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sollannaart · 1 year

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Józef Poniatowski and Berezina’s crossing

On occasion of the anniversary of the battle of Berezina, which happened 210 years ago, let me tell you a little bit on the topic what was happening with prince Józef at that time.

Wojciech Kossak, Burning banners, fragment of "Berezina" panorama

Some paintings, as, for example, the above placed part of Wojciech Kossak’s famous ‘Berezina Panorama’ show prince Poniatowski among Napoleon’s acting military commanders, but this does not reflect the reality. Because...

Well, prince Józef did present among French troops at that time and in that place, but was neither in command of the Polish corps, nor even able to stand.

To explain, however, the reason of such circumstances, we need to go back, for a month and 500 kilometers eastwards. Because there, near a town called Gzhatsk, on the 29th of October there had happened an accident with prince Józef.

Generał Poniatowski, as one of his adjutants, Józef Szumlanśki (more about him I wrote here), recalled, in a desire “to have a better look, spurred his huge English horse to jump onto an adjacent hill. The latter, unfortunately, turned to be rather steep, so the horse did not take the measure right and fell together with its rider...” Prince Józef thus was pinned down by his own horse, and for viewers, the incident looked so terrifying that they believed that Poniatowski had been killed in it!

A French engraving, showing prince Poniatowski and the polish lancers during the Russians campaign in 1812

I haven't been able to find any image depicting such a frightening event as described above, so as an illustration to it let me put one with prince Józef riding horse and a one lying near.

And regarding prince Józef’s state after such an incident - well, in fact, as you all know, it didn’t kill him, but its consequences were severe ones. It took a lot of time for doctors to stop bleeding, with the high probability Poniatowski had got brain concussion (though such a diagnosis had not been made that time), and, what’s more essential, prince Józef leg had been dislocated.

A man with such a trauma, of course, wasn’t able to ride a horse and thus general Poniatowski had to hand command of the Polish corps to general Zajączek. The only mean of transportation left to prince Józef in such condition as his was a carriage. And the only road - to the west, together with the rest of Napoleon’s troops.

Initially, Poniatowski’s carriage was riding together with the Polish corps, but by arriving to Berezina had been moved, for greater safety, to the group of vehicles of the imperial guard, who were to cross the river much earlier than the Poles. (This circumstance is a rather important one, being it otherwise - prince Józef’s destiny might have been different...)

And thus we’ve come to Berezina, or - more precisely, to its crossing by the Grand Armée.

I won’t write about the battle itself, neither about the courage of the French pontooners - these brave deeds are out of this post’s topic - but what I ought to mention are throngs of people in queues to cross the river and difficulty of getting even into these queues.

January Suchodolski, Napoleon's troops crossing the Berezina River

Being not on horseback, prince Józef had to wait his carriage’s turn. In the evening of the 27th of November it still had a three quarters of the mile to the nearest bridge, and the chances of being left on Berezina’s eastern side (and thus being eventually captured by Russians) were increasing with with every hour of waiting.

And then colonel Szumlański, the adjutant of Poniatowski I’ve mentioned above, came up with a tricky idea. As he later recalled: I found a detachment of the Guard's gendarmes who, partly at my most urgent requests, partly with generous pay, came to my aid. Shouting "by order of the Emperor”, they...” made all the vehicles standing in the line before prince Józef to have made him way, pushing aside or capsized those who couldn’t have done it by themselves. “By half past three in the morning this operation was successfully completed.”

Maria Artwińska, The White Lady of the Poniatowski family over prince Józef’s carriage near Berezina

As the final illustration of the post let me place a drawing by the Polish painter Maria Artwińska, who depicted prince Józef’s carriage together with... a ghost. The latter is the notorious White Lady of the Poniatowski family, which allegedly appeared before them at crucial moment of their lives'. Prince Józef is said to see the ghost thrice, first time at Berezina, then during the May night in Kraków, when making a final decision to stay with Napoleon, and finally - in the battle of Leipzig, shortly before his death.

#Poniatowski #józef poniatowski #battle of berezina #1812 #józef poniatowski's last year #napoleon #berezina #wojciech kossak #january suchodolski #maria artwińska #the white lady of the poniatowskis

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innocentyiii · 5 years

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Przyczyny powstania listopadowego

Sytuacja w Królestwie Polskim przed powstaniem:

władzę sprawują: wlk. książę Konstanty Romanow i Nikołaj Nowosilcow

namiestnik - gen. Józef Zajączek

nierespektowanie konstytucji (”Konstytucja na stole, a bat pod stołem”)

car zwlekał z zapowiadanym przyłączeniem ziem zabranych do Królestwa

od 1819 - cenzura prasowa, inwigilacja i aresztowania polityczne

zliwkidowanie jawności obrad sejmu

represje względem legalnej opozycji (np kaliszan)...

... co doprowadzi do zawiązywania się stowarzyszeń spiskowych

nowy car Mikołaj I - zagorzały przeciwnik autonomii Polaków

1830r. - klęska nieurodzaju i wzrost niezadowolenia społeczeństwa

Wydarzenia w zachodniej Europie (Francja i Belgia) wzmacniały nastroje propowstaniowe

Kaliszanie - opozycja liberalno-konstytucyjna utworzona w sejmie przez braci Niemojewskich (Wincenty i Bonawentura). Ich postulaty...:

obrona jawności obrad sejmu

przestrzeganie konstytucji

wolność osobista, słowa i wyznania

monarchia konstytucyjna

swoboda działalności gospodarczej

uwłaszczenie lub chociaż oczynszowanie chłopów

rozszerzanie swobód i praw obywatelskich

... nie podobały się carowi i doprowadziły do zaostrzenia cenzury, zaprzestania obrad sejmu (aż do 1825r.) oraz do poważnych represji członków opozycji. Później kaliszanie stanowili jedną z głównych sił politycznych w czasie powstania listopadowego.

Związki spiskowe (konspiracyjne):

Związek Wolnych Polaków

Towarzystwo Filomatów (miłośników nauki) - potem Filaretów (miłośników cnoty) *założone przez Mickiewicza i Tomasza Zana*

Wolnomularstwo Narodowe *Walerian Łukasiński*

Towarzystwo Patriotyczne *Walerian Łukasiński*

Sprzysiężenie Podchorążych *Piotr Wysocki*

Wydarzenia, które doprowadziły bezpośrednio do wybuchu powstania:

rozpoczęcie aresztowań podchorążych

fake news w prasie o powszechnej mobilizacji do wojska carskiego w celu interwencji na zachodzie Europy

#xix #królestwopolskie #powstanielistopadowe #polska #rosja

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napoleonic-sexyman-tournament · 3 months

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Friends, enemies, comrades, Jacobins, Monarchist, Bonapartists, gather round. We have an important announcement:

The continent is beset with war. A tenacious general from Corsica has ignited conflict from Madrid to Moscow and made ancient dynasties tremble. Depending on your particular political leanings, this is either the triumph of a great man out of the chaos of The Terror, a betrayal of the values of the French Revolution, or the rule of the greatest upstart tyrant since Caesar.

But, our grand tournament is here to ask the most important question: Now that the flower of European nobility is arrayed on the battlefield in the sexiest uniforms that European history has yet produced (or indeed, may ever produce), who is the most fuckable?

The bracket is here: full bracket and just quadrant I

Want to nominate someone from the Western Hemisphere who was involved in the ever so sexy dismantling of the Spanish empire? (or the Portuguese or French American colonies as well) You can do it here

The People have created this list of nominees:

France:

Jean Lannes

Josephine de Beauharnais

Thérésa Tallien

Jean-Andoche Junot

Joseph Fouché

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

Joachim Murat

Michel Ney

Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (Charles XIV of Sweden)

Louis-Francois Lejeune

Pierre Jacques Étienne Cambrinne

Napoleon I

Marshal Louis-Gabriel Suchet

Jacques de Trobriand

Jean de dieu soult.

François-Étienne-Christophe Kellermann

17.Louis Davout

Pauline Bonaparte, Duchess of Guastalla

Eugène de Beauharnais

Jean-Baptiste Bessières

Antoine-Jean Gros

Jérôme Bonaparte

Andrea Masséna

Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle

Germaine de Staël

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas

René de Traviere (The Purple Mask)

Claude Victor Perrin

Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr

François Joseph Lefebvre

Major Andre Cotard (Hornblower Series)

Edouard Mortier

Hippolyte Charles

Nicolas Charles Oudinot

Emmanuel de Grouchy

Pierre-Charles Villeneuve

Géraud Duroc

Georges Pontmercy (Les Mis)

Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont

Juliette Récamier

Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey

Louis-Alexandre Berthier

Étienne Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre Macdonald

Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier

Catherine Dominique de Pérignon

Guillaume Marie-Anne Brune

Jean-Baptiste Jourdan

Charles-Pierre Augereau

Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais

England:

Richard Sharpe (The Sharpe Series)

Tom Pullings (Master and Commander)

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Jonathan Strange (Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell)

Captain Jack Aubrey (Aubrey/Maturin books)

Horatio Hornblower (the Hornblower Books)

William Laurence (The Temeraire Series)

Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey

Beau Brummell

Emma, Lady Hamilton

Benjamin Bathurst

Horatio Nelson

Admiral Edward Pellew

Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke

Sidney Smith

Percy Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford

George IV

Capt. Anthony Trumbull (The Pride and the Passion)

Barbara Childe (An Infamous Army)

Doctor Maturin (Aubrey/Maturin books)

William Pitt the Younger

Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry (Lord Castlereagh)

George Canning

Scotland:

Thomas Cochrane

Colquhoun Grant

Ireland:

Arthur O'Connor

Thomas Russell

Robert Emmet

Austria:

Klemens von Metternich

Friedrich Bianchi, Duke of Casalanza

Franz I/II

Archduke Karl

Marie Louise

Franz Grillparzer

Wilhelmine von Biron

Poland:

Wincenty Krasiński

Józef Antoni Poniatowski

Józef Zajączek

Maria Walewska

Władysław Franciszek Jabłonowski

Adam Jerzy Czartoryski

Antoni Amilkar Kosiński

Zofia Czartoryska-Zamoyska

Stanislaw Kurcyusz

Russia:

Alexander I Pavlovich

Alexander Andreevich Durov

Prince Andrei (War and Peace)

Pyotr Bagration

Mikhail Miloradovich

Levin August von Bennigsen

Pavel Stroganov

Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna

Karl Wilhelm von Toll

Dmitri Kuruta

Alexander Alexeevich Tuchkov

Barclay de Tolly

Fyodor Grigorevich Gogel

Ekaterina Pavlovna Bagration

Ippolit Kuragin (War and Peace)

Prussia:

Louise von Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Gebard von Blücher

Carl von Clausewitz

Frederick William III

Gerhard von Scharnhorst

Louis Ferdinand of Prussia

Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Alexander von Humboldt

Dorothea von Biron

The Netherlands:

Ida St Elme

Wiliam, Prince of Orange

The Papal States:

Pius VII

Portugal:

João Severiano Maciel da Costa

Spain:

Juan Martín Díez

José de Palafox

Inês Bilbatua (Goya's Ghosts)

Haiti:

Alexandre Pétion

Sardinia:

Vittorio Emanuele I

Lombardy:

Alessandro Manzoni

Denmark:

Frederik VI

Sweden:

Gustav IV Adolph

#napoleonic sexyman tournament #new pinned post for now

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napoleonic-sexyman-tournament · 18 days

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We have finally reached the end of the first round, reducing our 128 person list to 64.

Here is the complete list of who is competing in round 2:

France:

Jean Lannes

Thérésa Tallien

Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle

Germaine de Staël

François Joseph Lefebvre

Géraud Duroc

Étienne Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre Macdonald

Auguste François-Marie de Colbert-Chabanais

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas

Juliette Récamier

Louis-Francois Lejeune

Louis-Alexandre Berthier

Michel Ney

Joseph Fouché

Nicolas Charles Oudinot

Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont

Jean-Andoche Junot

Josephine de Beauharnais

Andrea Masséna

Joachim Murat

Pauline Bonaparte, Duchess of Guastalla

England:

Richard Sharpe

Tom Pullings

Benjamin Bathurst

Horatio Nelson

Barbara Childe

Robert Stewart, 2nd Marquess of Londonderry (Lord Castlereagh)

Captain Jack Aubrey

Horatio Hornblower

Admiral Edward Pellew

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Emma, Lady Hamilton

Scotland:

Thomas Cochrane

Ireland:

Doctor Stephen Maturin

Austria:

Friedrich Bianchi, Duke of Casalanza

Klemens von Metternich

Marie Louise

Wilhelmine von Biron

Archduke Karl

Poland:

Wincenty Krasiński

Józef Zajączek

Zofia Czartoryska-Zamoyska

Józef Antoni Poniatowski

Maria Walewska

Russia:

Prince Andrei Bolkonsky

Levin August von Bennigsen

Pavel Stroganov

Barclay de Tolly

Ekaterina Pavlovna Bagration

Alexander Andreevich Durov

Karl Wilhelm von Toll

Mikhail Miloradovich

Alexander I Pavlovich

Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna

Pyotr Bagration

Prussia:

Louise von Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Frederick William III

Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Alexander von Humboldt

Dorothea von Biron

The Netherlands:

Ida St Elme

Spain:

Juan Martín Díez

José de Palafox

Lombardy:

Alessandro Manzoni

#napoleonic sexyman tournament

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napoleonic-sexyman-tournament · 17 days

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Propaganda for each:

Zajączek

"Listen, he was over fifty during the wars (and certainly not as beautiful as his wife the cryotherapy enjoyer), failed severely when given command in Warsaw during Kościuszko's uprising (Russians then massacred civilians in the district he was defending) later on also served the Tsar; still, he undeniably kind of had cute eyes. My main point is that we need him here because he fits the Tumblr tradition of nominating absolute losers. A sopping wet cat. A tiny hare, if you will.”

Berthier:

a. “Prodigial brainpower!!!! (I am sapiosexual!!!!) Able to work long hours!!! The fact that he would be so devoted to the love of his life (Madame Visconti), so much that he arranaged a ménage à trois. Very powerful. He was also always laughing before everything fell apart.”

Von Biron:

"A great beauty and gracious hostess, possibly the most beautiful of four extraordinarily attractive and scandalous sisters, said to posses an extraordinary charm. But what makes her The Sexyman is the feat of managing to captivate the old wily devil Talleyrand and becoming the greatest and last love of his life… while, technically, being his niece by marriage.”

Krasiński:

a. "Obviously SOMEONE thought he was a sexyman because he fathererd Zygmunt Krasiński, one of Poland's Three Bards—Poland's greatest romantic poets. HELLO.”

#napoleonic sexyman tournament #winning this poll won't take them out #it will just mean they need to duke it out with whoever wins the redemption poll

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napoleonic-sexyman-tournament · 6 days

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Józef Zajączek:

François Joseph Lefebvre:

a. “Total DILF material, and the fiery passion in his eyes was matched only by his fiery personality! This contest may be based on looks (and Lefebvre is a strong candidate on this metric alone); but it's hard not to fall in love with his spicy takes and saucy language. He told Napoleon, "Let us throw the lawyers into the river” after agreeing to help overthrow the Directory (quoted in David G. Chandler, ed., Napoleon's Marshals), and from his English Wikipedia article: When a friend expressed envy of his estate, Lefebvre said, "Come down in the courtyard, and I'll have ten shots at you with a musket at 30 paces. If I miss, the whole estate is yours." After the friend declined this offer, Lefebvre added, "I had a thousand bullets shot at me from much closer range before I got all this." In response to a clueless young man demanding his identity at a social event, he answered, ''Je viens de la lune, où je n'ai jamais vu un Jean-Foutre de ton espèce: Je m'appelle le Général Lefebvre!” [“I come from the moon, where I’ve never seen such a #*$& as you. My name is General Lefevre!”] Quoted in The Secret History of the Cabinet of Bonaparte by Lewis Goldsmith, 1810, which is also hilarious because the author clearly hates Lefebvre, but makes him sound like a cool badass. He earns additional sexy points by sticking by his ex-washerwoman wife, who had a mouth of her own. (tbh Catherine Lefebvre, “Madame Sans-Gêne,” deserves her own Napoleonic Sexyman [gender neutral] nomination).”

#napoleonic sexyman tournament #round 2

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napoleonic-sexyman-tournament · 3 months

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Józef Zajączek:

Propaganda:

François-Étienne-Christophe Kellermann

Propaganda:

“Tbh, I’m nominating him for shits and giggles.”

#napoleonic sexyman tournament #this one is for the 'fuck that old man' crowd

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napoleonic-sexyman-tournament · 3 months

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With two days left to submit nominees, here is where the list stands:

France:

Jean Lannes

Josephine de Beauharnais

Thérésa Tallien

Jean-Andoche Junot

Joseph Fouché

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand

Joachim Murat

Michel Ney

Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte (Charles XIV of Sweden)

Louis-Francois Lejeune

Pierre Jacques Étienne Cambrinne

Napoleon I

Marshal Louis-Gabriel Suchet

Jacques de Trobriand

Jean de dieu soult.

François-Étienne-Christophe Kellermann

Louis Davout

Pauline Bonaparte, Duchess of Guastalla

Eugène de Beauharnais

Jean-Baptiste Bessières

Antoine-Jean Gros

Jérôme Bonaparte

Andrea Masséna

Antoine Charles Louis de Lasalle

Germaine de Staël

Thomas-Alexandre Dumas

René de Traviere (The Purple Mask)

Claude Victor Perrin

Laurent de Gouvion Saint-Cyr

François Joseph Lefebvre

Major Andre Cotard (Hornblower Series)

Edouard Mortier

Hippolyte Charles

Nicolas Charles Oudinot

Emmanuel de Grouchy

Pierre-Charles Villeneuve

Géraud Duroc

Georges Pontmercy (Les Mis)

Auguste Frédéric Louis Viesse de Marmont

Juliette Récamier

Bon-Adrien Jeannot de Moncey

Louis-Alexandre Berthier

Étienne Jacques-Joseph-Alexandre Macdonald

Jean-Mathieu-Philibert Sérurier

Catherine Dominique de Pérignon

England:

Richard Sharpe (The Sharpe Series)

Tom Pullings (Master and Commander)

Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington

Jonathan Strange (Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell)

Captain Jack Aubrey (Aubrey/Maturin books)

Horatio Hornblower (the Hornblower Books)

William Laurence (The Temeraire Series)

Henry Paget, 1st Marquess of Anglesey

Beau Brummell

Emma, Lady Hamilton

Benjamin Bathurst

Horatio Nelson

Admiral Edward Pellew

Sir Philip Bowes Vere Broke

Sidney Smith

Percy Smythe, 6th Viscount Strangford

George IV

Capt. Anthony Trumbull (The Pride and the Passion)

Barbara Childe (An Infamous Army)

Doctor Maturin (Aubrey/Maturin books)

Scotland:

Thomas Cochrane

Colquhoun Grant

Austria:

Klemens von Metternich

Friedrich Bianchi, Duke of Casalanza

Franz I/II

Archduke Karl

Marie Louise

Franz Grillparzer

Wilhelmine von Biron

Poland:

Wincenty Krasiński

Józef Antoni Poniatowski

Józef Zajączek

Maria Walewska

Władysław Franciszek Jabłonowski

Adam Jerzy Czartoryski

Antoni Amilkar Kosiński

Zofia Czartoryska-Zamoyska

Stanislaw Kurcyusz

Russia:

Alexander I Pavlovich

Alexander Andreevich Durov

Prince Andrei (War and Peace)

Pyotr Bagration

Mikhail Miloradovich

Levin August von Bennigsen

Pavel Stroganov

Empress Elizabeth Alexeievna

Karl Wilhelm von Toll

Dmitri Kuruta

Alexander Alexeevich Tuchkov

Barclay de Tolly

Fyodor Grigorevich Gogel

Ekaterina Pavlovna Bagration

Prussia:

Louise von Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Gebard von Blücher

Carl von Clausewitz

Frederick William III

Gerhard von Scharnhorst

Louis Ferdinand of Prussia

Friederike of Mecklenburg-Strelitz

Alexander von Humboldt

Dorothea von Biron

The Netherlands:

Ida St Elme

Wiliam, Prince of Orange

The Papal States:

Pius VII

Portugal:

João Severiano Maciel da Costa

Spain:

Juan Martín Díez

José de Palafox

Inês Bilbatua (Goya's Ghosts)

Haiti:

Alexandre Pétion

Sardinia:

Vittorio Emanuele I

Denmark:

Frederik VI

Sweden:

Gustav IV Adolph

#napoleonic sexyman tournament #don't see your fav? go nominate them

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sollannaart · 3 years

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Prince Józef’s “frenemies”

Good day, dear friends, and let the topic of this week’s post be Józef Poniatowski’s “frenemies“ (or, in longer words, people from Poland and France - fellow countrymen and representatives of allies - with whom prince Józef wasn’t in good terms).

Yes, as any other man Poniatowski didn’t have good relations with each and every person. In his youth, for example, he was dislike by some people for the gallant lifestyle; in times when Warsaw used to be a Prussian provincial city Poniatowski and his close circle were criticized for preferring the French Theater to the one, where performances were played in Polish.

(Maybe be one day I’ll write more on the topic, but because most of you are interested more in Napoleonic epoch, let’s start today from people and events related to the Duchy of Warsaw).

So, the first conflict happened already in January 1807, when prince Józef was chosen over generals Dąbrowski and Zajączek to become the Director of War (in October of 1807 the position was renamed to the “Minister of War”) of the Duchy. And, if to have a look to biographies of both of them we’ll see that each had enough reasons to expect that the position would become his.

Jan Henryk Dąbrowski

Let us start with Jan Henryk Dąbrowski.

Unidentified Polish painter, Portrait of Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, 19th century

He was 8 years older (born in 1755) than Poniatowski. And, same as prince Józef, Jan Henryk grew up not in Poland, but in a German speaking country. In Dąbrowski’s case it was Saxony, where his father served in the Saxon Army. And Jan Henryk himself started his military career there.

In the beginning of 1790ies, however, Dąbrowski followed the appeal of Great Sejm and returned to his motherland, where participated both in Polish-Russian War of 1792 and the Kościuszko Uprising.

After the Third Partition of Poland general Dąbrowski turned his attention to France - the country which, having abolished its monarchy, was seen by many Poles as the only country who might have helped them. And there, indeed, with support of Napoleon Bonaparte, the Polish Legions were created.

Of course, Dąbrowski commanded only one of the Legions (among other commanders there were, for example, Karol Kniaziewicz and Józef Wybicki), but it was his name which was mentioned in the Legions’ anthem. So, when the Legions, where many a Poles joined hoping this would have brought freedom to their country, in 1806 finally entered the former Polish territory, it was more than expected that just general Dąbrowski would be made the head of the army of the future Polish country.

Jan Gładysz, Jan Henryk Dąbrowski's entry to Poznań, ci. 1809

But the choice, as we all know, was made for Poniatowski. (So, as you can see, Jan Henryk Dąbrowski' had enough reasons to have a grudge against prince Józef.) But I can’t help mentioning that when the situation was really serious, like in 1809 or 1812-13, both generals Dąbrowski and Poniatowski were able to forget their disagreements and to join their efforts in serving their motherland together.

Btw, there is one more thing (though a totally speculative one) I feel I must write about Dąbrowski.

As I wrote above, he participated in Napoleon’s German campaign of 1813, and in the battle of Leipzig itself. Furthermore, there, in Leipzig, there was present his second wife, Barbara, who, btw, was more than 25 years younger than Jan Henryk. (They married in 1807.)

Feliks Sypniewski, The wedding of Jan Henryk Dąbrowski and Barbara Chłapowska (fragment), 19th century

So, if imagine, for a moment, that not but Poniatowski but Dąbrowski would have been killed at Leipzig... and taking into account all the above-mentioned romantic background (and the fact that the Legions’ anthem is now the anthem of Poland)... who knows, a monument to whom would have stayed now in front of the Presidential Palace in Warsaw.

But history, as we know, knows no ‘what if’s. So let me finish this part with a shrt description of general Dąbrowski‘s later years. Becoming the commander in chief of the all remaining Polish forces soon after prince Józef’s death he followed Napoleon to Paris, but in 1815, after creation the Kingdom of Poland as a Russian satellite state offered his services to this new power. The proposition to become the Viceroy (Namestnik) of the Kingdom of Poland was made for him, but Dąbrowski declined it. At the end of 1815 he retired from military service, and three years later died in his estate in the lands which that time belonged to Prussia.

That was all about Jan Henryk Dąbrowski, and now let us switch to the person who did accept the proposition of becoming the Namestnik and who also was prince Poniatowski’s frenemy.

So, please meet the general Józef Zajączek.

Józef Zajączek

Anonymous painter, portrait of a general Józef Zajączek, 19th century

Being born in 1752 Zajączek was older even than Dąbrowski. And before 1792, when during the Polish-Russian war his path crossed with the one of prince Józef, Zajączek had a kind of military and diplomatic career behind him. He visited Paris and Istanbul as a member of Polish diplomatic missions. He fought in the War of the Bar Confederation, and for some time served in French Army. And though he supported the newly accepted constitution in 1791, he didn’t like the king Stanisław August himself.

And it looks like that from that antipathy towards Poniatowski-king Zajączek’s dislike for his namesake for Poniatowski-prince grew from.

But, apart from this, in 1792 there happened a real conflict between two Józefs (and not without “participation” of Stanisław August). Because when in summer of that year the Polish king, having decided that there was no more sense in fighting Russians, ordered his troops to capitulate, the Polish military chiefs weren’t ready to accept such a command at once (because after weeks of retreat the Polish Army that time finally began to overcome the Russians).

Access of Stanisław August Poniatowski in to Targowicka confederation July 24 1792

So, not wanting to surrender, some high officers decided they should go to Warsaw, kidnap the king and force him to cancel the shameful order. Józef Zajączek was among them. Józef Poniatowski was totally against it.

And though the kidnapping didn’t occur, two Józef’s animosity was flared up.

Like Poniatowski, general Zajączek participated in Kościuszko’s uprising in 1794. And like Kościuszko himself, he was captured. But caught he was by Austrians, and after a year only in prison - released.

Then Zajączek went to France, where he joined the French Army, in 1797 Napoleon recognized him as an active general in the French Service (Zajączek didn’t join the Legions, because many a Poles from there remembered him from the times of 1794 Uprising and blamed for the massacres the Russian troops did in Warsaw’s suburb named Praga).

So Zajączek served in French Army as a French general, participated in Napoleon’s Egyptian expedition, then in the War of the Third Coalition in 1805.

André Dutertre, portrait of a general Józef Zajączek during the Egyptian campaign, between 1798 and 1801

Next year, 1806, in the War of the Fourth Coalition, he was assigned to command one of the Legions entering former Polish territory, and then to create another legion from the Poles already there. So not surprisingly he as well expected to become the Director of War (the position was later renamed to “Minister“) of the newly created Duchy of Warsaw.

And when his longtime foe Józef Poniatowski got the position Zajączek was more than dissatisfied. He refused to obey Poniatowski’s orders, and wrote in answer:

I am a French officer, I have command over the Poles, because this is what the emperor wanted, I do not depend on you at all... I expect nothing from the Polish government, I owe everything to the French Emperor... I warn you once and for all that I do not want to have anything more with you to do...

However, like Dąbrowski, in 1809 and 1812 Zajączek had to subdue ambitions and cooperate with Poniatowski. But, in comparison with the former, Zajączek didn’t participate in 1813 campagne. Because was wounded in the battle of Berezina in November 1812 (Dominique Larrey had to amputate his leg) and then captured by Russians.

Fording the Berezina River by January Suchodolski, ca. 1859

What happened next? After being almost 2 years in prison Zajączek return to Poland, and in 1815 tsar Aleksander, crowned as a new Polish King, proposed him the post of the Viceroy. Which position the namesake of prince Józef hold more than 10 years, till his death in 1826. In 1818 he even got a title of prince from the tsar, so since that time he might also be called “prince Józef”.

Ok, and what about Zajączek’s private life? You’ll be surprised, but in this area there were some similarities between him and Józef Poniatowski. Because first Józef’s sweetheart, Aleksandra Pernet, was of a French origin (though she was born in Poland). And married when they met. But that’s all, because, in comparison with Henriette de Vauban Aleksandra was 2 years younger than her Józef. And, what’s more, Zajączek was able to help divorce her husband, and in 1786 these two were able to marry.

Louis-François Marteau, Portrait of Aleksandra Pernett, ci. 1780

And - can’t help but mention, Zajączek’s wife was known for her beauty, which she was able to keep till the very old age.

And we’ll move now to the next person, whom prince Józef was in bad terms with. Namely - general Michał Sokolnicki.

Michał Sokolnicki

And, in comparison with Dąbrowski and Zajączek, Poniatowski and Sokolnicki’s conflict happened quite late, in 1809.

Being almost a peer of prince Józef (born in 1760), Michał Sokolnicki participated both in Russian-Polish war, and in Kościuszko Uprising, was a member of the Polish legions, and transferred to the Army of the Duchy of Warsaw in 1807.

Jan Gładysz, portrait of a general Michał Sokolnicki, 1815

The problems started, as I mentioned before, during the Polish Austrian War of 1809. Because Sokolnicki, who participated in battles of Raszyn, Grochów, Góra Kalwaria and Sandomierz, and was decorated with the Polish Order Virtuti Military and the French Legion of Honour, still felt he was underestimated.

So in 1810 he asked for a leave - saying he needed to fix his health - and went to Paris. And when Sokolnicki didn’t return to Poland in time prince Józef had to remove him from the active service (in December 1811). Full of resent, Sokolnicki then joined the French service and, staying by Napoleon's side, intrigued against Poniatowski.

And it is highly probable that due Sokolnicki’s effort prince Poniatowski, in 1812, acquired the next (this time a French one) “enemy”.

And this “frenemy” was none other than... the Emperor’s own brother, Jérôme Bonaparte.

Jérôme Bonaparte

The youngest Napoleon’s brother (born in 1784) belonged rather not to prince Józef’s generation, but to the next one. And definitely wasn’t so military talented as the Emperor himself. And preferred luxury life style even on march, in the campain of 1812, when every minute and hour was crucial.

Sophie Lienard, portrait of Jérôme Bonaparte

So no wonder that part of the Grand Armeé Jérôme commanded allowed Russian troops to leave unscathed. But the responsibility for this, not without assistance of the above mentioned general Sokolnicki, was shifted to the shoulders of... prince Józef. (Why Sokolnicki needed this - well, it is highly probable he counted on Poniatowski’s dismission which would have made prince Józef’s position opened to Sokolnicki himself) And Napoleon - as diarists recall - did not accept any excuses and subjected prince Joseph's to very harsh criticism. Which, in turn, might have been the reason why Napoleon didn’t listen to Poniatowski after the battle of Smolensk, when the latter pleaded the emperor to turn the army south instead of going east.

But this is another speculation.

What I am pretty sure - though I have to admit I never read direct mentions about it - is that after such a military failure (and following tongue-lashing) Józef Poniatowski and Jérôme Bonaparte could not have been in good terms anymore.

That’s all for today, thanks for reading!

#Poniatowski #Jozef Poniatowski #Napoleon Bonaparte #Napoleonic Wars #dąbrowski #Jan Henryk Dąbrowski #Józef Zajączek #Michał Sokolnicki #jérôme bonaparte

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sollannaart · 3 years

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Hello, I've scrolled through your blog to make sure, this question wasn't asked before, but it would seem that it wasn't (though I could've missed it). Can I please ask you of prince Poniatowski's attitude towards Napoleon?

No, this question has not been asked yet, and thank you very much for sending it! It will be my please to write a answer to this.

Relationship between prince Józef Poniatowski and the emperor Napoleon Bonapart

I am sorry, this turned out to be a very long read, and on the topic a little bit wider than asked, so I had to specify the title and give the short answer for those who aren’t interested in details.

So in brief - Poniatowski respected Napoleon, but wasn’t a blind worshipper of the emperor. And in situations when in the balance there might have been Napoleon and Poland, and only one thing was to be chosen for prince Józef this one definitely would be his motherland.

Bronisław Gembarzewski, prince Józef and Napoleon

Emperor Napoleon, as all fans of the epoch knows, first arrived to Warsaw in December of 1806. But to start the long-read about relationship between the emperor and the prince properly we need make a step backwards, to understand what these two thought about each other on the moment of their first meeting.

Prince Józef, in comparison with many of his country men, participated in none of general Bonapart’s campaigns. What’s more - when the count of Provence, future king Louis XVIII resided in Warsaw in 1801-1804 he was an often visitor of Poniatowski’s palace. (So it may be said that before 1806 prince Józef was kind of a “royalist”.)

However, with Napoleon’s victory over Prussia and the emperor’s arrival to the former Polish lands chances of Poland rising from the dead skyrocketed! And prince Józef realized that he couldn’t have stayed away any longer, that if he wanted to participate in his motherland reappearing on the map of Europe he had to join the French.

As for Napoleon - in 1806 the emperor of Frenchmen didn’t have any warm feeling towards the nephew of the last king of Poland. One of the reason was that Claude Carloman de Rulhière, with whose book Histoire de l’anarchie de Pologne Napoleon had studied history of lands he was going conquer, wasn’t sympnathising the Poniatowski family. As other reasons there may be named a fact, that that time in French Army there were other Poles, whom the emperor knew better, like generals Jan Henryk Dąbrowski and Józef Zajączek.

Nevertheless, because when leaving Warsaw the Prussians kinda left the city “in charge” of Poniatowski, Napoleon had to meet prince Józef on entering the city. And from the data I was able to find it looks like the first meeting of the emperor and the prince happened on the 19th of December.

Prince Józef with Napoleon during the war campaign - drawing by Wacław Lipiński

With this image I am obliged to make a small digression. Napoleon, as recent investigation show, was not that short as he was thought to be because of English cartoons. Józef Poniatowski, on the other hand, was described by the contemporaries as a man of the middle height. So, in my opinion standing side-by-side these two must have looked like as people of the same height.

With the emperor so prejudiced against prince Józef, you may ask, how did it happen that less than a month later, on the 14th of January 1807, the latter was appointed as a Director of War? (In October of 1807, after the Duchy of Warsaw was created, Poniatowski’s post acquired the name of “Minister of War”.)

The answer is that behind the event there was a long and complicated intrigue, in which were involved such people as Joachim Murat (with whom, as you may remember, prince Józef quickly became friends) and Charles Maurice de Talleyrand, that time Foreign Minister of France. (As for the latter - his protection was asked by Pepi’s sister, Teresa Tyszkiewicz.)

And I can’t help but mention that Poniatowski’s nomination nevertheless had some advantages, because in comparison with his “rivals” he was a representative of the aristocracy, what might have provided support to Napoleon from the Polish high-society.

And speaking of high-society I can’t help touching a rather delicate topic, related with Napoleon’s love life, with which Poniatowski - in comparison with what is thought about him - had nothing to do. Yes, I mean the story of prince Józef (and other Polish dignitaries) supposedly forcing Maria Walewska to give in to the emperor in exchange for “Poland’s resurrection”.

SCREENSHOT FROM THE MOVIE “MARYSIA I NAPOLEON”. From left to right - Zdzisław Makłakiewicz as prince Józef, Gustaw Holoubek as Napoleon, Beata Tyszkiewicz as Maria Walewska, Ignacy Machowski as Duroc, Kazimierz Rudzki as Talleyrand, Juliusz Łuszczewski as Anastazy Walewski

Many people believe in it because it is written in so-called Walewska’s memoirs, but the investigations of Polish historians (like, fir example, Marian Brandys) prove that not everything might have happened like it was described in the memoirs. And prince Poniatowski’s involvement in the story is one of the facts. (The closest connection he might have had with this is that Mme Henriette de Vauban, his mistress, might have tried to influence Mme Walewska. But this is definitely a topic to continue in - if at all - a separate post.

So, let’s return to relationship between Poniatowski and Napoleon.

In 1809 the Duchy of Warsaw was attacked by the Austrians, and the Army of the Duchy showed its combat strength, winning the war and taking back from the enemy a huge a part of former Polish territories. The emperor was impressed by prince Józef’s inferiors’ performance, till such a degree that he awarded the latter with the highest imperial order of merit, the cross of the Legion of Honour.

But this was done “by proxy”, and the next, after year 1807, meeting of these two happened only in 1811 in Paris, where Poniatowski was invited to attend the christening of Napoleon’s son, the king of Rome.

Prince Józef arrived to Paris on the 23rd of April, and in the evening of that very day received an invitation from the emperor to appear next day in Saint Clou. What’s more, Poniatowski’s visit was to be happen at once, without an obliged advance as the ceremony of representation by the Saxon ambassador.

Prince Józef with Napoleon during the ceremonial audience at the Tuileries Palace - drawing by Maria Artwińska

And this is the image I like, because both - the prince and emperor - seem to have there the “correct” height!

Why was Napoleon so eager to see prince Józef? Well, at least because the latter brought with him news, which was dangerous to trust to paper. Namely - about planning Russian invasion of the Duchy and the tsar attempts to persuade the Polish Minister of War to switch sides and join the anti-napoleonic coalition. (Can’t help but mention there that Poniatowski revealed Napoleon mere facts, but not the names of the people communicating with him, in order not to put them in danger.)

And what about christening? Of course, prince Józef participated in the ceremony, and was even allowed to have an audience with the child-king. And, no doubts, there followed other court events, huntings, balls, etc. Old friend, Murat, and Poniatowski’s sister’s love interest, Talleyrand, introduced Pepi to the highest Parisian society. Also Pepi paid a visit to the ex-empress Josephine.

Prince Józef in conversation with Napoleon and the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Talleyrand - drawing by Andrzej Zarzycki

And though initially prince Józef’s stay in the French capital was planned to be a couple of months, in fact it prolonged to four, till the emperor’s birthday. And leaving finally on the 27th of August Poniatowski received as a farewell gift a beautiful snuffbox planted with diamonds and a loan to… pay the debts of his sister Teresa.

And then there came the year 1812. Prince Józef was made the commander of the 5th Corps of the Grande Armée, and with the rest of the Army went to Russia.

However, above “The Polish corps” there was a commander not very competent and lucky, emperor’s younger brother Jérôme. And when it happened that the Russian Army under general Bagration managed to escape from the “second center” corps led by Jérôme, Napoleon blamed on this... prince Józef.

In the battle of Smolensk, however, the Vth Corps managed to distinguish to such a degree, that together with its commander it was mentioned in a bulletin of the Grande Armée.

Jean-Charles Langlois, The Battle of Smolensk, 17th August 1812, detail

But after that battle there happened a very dramatic scene between the prince and the emperor. Because, as you might know, the city of Smolensk was the most eastern town ever belonged to Poland. So, if Napoleon’s goal was, as it had been proclaimed in the beginning of the war, to restore Poland, the Grande Armée should have stopped there, at Smolensk. Not to go further east.

And Poniatowski, as a witness of the scene, count Ostrowski, recalled, “begged Napoleon on his knees if not to direct the whole French Army to the south, to the former Polish lands, then at least to separated the Polish corps and send it along the Dnieper river, in the direction of Kiev...”

But emperor was implacable.

What happened next we all know. The battle of Moscow, fire, retreat…

In December Napoleon left his army and speeded to Paris. Prince Józef returned to Warsaw, to rebuild “the Polish corps”, to reenforce the people left with new conscripts and to be ready to join with these people the emperor. When the latter comes with fresh forces, to fight the coalition back.

But the emperor of French didn’t hurry to return to the East of Europe. Failing to wait him Poniatowski had to leave Warsaw, going with his soldiers to Kraków. And was waiting here, for almost three month.

To no avail.

At the beginning of May all the territory of the Duchy of Warsaw, except Kraków, was occupied by Russians. A lot of Polish officers, acquaintances and even friends of prince Józef, resigned from the army. A lot of them were persuading the Polish commander-in-chief to follow, to join the anti-napoleonic coalition.

And… well, here I can’t write that Poniatowski rejected these propositions, all and at once. No, he was listening, thinking over… Asking for terms and thoroughly pondering on what would have been better for his motherland - to stay with France or not.

And on the night from the 6th to the 7th of May, on the eve of his 50th birthday the decision was made.

Prince Józef sees “the White Lady of the Poniatowski Family” on the night on 6/7 May 1813 in Krakow (drawing by Ludomir Ilinicz)

Having obtained no written guaranties from the other side, feeling that unconditional surrender - the only thing they were ready to accept from him - was not compatible with the soldier honor, the Polish Bayard decided to stay with Napoleon.

Although to make such a decision was for prince Józef extremely hard (especially if to take into account that he still had not got clear instructions from the emperor what to do). As Poniatowski confided next day to one of his colleagues that night thinking was so difficult to him that he even thought about shooting himself. Twice.

What is not proved - so this fact still stays a kind of legend - that that night prince Józef saw a ghost, the famous “White lady of Poniatowski family”. The fantom that was said to announce with its appearance very bad things to come…

And in 5 month there came… the battle of Leipzig.

Jean-Charles Langlois, The Battle of Leipzig (?)

This image is often signed as „the battle of Leipzig” though judging by the emperor’s, the prince’s and their horses’ poses I suppose it might be another version of “the battle of Smolensk”.

Of course, before Leipzig there was truce, then the battle of Dresden, then retreat and preparations. And in the beginning of the battle there was a moment when French victory still looked possible. But soon it turned out that it was an illusion.

And then the emperor… named general Poniatowski a marshal of France. Thus making him the only foreigner among that cream of French military elite.

Prince Józef Poniatowski receives the marshal baton, French engraving from the XIXth century

How did Poniatowski react to such a promotion? Did he become happy? Or, at least, glad?

No, not at all. (It looks like he felt that this appointment has more with his future attachment to France, than with military achievements.)

So prince Józef continued to call himself a general, sign documents according his old position. Furthermore, in the written explanation that Poniatowski sent to Warsaw it was stated that “if there was not war for Poland, no one would ever see him in uniform”. Which literally meant resignation. (In the very same letter, though, prince Józef announced that before leaving the army he had to escort Napoleon back to Paris.)

So, dear friends, who was interested in what might have happened with prince Józef had he not been killed at Leipzig - this is the answer. He would definitely retreat with Napoleon to Paris, than resigned and… here the certainty is a little bit less, but something tells me that he would have preferred exile to going back home. But I am not one hundred percent sure.

January Suchodolski, Napoleon and Józef Antoni Poniatowski at the Battle of Leipzig

And what about Napoleon? In his memories dictated on St. Helene he wrote that he should have made prince Józef the king of Poland (ha-ha, what would he have done if the latter rejected the crown?), regretted not doing this.

But what is, in my opinion, more interesting, is to learn what the ex-emperor thought on other Poniatowski-related topics? Did he regret blaming prince Józef for Jerome’s mistakes? Had he doubts on not listening the Polish commander’s pleas to take back former Polish land instead of going to Moscow?

Alas, I am afraid, this is a thing we’ll never know…

#józef poniatowski #napoleon #poniatowski #poniatowski and napoleon #charles maurice de talleyrand périgord

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sollannaart · 3 years

Text

Contents of my blog (mainly devoted to prince Józef Poniatowski)

Some posts are re-blogs of my friends’ ones, for them the authors are given in brackets.

(The images added just to draw attention)

Portraits:

On paintings as a child

Painted during his lifetime

The most known posthumous (and its copies)