Jan Piotr Rządkowski (1860–1934) was a Polish military officer and a

General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

of the

Polish Army The Land Forces () are the Army, land forces of the Polish Armed Forces. They currently contain some 110,000 active personnel and form many components of the European Union and NATO deployments around the world. Poland's recorded military histor ...

. He is best known as the commanding officer of the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division during the Polish-Bolshevik War and then the commander of the armed forces of the

Republic of Central Lithuania The Republic of Central Lithuania (, ), commonly known as the Central Lithuania, and the Middle Lithuania (, , ), was an unrecognized short-lived puppet state of Poland, that existed from 1920 to 1922. It was founded on 12 October 1920, after ...

Biography

Rządkowski was born on 14 July 1860 in

Belsk Duży Belsk Duży is a village in Grójec County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina (administrative district) called Gmina Belsk Duży. It lies approximately south-west of Grójec and south of Warsaw Warsa ...

in the

Warsaw Governorate Warsaw Governorate was an administrative-territorial unit (''guberniya'') of Congress Poland of the Russian Empire. It was created in 1844 from the Masovia Governorate, Masovia and Kalisz Governorates, and had the capital in Warsaw. In 1867 ter ...

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 ...

, to an old

gentry Gentry (from Old French , from ) are "well-born, genteel and well-bred people" of high social class, especially in the past. ''Gentry'', in its widest connotation, refers to people of good social position connected to Landed property, landed es ...

family owning a number of villages and manors in the area of

Łomża Łomża () is a city in north-eastern Poland, approximately to the north-east of Warsaw and west of Białystok. It is situated alongside the Narew river as part of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the capital of Łomża County and has been the se ...

. Originating from the regions of

Podlaskie Podlaskie Voivodeship ( ) is a voivodeship in northeastern Poland. The name of the voivodeship refers to the historical region of Podlachia (in Polish, ''Podlasie''), and significant part of its territory corresponds to that region. The capital ...

and

Kurpie Kurpie () is one of a number of ethnic regions in Poland, noted for its unique traditional customs, such as its own types of traditional costume, traditional dance and distinctive type of architecture and livelihoods. Kurpie is also the name of ...

, following the

November Uprising The November Uprising (1830–31) (), also known as the Polish–Russian War 1830–31 or the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in Russian Partition, the heartland of Partitions of Poland, partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. ...

the family was forced to move to central Poland, where Rządkowski was born. After he received basic education at the local gymnasium, at the age of 20 he joined the

Russian Imperial 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 ...

. He quickly rose through its ranks and after the outbreak of the

Great War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

he was among the highest-ranking Polish officers serving in that force. Because of that in 1915 the tsar nominated him to the post of the commanding officer of the

Puławy Legion Puławy Legion (, ) was a Polish military formation of World War I as part of the Imperial Russian Army. It was created in late 1914 from volunteers gathered together due to several initiatives, most notably of which was that of the pro-Russi ...

and then the Polish Rifle Brigade, the first entirely-Polish units formed in Russia since 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 ...

half a century before. Rządkowski was a skilled commander, but also had to become a politician in order to convince

Nicholas II Nicholas II (Nikolai Alexandrovich Romanov; 186817 July 1918) or Nikolai II was the last reigning Emperor of Russia, King of Congress Poland, and Grand Duke of Finland from 1 November 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. He married ...

to extend the Polish formations fighting alongside the Russian Army. His efforts mostly failed, but on the insistence of France the Blue Army was formed and the Polish units in Russia were also created. In 1917 Rządkowski became the commanding officer of the Polish Rifle Division and then the deputy commander of the Polish 2nd Rifle Division ( pl) of the Polish I Corps. In November 1918 Rządkowski joined the recreated Polish Army. In 1919 he became the regional commander of the

Lublin Lublin is List of cities and towns in Poland, the ninth-largest city in Poland and the second-largest city of historical Lesser Poland. It is the capital and the centre of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 336,339 (December 2021). Lublin i ...

Military Area, then involved in the final stages of the Polish-Ukrainian War and the opening stages of the Polish-Bolshevik War. Promoted to the rank of

Lieutenant General Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

, he became the commanding officer of the 1st Lithuanian-Belarusian Division, a unit formed mostly of Poles living in the areas broadly referred to as

Kresy Eastern Borderlands (), often simply Borderlands (, ) was a historical region of the eastern part of the Second Polish Republic. The term was coined during the interwar period (1918–1939). Largely agricultural and extensively multi-ethnic with ...

. With that division, he successfully opposed the Russian tactical assaults along the Upper

Berezina The Berezina or Byarezina (, ; ) is a river in Belarus and a right tributary of the Dnieper. The river starts in the Berezinsky Biosphere Reserve. The length of the Berezina is . The width of the river is 15–20 m, the maximum is 60 m. The ba ...

river. As the commander of that unit he took part in Gen.

Lucjan Żeligowski Lucjan Żeligowski (; 17 October 1865 – 9 July 1947) was a Polish general, politician, military commander and veteran of World War I, the Polish-Soviet War and World War II. He is mostly remembered for his role in Żeligowski's Mutiny and a ...

's take-over of the city of

Vilna Vilnius ( , ) is the capital of and List of cities in Lithuania#Cities, largest city in Lithuania and the List of cities in the Baltic states by population, most-populous city in the Baltic states. The city's estimated January 2025 population w ...

and was briefly the commander of the armed forces of the

. However, as he was born outside of the area of the republic and had no civil rights there, he was called off to Poland and in 1921 became the commanding officer of the

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 ...

Military Area. As one of the senior officers, he was also the head of the Officers' Tribunal. In 1923 he was retired, promoted to the rank of

generał broni Generał broni (literally ''General of arms'', '' general of the branch'', abbreviated gen. broni) is the second highest Generals grade in the Polish Army, second only to the recently introduced rank of Generał (both in Land Forces and in the P ...

and settled in the manor of Suchorzew in

Greater Poland Greater Poland, often known by its Polish name Wielkopolska (; ), is a Polish Polish historical regions, historical region of west-central Poland. Its chief and largest city is Poznań followed by Kalisz, the oldest city in Poland. The bound ...

. He died there on 17 February 1934 and was buried in the Alley of Merit at the Warsaw's

Powązki Cemetery Powązki Cemetery (; ), also known as Stare Powązki (), is a historic necropolis located in Wola district, in the western part of Warsaw, Poland. It is the most famous cemetery in the city and one of the oldest, having been established in 179 ...

Honours and awards

Among his awards were the Silver Cross of the

Virtuti Militari The War Order of Virtuti Militari (Latin: ''"For Military Virtue"'', ) is Poland's highest military decoration for heroism and courage in the face of the enemy at war. It was established in 1792 by the last King of Poland Stanislaus II of Poland, ...

, Commander's Cross of the

Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on foreigners for outstanding achievements in the fields of education, science, sport, culture, ...

, four Crosses of Valour (''Krzyż Walecznych'') and the French

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour ( ), formerly the Imperial Order of the Legion of Honour (), is the highest and most prestigious French national order of merit, both military and Civil society, civil. Currently consisting of five cl ...

, Class III.

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Rzadkowski, Jan 1860 births 1934 deaths People from Grójec County People from Warsaw Governorate Polish generals Military personnel of the Russian Empire Puławy Legion personnel Republic of Central Lithuania Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland) Commanders of the Legion of Honour Burials at Powązki Cemetery Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War Polish generals in the Imperial Russian Army of World War I

Biography

Honours and awards

See also

References