Operations of general Dembinski's corps.—He traverses the country between Szawla and the Niemen without being observed by the enemy.—Attacks and disperses a brigade of Russian infantry.—Passes the Niemen and throws himself into the forest of Bialystok.—After leaving that forest, is joined by the corps of general Rozycki.—Reaches Warsaw.—His reception at Warsaw.—View of the exposed situation of Paszkewicz after his passage of the Vistula.—Examination of the plan of operations of the Polish commander.—Morbid state of the public mind at Warsaw.—Skrzynecki and Czartoriski deprived of their trust.—Capture of the city.—Documents showing the influence exercised by the cabinets in discouraging active operations.—Conclusion.
The corps of general Dembinski had been more fortunate than those of Chlapowski and Rohland. That general, quitting Kurszany on the 9th of July, returned, in obedience to the orders which we have detailed, by means of the forests, to the environs of Szawla, leaving the enemy upon the right, and without being observed by him;—he having advanced with his whole force in the direction of Worna, under the belief that our undivided forces were in that position. This corps traversed the country between Szawla and Rosseyny, and arrived during the night of the 15th at Janow, where they dispersed a squadron of the enemy's cavalry and took fifty prisoners, and passed there the river Wiliia without interruption. From thence they left for the environs of Kowno, where, not far from Rumszyski, on the 16th, they met a brigade of Russian infantry which was on the march from Wilno to the frontier of Poland.
General Dembinski attacked this brigade with such impetuosity, that they were thrown into the greatest consternation. Two cannons and several prisoners were taken. The great forests, by which the Russians were able to effect their escape, alone saved this brigade from entire destruction. Having thus opened their road, they took the direction of the town of Lida, passing the Niemen not far from that place. Afterwards they threw themselves into the forests of Bialystok, and in these forests the corps was reinforced by a considerable number of Lithuanian insurgent cavalry, which had been acting with great advantages over the enemy, by cutting off his transports of ammunition and other modes of harassing him, during the whole of our campaign. This force was under the command of colonel B***. General Dembinski quitted the forests in the environs of Orla, and leaving the town of Bielsk on his right, passed through the town of Bocki, near which he surprised and dispersed a regiment of cossacks, and took several prisoners, and among them a number of officers. In the environs of Siemiatycze, where the corps arrived on the 20th of June, they were arrested by the sudden appearance of a large body of troops. General Dembinski halted and placed his forces in order of battle, sending his flankers in advance. On the other side the same movement was made. The flanking parties of the opposite forces approached each other, but what was the astonishment of the two corps at seeing the tirailleurs, in place of firing upon each other, rushing into each other's arms, and rending the air with patriotic exclamations. The corps which was thus met by that of general Dembinski, was the corps of general Rozycki, which had been sent from our grand army to reinforce the corps of general Gielgud. The reader will now call to mind the plan of operations proposed by colonel Valentin after the battle of Wilno; and the arrival of this reinforcement at the very spot which was to have been the point of concentration aggravates the regret that his plans were not adopted. Nothing could exceed the satisfaction of the two corps at thus meeting. General Rozycki, learning the disastrous circumstances which had occurred, changed his plan of operation, and decided to unite himself with the corps of general Dembinski, and to return with it to the grand army. The junction of these two corps had scarcely taken place, when a cloud of dust, in the direction of Bielsk, announced the march of another body of troops. A small reconnoissance, sent in that direction, returned with the intelligence that it was the Russian corps under Golowkin. Our generals, considering all circumstances, determined not to engage with them, and continued their march towards Poland, passing at night the river Bug. They then took the direction of Wengrow and Kaluszyn, and by that route arrived at Warsaw, toward the end of the month of July.
The corps of general Dembinski, which had traversed more than four hundred miles in about twenty days from its departure from Kurszany, in the midst of detachments of the enemy, was received by the nation with the greatest enthusiasm. The president of the senate, prince Adam Czartoriski, the generalissimo Skrzynecki, with all the officers of government, followed by an immense body of citizens, met him at the distance of a half league from the city; and he was greeted with an address expressive of the thanks of the nation for his courageous and persevering exertions. It ended in the following terms:—'Dear general, and brethren in arms, you will be a living reproach to those who, forgetting their sacred duties, have, by their misconduct, forced their countrymen to lay down their arms, and seek the protection of another nation.'
To commemorate the brave exertions of this corps, and to transmit these events to posterity, the address above referred to was ordered to be enregistered in the volumes of the public laws. A printed copy was also given to each soldier of the corps. At the same time a commission was appointed to inquire into the conduct of generals Gielgud and Chlapowski.
When we consider the manner in which the Russian army, after their passage of the Vistula, passed the interval between the 27th of July, (the day of their arrival at Lowicz) and the 15th of August, we shall be at a loss to account for their inaction.
If general Paszkewicz was in a condition to take Warsaw, he could gain nothing by this repose. Nay, every moment of delay might increase the difficulties he would have to overcome. Why then all this delay? What could have prevented us from reinforcing our ranks, strengthening the fortifications of Warsaw, and even sending another corps, however small, into Lithuania, to support a new insurrection? Such a corps could have easily made its way even in the midst of the Russian detached corps remaining on the other side of the Vistula, and indeed those corps, so imprudently left there, could have been beaten in detail by our forces. If these circumstances are well considered, the reader will be satisfied that this manœuvre of passing the Vistula, though in appearance so threatening to us, was in reality a most imprudent step on the enemy's part, and exposed him to the most imminent danger. Many detailed considerations might be given upon this point, but as they would occupy much space, and would withdraw us too far from the purpose of this narrative, we must leave them to abler pens. The general view, however, which we have taken of the position of the enemy, will be enough to awaken the astonishment of the reader that the event of the contest should have arrived so suddenly and so fatally to us. We are, therefore, led to present some reflections upon what seems to us to have been the true causes of the disastrous issue of the struggle.