Draft:Battle of Gołków
| Battle of Gołków | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of Kościuszko Uprising | |||||||
 Monument to the Battle of Golkow in Zalesie Dolne unveiled in 2008 | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Poland–Lithuania(Kościuszko rebels) |
 Russian Empire | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
 Józef Zajączek |
Ivan Fersen | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 7,600 Soldiers | ~ 13,000 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| Unknown | ||||||
The battle of Gołkow was a battle fought on 9-10 July 1794 during the Kościuszko Uprising.
Following the pre-established plans, according to which the armies of the Commonwealth were to fight the main battle on the outskirts of Warsaw, General Józef Zajączek, who commanded a division of 7,600 men, was to cover the road leading to Raszyn. To this end, on 7 July, he took up defensive positions north of Gołków - the division faced south, supported on its left side by the swampy Jeziorka valley, and on its right wing by the forest. Most of the cavalry was placed on the right wing, with the rest of the cavalry placed on the left wing. Zajączek placed all the infantry in the centre and arrayed them in three lines.
The Zajączek Division was followed by a Russian corps (about 13,000 troops) commanded by General Ivan Fersen. Going at the head of this corps, Fyodor Denisov's group marched towards Piaseczno on 9 July. Around midday Denisov moved with his cavalry to charge the Polish right wing, but a Polish counterattack drove the Russians back. When Fersen arrived with the rest of his forces around 5pm, the Russians launched another attack, mostly directed at the right wing of the Polish division. Again, the Poles repulsed the Russians. The falling darkness interrupted the battle, but even before dawn Denisov attacked Zajączek's left wing, capturing Golków, which lay in front of the Polish front. Further Russian advance was halted by accurate Polish artillery fire. When, around 6 o'clock, Khrushchev's Russian group arrived, Fersen gained almost double the numerical superiority and, trying to take advantage of this, directed Khrushchev's forces to bypass both Polish wings. In this situation, Zajączek ordered a retreat at around 7:30.
Tadeusz Kościuszko later abandoned the battle on the outskirts of Warsaw and decided to fight behind the city's line of fortifications.
References
[edit]- Mała Encyklopedia Wojskowa, 1967, Wydanie I
- Andrzej Grabski, Jan Wimmer i inni, Zarys dziejów wojskowości polskiej do roku 1864. Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej. Warszawa 1966.
- Marian, Kukiel (1993). Zarys historii wojskowości w Polsce. London: Puls. ISBN 0907587992.
- Andrzej Zahorski, Wypisy źródłowe do historii polskiej sztuki wojennej. Polska sztuka wojenna w okresie powstania kościuszkowskiego, Zeszyt dziesiąty, Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej, Warszawa 1960.
- Bolesław, Twardowski (1894). Wojsko Polskie Kościuszki w roku 1794. Poznań: Księgarnia Katolicka.