Continuation of the series of articles by Jon Harrison our Polish Army expert. The series started in issue # 20 and will end in our next issue. Please note that you can take out all the pages of this articles and bind them together if you so desire.
BATTALIONS OF THE LEGION
3rd BATTALION OF INFANTRY
SWIDERSKI, Chief of Battalion
SZNAJDER, Captain, Adjutant Major
OTELLI, Surgeon Third Class
10 Captains
10 Lieutenants
10 Second Lueutenants
1 Second Lieutenant (Ensign) Standard-Bearer
1 Extra Officer
35 officers and 1,360 NCO's and soldiers total
4th BATTALION OF INFANTRY
MALAACHOWSKI, Chief of Battalion
BOGULAWSKI, Captain, Adjutant Major
Surgeon Third Class
10 Captains
10 Lieutenants
10 Second Lieutenants
1 Second Lieutenant (Ensign) Standard-Bearer
2 Extra Officers
36 officers and 1,350 NCO's and soldiers total
5th BATTALION OF
INFANTRY
JASINSKI, Chief of Battalion
KLICKI, Captain, Adjutant Major
HEDRYCH, Surgeon Third Class
10 Captains
10 Lieutenants
10 Second Lieutenants
1 Second Lieutenant (Ensign) Standard-Bearer
2 Extra Officers
36 officers and 1,297 NCO's and soldiers total
6th BATTALION OF
INFANTRY
ZAGORSKI, Chief of Battalion
PAROSZ, Captain, Adjutant Major
BALDAUFF, Surgeon Third Class
10 Captains
10 Lieutenants
10 Second Lieutenants
1 Second Lieutenant, (Ensign) Standard-bearer
1 Extra Officer
35 officers and 1,275 NCO's and soldiers total
7th BATTALION OF INFANTRY
ZAWADZKI, Chief of Battalion
PETERYKOWSKI, Captain, Adjutant Major
LOUY, Surgeon Third Class
10 Captains
10 Lieutenants
10 Second Lieutenants
1 Second Lieutenant (Ensign) Standard-Bearer
2 Extra Officers
36 officers and 1,275 NCO's and soldiers total
TOTAL COMPLEMENT OF THE LEGION
General Staff 15
Headquarters Staff 54
Artillery Battalion 581
1st Battalion of Infantry 1396
2nd Battalion of Infantry 1395
3rd Battalion of Infantry 1395
4th Battalion of Infantry 1386
5th Battalion of Infantry 1333
6th Battalion of Infantry 1310
7th Battalion of Infantry 1550
Depot, France and Italy 200
Train, Artillery and Legion 70
Total: 10,686
With the formation of new legions we again find changes in the uniforms although the style remained the same new colors were assigned. The new legion of General Dombrowski retained the dark blue with crimson facings which had been assigned to I Legion on the 31 of July in 1799. For Grenadiers the plumes, epaulettes, and cords were of dark red. yellow was used by the Fasiliers and green was the color of the Chasseurs.
In the legion of the Danube the uniform was of dark blue with dark blue lapels piped in crimson. Collars were crimson as were the square cut cuffs both were piped with white. both the saber and the cartouche were suspended from belts worn over the shoulder. Epaulettes were now worn, dark red for Grenadiers, green for Chasseurs and crimson for fusiliers. The bell at the waist is now of dark blue with a crimson border along each edge and a buckle of crimson, white and blue (left to right when facing the wearer) Belts for cartouche and saber are black. The breeches are dark blue with with one narrow crimson stripe in the outside seams. Breeches are worn inside short black gaiters cut in hassar style and decorated along the upper edge with a white galon and tassel.
Plumes for the legion as ordered by General Kniaziewicz on 1 July 1800 were as follows:
Fusiliers; Crimson on top with the bottom:
- 1st Battalion White
2nd Battalion Blue
3rd Battalion Dark Red
4th Battalion Yellow
Chasseurs; Green on top with the bottom:
- 1st Battalion White
2nd Battalion Blue
3rd Battalion Green
4th Battalion Yellow
Grenadiers and Cavalry; Dark Red on top with the bottom:
- 1st Battalion White
2nd Battalion Blue
3rd Battalion Dark Red
4th Battalion Yellow
For the cavalry, dark blue czapkas had yellow or gold cords, black leather turban and visor, ana a French cockade on the left side. Collar, lapels, pointed cuffs, and turnbacks were of amaranth piped in white. Troopers worn a square cut cuff in place of the pointed cuff of the officers and yellow aiguillettes on the left shoulder. Belts for troopers are of white and black with gold galons for the officer. Buttons are yellow or gold. Pantaloons are of dark blue with amaranth stripes which may have yellow buttons riding upon the stripes. In all of the squadrons the lance pennon seems to have been of tricolored horizontal sections, blue, white, and red (top to bottom).
Perhaps the most colorful and certainly the most unusual uniform to be worn in the legions was that of the Horse Artillery of the Danube Legion. In Place of the czapka a mirliton of black felt was worn. The mirliton had a black wing piped red and was equipped with a black visor. The cockade, located about half way down was attached to the red plume with a red galon and there was a yellow metal button in the center of the cockade, cords, flounders, and tassels were also red. Long tresses worn over each temple were not tied at the end but were secured with a split pistol ball. Dolman, vest and breeches were of dark blue decorated with piping, brandenburgs, and stripes of dark red. On the dolman and vest there were thirteen rows of brandenburgs with five buttons in each row. Breeches were of Hungarian hussar style, tight and dec- orated with hungarian knots on the thighs and dark red stripes in the outside seams. With the breeches hussar style boots were worn, the tops of these were decorated with dark red Salons and tassels.
The work of organizing the new legion kept General Dombrowski.in Paris until March of 1800, afterwards he went to Marseille where he found four battalions of well organized infantry and the artillery being organized in Italy.
General Massena, who replaced General Championnet as commander of the Italian Army requested Dombrowski to return to Milan with his legion. This was done and upon arrival the legion was joined by liberated Polish officers. Wielhorski was sent to command the depot at Marseille, the others were taken into the legion. On the 8th of November the legion was paraded in Milan with 5,000 men under arms.
General Kniaziewecz was indignant, the peace of Luneville has been signed and the question of Poland was not brought to light. He resigned and the legion of the Danube, now under the command of General Jablonowski, was sent to Milan to join the Italian Legion of General Dombrowski.
Thus when the combined legions were paraded at Milan, for General Dombrowski, on the 21st of March in 1801, there were 12,735 officers, NCO's and soldiers. 3o3 officers in the Italian Legion, 6,432 NCO's and soldiers with the remaining 6,000 in the Legion of the Danube. The treaty of Luneville created the Kingdom of Etrurie from the old Duchy of Tuscany and the legions were garrisoned here with the battalion under Fisze at Livourne and Drzewiecki's at Sienne.
Sad and unpleasant rumors concerning the fate of the Polish legion began to circulate, rumors which seemed to be borne out by the attitude and conduct of the French officers toward Polish officers, Finally on the 21 of December 1801 offiers came to disband the legions and form them into three demi brigades, with the Italian Legion forming the first two and the Legion of the Danube forming the third.
These orders resulted in much bitterness amongst the Poles who almost staged a revolt which was to be led by Fiszer and Kosinski. However, General Dombrowski knew of the plot and opposed it. He suggested to the French government, a plan for a Polish expedition into the Loniennes Isles and Greece, but because the government (lid not wish to endanger the peace this project was not approved. Murat wished to keep the Poles of the Danube Legion in the service of Etruria but they refused to go into the service of yet another new state.
Orders were issued by the Minister of War, the demi brigades were to go to the French West Indian colony of Santo Domingo, a few days later and the 3rd Demi-brigade was renumbered the 111th Demi- brigade. Composed of three battalions under the commands of Zagorski, Bolesta, and Pierre Wierbycki, 418 officers and 2,235 NCO's and soldiers with 56 auxillaries (health Service and Administration) were embarked on transports at Levorno. The Poles boarded the transports on the 18th of May 1802, resigned to their fate and surrounded by an escort of 2 French demi-brigades.
The remaining days for the 2nd Demi-brigade were now numbered. At Reggio, it was paraded and presented 87 officers and 2,750 NCO's and soldiers, incorporated into the French Army it was renumbered the 114th Demi-Brigade. They were sent to Genoa under escort of a French regiment of Chasseurs a cheval and there, on 3 February 1803, they also embarked for Santo Domingo.
Of these two demi-brigades only a handful returned to Europe, approximately 15 officers and 150 soldiers. The remainder died in combat, of yellow fever, or on English prison ships.
Only the lst Demi-Brigade remained. It was incorporated into the lst Italian Division in the service of the Cisalpine Republic. They were sent to Venice and placed under the orders of General Saint-Cyr, taking part in the battle of Castel-Franco against the Austrians of Duke Rohan. In 1806 they, with the corps of General Saint-Cyr, returned to Naples to aid Joseph Napoleon the new king of Naples.
It was while in Naples that news reached the Poles of the complete destruction of the Prussian Army and also of the triumphant entry of Napoleon into Berlin on the 27th of October 1806. A special courier arrived to call General Dombrowski to Paris, at last the time had come for the reconstruction of a new Polish state.
Polish Legions in Italy 1797-1803
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© Copyright 1978 by Jean Lochet
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