To the Poles it was the Pactum Subjectionis, signed at three o'clock on the morning of 23 September 1793, it was the second partitioning of Poland. It gave to Russia all of the eastern provinces of Poland extending from Livonia to Moldavia and to Prussia it gave Dobrysn, Kujavia, Great Poland, Toron and Gdansk. By this Pact between Prussia and Russia, Poland was now reduced to less than one-third of her original size.
The situation resulting from this partition was intolerable to the Poles and less than a year later the nation rose in revolt against her enemies. In Cracow, on the 23rd of March 1794, Tadeusz Kosciuszko proclaimed a national insurrection with himself as its leader.
Kosciuszko's call to the peasants met with great and noble success, in return he supplemented the constitution of 1791, in a proclimation he gave them personal freedom and limited their obligations to the gentry.
At first the Polish forces met with success on all sides. At the battle of Raclawice on 3 April 1794 Polish troops and peasants, the latter armed only with scythes, defeated the Russian forces and on the 17th the Russian garrison was driven from Warsaw. A total of three- fourths of the old territories had been regained.
The forces of Russia and Prussia now combined, 91,000 troops with 253 guns, converged on Poland and after a series of several de ' seperate battles Kosciuszko and his forces were besieged in the capital. Here 35,000 Poles with 200 guns withstood two assaults and the siege was lifted on the 16th of September.
Nevertheless the overwhelming masses of the combined Russian and Prussian troops were more than the Poles could withstand. The death blow of the insurrection feel only a little more than a month later, when on the 10th of October, at the battle of Maciejowice 16,000 Russians defeated the 7,000 Poles under the command of Kosciuszko. At- this battle Kosciuszko himself was severely wounded and taken captive by the Russians.
With a terrible massacre in the suburbs, Warsaw was again taken.and occupied by the Russians, the remaining Polish forces capitulated within a few weeks.
Final Partition
In the following year, 1795, the third partition of this great nation was effected and the ancient Polish nation disappeared from the map of Europe.
After the final partition many Poles fled to France, among them were many officers and soldiers. France alone had objected to the treatment of Poland and these exiles held high hopes of help from this new republic. In Paris, among the many exiles, was General J. H. Dombrowski, the ablest general of Kosciuszko during the insurrection.
General Dombrowski had hopes of forming Polish legions with the many officers and soldiers now in exile in France and with this thought in mind lie petitioned the governj-.ient of the republic. At last the constitution of the republic did not permit foreign,troops on French soil and his petition was refused.
Next the great general journeyed to Italy, arriving in the city of Milan on the 2nd of December in 1796 and here lie began to meet with greater success. His ideas were well received by Napoleon who in correspondence with the Council of Lombardy recommended both the general and his plans. The government of this new Cispalpine Republic was in fact well pleased with the general and his plans for they were at that time in need of troops which they were not able to raise, thus the decision had been made to enlist foreign troops.
Subsequently, on the 9th of January, 1797, an agreement was reached, and signed, whereby in return for their services the Poles were to become citizens of Lombardy with the same pay and privileges as national troops.
Eleven days after the signing of the agreement General Dombrowski published, in four-languages, a proclimation calling on the Poles to join his legion. Within two weeks there were more than 1,200 men in the new legion. Many of these men were deserters coming from the Austrian army, which had in its ranks men from Galicia, and others were ex- prisoners of war.
Polish Legions in Italy 1797-1803
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