Wincenty Aksamitowski (September 15, 1760 – January 13, 1828) was a

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 ...

artillery officer who rose to the rank of

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of highest military ranks, high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers t ...

, serving with the

Polish army The Land Forces () are the land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 62,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military history stret ...

and

French army The French Army, officially known as the Land Army (french: Armée de Terre, ), is the land-based and largest component of the French Armed Forces. It is responsible to the Government of France, along with the other components of the Armed For ...

during the

Napoleonic War The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...

s. He was born in Nagórzany near

Kamieniec Podolski Kamianets-Podilskyi ( uk, Ка́м'яне́ць-Поді́льський, russian: Каменец-Подольский, Kamenets-Podolskiy, pl, Kamieniec Podolski, ro, Camenița, yi, קאַמענעץ־פּאָדאָלסק / קאַמעניץ, ...

, Poland, and died in

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 ...

. In 1802 as commander of the 2nd Polish Legion, he was involved in uncovering an anti-French Masonic plot which had been instigated by the

Neapolitan Neapolitan means of or pertaining to Naples, a city in Italy; or to: Geography and history * Province of Naples, a province in the Campania region of southern Italy that includes the city * Duchy of Naples, in existence during the Early and Hig ...

brigade commander H. M. Aurora. Although this damaged his reputation in the eyes of his men, it did facilitate the transfer of his unit to the French armies payroll. However this came with a price: they were transferred to

Haiti Haiti (; ht, Ayiti ; French: ), officially the Republic of Haiti (); ) and formerly known as Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and ...

. Aksamitowski however did not accompany them. He was appointed Chief of Brigade in 1803, and Brigadier General in 1806. He was given command of the artillery of the

Grand Duchy of Warsaw The Duchy of Warsaw ( pl, Księstwo Warszawskie, french: Duché de Varsovie, german: Herzogtum Warschau), also known as the Grand Duchy of Warsaw and Napoleonic Poland, was a French client state established by Napoleon Bonaparte in 1807, during ...

in 1806. In 1808, he was appointed a staff officer in the

Grande Armée ''La Grande Armée'' (; ) was the main military component of the French Imperial Army commanded by Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte during the Napoleonic Wars. From 1804 to 1808, it won a series of military victories that allowed the French Empi ...

in the 3rd Corps of

Louis-Nicolas Davout Louis-Nicolas d'Avout (10 May 1770 – 1 June 1823), better known as Davout, 1st Duke of Auerstaedt, 1st Prince of Eckmühl, was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who served during both the French Revolutionary Wars and t ...

, and then commanded a brigade of the 1st Polish Legion in the Armée d'Allemagne attached to the 3rd Corps. In 1813, he commanded a cavalry brigade and was a member of

Joachim Murat Joachim Murat ( , also , ; it, Gioacchino Murati; 25 March 1767 – 13 October 1815) was a French military commander and statesman who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and Napoleonic Wars. Under the French Empire he received the ...

's personal staff.

References

Bibliography

*R. Bielecki – Encyklopedia wojen Napoleońskich, Warszawa 2002 *Henryk P. Kosk – Generalicja polska, tom I, Oficyna Wydawnicza "Ajaks", Pruszków 2001, *Jan Pachoński, Oficerowie Legionów Polskich 1796–1807, część II: Słownik biograficzny oficerów Legionów Polskich 1796-1807 (do druku przygotowali Kamil Stepan i Adam Roliński), Fundacja Centrum Dokumentacji Czynu Niepodległościowego, Księgarnia Akademicka, Kraków 1998–2003, s. 4-6 1760 births 1828 deaths People from Khmelnytskyi Oblast People from Podolia Voivodeship Polish generals Polish legionnaires (Napoleonic period) Anti-Masonry {{Poland-mil-bio-stub