Salvete Omnes,
a short entry - dr Adrian Goldsworthy, historian & novelist (his Roman period novels are good entertainment ).
So dr Goldsworthy, in a rather typical British fashion of not knowing about Polish cavalry or history (like the Polish and Red army cavalries 1917-45), delivers a lecture on the Napoleonic era mounted troops and use of horses by the armies. - this is the video on Yt.
And some of my old Napoleonic ulan (uhlan -lancer) and cheavulegers art.
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Valete
Salvete Omnes,
November - Somossiera etc, so the lancers on my mind, And I would like to invite you to this interesting material from Spain dating back to the last year of the War of Independence, 1814AD.
Laminas del ataque y la defensa del arma de la lanza.
Created by the officers of the Legion de la Extremadura, a unit famous also for a Scottish officer John Downie.
Valete
Salvete Omnes,
a quick late summer entry - a little posting on the Mir Castle (Zamek w Mirze, Мірскі замак, Mirski zamak) in the Grodno District.
XV-XVI century Lithuanian Duchy court marshal and starost of Brzesc (Brest) and Kowno (Kaunas) Jerzy Iwanowicz Ilinicz (?-1527) had a Gothic castle with 5 imposing towers built in his manor of Mir. His grandson Jerzy, who was a son of Zofia nee Radziwill, was the sole heir to the fortune, and having been brought up by Mikolaj Radziwill the Black, he unfortunately died without issue, and thus Jerzy made a testamentary bequest to his cousin Mikolaj Radziwill Sierotka (the Orphan), last will passed the castle and estates to the Radziwill family. They rebuilt the castle in the Renaissance style, adding a palazzo to the castle complex.
Unfortunately, the wars - starting with 1655 (the Deluge) through the Great Northern War, Polish-Russian war of 1792, and Kosciuszko Insurrection of 1794, the Napoleon invasion of Russia 1812 - caused multiple damage to the castle complex.
In 1895 the Swietopelk-Mirski family bought the castle from the descendants of the Radziwill clan and zu Sayn-Wittgenstein-Berleburg, and started some rebuilding of the castle ruins. Bolsheviks murdered local Polish patriots in the castle ruins in 1919.
Michal Swiatopelk-Mirski started restoration of the castle in 1923, based on the plans of Teodor Bursche (Bursze).
Unfortunately the communists, as the Soviet Union, returned in September 1939 (killing and deporting to Siberia our Polish inhabitants of Mir), and the the Nazi Germans in 1941 through 1944 (murdering the Jewish inhabitants of the town of Mir). Stalin's Soviet Union took final possession of the castle until the end of the Soviet Union, in 1991.
Finally, the castle has returned from Valhalla - during the early decade of the XXI century the miracle took place, the ruins were rebuilt - below the beautifully rebuilt castle of Mir, by the taxpayers of Belarus. They say a fine museum too.
Vivat!
Enjoy
Valete
Salvete Omnes,
the French Army of the North Right Wing's operation in pursuit of the Prussians army mauled at Ligny on the 16th of June, 1815 and the battle of Wavre (18th-19th June 1815) are some of the mostly forgotten military operations in the history of the Napoleonic wars.
I am not going to study the battle itself but the more about the curious events surrounding the communications or lack of between Napoleon's army main body and its right wing under marshal Grouchy and the consequences of these that have led to the defeat of Napoleon at Waterloo and second abdication of the French ruler.
Grouchy, gallant cavalryman and then commanding Napoleon's Army of the North-Right Wing, perhaps 30-33 thousand officers and soldier - consisting of remnants of III, IV Corps infantry & 7th Cav. Division, and 1st (under general Pajol) & 2nd (general Exelmans) Cavalry Corps - was supposed to prevent the Prussians under Blucher from joining with Wellington's allied army and open the road onto Brussels, the English being pursued by Napoleon.
Grouchy's forces, lacking in artillery supremacy in the strong points, contacted the enemy outposts on the 18th morning and pursuant to the understanding of Napoleon's intentions French Right Wing advanced slowly on the Prussians in the late afternoon of June 18th.
The roads and ground were terribly soaked with the rains of storms of the 17th of June, making marching and advancing more difficult to the soldiers and horses.
Sometimes after 9AM, June 18, 1813, Napoleon observed both armies concentrated on the future battlefield, and called our Zenowicz to deliver his message to Grouchy near Wavre. They returned to the farm at 10 AM, and due to certain indecision and tardiness in drafting the orders by the staff scribes and the head of staff marshal Soult (whereas unfortunately the brain of the Grand Army the best chief of staff marshal Berthier was not part of this operation, having died on June 1, 1815) our aide-de-camp Zenowicz left the headquarters on a rather inferior horse around noon, when the opposing armies joined the struggle.
Since Napoleon insisted that Zenowicz would take the longer route via Gembloux. The difficult terrain, soaked by rain and full of debris. lack of maps and guidance caused this mounted messenger to travel for almost 4 hours until he was able to report to marshal Grouchy circa 4pm.
Zenowicz gave marshal his dispatch - where Soult stated: ''[..] His Majesty is going to attack the English army [..] at Waterloo; also that His Majesty desires that you direct your movements on Wavre in order to approach us [Waterloo], come into our area of operations and tie in your communications, pushing before you the corps of the Prussian army which have taken this direction and which could stop at Wavre, where you are to arrive as soon as possible. You are to follow the enemy columns which are on your right with some light troops in order to observe their movements and collect up their stragglers. Inform me immediately of your deployment and your march, as well as in the news you have of the enemy and do not hesitate in coming into communications with us. The emperor wants to receive your news often.'
Grouchy, when explaining his moves after reading this dispatch in his writings years after the Waterloo campaign, stated that he read the dispatch - la bataille est gagnee (the battle is won) whereas in fact the writing stated - la bataille est engagee (the battle has started). His army was 15km (lass than 10 miles) from Waterloo and his army could have changed the outcome of the Waterloo battle if started marching, especially his numerous cavalry, at 4PM towards His Majesty, the Emperor. But it was not to be.
Our Zenowicz witnessed the heated verbal fight between general Gerard and marshal Grouchy, where Gerard was mad at the indecision displayed by Grouchy accusing marshal of causing a potential defeat of the French.
The battle continued until the morning of June 19 when captain Dumonceau brought to Grouchy the news of the Waterloo defeat.
Facing victorious enemies and threatened with encirclement and cut off from their French base, marshal Grouchy executed a skillful retread of his army to Paris, via Namur.
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| Despot coat of arms |
Valete
Salvete Omnes,
several days ago there was 211th anniversary of the battle at La Chausse - Feb, 3rd 1814.
This battle took place during the 1814 defense of France conducted by Napoleon's Grande Armee corps and divisions commanded by his marshals.
In this instance Marshal Macdonald's forces, the XI Corps and II Cavalry Corps, were defending the Rhine River line from Coblenz on the Rhine. The French were facing huge numbers of Prussian - Army of Silesia- and Austrian armies - Army of Bohemia - augmented by the Russian regiments and squadrons.
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| Yorck as a fieldmarshal of Prussian army |
French cavalry units at the village of la Chaussee were commanded by Dommanget (hussars, chasseur a cheval and lanciers cavalry) and Marin Thiry (2 cuirassier regiments), and their potions were constrained by the terrain. Also the French cavalry had poor morale and low spirit,
while the Prussian horse, including militia horse regiment, was full of military vigor, animus and ardor. They were also disciplined and well trained as horsemen and as miltiary units.
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| immobile French heavy cavalry receiving the charging Prussians |
After the battle Yorck wrote to marshal Schwarzenberg that the French sufffered loss of: seven guns, six caissons, one standard, several hundred men prisoners. Prussian suffered 150 causalities. According to researchers at least 100 French were killed.
This is the orde de bataille (Order of Battle) acording to Andrew Field's research.
Valete
