Battle of Ostrołęka (1831)

For the 1807 French Napoleonic victory, see Battle of Ostrołęka (1807)

The Battle of Ostrołęka of 26 May 1831 was one of the largest engagements of Poland's November Uprising. Throughout the day, Polish forces under Jan Skrzynecki fought for the control over the town of Ostrołęka against the assaulting Russian forces of Hans Karl von Diebitsch. Although by the end of the day the town was still in Polish hands and the two sides suffered comparable losses, the battle is usually considered a Polish defeat because of the Russian army's almost unlimited strategic reinforcement capability. The Polish Army could not similarly replenish its casualties.

In the event, surviving Polish forces were saved by the particularly brave stand of its 4th Infantry Regiment, the Czwartacy, who repelled several waves of enemy infantry and cavalry charges, holding the burning town during heavy fighting in close quarters. By late evening the Poles were again saved by a self-sacrificing charge of the 4th battery of mounted artillery led by Lt.Col. Józef Bem.

The battle became one of the symbols of the failed uprising. Julius Mosen, a German poet and writer, commemorated the 4th Regiment in his poem Die letzten Zehn vom vierten Regiment (The last 10 of the 4th Regiment), later widely-translated onto several languages. The battle also inspired Johan Sebastian Welhaven's Republikanerne.