue, and decorated
many officers into its various grades. He intro-
duced a modification: the horsed warrior on th e
reverse of the cross [the same as on the arms of
Lithuania] was superseded by the motto 'Rex et
patria'.
He wa nted thus 10 avoid offending the Tsar of
R ussia (Alexa nder I ) under whose co ntrol
Lithu an ia now was,
..U (('r th e' king's depa rt ure: the d uchy co ntinued
its reo rga niza tio n; in Apr il IBoB it was divided
into 'depa rtments' o n the French model.
In view of the reduction of the financial burden
no. 01 • Poll_ -adIe.. ol 19730 u.o-iat: ..'-dy
liM alUl ,.... 1,. • • II _ . t. 11107 n .."PC of the Polish Arm y which had 1.I«n a drain on
r_ th e ~ 01 ......... the Im perial Chest, Xapoleon was able 10 pa'
from h is own account a third of the sum whic h
was required for the' raising and equipping of th e
Poles,
He abo ordered Ma rsh al De vo ut to pay at th e

14
---
..........d.. of A-p"' .... llor;t; ..... A•• u i • • ...p_DC a.._
;.w.&l . -_1.- II.. rreDC''' I_ I .... boo....... do_"," 01

end of June all that was requ ired for the m a inte-
nance ofthr French Corps within the d uch y whose
nJ)('n5C'S were originally to have been met by the
Polish Treasury.
This made a good impression on all as the
Polish Treasury was not in any condition to meet
all these chargee.
Not unti l the begi nning of September 1808 di d
the French troops retire into Silcsia, with Bresla u
as their headquarters.
The Marshal retained supn:me command eve r
the Polish Army hut conferred direct control of
the- thre-e- Polish divisions o n Prince- Poniatowski.
lit' continued to exerc ise polit ica l survei lla nce
over the d uchy and appointed one of hi s own
officers, Celene! Saulnier, to be Commandant of
Waf5;lw.
CJlie'Folfs illrJpllill
At t he outset of the Spanish campaiKn in spring
t 808 the Polish contribu tion numbered some 8,000
men of the Vistula Legion and the Chevau-legers
of t he Guard, raised 10 16,000 in August by the
arrival ofthe 4th, 7th and 9th I nfa nt ry R~iml:'nt5.
The Yistula Legion infantry distinguished them-
selves at the two sieges of Saragossa: by the- final
fall of th e cit y o n 20 February 1809 the Legion
ha d lost 1,39l"l men - thirty per rent casualties.
The la ncers of the Legion fought at Medina del
R io 5«0. For the re-invasion of Spain in Xovem-

15
 T he mos t famou s act ion of the \ 'i stula lan cer s i .
Spain was their devasta ting charge at Albu er
on 16 .\f ay 1811, when, with a French hu ss.
regime m, Iht')' an ni hilated Colbome's Rri t i ~ t
infa ntry brigade.
The Chcvau -legers o f the' Guard entered Spa ll
with Napoleon, with a strength ofeilth t cornpanie
The)' dislinji!:uished themselves in a bloody chan:
at Scmosierra on 30 Xcvember 1808, and too k
part in the pursuit of Moore's British Ann)' II
Astorga. Aftcr escorting the Emperor back It
France Ih~· were stationed on the Franco-Spa nish
fron der, returmn g to Paris in February IBog, I n
February 18 10, newlv armed with lances an d
redesignated C"'lXl,.-II~nJ lanciers, a de tachment
re-mmed to northern Spain. T hey operated main h
against gue rr illa bands in the area; present at
Fuen tes d e Osoro in ~I ay 1811, they d id not in
fact cha rge. In September T81 1, 315 strong, Ihis
d etach men t retu rn ed to the p arent regi ment in
Fr ance,
In Febr ua ry 18 12 a ll Polish un its serving in
Spai n were co ncen trated on the Ehro . Together
the fuur regimen ts of the Vis rula Legion had 3,oor
men ; th e fou r infa nt ry regiment s of the: duchy -
ber 1808 the Legion serve d wuh ~I onc~ y ' s III the' 4th, 7th a nd 9th - totall ed 2,400 ; and the 7th.
Corps , a nd the ot her three infantry regim en ts 8th and 91h Lancers totalled 1,000. ThCSt: figur es
with Le febvre 's 1\' Corps . The IV Corps regi- were on ly achieved after remforcemem drafts frOID
menu fouJtht at Talavera on 28 July IB09. a nd at Warsa w. I Est im a tes o f Polish casualties in lhi.
Almonacid on 10 Augus t: Ihey were prominen t bitter campaign run as high as 40,000 dead a
in the victory at Ocana on '9 Xovember IBog. wounded; Ihey ccnsistenrlv fought with gre
Meanw hil e the Leg ion had bee n employed in the de terminauon, and uften, it mUSI be' said, dis-
eas tern provinces, under Suc he r. In ~I a rc h 18 10 p layed bestial cruelty.
a fou rth regiment joined Ihe Legion infan tr-y; it
had orill;inally bee n raised as a "and Legion of the
Vistula' by a decree of8 July 1&9- The last ba tt le
in which the Legio n loo k pari in Spa in was a t
Sag unto 0 11 25 Octobe r 1811, whe re Ihey p ro vided
th e back bon e of a French force of 18,noo which
smashed 3U,I-""' Spaniards.
T he Vistula Legion lanc ers served Sl'p ara ldy
from the infan try. A second regiment was raised In th e spri ng of lBog Austria d ecla red war
by decree on 7 Feb ruary 1811, under Col onel Fran ce', encouraged by signs of pa trio tic unr
Lubien ski, la te of the Chevau-legera of rhe G uard ; a mong Fr ance's German vassals .•\t this stage t
but on 18 June 1811 both regimen ls were inco r- a rmy of the D uch y o f Wa rsa w consisted of
pcrared in to the French Army as the 71h a nd 8th following : twelve infantry regim ents each o f rhre
Regi men ts of Lancers, a 91h rrgi m~ nl txing ba ttalions; six cava lry regimen ts (1St, 41h and 5t
formed around drafls from t he ether IWO. O n ly C haucul"1 a Cheval, and, 3rd an d Srh Lancers
Poles were admitted 10 these three regi me nts. three banaliorn of anille'')-, each of three c

16
 nine ty- th ree cannon; three I"nginffr
train co mpa nies. The 41h, 7th and 9th
been detached for Spanish service,
h, to th and 1 uh were in Modlin and
This left tl,2'65 infanlry, 4,s&t u.valf)"
a"i ll~f)' for Ih~ defmc~ of the duchy.
were formed , each of four infantry
cavalry rrgjml"nls and an ~"i1Il"f)" bat-
rith the 1St Division also ha,;nll: a horse
battery , Some 2,200 Saxon troops ~.I"~
ailabl~. This army w;u threatened by the
VII Corps in Galicia. some 33,000 men
tht Archduke Ferdina nd.
a nd invaded the duchyon 15 April 1809 .

JoIaJ-_ kWl.. . .... P k_r ~rk ...

.« tIM- -u. e - - . __ 011 w.
= .H':....: till.:~In:~.::::.~~=.:::

a nd the first serious dash took place at Raseyn,

some ten miles south-east of Wa rsaw, on 20 April.
Poniatowski withdrew into w arsa w that night,
and at this point the Saxon troops were reca lled:
the: Poles had only 9.500 dfl"£li,'t'S left, and had
to abandon Warsaw and retire into Medlin. A
treaty was concluded making Warsaw a neutral
rily. and Poniatowski galhl"JTd strength. Austrian
attempts to capture the Polish bridgehead which
remained on their side of the Visrula at Praga
were repulsed, and a succ essful coumer-auack was
mounted. Ferdinand nl"xl attacked Thorn, bUI
withdrew when tbe Poles promptly threatened his
rear in Galicia by taking Sandomir. ~b.ny ofthl"
4,000 Austrians ejected were new local recrui ts,
an d some 800 immediately ca rne ever 10 the PoIM.
On 19/20 ~ la y Zamosc fdl to the Poles; and the
jrd, 6th and reth Polish infantry, with ca valry
and artilll"f)" support, succt'SSfully resisted a n
attempt by 8,000 Austrians under Schau roth to
recapture Sandomir. In rhe fact' of thrx repea ted
set-backs, and gTowing local rnUtancl", Ferdina nd
abandoned Wanaw o n 2 Jun~ 1809-
The situ a tion beca me more <,omplicat l"d wben

17

s.IoaII. oJ •• • HiiC'O'r
01 H ••_ ....
R ussian troops moved against the A ustrians in
W ara.aw on the same day. in support of the Pol es ;
but this support was lirnhed and uncoordinated,
and Pc n ia ro.....ski was forced on to the defensi ve
again in th e second week of J un e. A seco nd
A ustrian assau lt on Sa ndo mir failed blood ily on
t5 Jun e, but on th e 18th th e garrison wasforced
to capi tulate - with full honours - throug h lack
of a m mu nition. M eanw hile Pon ia towski's for e"
wer e growi ng in str ength, reach ing a to tal of sorne
24.000 th roug h th e rais ing of si:ot new infant ry and
ten cavalry regiments in Galicia . Krakow was
reta ken from the Austr ian s o n 1.1 J uly; and Iwo
d ays later D('WI of the a rmistice of Zn aim be tw ee n
Austri a and France reac hed Krak ow , en ding th e
ca mpaign. T he subsequent T re at y of Sc ho nb ru nn
brought to the duchy west Ga licia, the a rea su r-
rou ndi ng K ra kow. and the area o f Z.amosc.
T he army of the Du ch y of warsa w, includ ing
the ne w ' Franeo-Gahcian' formauora raised d ur-
18
ing thi s ca m paign , consisted on 14 Xovember 18l"
of th e following :
Infan t ry
ul Rtgl . (Col. Casi mir ~I alachowlk i ) , 2.690 meu
:nul Rtgl . (Col. Stanislas Potocki), 3.0]0; :lfd Rt,( 1
(Col. Edouard Zohowlkil, 2,6-11; II/' Rtl" (Col
Wien l>imk i), 2,2.11 - two boatt.a.lions in Spain
jt/' RtA' . (CuI . Prince ~l iche1 Radz iwill), 2, 10-1
6t1t. H.tA'. (Col. J ul ~ n Sierawski), 2,67); illt. RtA'
(Col. Jakubowicz), 1,095 ~ two boattalions in Spai n;
Blit. Rt,'. (Col. Stuart), 2,302;9d Rt,', ((".01. Priner:
Antoine SulkowU.i), 2,050 - two hattaHolU in
Spain ; l ot ll RtA" (Co!. IJownarowiczl, 1,QQ6 - tw o
battalions in Da nzig ; Ill. Rt f l. (Co l. ~1 1r:lz.)" nski ) ,
2, "15 - two ba ltalions in Danzig; 1211t. &". (Co l
Weyumhof ). 2,60t. ·r.,41
28,387 me n .
Ca val ry
tsl CJuuurm {Col. Praebendowski), 937 me n ; 2rUI
IANni (Co l. T)'ukiewicz ), 1,163; 3'4 IANni (C.ol.
Lo nceynski), 1,015; ItII C/uJJstlm (Co l. Kw asn iew ,
ski), 687 - in German y; j ilt Cluustwrs (Co l. Cu
Turno), 1,097; 611t. JAI/IC,,"S (Co l. Dom Dziewanow-
ski), 1,0<:)9 . T l'lal 5,998 men. Artilluy, Enginee rs
and T rain, hJlal 2,620 men . Grand T otal, 37,00,'jmen.
FR "NU>-CALlC IA N ARM Y
Infaalry
u t Rtgt. (Col. Sl neidr:r), 3,t25 mr:n; :nul Rtlt. (Co l.
S i~m ion0W5ki), 2,852; 31d H.r!!,l. (Co l. ~f iaskowsk i ) ,
3,t22; pit. &". (Co l. Kencz}" cki), 2,338; jIlt. & AI.
(Col. Prince Comtantin Cza rtOf)"l ki), 2,56 1; 61'
Rtl t. (Col. Homowu.i), 1,985. T.t4l 16,583 men
The 41h Rr:l(iment was bter d isban ded , and the
m, end, 3rd, ,'jth and 6th beca me the Pol ish 13th
to 17th Regimen ts respecrivdy.
Caval ry
"' ~I (Co l. 7....wad l ki). 8.to men; IfttI I _ m
(Co l. Ro:zwadowslo.i). 954 ; :Fd l..tuttm (Col
Prz)"sychowaki), 936 ; 4llt l...41tur1 (Co l. Potodi)
699; 5,AI l..tuttm (Col. Ryszc.zewski), 943 ; 6,.
J.-cm (Col. Treeciecki), 9 16; ;Ur. I... .ms (Col
Tarnowski). 66 1; 8tll H MlJtlTl (Col. Tolim kil, 1,049,
¢t H VSS4f1 ((".01. L'milUki), 8oJ; l(jllt. A/i,unm
~Co\. ~bhc.how\\.i.), fou). Thn(: Ul\\\\ \a.\u b«.aTl'\ll:
th e 7th to t6th Polish (:a\'alry regimr nl5.
Gra"d Tl'tal FrllttC-.GtJ/it;i1l1l lrllOfJJ : 25, 193 mr:n
GrllM T ot41 Pl'lislt f()fw: 6'2, 198 men. Dt'lItlwi
forus: Spa in 6,2 65 men ; Da nzig - 3,024 men
Germany - 68ti men .
In ~I a y IBog Ponia towski created .1co mp any of
Guides from G a lician noble famil ies, co m p ri.,inr
four office rs, tw elve N ,C .O. s, two trumpeters an d
sixty soldiers.
It ma y be ad ded th at the Cheva u- legere of the
Fr en ch Impe rial G uard ..... e~ p resen t a t tht Rau le
of W agram (5-0 J oly . Bog), and overt h re w the
Austri an Sc b wa ree nberg L"hl.aI15 in one charge.
The scope of this campaign was so vast, and the
r:ontribu lion of'the Polish units so widespread , tha t
for reasons of'space it is im po ssible 10 go in to details
this hoo k. A su mmary of units engaged, a nd a
f list ofsomc of their most no table actions must
e.
I the bt'g inning of xt a rc h 1812 Prince
tc wski, Ci-tn -C. of th e army of the Duchy
Warsaw. recci v ed o rd ers from the Emperor to
re to march. W ith the absorption of the
nncc>G a licia n units. the forces of the duchy V'
to ta lled 74.700 men, 22.850 hones and 165 ~
:anna n. The entire V Co rps of the G rand e Armee
composed of Po lish troops, o rga nized as
IoWI:

c.,pJ CtnrrnuuuJn: Prince PoniatoW1k.i; Chid oj

SLtJff, Gen . Fiszer-; /NptdJ Ch~f of S14.ff, Gen .
Ra utensrrauch .
,6l/r ~,, : Commander, G en. Zajo nczck ;
Chief of Staff, Col. Weysscnhoff: Ilril{ade Com-
man den, Gem. ~ lidziIUki and Pouzkowski. 3rd,
15th and rfith Infantry Regiments; t qth Light
Cavalry Brigade (Gen. T )"skiewicz); 4th C hasseurs;
12th Lancers.
'7th Di~n : Commander, Gen . Dombrowski ;
Chief of Staff, Col. Codrowsu; Brigade Com-
ma n<kn , Gell$. Axamitowski and Piotorwski.
1St, 6th , l.4.th and 17th Infantry Rqcimenu; Li~ht
Cav..lry Brigade lGcn . lhicwanowski) j 1St
Cha.cun. Fl ftd hal "",lay 01.. T"",.. como of R. ...ia'.
1_ i.-s ....... _ . ... of 1M I I ca ... paip.
18th Di~ : Commander, Gen . Kniaz iewicz;
Chiefof Sta ff, Col. :'\owicki j Brigade Commanders,
Gens. Bi~nski and Grabowski. and , Bth and nth Girard ', division of I X Corps: and Princr Michael
Infa ntry Regiments ; aorh Light Cavalry Brigade
(Gen. Prince Antoine Sulkowski) ; 5th Cha s~\lrs Radxiwill's b rigade (5th. 10th and rn h Polish
and 13th H uu a n ; Ligh t Cava lry nri ~ad e (Gw . Infantry] were in Dan xig as part of M acdon a ld ',
~iemoje .....ski) j 6th and 8th Lancers ; Light Cava lry X Corps. The Legion of the Visrula, in two
BriRade (Gen . Axamitowski ); loth Hussars.
b rigades con sisting of the 1St and 3rd Regiments
41h Po/uh Litht CdlJtl.lry D irUimr: Commander, and the and and 4th Regimcnls. served in
Gen . Rcrniecki. 28th Light Ca\·alry Brigade Claparede's divi sion of the Yo ung Gu ard under
{Gen. Dziewarowski ) j:lnd and t t th I.itln«:n : 29th
LiJl:ht Ca \·alry Brigade (Gen . Turno) j 3rd and 16th ~I ort i er. In August 181:l a b rigade formed from
Lancen. Cnder comma nd, lith Polish Kimusicn. the 13th I nfa n try and a regiment o f the Xarional
Guard of Warsa w, co m ma nd ed by Gencral
In addition to t hese formations, the 4th , 7th and Kw asnie wski. j oined a Saxon d ivision in Reynicr's
qth Polish In fa nt ry Regimen ts were attached to VII Corps.
19
 On 23 Ju n ~ 1812 th e Grande Arm e~ crossed
the Niemen on to Russian soil; for months before-
hand the Duchy of Warsaw had been a vast cam p
and assembly area, and rhe population wen nu
doubt hear tily glad to be rid of some of thei r
guests. Few, indeed , would pass that way again .
The army ran into difficulties straight away :
ahhough the Russians retreated before them, they
poisoned the wells and streams and removed or
destroyed all grain. Hundreds of men died from
heat prostration every day, and the young Polish
conscripts suffered particularly badly . T he poor
forage available soon began to kill off cavalry
mounts in tho usands. On ::13 June V Corps num-
bered 3°,000 men ; by ::18 J uly it mustered only
22,000, although no major actions had yet bun
fought.
On 27June the Poles entered Wilna, Lithuania
- a Polish possession unti l 1795 - and were
welcomed as liberators. In response to local
requ ests a federation of Lithuania with the duch y
was proclaimed on I July. and the raising of five
infantry and four lancer regimenu was put in
hand. These w ere designated the 18th to aand
Infantry and 17th to seth Cavalry R egi m~n u of
the anny of the duchy - although they never
reached full strength, and most of them perished
in the horror of the Russian winte r. Napoleon also
formed a guard of honou r from young Lit hua nian
nobles which became the grd Cbevau-legers
La nd e rs de la Garde.
On 9 July at Mi r, on 10 July at Koralice and
on 14 J uly at !'\icswiez, the Polish cavalry w ere
rough ly handled by Russian forces amo ng whom
Pla tcw's Cossacks were prominent. The Pain
took some measure of revenge on 25 July, when
the 6th and loth Cavalry smashed the Russian
Ingermannland Dragoons. On 13 August the
Polish 17th Division and the and, 7th and 15th
La ncers were detached to act as a link with Saxon
and Austrian forces on the southern flank. of the
army, leaving V Corps with but 15,000 men. On
16 August the Poles were heavily commined to
bitter fight ing at Smclen sk, with mort than 2,000
casualt ies, including four generals and sixty officers.
Late in August the fint elements of the new
Lithuanian infantry regiments arrived with the
M .... t..l Ikn.doo l ... ... be • • ~ I. d ... .,...- of 17th Division : at about the same time Victo r sent
S......Ina; la 181J h . led. t.--p- .. pl••1 1t.1. l o r m • ., ma. IU,
N..pol-. the 4th, 7th and qt h Polish I nfantry Regiml'nts to
20
 . At Bo rodino on 5-7 Sept ember the Poles
aga in heavily enga ged . O n 5 Sep tember
towski led the bulk of the Polish units for-
on the right Rank of th e ar my, whe re they
the Schwcradino redou bt. On 7 Sr-pn-mber
rt her flank ing movement dev eloped o n the
• a nd the Polish infan try foug ht around th e
e of Uticza ; the cavalry were also ac tive in
sector, taking Pasa raew. T he Vistula Le gion
ht on the left flank unde r Claparede.
In the second halfofth e month, while Xapoleo n
pied the smo king ru ins of ~foscow and
ed on his d ilem ma. t he Polish corps was sent
clea r strong Russia n forces th reatening the lines
co mm unication . They foug ht at Podo lsk on
Se ptembe r, then followin g the ene my as he fell
k towa rds K a luga, figh ting several further
«lions. Losses had bee n ex tremely hea vy, an d the
lish infa ntry regi ments were now reorganize d
"t h two battalions eac h instead of thr ee. At about
time the Vistula Legion joined th e o the r
Pa lish un its.
T he lu ll in ope ra tions be tween lat e Se ptember
an d m id-October en ded on 18 O ctob er , whe n
Iwavy Ru ssian pressure developed aga inst M ur a t's
OUtposts; t he K ing of Na ples was forced to with-
draw inside a Polish infan try sq uare. By the time
Brrthl~r, Napo1.-.'a t D-.I.. a bl~ chid of a' a fr.
the y had fough t t heir way back to Woron owo the
Poles had lost a no ther 500 dead (includ ing
C enera l Fiszer ) a nd 1,000 wounded (includ ing bri dge s which were improvised at Studienka on
Prince Anton Sul kowski), and the V Corps was 27 Novem be r, the no w-reuni ted V Corp s under
down to 12,000 men. On 18/19 O cto ber the Zajonczck held off a Russ ian advance u p t he west
re trea t from M oscow began. It s miseries have ba nk of the Bereslne. Poni a towski, who was sick
been chro nicled too often to merit repe tition her e; a nd tr avelli ng in a carriage, only escaped ac ross
suffice it to say th a t the Polish troops suffered as t he river with difficulty. Co m mand of V Corps
bad ly as a ny dement in the dwin dling a nd passed rap id ly from Zajcnczek to K nia aicwicz to
wretched army. Aft er fighting a t Borowsk an d Kra sinski, as t he gene ra ls were wounded one by
Wiasma, V Co rps - so-cal led - ha d but 800 one. O n the night of 6 November the Polish
eflecrlves under arms. The Vistula Legion. which Lan cers of th e G uard and th e 7th Polish Lan cers
had jo ined the G ra nde Arm ee 7.000 stro ng, was escor ted Napoleon as he deserted the ra b ble of his
reduced to 1,500 by t he tim e th e army reac hed ar my . O n 9 N ovem be r t he remains of V Corps
Smolcnsk on 9 Xovember. The 3rd (Li th ua nia n) crossed th e N iemen an d entered their homeland
Lancers of the G ua rd were wiped out at Slonim o nce again. Ponia towski reviewed them at Warsaw
o n 3 Nove mbe r. The detached 17th Divisio n on Christmas Day; apart from Dom browski's 17th
under Dom browski was still 4,000 strong , bu t it Division, th ey nu m ber ed 400 men - but the y still
su ffered heavily at Boriesow o n the Beresina while had th eir eagles and forty cannon.
vain ly tryin g to save the vita l bri dge from
Tschemichew's R ussian s. Whi le the ghost of th e
G ran de Arm ee stragg led ac ross the two rickety

21
~ pa__ a:;" or 1.... RJv .... Ni ..1 a oa :14Jua.. 1813, a l 110e
_t a rt or til.. ra1dlll Ru__1aa onpaICa..
The R ussia ns flood ed into th e Du chy of W a rsaw
in the ea rly mon ths of 18 13; th ey occupied the city
on 9 February, and Ponia towski began th e painfu l
bu sine ss o f reorganizing his forces from Krakow.
Element s of Poli sh units were sca tte red all ov er
northern Eur op e, and it was not un til t he victo ry
of LUtzen br ought a brief respite with th e armistice
of Pleiss witz th at a Polish corps could be assembled .
By thi s time the Russian advance had pu shed
Poniatowski back to Ziuau in Saxony. From
composite uni ts of surv ivors , raw conscripts, re-
numbered regiment s, retu rned pr isone rs and o ther
'od ds and ends', Napoleon an d Poni at ow ski
created V I II Corps, a s follow s:
22
26th Infant,y Division (Gen . Kam ieniecki): I
n,igad, (Gen. Sieraw~ki), 1St and 16th IntantrT
Regiments; 2nd B, igaM (Gen. Ma lachowski),
and 15th In fantry Re giments.
27th Inf antry Dioision (Gen. Kr a.i nski) : I
B , igade (Gen. Grabow~ki ) rarh Infant ry Rcg"imcn
2nd B rigade (Gen. Lonczynski) lind and I,J
In fant ry R egiments [ex-Dom b rowski's d ivision}.
The cavalry became th e 4th R eserv e Cavaln
Corps under Gener al Kellerman, Co mte
Valmy, as follow s:
Advanced Guard (Gen. Lminski) : 14th K urasai
(Co l. Dziek onski}; Krakw (Maj . Rzuchow
8th Light CalJtll~ ~ Division (Gen. Pri nce Sul ko....
1St, 3rd and 6th C ha.~un, in two bril{a.do
man ded by Gens. Weys.o,enhof and 'Furno.
UJ:hl Cat'airy Dit,isiOri (Gen. Sokolnicki ) : 8th
16th Lance rs and 13th Hussars in two bri
comma nded by Ge ns. To linski and Kwa.\Ilie~ki
The lind and 4th Cavalr y, ex-Dombrowski's
sio n, we re b riga de d und er G ('n('r al K ruko.... ·
 attached 10 VIII Corps. Various isolated died, for a ll practical purposes, the G ran d Duch y
. h regtmenu were still in existence in Da nzig, of " 'a naw.
osc, Modlin and Hamburg. At WittemlW'rJt One by one, isolated fortresses all OHr northern
two regiments now in French pay : the R~i­ Gennany capitula led, and many PolC'S were
t of the Yistula, a t wo-banalion remnant of among the garrisons. Those f("w thousands who
o ld Legion, and the '4~ Rc:gim('nt Polonaise', rema ined with the French forces as they retreated
co m posite of t he uld 4th, 71h and 9 th Infa ntry , towards Fran ce were on ly kep t in t he ran ks with
re that ma ny of t he uni ts of\' 1II Co rps, above, grea t di lllculty afte r th e news of Pon ia towski's
e' no direct relationship to the prr.1813 n- gi• death spread. Eventually, and in violation of a
. e nIS of the' same numerical designation. promise made to Dombrowski, Napoleon ordered
After the victory of Dresden (:l6 August 1813 t he incorporation of all Polish units into the
release of Polish prisoners brought \' 111Corps' French Arm)'. Isola ted units, inspi red by personal
IItn"ngth up 10 12,000. The new formation was loyalty to the Emperor, distinguished themselves
Wooded at Ka tzbach on 26 August. K ru kowiec kt's during the French campaign of 1814,
ca valry br iga de - and and 4th Regi ments - distin- The T rea ty of Pa ris was signed o n I I l\pr i11814,
CUishcd t hemselves a r Denn ewirz o n 6 September. a nd the wa r was over. Napoleon bec a me r uler of
On 16 October th ere ope ned the last great banle Elba and was permit ted to la ke wit h hi m a
of Xa polcon's Po lish allies - Leipzig, the Battle of battalion of grenadiers of the Guard and a
tbt Xarions. At first based at xt a rk-Kl ce burg, the squadron of 120 men of the Polish Chevau-legers
000 Poles were pu hed back 10 Dolitz by an of the Guard. This squadron was formed com-
a llack by 18,000 R ussia ns and Prussians under pletely of volunteers and was commanded by
K leist , Tha t night Poniatowski was no min a ted J erm a nowski. Art icle '9 of the Trea ty of Pa ris
Manhal of France. T he Poles remained at Doli rz
t hro ugho ut ' 7 O cto ber, apart from element s
.... hic h held the suburb of Halle and areas to the
no rth. Tbe ci lY had beoorne a trap in the middle
of a ring of co nverging Allied armies, a trap with
o nly one way out - a single bridge over the Eisler,
The heavy trains wert sent out over the bridge on
the night of 17- 18 October: it was then prepared
for eve ntual de moli tion. O n 18 O cto ber t he Allies
renewed thei r assaults, and bitter fight ing took
place, Tha i nig ht Na poleon o rdered the evacua-
tion of th e city, and during the following day
conditions within the areas of French occupation
deteriorated as the rearguard formations tried 10
fight off the Allied prcssUf(' and panic began to
infect those units which had not )'t'l managed to
withdraw eve r the bridge. W h("n the Russ ians
forced th eir wa), in to the city, a fter blood y fighti ng
in which t he Po ll'S played a desperate part, chaos
gripped t he bridgehead - and at thai poin t the
Elste r bridge was prematurely blown, leaving
20,000 Fr ench , German and Polish troops trapped
in Leipzig. Amo ng them were Ponia towski and
the remna nts of \' 11I Corps. Most fell into enemy
hand s; m an y a ttempted to swim to safety across
the EISler, an d were drowned , Amon g these latter
was M arsh al Pri nce Ponia to wski - a nd with him T10e r ......... Gno..-.l Kleb t ..- NoIt,....lorft.

23
TIoe _ .... n .r ~I v.....__• .., e-..m. _ ]0
A..- 181lt all... , ... ""'" eI K..Jm.

defined the future position of the Poles who had

fought 10 valiantly for 10 long for the Emperor :
'Polish troops of all amu are at liberty to rl:tum
to their homelands having terminated their
honourable service.
UJlifOrJIIS
'OffICCR, :X.C.O., and men may retain the
dttOralions which Ihey have been awarded and In.f_u~,.
""i11 ecminue 10 receive the pensions auached to At the beginning of 1807 the infantry wore d.ark
thn(' decorations.' blue Ir.unlr.as with crirmon facings; black felt
cupka decorated with a br. sun-burst plate ,
Th~ ll uad rft1 Day. dark blue or white trousers, brown gr('atcoat.
At the beginning of April 1815 it was decreed Plume, pompon, epanleues and cords as follows:
thai five foreign r('gimenu shou ld be formed for grl:nadiefl red, vohigeurs )'ellow; fusiliers light
service with Xapoleon'e a rmy . The grd Foreign blue.
Regiment .....as formed ot'Poles u nde r '-I ajo n 5lUIc This uniform w as modified by a decree of
and Golcseew..ki. The men came mainly from the a M a rch 1807 as folio",.. lall kurtkas dark blur}:
old Legjon of We \"istula. Tbe Elba Squadron of III Dil'iJu,II: Lapels yellow, collar and cuff, nod,
Polish Ca"'alry became rhe ut Squadron of the yellow buttons bearing the nogiml:ntaJ number;
Regiment of Chevau-legers Lanciers de la Garde, trousers worn over bocu, closed at the bottoms
and foughl wdl at Waterloo. On I Oc tober 1815 .....ith eight buttons and dght kx>ps. On dutj-
Ibis squadron JWII'Cd into Rua ian JnVice in the ofTlCrn wore gilt go~u with silver eagles; gilt
new kingdom of Pola nd . belt with lilnr eagle. Field officers wore dark blue

21
 ,
e-,...,.. ,til
I DriW'l'. Mllh• ..,. Trala
2 rO"q1e. c.r.-.u.r

l~_=----
IaI_U'Y JltoP-t, 1110-,,,
J Aial.e-rd

A
 l
I

-- c
 •

I Offi"r,"_ AnUJ....,.. fwlJ drno_

3 Vol~ Co..-, up- ..I d ...
Vlacw.., 1108
J Tnua~' ...... Sd. Cba.-... ..
Cbn-al, parade dres.

D --
 I 0.--- MIIj..., 1•• 1.& ., ReP-t
:II V""'da_" ~ ...,-...,
. . . . . . -.. I .I ~I..
J T K ......H-ra, .......t.o
d Io7-I..

-- E
 • Ta_booar of ,. .. .rue 110 Wuury
~:t~~&eld _me W...

:a s-.• ...u_I...-at, ')1" H fodl

d ........ 1106-• •
) C......uer. I'.... laf. .,ry ReP-eM,
.&0.,,-1.

F --
 I e..-r,"-- ArtiDn'y. auba.
d_
s Tree,..... ~ . ta b le d ........
J T--.-r, K.nI••I.......table d .

-- G
 1 .~ .... _T nNnJl""l '" 0..-.-1......,.
• .",..,..,. d . 1.- ........ _n:loiac
......... .. 10-1.
;II 0f60eer. KnoJo,_ .. 11n
J T ........... U.Io __I. . T. ..... .... or dar
G_cdo "n

H
e-..duI I. _boo e, n. PoliN eoI'JM _ .............. , ......
d rU_ ., _ of ...... a ~ by e..-do
.n 1 6...c .IN Poli.h .,. ..,. onadt'
.....t1.d aJ 1oowfatI.
an d gold silk sashes; junior officers, white leat her
belts. Degen with steel grip. 2rlJ Dit1sion: Crimson
lapels, collar and cuffs, white buttons and up-
plates : otherwise as 1St Division. 3'J Division:
Lapels, collar and cuffs white, yellow buttons and
cap-plate, otherwise as 1St Division. In undress,
officers wore dark blue frock-coau with collars of
the same colour, and bicoms.
The cockade was white like that of the ancient
Polish republic. Napoleon imposed the French
cockade on the Franco-Polish regiments in lB09,
but Prince Ponia to wski rein troduced the white
cockade when these troops were incorporated into
the ar my of the Duchy of Wanaw on I J anua ry
1810.
In the decree of 3 September 1810 it was
directed that all regiments of infantry wou ld wear
the same facings .
0ffiurs' FiliI Dress: Dark blue coat, white waist-
coat and trousers; collar closed and piped in
crimson (volugeu rs - yellow unpiped eolian).
White lapels, straight cuffs ....-ith crimson flaps and
r
w hite piping. The coat was closed by means ol
hooks an d oJX'n on the thighs. Ho rizonta l, three-
pointed poc ket Raps with crimson piping. n.r
skirts were hooked back to show the white w...r
with, in the corners, embroidered hunting llor-.
for the ~ltigeun, stan for the fusilien ...
grenades for the grenadiers. Yello w metal t.ut-
bearing in relief the number of the r~
Seven small bu ttons on eac h side of ~
th ree large butto ns belo..... on the left side
t hree buttonholes on the righ t. Two large _ _
in the sma ll of the back , t hree on each pockn
one small button for eac h epaulene. Tbe
showed benea th th e coat and was cJo..d,
sma ll but tons; t hree on each podcL
breeches, H unga rian boots . Blac k ACId
white. Black bicom edged in black ;_
a double loop of gold half .ilQ inch . .
gold button) which fixed rbe c:ockMk..
Officers wear beankins with red ""_.. _~
cords. The bearskin is of the JaIN'
of the men . Voltixnlrs: Q ffic""

yellow pompon fourteen centi metres high. FlLfilin:
Officers have a black pompon above the cockade.
Ojfiur$' {""d,m: Dark blue- frock-coat with similar
collar a nd lapels, closed with nine large buttons,
Dar k blue trousers. Grenadier officers have- a red
hat pompon. SlUlotll: Dark blue- wirh seven large
buttons on e-ach la pel; unde-r this, waistcoat and
trousers of whi te- d imity or na nkeen as desired .
}/.C.O.s olld So/dins: Dar k blue coa t, whi te
la pels bu ttoned back an d closed with hoo ks; below
th e plastro n the kurtka is closed with two larg e
buttons. Dar k blue trousers for everyday we-ar,
white for parades, the latter worn with white
gaiters unde-r them . CunadU1S: Bea rskin bonne t
(mostly shown with a sma ll black pea k edged in
yellow metal] leaning slightly forward. Brass plat e
with whi te metal eag le and bea ring the numbe r of
the regiment betwee n two flan king grenades. T op
of the bears kin red with a whit e cross, red cords
and plume. Lo ng moustaches are worn. Red
epauteucs. l'oJtignus: Shako with yellow cords,
above- the coc kade a }"rHow and green plume.
26
Short moustaches arc worn. Green epaulenes.
Fusi/ins: Czapka ofhlack felt, nine inches high and
ten inches sq ua~, while metal eagle above a
yellow metal plate bearing the regimental num-
ber. Black Ie-ather pe-ak edged in brass. Above the
eagle a while cockade surmounted by a black.
pom pon. Whilc cords, terminating in tasK'1s which
are silve-rand crimson for X.C.O.s. While leather
work. Da rk blue shoulder-straps, The fusiliers were
clean -shaven. Bldck leather pouch with a regi-
mental number in brass for the fusilirrs, number
wi thin a hunting horn for vohigeurs and number
and a grenade for the grenadiers. Dark blue forag('
cap with red piping and tassel. On the march, the
forage cap was carried rolled up unde-r the pouch
and t he plume (in its case) was strapped 10 the
sabre shea th. Whil e waistcoa t for fatigues (colla r,
cuffs and pip ing crimson?), grry greatcoat.
Sapptu1J: Gr ena dier's bearsk in; on the uppt'r arms
of th e kur tka a. badge of two crossed ax" with a
gren ad e in red clot h . Wh ile lea ther apron, wide
white band olier and black pouch for the axe,
small pouch with the sappeu r's badge, gauntlet.
The sab re has a brass grip terminating in a cock's
head and dragoon carbines are carried. Sappeurs
wore full beards. •\{IUUUnu: Drummers and musi-
cians wore a great variety of dress following the
whim of their commander.
Rad Ce'tiI o f Ra.ak
OJlims (indica ted by epaulenes}: Co/nt/ - two
epaulettes with bullion fringes, no e-mbroidery on
the straps• .\Iojar - the same epautenes but with
th e top in silver . ~/nta"/-c%M/ - on the Ie-ft an
epaulerte with bullion fringes, on the right a
con ue-epaulet te without fringes. CtJptllin - on the
left a fringed epeu lene, on the right a centre-
epau lctte. utukllalll - as for a captain, but with
a line of cri mson, one-eigh th of an inch wide
alon g the stra ps. SIJUJ-/uuttnant - the same epau-
leues, but with two lines of crimson silk zigl.agging
alon g t he straps. Adjlltallt-trUJjar - on the right a
fringed epaulene, on the left a corure-epaulerte.
Epa ulettes were gold for all infantry officers, the
ptJrk-lpit and hat cords silver, the gorget gold with
a silver Polish eagle . ~\·.C.OJ: CorptJraJ - t.....o stripes
of yellow cloth two inches above the culTs. !'.'nINllt
- one gold stripe on e-ach ann and one on the
stra p of the epauleue or shoulder-strap. &rgtO"'-

1Nl]or - t"''O gold stripes. FtnlTfin - one gold
chevron four inches above the elbow. All KC.O.s
have a gold top band one inch wide to their
sha kos or czapkas.
infantry. At th e tumbaek comers, gold ern-
broidered flaming grenades. Riding boo ts, silver
spurs, gilt fittin gs and buckles . U"drm: Dark
green, single-b reas ted frock-c oa t, black velvet
colla r a nd cuffs with red piping. Black o r grl"t'n
trousers. Cut as for th e infantry. SUTIsId: As for
und ress, bu t do ub le-breasted with seven lar ge
buttons on eac h lapel. Below this, wa istcoat a nd
trousers of whi te dimity or nankeen acco rding to
cho ice.
,X.C.OJ tVU1 Grmnns: Dark gree n kurtka with
black collar, la pels and cuffs piped in red. Gree n
trousers or whi te tro users and gai ters. Red epau-
lenes. Sh ako with yellow chin scales an d yellow
metal plat e bea ring a flaming gre na de a nd two
crossed ca nno n ba rre ls, a ll surmo unted by a whit e
met al eagle. Red cords, pompon a nd plume. Vt SU
Ih emit (Faligutja ektl ): White with grttn collar and
cuffs and green piping round the pockets. Foragt
Cap: Dark green edged in yellow. Conductturs
(D rivns): G rey /blu e kur tkas wit h grey trousers
(with leather insets); dark blue czapka trimmed
with black astra kha n . On the left upper a rm a n
ova l brass plate bea ring the nu m ber of th e vehicle
and of th e division. Badgts of Rad: : As for the
infa ntry . A" rt.am.f'1fI: As for th e infantry except tha t
N.C.O.s and men have dr agoon ca rbines a nd
sabres with red straps. Traill tl'lrpnJNIgt: Dress as
for the artillery, but the kunka is blue/grt')' with
ligh t yellow colla r and cuffs. Buttons, epautenes,
etc., are white,

Armam~dt Kiira.siers
All fusilier officers carry French-pattern Dege-n Fall Dress: Dar k blue coat faced in red, red collar
with gilt plate and grip; black she-ath, leather belt . closed with th ree hooks, squa re red cuffs with dark
Mounted officers carry sabres with ye-llow grips blu e piping. T wo gre nades in th e tumback cc mers,
and . hr a ths, trimmed in black leat her; silver spun . poc kets in th e folds of th e skir t. The coat closed by
Gre nadier a nd voltigeur officers also ca rry sab res. nin e buttons a nd th e skirt projected nine inches
KC.O.s, grenadiers and voltigeurs ca rry sa bres as below the kurass. Three buttons on eac h pocket,
well ill muskets an d bay onets, the fusiliers on ly t hetwo at the rear of th e waist and o ne for eac h
muske t a nd bayonet. epaulene . The buttons a re flat and yellow a nd
bea r in re lief the number of t he regim ent . \"'hile
Foot Artm~ry waistcoat nOI visible beneath the coat; whil e
OJfims' Full Dress: Dar k gTCt'n coa ti colla r, la pels leather breeches closing with four buttons belo w
and cuffs black velvet with red edg ing: whit e th e knee, whi te cloth knee-c uffs reachin g to fo ur
waistcoat and trousers; yellow me tal buttons bea r- inc hes above th e knee a nd closing with four
ing in relief a flaming grenade above crossed buttons. Cuffed boots rising to three inches above
cannon barrels. Style of coat, number of buttons, the knee, long, buc kle-on steel sp urs. S teel ko rass
hooks. Itock, hat and cockade as for offiurs of with front and back pla te with brass rivets , leather
27
TIle ., da. 01 the Btrr...u... in Nov.....t..r 181 ~ 110..
rIO o( II.,. G ...... de Ann& auemp' 10 _ ..... the....
_Iv,"",. TIle FoU.b Co"P.., reduc:ed to .. ( 'Ow bWldrPd m ,...,
(0""1:101 I: .. naoll,. 08 11010 ~I..., .. I.
stra ps covered in brass scales. The kurass is edged
with red cloth th ree inches wide the outer edge of
which has a silver edging one inch wide. French-
style helmet with red plume 00 the left side (steel
body, brass combe, horse-hair crest and tuft,
yellow chin scales, black fur turban extending
over peak, which is edged in brass. No neck
shield). Black stock edged in white', white leather
gau ntlets wit h cuffs seven inches high.
Undress: Dar k blue frock-coat faced in red and
closed by nine yellow buttons. Red collar closed
with three hooks. Pointed cuffs outlined in red
pipi ng and closed with three small buttons.
Grenades on the turnbacks; vertical pockets with
three points edged in red pip ing. Plain dark blue
trousers, same boots as for full dress. Bicom as for
the Chasseurs 11 Cheval with red plume . Surtout:
Dark blue with similar collar and cuffs, pockets
in the folds of the skirt ; seven buttons on each
lapel. Greatcoat: White cloth, closed collar with
yellow meta l loops and red piping; circu lar cape
collar (rotondt) nine inches high. Red lining twelve
inches wide.
N.C .O.s and soldiers have the same uniform as
the officers, according to regulations.
28
Badgts of Roni: Gold epaulenes as for infantry
officers; portt-lpll one and a half inches wide
terminating in a silver tassel (b ullion fringes for
field officers). Armamml: French model Pallasch
with yellow hilt, polished steel sheath ; steel fitted
pistols. White leatherwork with yellow metal
fittings. White leather bandolier with yellow
buckle worn over the kurass.
Chane-ul's • Che-val
Full Dress: Dark green kurtka lined in dark
green, collar closed with three hooks, pointed
cuffs. Seams on the rear of the coat one inch wide,
pockets in the folds. Th e kurtka is closed with nin e
round brass buttons and there are two on each
pocket. Long breech es with a double side-stripe
of one-inch-wide br aid in the facing colour. The
breeches close at the bottoms with six hooks and
one button covered in green cloth. Black leather
instep straps. Collar, cuffs and piping in the
regimental facing colour. White waistcoat under
the kurtka. The elite company and the officers
wear busbies; the bag of the busby is in the facing
colour and the top lining is gathered under a larg e
central gold button. Black stock edged white .
Baul. 01 Ui. ... ... or Gro ..-G6 r lK:"''''a., :I Ma,. III J .
White gauntlets for officers, gloves for the men.
Short boots under the breeches; yellow metal
screw-in spun.
UJUlTtJJ: Dark green frock-coat with dark grttn
lining; collar closed with three hooks; pointed
cuffs in the collar colour closed with two buttons.
Coat closnl with nine buttons in yellow metal.
Vertical pockets in the skirts, trident shaped with
three buttons. The skirts hooked back to form
tumbach, gold hunting horns embroidered in
the tumback corners. French-style white breeches
or dark green breeches, Hungarian boots edged in
black with a small tassel in the fron t. Breeches
for everyday wear in dark green or grey cloth,
fitted inside the l~s with black leathe r and on the
left th igh to gua rd aga inst wear from the sabre.
Black bieorn with a two-inch-wide black bind ing
and on t he Itoft side a double gold bra id loop and
a gold button hold ing the cockade. Surwut: Dark
green as arc the collar and cuffs, seven yellow
buttons on each lapel; vertical pockets in the rear
skirts. GrtOwMt: White cloth, high collar (with
piping in the facing colour) closed by three small
buttons; the cape collar could be removed.
N.C .O.• and IOldien wear the same uniform
as for the officers' full dress. The elite company
wear busbies with red plumes and cords, the
centre companies have shakos with white cords.
White leatherwork, yellow scale epauleues with,
for the ilite company, red fringes, for the other
companies, white frinltcs.
The regimental facing coloun were: nt Regi-
ment: red; fth Regiment: crimson; 5th Regiment :
orange. The trumpeters rode greys and wore
white busb ies with yellow and grttn cords, white
kurtkas with waistcoat Ii la H. mrrJt with braid
in the regimental facing colour. Trumpet cords
silver and crimso n.
Badgn Df Rod : As for the infantry except that
t he strap of t he epa ulette is covered in yellow
metal scales; portt_/plt of woven black leather with
silver tassel; silver cords a nd gold pompon to
busby. N.C.o.s and soldiers are distinguished in
the following manner: Corporal - two stripes of
yellow cloth, edged in red, placed two inches
above the culT. S"gtant - one silver stripe, edged
in red, in the same position. S"gtanl-mojDr - two
silver stripes edged in red as above. FDwnin - one
gold chevron edged in red.
Arma""",t: Sabre with yellow metal hilt, 1IC'e!
29
 • I

COot-.opo.....,. _ .... Yi'"'l( 01 I.... & u l. o f ~ a6

"' ......1 1113·

sheath with yellow fittings . Black pouch decorated Yellow filled pistols. Bandolier as for the Chas-
in gold with the number of the regiment betwee n seun a Cheval. Black leather belt three inches
two wreaths. Bandolier of black polished lea ther wide with a half-inch-wide border along each
three inches wide bordered wi th two gold laces edge, yellow buckle-plate with the Polish eagle.
half an inch wide. Yellow metal buckle. Black The belt is worn over the buttoned kunka.
leather belt two inches wide with gold deco raocn,
slings one inch wide, For everyday wear the Lane.",
offiun wore white polished leather bandoliers. FrJl lftm: Dark blue kurtka of Polish eUI, duk
For the and, grd and 16th Regimenta the lance blue lining. Collar closed with three hooks,
~nnons are red over whitt'. For the 7th and 16th pointed cuffs. The kurtka closes by mean s of
Regiment' (Fra nco-Galician) the lance ~nnons hooks. Vertical pockets in the rear skins. Pipin g
arc in three colours , the triangular part which is to lape ls, cuffs and along seams on the rear of th e
a ttached to the staff being blue, the top fly being jacket and the sleeves. Flat yellow metal buttons
red and the bottom fly whit e. The 11th to 2151 bea ring the regimental number - seven on each
Regiments (Lith ua nian) have blue ove r whit e lapel, three on each pocket, two at the rear waist
lance pennons. a nd two for th e epaulettes. White waistcoat under
Trump eters' dress was extremel y varied a nd at the ku rtka. Long da rk blue breeches worn over
the discretion of the com mander. Gem-ra lly th ey the boots with double bands down each leg in th e
wore whi te busbies a nd kur tkas, red plumes an d facing co lour, each band half an inch wide. ThC'1e
rode greys. N .C.O.s and soldiers wore the same breec hes dose with six hooks and one button at
dreu aJ the officen except that their greatcoats the base of the It'S in the facing colour. Black
were white with eolian in the facing eolour. leather instep straps. Black ceapka nine inch es
BaJltS ef RaIlA: As for the Chasseurs a Cheval. high and each top edge ten inches long . The
AnMmnII : French -style light cavalry sabre with top part is separated from the round bottom part
yellow three-bar hilt, steel sheath and fittings. by a two-inch-wide gold lace band. Each corn er
30
 IH:I\ RIH:I1\I~t'ItI: rOIJRII:R

""rl,,·hr l ftll/U" r H;·'mr,·f:.r "(In df'r lni'Zl.",;rrN"P" aHN.

31
of the top part has a meta l ca p with a hook for the
cords. O n the left-ha nd top side (in the middl e of
tha t side) is the white Polish cockade un der a gold
Malt ese c ross. In the front, OH."r the lace band, a
gilt plate bearing thc number of the regimen t in
relief. lUack lea ther peak edged in yellow meta l,
yellow chi n scales, black plume fifteen inches high
for junior officers, white plumes for field officers"
Short boots with yellow screw-in spurs . White
gloves. Blac k stock edged white.
c.;"dnSJ: Da rk blue frock-coat lined in the same
colou r a nd closed with nine semi-rou nd, yellow
buttons. Collar closed by three hooks. Pointed
cuffs, with piping, closed by two small buttons;
verti cal , tride nt-shaped pocke t fla ps. Skirts hooked
toget her at the bot tom. Hungari an breeches and
polished boots . Black bicorn. Su,touJ: Same cloth
as above, seven buttons (yellow, half-rou nd ) on
each la pel. G"dWtJt : Dar k blue clot h, high colla r
a nd ca~ collar reaching to the waist-belt.
Rc-gim('nts of lancers are distinguished by their
buttons (which bear their number) and by thei r
facing colour worn on collar, la pels, cuffs, trouser
stripes and pipi ng as mown below.

R,t11Nf1t CoII~
e.a", lAP<' ClI.ffl
Coff b_
pip;", /4<" pipin, fripitt, It,iptl
, R<d White Yellow R,d White Yellow
s Crimson White White Crimson White Yellow
6
7
White
Yellow
Crimson
R<d )0."
blue
Crimson
R,d
Crimson
Yellow
White
R<d
Crimson
Yellow
•
9
R<d
Rod
R<d
Blue
R,d
White
Yellow
Dark blue
R<d
White
Rod
R<d
Whitt White Dark blue White Crimson

}C'i~
Crimson
" White Dark blue White Dark blue White Crimson
" White Cri mson White Crimson White Crimson
",6
,.
'7

'9
Crimson
Yellow
White
White
White
Yellow
Dark blue
Dark blue
Dark blue
Yellow
Crimson
en~
Crimson
Yellow
Crinuon
Ccinuon
Crimson
Yellow
White
White
White
Yellow
Crimson
Crimson
en""""
Yellow
'n Yellow Yellow Yellow Yellow Yellow Yd low Yellow
0.• nge Orange Orange 0..00< 0....e Orange Orange
"
Hu~ ars thigh knots; Hungaria n boots with lace tri m and
Da rk blue pelisse ( ~ f etlk) lined with white fur tassel. H unga ria n sash in silver a nd cri mson.
a nd edged in black fur with three rows each of Ligh t blue shako with silver cords and decoration
eightee n 10 twenry buttons accordi ng to th e acco rdi ng to rank. U"d,t1J (fo r sum mer}: Da rk
wear er ', siee: a dolman with crimson collar blue do lman, crimson collar edged with lace; five
and th e same number of butto ns: Hun gari an TO""" oflacc, three rows eac h of five buttons, ether-
sash with five sets of knot s: H ungari an breec hes wi se as for full dress. White waistcoat , long, grey
with t high knots ; a sleeved waistcoa t for forag e breeches fined wit h grey leat her inserts, crimson
duties a nd long grry breech es, reinforced with side-stripes each having six white buttons. For
leath er a nd closing at the bott om with six butt ons. winter a da rk blue pclisse edged in wh ite ast ra khan
Polished Hun garian boots with st«1 sp urs. Light with five rows of silver and crimson lace. Light
blu r sha ko with cords. OffiUTJ' FuJI Dress: rel i~ blue forage cap with silver pipin g as for th e French
lined in crimson doth and edge d with white Army. White greatcoat.
astrakhan; five rows eac h of eightee n to twenty X .C.C J and So/dins: Light blue shakos and th eir
buttons with silver lacing. The pelisse is edged pelisses arc trimmed with black lam b's-wool
wit h lace and has lace decoration 10 the rear . Trumpeters wear red fox fur busbies, white
Crimson dolm an , same lace, buttons and orna- pelisses edged in red fox fur and having white and
ments as the pelisse. Light blue breeches with crimson lacing. The trumpeters of the I odl

32
no. f..-eta prri_ .. oIS, .nd.. I• ...,o rud bOlO ... pdriry
I. 18 13 by P......I•• aad R. ..... troope.
Hussars had a blue do lman, crimson breeches and
yellow boots; those of the 13th Hussars a crimson
dolman, blue breeches and red boots. The officers
and men of the elite company wore black
astrakhan busbies with light blue bags held by a
la rge light blue button. The loth Hussars had
gold lace, decorations, buttons, stripn, etc., but
their sha ko cords remained silver, their pelissee
were edged in black astrakhan and thei r sha kos
were light blue. (T he- rgth H ussa rs we-re- as
described in the main body of the text .)
Badgts of Rank : Office-rs were- distinguished by
the number of chevro ns over the cuff: SOUJ_
IituUlIallt - one-; Litulf1lanl - two; Capitaillt - th ree ;
Cluj J'tJ(adron - four; .\fajor - five- (one in gold and
four in silver for th~ 13th Hussars or nne in silver
and four in gold for the loth H ussars}: Cololttl- five
chevrons in silver or gold according to regiment .
Portt-lpIt of woven black leather with silve-r or
gold tassel {h eavy bullions for field officers}.
.'rmomttlt: Sreel basket-hilted sabre and sheath,
silver-fined pistols, black It-athe-r bandolier with
cagle a nd sma ll silver e-dging, black leather
sabretache hcaring a silver eagle (officers have
gold crow n, gold regimental number below the
eagle and gold lace- edging}. Belt, slings, etc., of
black leather with silver buckles.
HOnJe A rtillery
Full Dms: Dark green kurtka of the same cut as
for the Chasseurs and lined in dark green. Black
velvet collar four inc hes high, piped in red and
closed with four hooks. Gold grenades em-
broidered on e-achside of the collar. Pointed black
velvet cuffs piped in red and closed with two small
buttons. The kurtka is piped in red and closed
with eight gold buttons. The skirts are nine inches
long and decorated with embroidered gold
grenade•. There are two buttons at the bottom of
the tum backs, two a t the rear waist and two on
the shoulders. T he buttons are yellow and semi-
rou nd. Long dark grc~n breeches worn over the
lJ
boots with black velvet side-stripes two inches
wide piped in red . The breeches close at the
a nkles with seven hooks and one black velvet
button a t the bott om. Black velvet waistcoa t with
gold braid and buttons. Sho rt boots with steel,
screw-in spurs. Black gauntlets. Black fur busby
ten inches high and la rger at the top than a t th e
bottom ; dark green bag held by a gold button .
Gold lion's- head bosses, gold chin scales an d
cord s, and pompon above the cockade with two
sma ll silver cord s and tassels.
Und ress: Coat of dark green cloth with similar
lining; la pels with rou nded top corners each
bearing seven buttons. Black velvet collar wit h
red top pipin g bearing a gold- em broid ered
gr enade on each side. The collar closes with th ree
hooks. Cuffs as for the collar. Grenades em-
broidered on the skirt turnbacks; no buttons on
the pocket flap s, two buttons a t t he rea r of th e
waist and one on eac h shoulder for the e pau lettes.
Gr ey breeches, Hu ngarian boots with gold tri m
34
and tassel. Nor ma l bicom. S ur/oul : Dark gr een
and fastened with yellow semi-rou nd b utto ns,
black velvet colla r. CTtatcoal : White , th e collar
piped in red and beari ng two emb roidered gold
grenades. Cape collar to th e waist.
X .C.O. s and Soldiers: T he sa me uniform - busby
with red pompo n an d co rds; bra ss scale epa uleues
with red half moons a nd fringes; red aiguilleue,
white leatherwork. Trumpeters wear whit e
busbies; white kur tkas faced in black velvet and
piped in red (originally thi s kurrka was red with
white facing s).
Badges oj RanA : As for the Chasseurs a Che val
but with gold aiguille nes. Armament: Brass-hilled
sabre in a steel sheath with brass fittin gs; almo st
straight blade, black belt and slings. Black leather
ba ndolier and pouch with gold orn am en ts, on th e
pouch a steel grenade. The ba ndolier is thr ee
inches wide (edged in gold ) and ha s a gih shield
bea ring the Polish eagle in silver. Yellow mounted
pistols.
R egimeDt s servin g with the FreDch Army
T he 4th, jth and 9th Infantry Regimen ts, serving
in Spai n in fre nch pa y, wore th e following
unifo rms. T he 4th Regiment kep t its old 1807
unifo rm with a red collar edged in dark blue ,
yellow lape ls, red cu lfs with blue cuff-flaps and the
same coloured epau lertes. At the beginn ing of
18 12 the three regiments wore French uniforms,
the 4th Regiment also worc th e tricolour cockad e.
The grenadiers had shakos edged in red a nd their
officers also wore sha kos. Plum es were red for
gre nadiers and yellow for the voltigeurs; fusilicrs
wore pompons in colou rs acco rdi ng to com pa ny
as follows: 1St Company - gr een ; end Company -
light blue ; grd Com pany - yellow; 4th Com pan y
- violet. N.C .O. s wore rank stri pes, th e sergeant-
major had lace round his collar. O ffiCCTS of
regimental headq ua rters a nd of the fusilier
companies wore turn back badges in th e form of a
crow ned 'N' ; grenadier officers wore grenades
a nd voltigeurs wore hunting horn s. The 7t.h
Regiment had dark blue collars edged crim son,
crimson la pels, da rk blue cuffs and cuff-Raps ....itb
crimson piping; whi te butt ons. The 9th Regiment
had red collan edged dark blue , white la pels, red
cuffs p iped wh ite wit h dark blue cuff flaps; wh ite
buttons.
 Tb. Kraku s
These light cavalry We'ff a novelt y in the' Polish
Army; instead of trumpeters Ihe'y had a trooper
who carried a pike with a horse' tail attached 10
the head which was used to give signals . nus
device was calkd a 'bunczuk' and its carrier rode'
a gn)' 001'1('. ThC'rC' were othcr innovations in
Ihe'ir uniform : the hat consis ted of a melon- like
crimson 'beret' with a white cockade and plu me
on IhC' left-hand side and a .trip of black aheepekln
round the headband, on the' lOp was a whi te
button and white laces came' radi all y from the
button down 10 the headband. Instead ofa kurtka
th('y wore a dark blue, sing le-b reasted , full-skirted
coat with crimson collar a nd cuff. and white
piping to all edges . T he wual cartridge pouc h
was replaced by the ee...cIr.••tyle 'uchrrkn:s'
which consisted of a It'l of five' meta l canridgn
on each hrrast, rach with a cap on a silver chain
lC'ading 10 a sil\'C'r button above the line of can.
ridges. Each group ofcartridge was encircled by a
w hite lac e (sih·C'r for officl"n) and covered in
crimson cloth. The overalls "'C'[C' dark blur with
crimson side .tripn; and black lC'ather iRSC'M.I. ThC'
greatcoat was replaced by a widr grry ca~ and a
hood. Round thC' waist was a crim.m sash; their
wC'apons WC't(' pistols, sabres and lance'S without
pennants,
SOUR CE S
C UEUl lsnl, j. VON AND M A U II. A N, A: 1.'.1"";, tht
Dwlll d, I"Ml oW, '807-'5 (I'aris, 1913).
G EMBA RZE W'IoKI, BRONln ",w : W"j solo Pols!;" (Wana w,
1964) ·
K p,; OTaL, H ERBERr AND SIEO, H t.. BI.Rr . Hadhell dn
Uaif ( Ha m bu rg, 1966).
LuxHARr, D. A!Im H l."MBr.aT, R.: IAI Cttif...-s M
L',Arah F rUlfGu. Vol. \' ( Pa ris).
1.IsDu. KAROl.: WIjJU PJslN .Hw.t..,. (Wanaw,
19(7)·
35

qlic'Plf/les
The basic information on these uniforms is qu oted
in the preceding section of the text; notes on the
individual plait'S are therefore limited to brief
mention of special peculiarities.
Al DriDn. J/j/il41] Traill
The dark or 'slate' blue shown here is typical of
Polish uniforms of the eigbteemh as well as the
nineteenth century. The brass arm-plate bart' the
number of the column to which the driver was
auached, and idC'ntifit'd him to military police,
All military vehicles in the French - and Polish -
armies carried licence plates.
.42 P""-4i,u, Grnultlin NJfft/JdIlJ,5,Ir b,jamry
RIKilMJII. ,8,G-14
The "'ery strong influence of contemporary
French designs is obvious; but note thai the eagle
itself is of Polish df'Sign.
A3 AiKU GII4,J
This sergeant is nne of the escort for the preceding
figure: the small fanion on the bayonet was used
to scare tht' horses of mounted artackers. The coat
is of traditional Polish cut with French gre nadier
distinctions. •'rcnch ra nk badges were worn, but
note that Ma libran and Chelminaki show a
deviat ion - a hor izontal go ld stripe on t he
sergea nt's cuff in addition to the usua l diagonal
stripes above it.
B Trumptttr, 14th KilraHirfJ, parade dress
The trumpeters were the only members of this
unit who wore a uniform readil y distinguisha ble
from that of the French regimcn u of'this bra nc h.
C TrwmjNln, 110m Arti/ltry,jwlJ dress
The custom of mounting trumpeters on greys was
international at this pcroid, as in later times;
36
colonels of regiments enjoyed considerable lat itu de
in selecting uniforms for their musicians, hence
this gaudy cost ume. The Polish heavy cavalry
usually used Englis h-panern saddles while lancers
an d hUS5af1 used th e Hu ngarian or 'Hod' sadd le.
Horse a rtillery often used ligh t cavalry harn ess,
as here,
DI OJlien, H orst Arlillny,jtJl drrss
This genera l colour combination had been tradi-
tional Polish and Saxon ar tillery unifor m since
the early eighteenth century, but the black fur
busby ofhussar pattern was a recent innovation.
D2 rolti~nu COUld, Ulio,. oftAt riJttJ., 1808
Xapolecn always tried to seep the Legion firmly
under his control, and apart from the rest of the
army of the Duchy. This 'dual nationality' is
reflected in this uniform of Polish CU1, with French
shako and voltigeur d istinctions. Banle signals
were nonnally given on the con dw eJuuJt - comet
or bugle-horn - in the vcldgeur companies and
light infantry rl':giml':nls of the French Anny, just
as the British Rift" used bugles, because the
unwieldy drum was considered unsuitable for USl':
by ligh t, fast troops.
Dj Trumptln, 5th CJuwnm d C/wM(, paradt drm
O nce again, the licence enjoyed by unit com-
manders has produced a co lourfu l uniform. Note
that the single-b reasted white coat does nOI ha v1':
the usua l Polish-cu t front worn by d ismounted
arms. 011 campaign gr('y buttoned overalls
replaced the breech es, a nd th e expe nsive whit e
busby was cove red wit h black o il-clo th,
£ 1 Drum Major, t u Jrifanlry Rtgimrnt
The costume of d rum majors of a rmies of this
period wou ld requ ire a sepa rate study of iLS own,
50 va ried and co lou rful were th e uniforms worn .
T his figur e, after xt alibran an d Chdm insli,
shows the tip of th e iceberg on ly! The d rum majoe
wears a long-ta iled coal of officers' style, As a
specia l distinction his sabre scabbard is brass {OI'
E.l ry of the AlUM _ _r .,h, lal. L.l .... I• • rl er 1M banle
." 16-1 8 Octobn' 18 1J .
gilt?} on gold slings; his crimson plJT(t-lpit is
another mark of his office. T he crimson and gold
sash was heavily decorated 011 the chest.
F.2 l'olti!:turStrgtont, 41h In/an/V Rtgimmt, 1810-11
Th e cea pka, the national headgear of Poland, is
the most striking feature of this uniform ; it is
int('n:-sling 10 note that this shape, in much modi -
fied and inhibited form, is still to be traced tod ay
in Polish military headgear. The front ba nd bean
the pierced regimental number. Ra nk is indicated
by the gold top band and silver and crimson cords
of the czapka; the silver a nd crimson epaulette
fringes; the gold stripe round the cuff and the
conventional diagonal striJX'S above ; and the
silver and crimson poru-lplt. Th e two gold Itripes
on the uppt"r left arm are length of service
chev rons, again in the French style.
tJ Tr oopn , 11th Kiira,S,Sim, ptJradt dm s, 1&7-14
Helmet, cuiras s, boots, gauntlets and sword are
French-made item s suppl ied under a ' lend-lease'
arrangement profitable 10 France! For campaign
t he impressive boots would give way to short boots
worn under grt'y overa lls. For parade the white
lea ther equipment - including the breeches - was
pipeclaved. Both men and horses were selected
for thei r size and strength.
FI Tambour of Fxsiliers, Ith Inf an,.", Rtgimtnl, fuld
sacice maTdling OTd", l&xj
T he uniform is conventional. The pack is of brown
cowhide with white straps, as in the french Army.
Brass drums began to replace the earlie r wooden
patterns in about 1780, for the sake of lightness
a nd case of movement. T he apron was worn by
drummers of all nat ionaliti es.
37
 lal_l..,. a.. 01 doe ~_ . . PoIaDd, Ilh,:
..Iol.",_
~....-. Wad< ............. cri_ _
__1. .1 drc-h, ...........rMad, _tIu.. d ~
~ ..uYn' -ale. lOOn!.. ...... ~ ... 'Jloe
R. Hl.. iafllIIeD« .. dftl'l doe _ Polin A......,.
..-lI.r_ f.u........d "'" R.Hl.. pan"'...... _D.

\.~--------------------
38
:-.:=.o::,~:.:
A.••' _rioo. ~I~::~' Itrp"-:;.n':.~~"::";-.'.;
f ,""" I. ~. Ih., R ....... . ad ..-........
nr .,or F...~.
F2 SOUJ.lindmant , t3th llUlsars,juJi dress, /806-/4
The two Polish hussar regiments, the loth and
13th, were th e most decorative u nits in the anny -
this branch has had an image of unequalled
glamour, in a ll national armies, since the la te
yean of th e eigh teen th century. The colours reflect
the nat ional colours of Poland. The allver lacing
on th e thighs increased in size and nu m be r of lines
acco rd ing to rank.
Fj Cwwdin, t3th Infantry JUgimttlt, t Boy- / 4
The whit e uniform was unique in the army of the
du ch y; this regimem was raised ill IBog from
Austrian prisoners from Ga lician areas - Leoregto ns
which had belonged to t he kingdom of Poland
before its partition be tween R ussia, Pruss ia and
Austria. It is Iikdy that the white Austrian
single-breasted jackets were modified by simply
sewing on false half-lapels, a nd cuff-naps co uld
have ~II added in the sam e mann er.
Gr CW"'", H",st ArliJ/ny, slablt dress
The fine uniforms worn 0 11 pa rad e in Na poleonic
days were recognized, even then, as bei ng a shad e
imp ractical for such tasks as ' mucking out' the
squadron sta bles, and a mu ch simpler everyd ay
COSlUme was dev ised for th ese tasks. The slt'e\'es
of the working-dress coats worn by some armies
w('re only laced in position, and could be rem oved
in summer.
G2 1'1'00,,", JA"CtTl , 1Mble dress
T he zipjtfmfit.{t or for age cap was usually mad e
up from old uniforms by the unit tailor s, and the
39
design often varied according to the colonel's taste .
The overalls wou ld also be the norma l campaign
dress, although breeches and high boots oflen
accompanied the regiments in the baggage train;
. .apoleon had strict ideas about the occasions on
which his troops could property dispense with full
uniform, and where circumstances allowed would
order full dress on the battlefield.
C3 Troop", Kfiraml1'I, stdh dmI
Due to the complexity of the code of facing
colours within this branch, it is not possible to
identify the regiment with which this man served
from the scant distinctions visible on the working
uniform.
/11 Brigadier- Tromptltt, C/uwlJ,-/igm Polonais dt 14
Garde, marching order, /810- 14
This corporal trumpeter wears the oil-clot h
czapka cover, buttoned overalls, and buttoned-
across crimson kur tka of marching order. Little
need be said about this famous regiment, always
the apple of Napoleon's eye; many of the men
followed their Emperor to Elba in 1814. T heir
lesser-kno w n sister unit, the 3rd (Lith ua nia n)
Lancers of the Guard, wore the same basic
uniform, but with gold lace and metal replacing
the silver, during their short career.
H2 Offiur, A"rakru, /812
Raised in Lithuania during the 18t:2 campaign,
this unit was clothed in a uniform which displayed
strong cossack influence. The colours employed
once again reflect Polish national colours.
H3 Troopn, LithW1l1itJlI TtlrttZrs of tlu ClJ.t1rd, /812
The uniform of this regiment has long been the
subject of controversy; since the v('ry limited
number of original sources are at variance, it will
probably remain so. The fact that this unit of
almost Asiatic dress was raised in Pola nd in t8t:2
is a reminder that in centuries gone by Poland
was a much stronger nation, with territories so
widespread that she rivalled even Russia. Officers
of this unit wore jackets with much more
elaborate embroidery.
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