Stanisław Mokronowski (1761-1821) was a prominent member of the Polish

landed gentry The landed gentry, or the gentry (sometimes collectively known as the squirearchy), is a largely historical Irish and British social class of landowners who could live entirely from rental income, or at least had a country estate. It is t ...

of Bogoria coat of arms. 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 ...

and a royal Chamberlain

Mokronowski took part in both the

Polish–Russian War of 1792 The Polish–Russian War of 1792 (also, War of the Second Partition, and in Polish sources, War in Defence of the Constitution) was fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on one side, and the Targowica Confederation (conservativ ...

(War in the Defence of the Constitution) and Kościuszko's Uprising of 1794.

Early life

Stanisław Mokronowski was born in 1761 to Ludwik Mokronowski and Józefa née Czosnowska. Educated by

Jesuit The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...

s, he later studied at the Szkoła Rycerska (Knight's School, also known as the Cadet Corps) in Warsaw, and later in Paris. He entered the

military A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. Militaries are typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with their members identifiable by a d ...

service in Poland, but for a few years he served in the

French military The French Armed Forces (, ) are the military forces of France. They consist of four military branches – the Army, the Navy, the Air and Space Force, and the National Gendarmerie. The National Guard serves as the French Armed Forces' military ...

Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

Four-Year Sejm

He returned to Poland in 1788, and on the

sejmik A sejmik (, diminutive of ''sejm'', occasionally translated as a ''dietine''; ) was one of various local parliaments in the history of Poland and history of Lithuania. The first sejmiks were regional assemblies in the Kingdom of Poland (before ...

at Wyszogród land he was elected the deputy to the national

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

(parliament), thus becoming a member of the famous Great Sejm

He became allied to the Poniatowski family. In 1792, during the War in the Defence of the Constitution he held the rank of vicebrigadier (''wicebrygadier''), and after distinguishing himself at the battle of Zieleńce was 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 ...

. In the aftermath of the battle of Zieleńce, Mokronowski became the fourth person to receive 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, ...

order, after prince

Józef Poniatowski Prince Józef Antoni Poniatowski (; 7 May 1763 – 19 October 1813) was a Polish general, minister of war and army chief, who became a Marshal of the French Empire during the Napoleonic Wars. A nephew of the King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lit ...

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko (; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, and military leader who then became a national hero in Poland, the United States, Lithuania, and ...

and Michał Wielhorski.

Kościuszko Uprising

In 1794, he was the commander of Polish troops in Warsaw, and took part in the

Warsaw Uprising The Warsaw Uprising (; ), sometimes referred to as the August Uprising (), or the Battle of Warsaw, was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance movement in World War II, Polish underground resistance to liberate Warsaw from ...

against the Russian garrison occupying the city. The Russians were defeated in two days, and retreated from the city with very heavy losses. During the insurrection he held the position of commander of the city of Warsaw and the National Forces of the Masovian Duchy (''komendant miasta Warszawy i Siły Zbrojnej Księstwa Mazowieckiego''). He was elected to the Provisional Temporary Council (Polish: Rada Zastępcza Tymczasowa), but due to his criticism of

he was removed from the political body. As a military commander, he was important in the defense of Warsaw (commander of the defense at the battle of Błonie), and in

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

, where he led the retreating Commonwealth forces towards Warsaw. Together with prince

, Michał Wielhorski and Eustachy Sanguszko, he formed the core of the "court" faction among the insurrectionists. After the defeat of the Uprising, he retired to Italy.

Congress Poland

He returned to Poland shortly before his death. He was engaged in the construction of the monument of Józef Poniatowski in Warsaw.

Personal life

Family

In 1793, he married Maria Marianna Sanguszko-Kowelska. In 1804 his daughter, Antonina Mokronowski, was born.

References

Jozef Poniatowski, biography, mentions several facts about Stanisław Morkonowski
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mokronowski, Stanislaw Members of the Great Sejm 1761 births 1821 deaths People from Włocławek County Generals of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Polish generals Generals of the Kościuszko Uprising Kościuszko insurgents Recipients of the Virtuti Militari 18th-century Polish nobility