The Battle of Miechów took place on February 17, 1863, near

Miechów Miechów is a town in Poland, in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, about north of Kraków. It is the capital of Miechów County. Population is 11,852 (2004). Miechów lies on the Miechówka river, along European route E77. The area of the town is , ...

Małopolska Lesser Poland, often known by its Polish name Małopolska ( la, Polonia Minor), is a historical region situated in southern and south-eastern Poland. Its capital and largest city is Kraków. Throughout centuries, Lesser Poland developed a ...

, Poland (at the time

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It w ...

), during the

January Uprising The January Uprising ( pl, powstanie styczniowe; lt, 1863 metų sukilimas; ua, Січневе повстання; russian: Польское восстание; ) was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at ...

. Polish units under Apolinary Kurowski numbering around 2500 troops attacked the town in an attempt to gain control of the so-called ''border triangle'' - an area at the crossroads of the

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Prussian Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

and

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

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which would have allowed the insurgents access to supplies and troops from outside the Congress Poland where the uprising proper was taking place. They were hoping to surprise

troops. However, the Russian garrison (2 companies, 550 men) was stronger than expected by insurgents. Either the Russian commander guessed the intent, or the strategic plan of the Poles was somehow betrayed. As a result, they bolstered their defenses. Initial engagements were favorable to the Poles. These included a successful charge by the

Zouaves of Death Zouaves of Death (Polish: ''Żuawi śmierci'') were a Polish military unit during the January Uprising, formed in February 1863 from volunteers in Ojców, Poland, by the Frenchman François Rochebrune (Polish: ''Franciszek Rochebrune''). He based ...

, a unit organized by Francois Rochebrune and led by Wojciech Komorowski in this battle, on Russian positions in the local cemetery. However,

charges Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * '' Charge!!'', an album by The Aqu ...

by the Polish cavalry through the narrow streets of the town resulted in very high casualties in the face of concentrated fire from the Russians and eventually a panic of the Polish troops. According to contemporary Russian reports, 200 insurrectionists died. There were also some reports of atrocities, including the killing or burying alive of the wounded. As a measure of repression, the town was set on fire and local residents were forbidden to put it out. As a result of the engagement, Kurowski's unit ceased to exist. Rochebrune reformed his Zouaves later in Kraków.

References

Miechow 1863 in Poland History of Lesser Poland Miechow February 1863 events {{Poland-battle-stub