The First Battle of Opatów, one of many clashes of 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 ...

, took place on November 25, 1863, in the town of Opatów, which at that time belonged to Russian-controlled

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 ...

. A party of 210

Polish Polish may refer to: * Anything from or related to Poland, a country in Europe * Polish language * Poles, people from Poland or of Polish descent * Polish chicken *Polish brothers (Mark Polish and Michael Polish, born 1970), American twin screenwr ...

rebels, commanded by

Józef Hauke-Bosak Count Józef Hauke-Bosak (19 March 1834 in Saint Petersburg – 21 January 1871) was a Polish general in the January Uprising, and commander of the Polish army in Lesser Poland, the closest collaborator of rebellion leader Romuald Traugutt. He ...

, managed to temporarily capture the town, which was defended by a 180-strong garrison of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army (russian: Ру́сская импера́торская а́рмия, tr. ) was the armed land force of the Russian Empire, active from around 1721 to the Russian Revolution of 1917. In the early 1850s, the Russian Ar ...

. Polish rebels took advantage of the fact that main Russian forces had left Opatów, to chase rebel units operating near the town of Ilza. Hauke-Bossak ordered an attack from three sides. Weak Russian garrison was unable to defend the town, and was pushed out of Opatów. Poles captured the town and withdrew with seized Russian guns and ammunition towards

Suchedniów Suchedniów is a town in Skarżysko County, Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship, Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering ...

Sources

Stefan Kieniewicz Stefan Kieniewicz (20 September 1907, in Dereszewicze – 2 May 1992, in Konstancin) was a Polish historian and university professor, notable for his works on the 19th-century history of Poland. During his work at various universities he became ...

: ''Powstanie styczniowe''. Warszawa: Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe, 1983. . Conflicts in 1863 1863 in Poland Opatów November 1863 events {{Russia-battle-stub