Warka on the Pilica River 1656-2026

Salvete Omnes, 

On April 7, 1656 near town of Warka on the Pilica River Polish Crown forces consisting of cavalry and dragoons defeated the invading Swedish forces during the so called Deluge or Polish-Swedish war 1655-60 AD.

Polish Crown forces that crossed the flooded Pilica River consisted of some 6,500 men and horses (Crown cavalry banners) whereas  some 5 to 6,000 men and horses stayed on the other side of the river,

The Crown army divided into several pulk commands, the main ones being two:

 1. The Crown marshal Sebastian Lubomirski - crica 1,500 horses and men including 1 banner of his own winged hussars and 2 other winged hussar banners, pulk of  kozak pancerni banners, pulk of   light cavalry, and 2 companies of dragoons . His forces attacked the Swedish main army

.

2. voivode of Kijow Stefan Czarniecki - perhaps 3,000 plus division -  who had under his command 1 winged hussar banner and many companies of dragoons, light cavalry, kozak pancerni etc.
Also, about 1000 strong voivodeship of Sandomierz noble militia.

Swedish forces were commanded by Frederic VI, Margrave of Baden-Durlach with 'colonel' (Oberstleutnant)  Ritter consisted of cavalry and dragoons - circa 2,500-3,000 men and  horses, plus huge wagon train - some sources say 2,000 wagons and carriages. 

Magrave's forces were also cavalry and dragoons - the  Reiter Cavalry Regiments of Ahlefeld, Waldeck, Siegel, 3 companies from Adolf Johann reiter regiment, and companies  & freicompanies of dragoons. Ritter (who died in action), commander of Radom, led circa 1000 strong dragoon force protecting the huge wagon train, and in the battle he commanded the rearguard. Poles attacked this rearguard as the prelude to the main engagement of two main armies.

Upon destroying of the Ritter's rearguard, Crown Marshal Lubomirski personally led 3 winged hussars banners (500 strong?)  assault on the Swedish cavalry and dragoons. The charge did not break the Swedish companies, but gave time for the other Polish cavalry banners to provide support to the winged hussars and then Czarniecki  sent the Zamoyski winged hussar banner aided by the Wasowicz dragoon regiment to charge the Swedes. Next the winged hussar banners withdrew and upon reforming their ranks and file charged as one lance hedgehog-like 4 banner strong unit. They broke Swedish regiment and companies.. 

Within two hours from the beginning of the battle it was over, our Polish Crown cavalry secured a tactical victory of the Swedish army.  Margrave with many high ranking officers and under the escort of a Finnish company escaped to the Czersk Castle (well, the ruins of it), where they were able to have survived 'till the following morning and only after the Polish Crown cavalry withdrew to the main body of the Crown army, the Swedish commander adnd his stragglers made it to Swedes-held Warsaw. 

enjoy

Valete 

Stefan Czarniecki at Warsaw 28-30th July 1656

 Salvete Omnes,

the battle of Warsaw 1656 topic continued -

The summer 1656 concentration of various crown & and ducal divisions ordered by His Royal Majesty Jan Kazimierz found the most stalwart Polish commander Stefan Czarniecki, castellan of Kijow, in the king's camp but unconvinced as to the need for a field battle against the Swedish-Prussian-Brandenburg alliance.  
Czarniecki seemed to have been opposed outright to the battle, having experienced various successes and defeats during the winter and spring 1656 campaign against the Swedish divisions (perhaps, God willing, next year, in the more rounder year as per the anniversary, I will spend some time discussing this cavalry battles - eg Golab, Klecko, Kcynia, Warka etc).

Ad rem,

while Swedish monarch having concentrated  his armies at Nowy Dwor  and commenced his armies  march, after crossing the Bug & Narew River, on the freshly liberated Warsaw and Polish camps around the city, Czarniecki was advocating return to the more guerrilla (hit-and-run & harassing the invaders) style of warfare, as more suitable for the Polish and Lithuanian divisions and the royal national levy. 

Czarniecki was supposed to have said to the king  that the rouge hit-and-run guerrilla warfare had laid down at king's feet 12,000 enemies' heads. It was working and would continue to work. The king obstinately insisted on having a field battle, having amassed largest Commonwealth army in this conflict).
Polish-Lithuanian divisions and national levy crossed the Vistula river on the 27th of July, and all contenders marched towards the battlefield, seemingly unaware of each others designs.  Polish king sent a letter to duke Frederick Wilhelm of Prussia demanding that he would quit the Swedish side,a s per his status as Polish Crown vassal. Naturally, traitor and sly and treacherous Prussian-Brandenburg ruler refused.

The reluctant Czarniecki, commanding perhaps 2,000 strong cavalry force, was ordered by the king to reconnoiter and make difficult if possible for the enemy any crossings of Vistula at the Zakroczym ford, where the Swedish side was building a bridge. He spent there the 28-29th of July, and was recalled to unite with the Commonwealth army  during the night of the 29th, when already many wagon trains were moving across the Vistula on the left bank, as the battle was lost. Czarniecki, who was officially the  lieutenant of the king's winged hussar banner, took command of the unit, and the 12 banners of cavalry of the southern cavalry division, and eventually the whole southern group of the cavalry.
Thus this  'new' Czarniecki's division, augmented a bit later by by the Crimean Tatar contingent operating as the rearguard of the royal cavalry and also by the Gosiewski group,  fought  the battle in its last, third, day of July 30th, and was operating north-west of Okuniew, eventually involved in the fighting retreat to Okuniew and fording the Vistula to fight another day (on the 31st Czarniecki's command fought a scrimmage at Okuniew, defeated a 2,000 strong Swedish combined detachment, took  6 regimental cannons, and while in pursuit of the retreating Swedes took Brodno, and put the folwark and village to torch. 

In the aftermath of the battle Czarniecki's camp became the rallying point for many units, often disgusted with the officially commanding chief general, the Crown grand  hetman  Potocki and their officers' performance during the Warsaw battle. 
Valete

Pan hetman Stefan Czarniecki - the glorious commander of Old Poland

 Salvete Omnes,

today, but in 1665AD, Stefan Czarniecki Lodzia coat of arms, field hetman of  the Crown Army of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, passed away. He died at Sokolivika, nowadays Lviv oblast in Ukraine, then a village in Red Ruthenia and Lwow Voivodeship, south-central Crown Poland - Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. 

Painted from life portrait of Stefan Czarniecki

XVIII century version - the scene of Czarniecki's passing by Franciszek Szmuglewicz

Born in 1599AD, pan Stefan spent his entire life in the saddle, and later on he was painted on horseback by various artists.
But today we shall commemorate this great warrior and horseman with the paintings showing his last moments with his favorite war steed . his gray mount - as envisioned by Polish early XIX century master January Suchodolski (two versions of the canvass) .

Nota bene Jan Chrysostom Pasek served under Czarniecki during the Deluge and the Polish-Russian war. 

His legacy lives on and even today Polish school children, workers and soldiers when singing the Polish National Anthem, sing about his daring raid on the Als during the Deluge. 

Another Polish painter, Leopold Loeffler, painted  the death bed with a war steed scene -

Also maestro Juliusz Kossak painted this scene, here reproduced in 'Tygodnik Ilustrowany' in 1909.

ps
I like the brushes on another Polish maestro Szymon Kobylinski, and one of these days I shall copy for your viewing pleassure one of his drawings showing Czarniecki and his horse. 

Valete

Czarniecki , Pasek et consortes - crossing the sea to Als

 Salvete Omnes,

a little remembrance of the Deluge and Polish cavalry action - on December 14, 1658 AD Stefan Czarniecki, commander of the Polish Crown army division in Danish Kingdom, ordered his horse banners to cross the open Baltic Sea waters, circa 500 meters wide straits, onto the island of Als, where the Swedish invaders were holed up. The cavalrymen and their horses crossed the straits and having surprised the Swedish enemy with their resolve and bravery and being somewhat immune to the freezing cold, won the day. 

This event was described in some detail by one of the most famous Polish diarists of the XVII century, Jan Ch. Pasek, who was also a pancerny kozak companion serving under Stefan Czarniecki during the Deluge and this Danish  campaign.

The event was so unusual in Polish history, a very land based nation at that time, that when 150 years later Jozef Wybicki wrote Mazurek Dabrowskiego,  current Polish national anthem, he included this feat in the text of the song.
In Polish art history this campaign was popular with the artists, especially during the XIX century  realism period.

[in Polish]

Wydawnictwo InfortEditions wydalo rok temu prace polskiego historyka Wiktora Czermaka na temat wyprawy Czarnieckiego do Danii.

W tej edycji opus Czermaka sa moje dwie ilustracje nawiazujace do opowiesci Jana Chryzostoma Paska o przeprawie na Als.

Valete

Ann Domini 2021

 Salvete Omnes,

dear visitors and fellow travelers: 

Szcześliwego Nowego 2021

Happy New Year

Feliz Ano Nuevo

Zdrowia, 

Health & Salud!

Wesołości,

lots of humor .. 

y Libertad :)

Valete

Infort Editions with my illustrations

 Salvete Omnes,

the end of this unhappy and strange year is very near, so some not so new 'heads up:'

so, in terms of some of the digital work I have been making, this well known Polish publisher Infort Editions published recently several books with my artwork on their covers (more to come 2021, God willing)

the first illustration was done about two years ago - it purports to show a Crimean Tatar horseman - for a cover of their magazine De RE Militari - 1/2020(5)

the second book is a new edition of the XIX century work by a Polish historian Wiktor Czermak on the Czarniecki's expedition to the Danish Kingdom during the Deluge.

I created the two-rider image for the cover and the famous commander Stefan Czarniecki for the inside of the cover etc.

 They were done earlier this passing year.

all done digitally with Krita, GIMP, Mypaint and Wacom Cintiq :) on my Linux Ubuntu machine.

valete