The Russian commander having, as the reader is aware, lost nearly the whole of the corps of the prince Wirtemberg, the remnants of which was dispersed and had wholly ceased active operations, sent against general Dwernicki the corps of general Witt, composed of 8,000 infantry, 2,000 cavalry, and 16 pieces of cannon. This corps arrived on the 11th at Lublin, in which town was a small detachment of Dwernicki's corps, commanded by the colonel Russyian. This small detachment, having only barricaded a few streets, defended with much firmness the passage of the small river Bystrzyca, and left the city at nightfall to rejoin its corps, which was in the environs of Zamosc.
Again the corps of the Russian guard, which had recently arrived, under the command of prince Michael, consisting of 16,000 infantry, 4,000 cavalry, and 36 pieces of cannon, a division of cavalry, with eight pieces of cannon, was sent into the environs of Pultusk, commanded by general Uminski, who was to take under his command the detachment of colonel Valentin, and acting in concert with the garrison of Modlin, he was to occupy the attention of the enemy, in order that our main body should not be disturbed in the offensive operations which general Skrzynecki had decided to adopt.
General Uminski arriving with his corps, met an advanced detachment of the Russian guard in the environs of Makow, composed of two regiments of hussars and eight pieces of cannon, who were sent forward as a party of observation in that vicinity. This was the first encounter with this celebrated guard. Our cavalry waited impatiently for the moment to try their strength with them. Two young regiments, one a regiment of Krakus of Podlasia, and the other the 5th Hulans, entreated their general to be permitted to make the charge. General Uminski observing that there was no stronger force near, ordered an immediate attack.
Our cavalry, on receiving the order, did not even give the enemy time to display his front, or to make use of his artillery; but rushed upon him with an impetuous charge, under which he was at once borne down. Of one regiment of those hussars nearly a squadron were taken prisoners. This Russian cavalry, which were in full rout, were pursued as far as the environs of Magnuszewo. The enemy was not permitted to take position, and the pursuit was pressed with such rapidity, that they had not time to destroy the bridge which crosses the river Orsyca, but were followed even to the environs of Rozany, where they reached the position of their main body. General Uminski, in order not to expose his force to the observation of the enemy, halted in an advantageous position in the forests near Rozany, and from this position he continued to hold the enemy in check. In fact, by harassing and wearying the enemy with continual attacks, he at length forced the prince Michael to quit Rozany, taking the direction of Ostrolenka. General Uminski sent in pursuit of the enemy the brigade of cavalry under the command of colonel Dembinski. This brigade, opposite Ostrolenka upon the Narew, had on the 26th of March an advantageous affair with the advanced guard of the enemy, in which forty prisoners were taken. By closely observing the enemy in this manner, it was ascertained that the Russian guard, after destroying the bridge, had completely evacuated Ostrolenka. It was evident that the design of prince Michael, in this sudden evacuation of Ostrolenka, was to join himself to the grand army. General Uminski immediately sent an officer to inform the commander in chief of this movement, continuing in the mean time in the position which he had taken before Ostrolenka.
FOOTNOTES:
[45] General Dwernicki, on arriving at Pulawy, regarded it as his first duty to repair to the palace of the princess Czartoriski, the estimable lady of the president of the National Senate, to offer his services to her, and to assure her of safety. On entering the court, the venerable Dwernicki and the officers who accompanied him, could not restrain their tears at the sight of the ruins of that edifice, so uselessly destroyed, to gratify the brutality of the prince of Wirtemberg, who pushed his fury to such a degree, as to have directed a fire of artillery against the central division of the palace, occupied at that moment by the princess and her attendants. General Dwernicki and his officers, struck by the melancholy scene before them, feared to advance another step, in the dread of meeting even more horrible traces of barbarity,—to find perhaps the princess and her suite the victims of Russian cruelty. But what was their astonishment, when, on entering the porch of the edifice, they were accosted by the princess, who with a cheerful air exclaimed: 'Brave general, and officers! how happy am I, that God has allowed me to greet my brave countrymen once more, before my death.' Then giving her hand to general Dwernicki, and presenting to him and his officers the ladies who were her attendants during the whole of these horrible scenes, she continued, 'General, do not be astonished to see us accoutred in the best garments which the Russians have left to us; we have arrayed ourselves in our funeral attire,'—and pointing to the holes with which the enemy's artillery had pierced the walls, she added, 'Those marks will explain my language.' General Dwernicki, struck with the heroism of the princess and her companions, addressed her in the following terms:—'Madam, permit me, in the name of the whole nation, to make to you the homage of my high admiration. Brave indeed ought Poles to be, with mothers and sisters such as these!' He then urged upon the princess the expediency of leaving Pulawa, which might still be the scene of distressing events, and upon this suggestion she departed under an escort furnished by general Dwernicki, for her estates in Galicia.
[46] The reader will perhaps be gratified with a short topographical description of this fortress, and some details of this affair. The fortress of Modlin, which is in a pentagonal form, is situated sixteen miles from Warsaw, upon the right bank of the Vistula, at the junction of the Narew with the former river. Not far from this fortress, the small river Wkra also joins the Narew. The fortress is thus situated between three rivers. In addition to this peculiarity of its situation in regard to the rivers, its commanding elevation makes it a point of great strength. Opposite to it is the small town of Nowy-dwor, but this town is so low that it is commanded by the fortress, and it is besides too distant for the erection of batteries by which the latter could be bombarded with success. This post is very important in regard to tactics, and it is a key of position, to protect, or to act upon, all operations between the Narew and the Vistula. Marshal Diebitsch considering these circumstances, and seeing that an open attack was scarcely possible, was led to attempt negotiation. The letter sent by the marshal, was full of flattering language in regard to the heroism of the Polish army. He permitted himself, however, to say that it was to be regretted that such a degree of heroism was not exhibited in a better cause—that the brave Polish army was made a sacrifice of, by some ambitious and opinionated men, who had forgotten their duties to their monarch, and their oaths of fidelity. From such men as those, he wished to distinguish the count Leduchowski, for whom he had the highest esteem, and who, he was convinced, had no desire to continue a useless expenditure of blood, and would willingly surrender the fortress to the troops of his legitimate monarch. To all this, marshal Diebitsch added the assurance that the fortress should be garrisoned by equal bodies of Russian and Polish troops. Colonel Leduchowski made a reply to this complimentary communication in nearly the following terms:—'Marshal, to your letter, in which you have chosen to flatter the valor of my countrymen, and in which you have honored me, in particular, with your attentions, I have the honor to answer, that I cannot better deserve your good opinion, than in defending, with my compatriots, our beloved country to the last drop of my blood. This is the course which the honor of each brave Pole dictates to him.'
[47] This letter, written at the moment when our army was victorious, and when a revolution, ready to break out in all the Polish provinces attached to Russia, made the position of the Russian army extremely dangerous, was couched in most conciliatory terms, having for its sole object the termination of a fraternal struggle. In this letter, the generalissimo sought to convince marshal Diebitsch, that this was not a war undertaken on our part at the instigation of a few individuals, but that it was espoused by the whole nation, and that the people were forced to take up arms by the enormity of those acts of tyranny, which were not perhaps even known to the monarch. He urged him to consider the amount of blood which had been already shed, and the indefinite prolongation to which such a struggle might be extended. He urged him also, to make known these representations to the monarch, and to invite him to lay aside all enmity, to visit and hear in person the complaints of the nation, who would receive him with sincerity, and who demanded of him only the confirmation and observance of the rights granted by the constitution, and the extension of the same rights to our brethren in the Russo-Polish provinces. What an opportunity was here presented to the Emperor Nicholas to act with magnanimity, and to extend a conciliatory hand to the Polish nation! Those letters will be an eternal testimony, that the Poles attempted every amicable means, to establish upon an equal basis their own happiness and civilization, and that of the whole north, and that all the responsibility of the bloody struggle which was continued, rests on the side of despotism.
[48] The following particulars will demonstrate to the reader how much even the enemy appreciated Polish courage and devotedness. After this affair, our generalissimo, regretting much the loss of the brave colonel Blendowski, who had fallen in his wounded state into the enemy's hands, sent a flag to general Giesmar, the commander of the Russian advanced guard, to propose an exchange, if colonel Blendowski was still living, and if dead, to request that his body might be given up. At the moment that the officer bearing the flag, with a party of lancers, arrived at the Russian quarters, he saw a body of Russians with general Giesmar, and his suite at their side, bearing a wounded officer, and advancing towards them. Our officer, as they approached, recognized colonel Blendowski in the wounded officer, and announced to general Giesmar that it was to obtain him that he had been sent. On receiving this communication, general Giesmar replied, 'You see, sir, that I had anticipated your object. Make my intentions known to your commander, and let him know how much I honor Polish heroism.' This general took part, with his own hand, in all the arrangements for transferring the wounded officer, and two of his suite were among those who bore his body.