Battle of the Polish-Austrian War
Battle of Raszyn
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Part of the
Polish?Austrian War
,
War of the Fifth Coalition
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Death of
Cyprian Godebski
in the Battle of Raszyn
1855 painting by
January Suchodolski
oil on canvas,
National Museum in Warsaw
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Belligerents
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Austrian Empire
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Duchy of Warsaw
Kingdom of Saxony
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Commanders and leaders
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Archduke Ferdinand
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Jozef Poniatowski
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Strength
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26,000
?29,790:
24,500 infantry,
4,500 cavalry,
94 guns
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14,200:
10,500 infantry,
3,500 cavalry,
44 guns
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Casualties and losses
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400?600
Polish estimate
:
2,500 killed and wounded
[5]
[6]
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1,400 (1,100 Poles, 300 Saxons)
- • 450 killed
- • 800?900 wounded
- • 50 captured
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50km
30miles
Radzymin
2
Raszyn
1
The color black indicates the current battle.
The first
Battle of Raszyn
was fought on 19 April 1809 between armies of the
Austrian Empire
under
Archduke Ferdinand Karl Joseph of Austria-Este
and the
Duchy of Warsaw
under
Jozef Antoni Poniatowski
, as part of the
War of the Fifth Coalition
in the
Napoleonic Wars
.
The battle was not decisive, but it did result in the Austrians obtaining their goal by capturing the Polish capital
Warsaw
.
Battle
[
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The battlefield's terrain is dominated by several villages and by the river
Utrata
, which during the April thaw is usually unfordable. The only way to cross the river is at the ponds of Raszyn, Dawidy or Michalowice, which were all under Polish control.
After a preparatory cannonade starting at 14.00, the Austrian infantry attacked the Polish screening forces around 15.00.
The Poles gradually yielded terrain. Austrian attempts to outflank the Polish position near Jaworowo were unsuccessful. After the village of Falenty was captured at 16.00 Poniatowski launched a counterattack which evicted the Austrians from the town and re-established the Polish line.
Around 17.00 a combined attack was launched against Raszyn. Repulsed by the Saxon units, the Austrians called up reinforcements and took the town around 19.00 but were unable to progress beyond the last houses of the village. The Poles again counterattacked at 21.00 and drove the Austrians from Raszyn but were unable to recapture the causeway. Fighting progressed until 22.00 when the Poles evacuated the battlefield.
Aftermath
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After the Austrian army withdrew to the other side of the swamps, prince
Jozef Poniatowski
ordered his forces to withdraw towards
Warsaw
. However, since the city fortifications were in a very bad shape and the
Saxon
expeditionary force withdrew towards their homeland, Poniatowski decided to leave Warsaw undefended and withdraw to several fortresses located nearby (most notably to
Modlin Fortress
and
Serock
). The capital was seized on 23 April, but it was a
Pyrrhic victory
since the Austrian commander diverted most of his forces there at the expense of other fronts. In the following weeks
Greater Poland
was defended by the Corps of General
Henryk D?browski
and the
Polish cavalry
seized
Lwow
. Finally, Poniatowski left only a small force near Warsaw to prevent the Austrians from leaving it and moved the rest of his forces southwards, which led to capturing the city of Krakow.
On 14 October 1809 the
Treaty of Schonbrunn
was signed between
Austria
and
France
. According to it, Austria lost approximately 50,000 square kilometres of land inhabited by over 1,900,000 people. The territories annexed by the
Duchy of Warsaw
included the lands of
Zamo??
and Krakow as well as 50% of income of the
Wieliczka salt mines
.
In the opinion of the Polish military historian, General Marian Kukiel, the Battle of Raszyn can be characterized as follows:
“The Battle of Raszyn on the Polish side is an example of pure defense; Poniatowski left the initiative to the enemy until the end, which is understandable considering the terrible ratio of forces and the size of the front. On the Austrian side, an energetic frontal attack on two tactical keys, Falenty and Raszyn, was combined in both cases with a maneuver on the flank of the appropriate group of our troops. However, there was no large-scale maneuver, although the advantage in numbers made it easier for the Austrians to bypass and surround our position. This is explained only by disregard of the enemy, who was considered before the battle as a kind of unruly and untrained militia.”
Afterwards, Poniatowski was presented with the
grand-aigle de la
Legion d'honneur
, a saber of honor, and a lancer's
shako
.
The Battle of Raszyn is commemorated on the
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw
, with the inscription "RASZYN 19 IV 1809".
See also
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Notes
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References
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]
- Bodart, Gaston (1908).
Militar-historisches Kriegs-Lexikon (1618?1905)
. Retrieved
12 June
2021
.
- Czubaty, Jaroslaw (2016).
The Duchy of Warsaw, 1807?1815: A Napoleonic Outpost in Central Europe
. Translated by Phillips, Ursula. Bloomsbury.
- Gill, John H. (2010).
1809: Thunder on the Danube ? Napoleon's Defeat of the Habsburgs, Vol. 3: Wagram and Znaim
. London: Frontline Books.
ISBN
978-1848325470
.
External links
[
edit
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Belli-
gerents
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Major
battles
| Prelude
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1805
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1806
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1807
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1808
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1809
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1810
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1811
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1812
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1813
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1814
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1815
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Info
| French and ally
military and
political leaders
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Coalition
military and
political leaders
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Related
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Treaties
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Miscellaneous
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