Michał Jan Heydenreich (Heidenreich), also known under the pseudonym Kruk (19 September 1831,

Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

– 9 April 1886,

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

), was a Polish general who took part in 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 ...

. He was a

Podpolkovnik ''Podpolkovnik'' () is a military rank in Slavic and nearby countries which corresponds to the lieutenant colonel in the English-speaking states and military. In different languages the exact name of this rank maintains a variety of spelling ...

in 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 ...

. A native of Warsaw, Heydenreich was the son of

Polonized Polonization or Polonisation ()In Polish historiography, particularly pre-WWII (e.g., L. Wasilewski. As noted in Смалянчук А. Ф. (Smalyanchuk 2001) Паміж краёвасцю і нацыянальнай ідэяй. Польскі ...

German and French citizens. He graduated from the General Staff Academy in

St. Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea. The city had a population of 5,601, ...

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. In 1862, as a lieutenant colonel, he went to the staff of 2 Cavalry Division, stationed in the so-called

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 ...

. He was a member of the underground Polish Circle Officers founded by

Zygmunt Sierakowski Zygmunt Erazm Gaspar Józef Sierakowski (, ; 19 May 1826, – 27 June 1863, Vilnius) was a Polish leader of the January Uprising in lands of the former Grand Duchy of Lithuania in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Biography Youth and ed ...

in St. Petersburg. He joined the War Department of the

Central National Committee Central National Committee (Polish: ''Komitet Centralny Narodowy (KCN)'') was the underground coordinating committee of the Polish independence movement in 1860s Congress Poland which was responsible for preparing a general uprising against Tsa ...

. After the outbreak of the

in the summer of 1863, he was appointed head of the martial provinces of

Podlasie Podlachia, also known by its Polish name Podlasie (; ; ), is a historical region in north-eastern Poland. Its largest city is Białystok, whereas the historical capital is Drohiczyn. Similarly to several other historical regions of Poland, e.g ...

and

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 ...

. He subjugated smaller parties of insurgents. His unit, after losing the 24 July Battle of Kaniwola, won a victory in the Second Battle of Chruślina on 4 August, and on 8 August, led the Battle of Żyrzyn, where he attacked a Russian convoy carrying 200,000 rubles guarded by 550 soldiers and 2 runs. He took numerous prisoners, and took all but 60,000 of the rubles. It was the biggest victory for the Poles in the uprising. The National Government appointed Heidenreich Colonel General on 22 August 1863. He was defeated in the Battle of Fajsławice two days later. After the failures, he retreated to Galicia. He stood at the head of the grouping, which was cut from Galicia, from

Volhynia Volhynia or Volynia ( ; see #Names and etymology, below) is a historic region in Central and Eastern Europe, between southeastern Poland, southwestern Belarus, and northwestern Ukraine. The borders of the region are not clearly defined, but in ...

. However, on 1 November, he attempted to disperse his troops at Poryck, but failed to carry out this operation. His staff and a small escort, a , went to Lublin. There, he gathered the scattered forces; however, on 25 December, they were finally defeated in the Battle of Kock. In March 1864, Heydenreich was imprisoned in a local jail in

Gostyń Gostyń (, 1941-45: ''Gostingen'') is a town in western Poland, seat of the Gostyń County and Gmina Gostyń in the Greater Poland Voivodeship (from 1975 to 1998 in Leszno Voivodship). According to 31 December 2023 data its population was 27,846 ...

; he was freed in a daring rescue by a Jewish physician Eliasz Wachtel, an episode described in an article by Polish painter Władysław Stachowski. During the reorganization of the army by the insurgent

Romuald Traugutt Romuald Traugutt (16 January 1826 – 5 August 1864) was a Polish military officer and politician who served as the last dictator of the January Uprising. Following a career in the Imperial Russian Army that included service in Hungary and Crim ...

, Heydenreich was scheduled to command the first body, but the collapse of the uprising made him flee to France and then to Great Britain. He took part in the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

from 1870 to 1871. In 1872, he was part of the launch of the Paris

Masonic Lodge A Masonic lodge (also called Freemasons' lodge, or private lodge or constituent lodge) is the basic organisational unit of Freemasonry. It is also a commonly used term for a building where Freemasons meet and hold their meetings. Every new l ...

. He soon settled in Lviv, where he ran a craft workshop. There he died, and was buried in

Lychakiv Cemetery Lychakiv Cemetery (; ), officially State History and Culture Museum-Reserve "Lychakiv Cemetery" (), is a historic cemetery in Lviv, Ukraine. History Since its creation in 1787 as Łyczakowski Cemetery, it has been the main necropolis of the c ...

References

External links

Biography of Michał Heydenreich (in Polish)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Heydenreich, Michal Generals of the January Uprising Polish participants of the January Uprising Burials at Lychakiv Cemetery 1831 births 1886 deaths Polish people of German descent Polish people of French descent Polish generals Imperial Nikolayev Military Academy alumni