The Battle of Radzymin took place on 25 April 1809, during the brief
Polish–Austrian War
The Austro-Polish War or Polish-Austrian War was a part of the War of the Fifth Coalition in 1809 (a coalition of the Austrian Empire and the United Kingdom against Napoleon's French Empire and Bavaria). In this war, Polish forces of the N ...
. The battle occurred at
Radzymin
Radzymin is a town in Poland and is one of the distant suburbs of the city of Warsaw. It is located in the powiat of Wołomin of the Masovian Voivodeship. The town has 8,818 inhabitants (as of 2008, but the surrounding commune is heavily pop ...
, some north-east of
Warsaw
Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...
.
Pre-battle
Following the
Battle of Raszyn
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 Józef Antoni Poniatowski, as part of the War of the Fifth Coalitio ...
on 19 April, the Polish forces commanded by Prince
Józef Poniatowski
Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski (; 7 May 1763 – 19 October 1813) was a Polish general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of the French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars.
A nephew of king Stanislaus Augustus of Poland (), ...
left Warsaw undefended and withdrew to several fortresses located nearby (most notably to
Modlin Fortress
Modlin Fortress ( pl, Twierdza Modlin) is one of the largest 19th-century fortresses in Poland. It is located in the town of Nowy Dwór Mazowiecki in district Modlin on the Narew river, approximately 50 kilometers north of Warsaw. It was o ...
and
Serock). The Austrians seized the Polish capital on 23 April, but it was a
pyrrhic victory, as the Austrian force was now seriously overstretched and had a still unbeaten enemy in the vicinity of Warsaw, as well as new Polish forces gathering strength behind their lines in
Greater Poland.
Prince Este garrisoned Warsaw with 10,000 soldiers, and split his remaining forces, sending some 6,000 troops under Gen. to the right bank of the Vistula, and the rest towards
Toruń
)''
, image_skyline =
, image_caption =
, image_flag = POL Toruń flag.svg
, image_shield = POL Toruń COA.svg
, nickname = City of Angels, Gingerbread city, Copernicus Town
, pushpin_map = Kuyavian-Pom ...
and other targets on the left bank.
The borough of Praga, located right across the Vistula from Warsaw, was initially left in Polish hands, garrisoned by a small force of 600 men. Mohr's force crossed the river near
Karczew and on 24 April besieged the small Polish garrison of Praga. However, the following day the besiegers were assaulted from the back by a Polish division-sized sortie from the Modlin Fortress under Gen.
Michał Sokolnicki. In what became known as the Battle of Grochów, the spearhead of the Austrian force was defeated and the Poles withdrew successfully.
Simultaneously, further to the north-east, at Radzymin, a Polish force mounted yet another attack on overstretched Austrians. The town was held by relatively small Austrian forces consisting of the 2nd and 3rd Battalions from the 63rd ''Graf Baillet'' Infantry Regiment (under
Ludwig Graf Baillet de Latour, younger brother of Field Marshal
Maximilian Anton Karl, Count Baillet de Latour) and a detachment of
hussars
A hussar ( , ; hu, huszár, pl, husarz, sh, husar / ) was a member of a class of light cavalry, originating in Central Europe during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely a ...
. The Polish force was similar in size and consisted of a squadron of
uhlans
Uhlans (; ; ; ; ) were a type of light cavalry, primarily armed with a lance. While first appearing in the cavalry of Lithuania and then Poland, Uhlans were quickly adopted by the mounted forces of other countries, including France, Russia, P ...
under Capt. Piotr Strzyżewski and a single infantry battalion from the
6th Infantry Regiment
The 6th Infantry Regiment ("Regulars") was formed 11 January 1812. Zachary Taylor, later the twelfth President of the United States, was a commander of the unit. The motto, "Regulars, By God!" derives from the Battle of Chippawa, in which Brit ...
under Julian Sierawski. The force was supported by a single 2-gun battery of mounted artillery.
The Battle
Overnight on 24 April the Polish force left Serock and crossed the
Narew, reaching Radzymin before daylight. In the early hours of 25 April the force attacked the town from two sides and commenced a synchronised attack. The Austrians withdrew to the town's centre, but soon their cavalry was forced to retreat and the infantry battalions were now isolated. After a brief close quarters fight, the two Austrian battalions with their remaining 37 officers surrendered.
Result and aftermath
The losses for the Polish side were 19 killed and 27 wounded. The losses for the Austrians included approximately 2,000 prisoners of war and many killed and wounded. Although the battle was not a decisive defeat for the Austrians, it was one of a series of skirmishes they lost on the eastern bank of Vistula. Finally on 2 and 3 May the entire corps under Gen. Mohr was defeated at
Ostrówek and its
pontoon bridge
A pontoon bridge (or ponton bridge), also known as a floating bridge, uses floats or shallow-draft boats to support a continuous deck for pedestrian and vehicle travel. The buoyancy of the supports limits the maximum load that they can carry.
...
across the river was destroyed, thwarting any further attempts to advance further east. This gave Poles enough time to leave the Austrians locked in Warsaw to their fate and liberate much of
Galicia without much opposition from the enemy.
Notes
References
*
*
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Raszyn
Conflicts in 1809
Battles of the War of the Fifth Coalition
Battles involving Austria
Battles involving Poland
1809 in the Austrian Empire
History of Warsaw
April 1809 events