The Battle of Kobylanka, 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 ...

, took place on May 1 and May 6, 1863, in the Kobylanka Forest, located near the village of Borowiec, 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 Polish insurgent party of some 800, under

Antoni Jezioranski Antoni is a Catalan, Polish, and Slovene given name and a surname used in the eastern part of Spain, Poland and Slovenia. As a Catalan given name it is a variant of the male names Anton and Antonio. As a Polish given name it is a variant of the fem ...

, clashed here with a 1000-strong unit 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 ...

. On April 28, an insurgent party from Galicia, commanded by General Jasinski crossed Austrian/Russian border near the village of Ruda Rozaniecka. Russian Army Colonel Georgi Mednikov, who was military commandant of Janow Lubelski County, decided to send a detachment towards Ruda. Altogether, the Russian unit consisted of 1000 soldiers, including infantry,

uhlan 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, Pr ...

Cossack 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 ...

s, border guards and two cannons. On May 1, the Russians, led by Major Ivan Sternberg, attacked Jasinski and his men. The insurgents were well-armed, but did not have enough ammunition. Russian attack was halted by the Poles, and Sternberg ordered a retreat to Borowe Mlyny. There, his forces were strengthened with four infantry companies and other units, and as a result, Russian detachment had 2000 soldiers. Jezioranski also reinforced his party, with two cavalry battalions and rebels from the unit of

Marcin Borelowski Marcin (Polish pronunciation: ) is a male given name or surname. Notable people with the name Marcin include: Given name * Marcin Dorociński (born 1973), Polish actor * Marcin Gortat (born 1984), Polish basketball player * Marcin Held (born 199 ...

. Nevertheless, the Russians still had a 3 to 1 advantage. On May 6, the Russians attacked insurgent camp, pushing the insurgents towards its center. After a fierce battle, in which Poles used bayonets, the Russians were pushed back by the afternoon. Altogether, Poles lost 150 men (killed and wounded). Among those killed were Jezioranski himself. Russians losses are unknown, Colonel Mednikov later reported 150 killed, but this number was probably much higher.

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. . Kobylanka 1863 in Poland Kobylanka May 1863 events {{Russia-battle-stub