Battle of Praga

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Massacre of Praga

Rzeź Pragi on an 1810 painting by Aleksander Orłowski

Date	November 4, 1794
Location	Praga, Warsaw
Result	Russian victory

Combatants

Commanders

Strength

<20,000

16,000^[1]-22,000

Casualties

10,000^[2] through 15,000^[1], 20,000^[3] to 23,000^[4]
out of those, 6,000^{[citation needed]} soldiers KIA, rest civilians

Unknown

Kościuszko Uprising
Racławice – Warsaw – Wilno – Greater Poland – Szczekociny – Chełm – Krupczyce – Terespol – Maciejowice – Praga

The Battle of Praga (or Battle of Warsaw of 1794) refers to the Russian assault of Praga, the easternmost suburb of Warsaw, during the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794. Most English language sources refer to it as Massacre of Praga,^[5] ^[6] ^[7] ^[3] ^[2] although the event is known in Poland as Rzeź Pragi, which translates correctly as Slaughter of Praga.

1 Eve of the battle
2 Opposing forces
3 Battle
4 Massacre
5 After the battle
6 References

[edit] Eve of the battle

After the Battle of Maciejowice General Tadeusz Kościuszko was captured by the Russians. The internal struggle for power in Warsaw and the demoralisation of the city's population prevented General Józef Zajączek from finishing the fortifications surrounding the city both from the east and from the west. At the same time the Russians were making their way towards the city.

[edit] Opposing forces

The Russian forces consisted of two battle-hardened corps under Generals Aleksandr Suvorov and Ivan Fersen. The former took part in the recent Russo-Turkish war, then in the heavy fighting in Polesie and finally in the Battle of Maciejowice. The latter fought for several months in Poland, but was also joined by fresh reinforcements sent from Russia. Each of them had approximately 11,000 men.

The Polish forces consisted of a variety of troops. Apart from the rallied remnants of the Kościuszko's army defeated in the Battle of Maciejowice, it also included a large number of untrained militia from Warsaw, Praga and Wilno, Jewish regiment of Berek Joselewicz as well as a number of scythemen and civilians. The forces were organised in three separate lines, each covering a different part of Praga. The central area was commanded directly by General Józef Zajączek, the northern area was commanded by Jakub Jasiński and the southern by Władysław Jabłonowski. Altogether, the Polish commander had fewer than 20,000 men.

Battle of Praga by Aleksander Orłowski

[edit] Battle

The Russian forces reached the outskirts of Warsaw on November 3, 1794. Immediately upon arrival, the Russian forces started artillery barrage of the Polish defences. This made the Polish commander think that the opposing forces were preparing for a long siege. However, Suvorov's plan assumed the fast and concentrated assault on the Polish defences rather than a bloody and lengthy siege.

On 3 o'clock in the morning of November 4 the Russian troops reached the positions just outside the outer rim of Polish field fortifications and two hours later started an all-out assault. The Polish defenders were completely surprised and soon the Polish lines were broken onto several isolated pockets of resistance. General Zajączek was slightly wounded and retreated from his post, leaving the remainder of his forces without command. This made the Poles retreat towards the centre of Praga and then towards Vistula. The heavy city fights lasted for four hours and resulted in a complete defeat of the Polish forces. Only a small part managed to evade encirclement and retreated to the other side of the river across a bridge.

[edit] Massacre

After the battle ended, the Russians started to loot and burn the entire borough of Warsaw in what was seen as a bloody revenge for the earlier near annihilation of the Russian Garrison in Warsaw during the Warsaw Uprising in April 1794, where about 4,000 Russian soldiers died^[7]. Almost all of the area was pillaged, burnt to the ground and many inhabitants of Praga district were murdered. Exact death toll of that day remains unknown, yet it is estimated that between 10,000-20,000 civilians were killed. Suvorov himself wrote that: "The whole of Praga was strewn with dead bodies, blood was flowing in streams."^[8]

[edit] After the battle

After the battle the commanders of Warsaw and large part of its inhabitants became demoralised. To spare Warsaw the fate of its eastern suburb, General Tomasz Wawrzecki decided to withdraw his remaining forces southwards and on November 5. Warsaw was captured by the Russians with little or no opposition. It is said that after the battle General Aleksandr Suvorov sent a report to Catherine the Great consisting of only three words: hurrah - Praga - Suvorov. The empress of Russia replied equally briefly: Bravo Fieldmarshal, Catherine,^[9] promoting him to Field Marshal for this victory.^[7]

[edit] References

^ ^a ^b Simon Dixon, The Modernisation of Russia, 1676-1825, Cambridge University Press, 1999, ISBN 0-521-37961-X, Google Print, p.41
^ ^a ^b Jerzy Lukowski, Hubert Zawadzki, A Concise History of Poland, Cambridge University Press, 2001, ISBN 0-521-55917-0, Google Print, p. 104
^ ^a ^b John P. Ledonne, The Grand Strategy of the Russian Empire, Oxford University Press US, 2003, ISBN 0-19-516100-9, Google Print, p.144
^ Donald H. Reiman, Neil Fraistat, The Complete Poetry of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Johns Hopkins University Press, 2004, ISBN 0-8018-7874-8, Google Print, p.402
^ Marc Ferro, The Use and Abuse of History: Or How the Past Is Taught to Children, Routledge, 2003, ISBN 0-415-28592-5, Google Print, p.259
^ Norman Davies, God's Playground, Columbia University Press, 1984, ISBN 0-231-05351-7 Google Print, p.571
^ ^a ^b ^c John T. Alexander, Catherine the Great: Life and Legend, Oxford University Press US, 1999, ISBN 0-19-506162-4, Google Print, p.317
^ Isabel de Madariaga, Russia in the Age of Catherine the Great, Sterling Publishing Company, Inc., 2002, ISBN 1-84212-511-7, Google Print, p.446
^ Norman Davies, Europe: A History, Oxford University Press, 1996, ISBN 0-19-820171-0, Google Print, p.722