The Battle of Dobra took place on February 24, 1863 near the village of Dobra, 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 ...

. It was one of many skirmishes 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 ...

, the anti-Russian rebellion of Poles. On February 22, 1863, an insurgent unit of Józef Sawicki and dr. Józef Dworaczek, arrived at the town of

Zgierz Zgierz is a city in central Poland, located just to the north of Łódź, and part of the metropolitan area centered on that city. As of 2021 it had a population of 54,974. Zgierz is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship (since 1999); previousl ...

. The unit had some 300 men, including 60 riflemen, 210

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 ...

, and 30 cavalry. With food supplies received in Zgierz, the insurgents marched to the forest near the village of Dobra, where they camped. The Poles were immediately followed by a group 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 ...

, which consisted on infantry and

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

. On February 24 the Russians reached the camp and decided to attack. Polish insurgents fought desperately, but facing supreme firepower of Russian soldiers, they eventually retreated. Altogether, some 60 Poles were killed in the battle. Among the fallen Poles, was female insurgent Maria Piotrowiczowa.

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 Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN (''Polish Scientific Publishers PWN''; until 1991 ''Państwowe Wydawnictwo Naukowe'' - ''National Scientific Publishers PWN'', PWN) is a Polish book publisher, founded in 1951, when it split from the Wydawnictwa Szkolne i P ...

, 1983. . Dobra 1863 1863 in Poland Dobra History of Łódź Voivodeship February 1863 events {{Russia-battle-stub