The Battle of Sędziejowice, one of many clashes of the

January Uprising The January Uprising was an insurrection principally in Russia's Kingdom of Poland that was aimed at putting an end to Russian occupation of part of Poland and regaining independence. It began on 22 January 1863 and continued until the last i ...

, took place on 26 August 1863 near the village of Sędziejowice, which at that time belonged to Russian-controlled

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of 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 was established w ...

. A party of 1,500 Polish insurgents, commanded by

Edmund Taczanowski Edmund Taczanowski (1822, Wieczyn – 1879, Choryń) was a Polish general, insurrectionist, member of the Taczanowski magnate dynasty (he was grandson of the famous privateer Maksymilian Taczanowski), and Lord of the estate of Choryń in the pro ...

, clashed with soldiers of the

Imperial Russian Army The Imperial Russian Army () was the army of the Russian Empire, active from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was organized into a standing army and a state militia. The standing army consisted of Regular army, regular troops and ...

, commanded by

rittmeister Rittmaster () is usually a commissioned officer military rank used in a few armies, usually equivalent to Captain. Historically it has been used in Germany, Austria-Hungary, Scandinavia, and some other countries. A is typically in charge of a s ...

von Grabbe. The battle resulted in Polish victory. In early September 1863, an insurgent party of Taczanowski camped near Sędziejowice. When the Russians found out about this, they decided to send there

Grodno Grodno, or Hrodna, is a city in western Belarus. It is one of the oldest cities in Belarus. The city is located on the Neman, Neman River, from Minsk, about from the Belarus–Poland border, border with Poland, and from the Belarus–Lithua ...

Hussars A hussar, ; ; ; ; . was a member of a class of light cavalry, originally from the Kingdom of Hungary during the 15th and 16th centuries. The title and distinctive dress of these horsemen were subsequently widely adopted by light cavalry ...

under Rittmeister von Grabbe, supported by

Don Cossacks Don Cossacks (, ) or Donians (, ), are Cossacks who settled along the middle and lower Don River (Russia), Don. Historically, they lived within the former Don Cossack Host (, ), which was either an independent or an autonomous democratic rep ...

. It is unknown how many Russian soldiers were engaged in the clash, as almost all of them were killed. A few survivors, including von Grabbe himself, were captured by the insurgents. Following the battle, strong Russian forces concentrated between

Częstochowa Częstochowa ( , ) is a city in southern Poland on the Warta with 214,342 inhabitants, making it the thirteenth-largest city in Poland. It is situated in the Silesian Voivodeship. However, Częstochowa is historically part of Lesser Poland, not Si ...

and

Łódź Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...

, ready to prevent any insurgent movements.

Sources

Stefan Kieniewicz Stefan Kieniewicz (20 September 1907, in Dereszewicze – 2 May 1992, in Konstancin-Jeziorna, Konstancin) was a Polish historian and university professor, notable for his works on the 19th-century history of Poland. During his work at various uni ...

: 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 ...

, 1983. . Conflicts in 1863 1863 in Poland Sedziejowice September 1863 {{Russia-battle-stub