The Battle of Sosnowiec was one of battles 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 ...

. It took place in the night of 6–7 February 1863, between Polish insurgents under Colonel Apolinary Kurowski, and 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 ...

garrison stationed in the town of

Sosnowiec Sosnowiec is an industrial city county in the Dąbrowa Basin of southern Poland, in the Silesian Voivodeship, which is also part of the Silesian Metropolis municipal association.—— Located in the eastern part of the Upper Silesian Industria ...

, in the Russian-ruled territory known officially as the ‘Kingdom of Poland’, otherwise

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 ...

. On 5 February 1863 Kurowski and his men left

Ojców Ojców is a village in Gmina Skała, in Kraków County, Lesser Poland Voivodeship, in southern Poland. It is one of the sights of the Eagle Nests Trail (''Szlak Orlich Gniazd''), as there are the ruins of a gothic castle near the village. Th ...

, and marched towards Olkusz. He had some 150 men, who were joined by additional 100, including cavalry, riflemen and

kosynierzy Scythemen, also known as scythe-bearers is the term for soldiers (often peasants and townspeople) armed with straightened war scythes. First appearing in the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794, scythemen quickly became one of the symbols of the strugg ...

. The unit spent the night at Olkusz, and in the morning of 6 February they marched westwards, to

Sławków Sławków is a town in Zagłębie Dąbrowskie (part of historic province of Lesser Poland), near Katowice. It borders the Upper Silesian Metropolitan Union – a metropolis with a population of around 2 million. Sławków is situated in the Sile ...

and then Maczki (now a district of Sosnowiec). At that time Maczki was a very important railroad station, located at the border of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

and the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (german: Königreich Preußen, ) was a German kingdom that constituted the state of Prussia between 1701 and 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Re ...

. The insurgents captured a train with the assistance of rail workers and coal miners from the

Zagłębie Dąbrowskie Zagłębie in Polish means coalfield. It can refer to: *Górnośląskie Zagłębie Węglowe, a mining region *Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, a mining region *Zagłębie Sosnowiec, an association football club *Zagłębie Lubin, an association football clu ...

region, and at 9 p.m. left Maczki, heading to Sosnowiec via Dąbrowa Górnicza. At 2 a.m. on 7 February, insurgent infantry left the train near Sielec, marching to the Sosnowiec Main Station. Then they attacked Russian garrison, which manned the station and nearby custom house. After some time, the Russians fled either to Modrzejów, or towards the nearby Prussian border. The Poles then released 30 captured prisoners of war, but several joined the insurgents. The insurgents seized 40 horses, weapons, and 97,000 roubles, sharing the money with Polish National Government. For the next two weeks, Poles controlled Sosnowiec and other areas of Zagłębie Dąbrowskie, with Polish banners hanging from administration buildings.

References

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: Polish Scientific Publishers PWN, 1983. . Battles of the January Uprising Conflicts in 1863 February 1863 events History of Silesian Voivodeship Battle of Sosnowiec {{Russia-battle-stub