Battle of Waterloo

The battalion school at Waterloo in 2010 

Last weekend, there was a large, probably one of the largest planned reconstruction in this year - Waterloo. The 2, 3, 4, 7 and 12 Infantry Regiments of The Grand Duchy of Warsaw in the strength of about 90 men took a part in it. Such a large number of troops allowed us to form a Polish battalion consisting of three platoons strenght, who has received a fourth number from the organizers. After our arrival, during first exercises the fourth platoon joined us, made up of colleagues from Ukraine, who are reanacting the 2nd Infantry Regiment of the Vistula Legion. This gave a total number of 120 soldiers.
Why do I in such a detail describe the composition of our battalion? That`s becouse I would like to not only describe the same event, but also the way of usage of the historical drill regulations and their "adaptation" to the needs of the reeanacted battlefield.

The infantry of The Grand Duchy of Warsaw employed a drill regulations translated very accurately from the French regulations from 1791. It contained a school of soldier, platoon, battalion and evolutions of the line. When we read it today, at first it seems to be very difficult, mainly due to the archaic language. But after some time,when we get used to the vocabulary and syntax, it appears that it`s written in a thoughtful manner and by people with practical experience.

So we`ve formed fourth battalion. The first platoon was made by the 2nd and 7th infantry regiments , second by 4th infantry regiment, the third by 3rd and 12th regiments and fourth consisted of the 2nd regiment of the Vistula Legion from the Ukraine. Our battalion, besides the third Czech battalion and the 6th Italian-Ukrainian battalion created a second line infantry brigade that was one of the ten, who fought on the French side.

After these exercises a short break and by evening we went out into the battle. We`ve waited a long time, until at the top of the hill in front of us the opponent appeared. Earlier, we heard only the distant sounds of volleys. As we found out later, the battle began at Plancenoit and gradually moved toward our position. After typical Belgian rain our cannons fired. Really. This is not an exaggeration. Our artillery, probably about 10 guns and a grenade launcher, had unprecedented size at the Polish battlefields. These were probably only the 6 punder cannons maybe even bigger?? Any way we had a good view and the impression was huge.

The Allies bombarded our left flank with rockets and that was our sign to go into the battle. The maneuvers, made under enemy fire , who just waited on our mistakes generally went quite well, sometimes - very good. In short, we`ve made it!
After the battle, probably at 22.30, we could finally return to the camp. We were thoroughly tired. Only a few have chosen to go to the Allied camp on a small tour. The night was cold and wet.
Morning motive at 7.00, something to eat and at 8.00 march. Four kilometers on foot, and the main battle ahead. Battlefield was located east from the historical road from Quatre Brass to Brussels. Along the way we passed a farm of La Belle Aliance and came to the farm of La Haye Saint, which in the battle was one of the main points of Wellington resistance forces. We turned left and entered the large field of wheat.

We took our positions.
Two other battalions of our brigade joined us. Then more battalions, batteries, squadrons appeared, and among them, beautiful view, our Chevau-légers of the Guard.
The battle began with rain(traditionally here). Then the artillery preparation, voltigeurs and shooters fights and finally we go. The whole brigade! We stood in a battalion line.

Before us, the Czech 3rd battalion, behind us the 6th Italian - Ukrainian battalion. Nearly 300 men. Battalions extended to 70 meters. First orders, officers and NCO`s are repeating them, and at loud "march", the whole formation moves.

It`s just amazing. So far I have seen such things only at Gettysburg. And here I am in the middle of all that. We`ve passed artillery line, gunners salute us, they did their job and now we march on the Brits. You can now see their red jackets. Attack. Gaining ground. We take position, developing in line, a few volleys, again change position.

We fight but not on a hurray. We are a part of the brigade. At some point, the Czech battalion attacked Scots from the flank. To repel them, they had to stand side to us. A perfect moment. Again we have developed in a line, approached near enough, and a volley to the side of enemy formation.

I had the impression that our shots lifted their kilts. They withdrew, but so did we. Now the cavalry charges at the British quadrangles started. Beautiful view. Well-trained cavalry. All formations- Cuirassiers, Dragoons, Mounted Shooters and our Chevau-légers held the line even in the gallop. But, according to the scenario they couldn`t win. We stood the entire brigade in a line. Three battalions together. Judging from the uniform a marchal rode up to us. He ordered a brigade fire to cover retreating cavalry . Order again, repeated by the officers and NCO`s, massed rifles rising up, the order, rifles aimed toward the enemy, the command and the hurricane of fire.

That you must see. But this is not the end. Reload! And again the same procedure. Three or four volleys. The scenario, however, is adamant. We must lose. There`s something going on on our right flank. Prussians arrived and chaos slowly gets into the French ranks. Right wing in the retreat. We form a quadrangle. There`s no other way. The enemy cavalry is everywhere,so is infantry. Again the marshal arrives. We are ordered to move to the right wing and fill the gap left by the routing French. But how? Changing the quadrangle in a normal line surely will encourage cavalry to attack us. The order is- March in the quadrangle! We`ve never done it bevore but there must be the first time isn`t it.

The main thing is to keep a small space between troops and imitate trails of a man in front. We move on, and after a few minutes we reach the position. It worked, but only for a moment. The last fighting units were we, Czechs and of course the Guard, but they will not withdraw. After another enemy volley , we and the rest of Czechs begin to retreat. It`s strange how easly it is to play a mess when ranks, even on command, scatter. Then we only watched on our flag to protect it of became a cavalry prey.

The End.

Our battalion commander was Waldek Zubek - captain of Army of The Grand Duchy of Warsaw. Many thanks, you are the best.

Yours
Piotrek
 Gallery

Jarmark Tumski-Płock 12 czerwca 2010

On Saturday the 12th of june 2010 the 4th Regiment, invited by the "Assosiation of Friends of the Museum of Mazovia in Plock", had the honor to participate in Tumski Fair. Piter with his son, Sławek, Tomek, Łukasz (humble me) and Robert, who led us efficently to the place of our stop (the Tradytor group stand) arrived that day. Members of the crew proved to be very nice, served us with help and they shared gladly everything they had with us.

Our stand quickly changed in an advertising and recruitment spot of the 4th Regiment and Tradytor. Tourists (mostly in a productive age) approached eagerly asking where such a band of fancy dressed people came from anyway, and about a short history of our unit. Most of them was quite suprised when they realized that the 4th Regiment was formed in Płock. There was a few who shared their own historical knowledge. Peter brought printed promotional leaflets, which were succesfully placed in the most visible parts of our stand. At this point it should be noted that our hats and rifles were attracting tourists most frequently.

More and more people approached during the day and few children with our horned hat on their head immortalized their first contact with Napoleon's army by taking some phots. One of our main task was to show ourselves in an uniform-equipment magnificence, that's why we often had our "patrolling patrols of the patrolling area". Meanwhile we had an occasion to admire the rich assortment of sellers, that is: postards, stamps, coins and bills, pottery, trinkets, books; some moveable antiques like cutlery, frames, trimming elements; and military items (sabres, bayonets, stripes, medals). We on average covered about 10 meters in one of such strolls and were stopped and asked us to have our photos taken. It is interesting that near almost any stand it was enough to ask about anything to know how much a seller knows of history-not necessarily connected with Napoleon. I generally find that many people-both viewers and sellers-were knowledgeable in the meanders of ancient times.

The heat was sparing us till that time, but after few hours the sun, changing his position, started to shine straight at us, which made our functioning a bit hard.
It was about 4p.m. when the time of our performance came. The commander called up an assembly and made an inspection and ordered us to march out in the cinema stairs direction, where we were supposed to present ourselves.
In a good speech Piter acquainted the auditorium with the history of the Regiment and our presentation, which main elements were: rifles loading procedure (12 rates and freestyle) and salvos.
When we were ready to shoot Peter consciously warned the spectators to watch out for children and animals. Weapons Ready...Aim...Fire! Every rifle, except mine, fired (I'm not well familiaraized with it yet). The salvo, enhanced with dense building area, effected with admiration of the crowd and turning on about five car and building alarms. It really made a great impression on them.
Now freestyle loading, calmly, evenly and carefully.
And again: Weapons Ready...Aim...Fire!....... and NOTHING, silence...............none of the rifles fired.

One of the spectators said that normally we would be dead by now, but Peter expertly intervened explaining the imperfecton of blackpowder weapons, which In general saved our situation and even did good to us. This bizzare situation effectively showed the spectators a part of army's life, which could be difficult to explain during an ordinary lecture.

We were farewelled with applause after the whole presentation and went back to our stand. We went to the surroundings of a cathedral from there to shoot out unexploded charges. We also let some interested people to shoot a few shots on a vantage terrace near Vistula river. One of them was our new friend AMD, who promised us to explain his nickname abbreviation in "more favorable circumstances". Another attraction of Tumski Fair was also a possibility to shoot from a crossbow, a bow and to fire a medieval bombard. You could also notice, apart from our Historical Reconstruction Group, medieval knights in light costumes (tunics, quilted jackets), UB officers (communistic safety police) and AK guerilla troops.

And here my participation ends (I recieved a book about the January Uprising on my departure).
I must add that while I was returning to my car I passed a group of eldery ladies who opinioned my uniform with a skilled eye and made a statement that I must certainly come from Sweden...

To summarize - the event was very succesful. Especially when it came to the number of spectators and stage visual setting. We managed to give away a lot of leaflets and interest a lot of people with our presence. Great thanks to the "Tradytor" group, we became firends with them almost immediately. It were they who during our absence at the booth, told visitors about our regiment and encouraged them to read our leaflet.

The photos are made by my mother, who probably was the only one who thought about photographing our actions.
 

YanTraken

more: forum: Jarmark Tumski-Płock

Mikulov 14-16 May 2010

We arrived at approximately 10 p.m. Mikulov (a Czech Republic town) greeted us with clouds and chill. After we managed with the camp boys made a quick reconnaissance of the city to get supplies and also to visit some charming cafes. The reconnaissance was quick after all, because they were back quickly. Because we could not make no fire we decided to extinguish our thirst with some delicious czech beers and go to bed, because we knew saturday will be busy. And a shock! At night I froze much harder than in Lipsk. Chill combined with high humidity did it's work. At 7:30 in the morning Waldeck drummed the wake-up call (never give a drum in his hands), I haven't felt my legs. A quick breakfast and a march out for exercise. The exercise took place at the same field as always. As usual at first we had a soldier school, then the battalion school. Setting the battalion in platoons in different formations and a square battalion. Part of the exercises was led by, beloved by Poles, Captain Dworak who's 10 minute brake lasts for 45 seconds. After the exercises we went back to camp in order to top up our food supplies and to make charges. This time we've found an hour to see the castle.

At 3:30 p.m. we marched off to the battle. Same place-old town market square. There was no scenario. After the second enemy salvo our corporal Stephen died for the emperor and lay alone for the next 10 minutes on the center of the square, in between the french altillery and two sections of Austians. After each cannon shot we looked how much did Stephens corpse move. Of course there was an Austrian sections respond after each cannon shot. At last the public was mercifull enough to pull him from the gun-fires and generously gave him something strenghtening to drink. Altillery was firing well this year, and so a window glass couldn't withstand it in one of the shops. How Stephen survived it-no one knows.

After the victory, a short break and traditionally a ride to the Austrian Drasenhofen city. There, in a historical street a small skirmish and a snack, which this time was extremely poor in food. After supervising the launch of misfired charges I could only dream abaut any meal. Allegedly there were a few sandwiches only. But there was a vastness of wine. On tables stood 10 gallon cartons, so drink brother as much as you want. Unfortunately, the cold weather quickly drove us all to the coaches. While till noon it was pretty tolerable when it comes to weather,the evening was really cold. Our hands were freezing on rifles.We`ve landed at the camp at about eight o`clock, pretty tired becouse of a busy day. At the camp it turned out that the Austrian branch had a good connections or had been smart enough to arrange three 10-liter boxes of wine and shared one with the Army of Duchy. However, the carton became empty only in about 1 / 3 and troops disappeared in army tents.The "Czwartacy" took a tent with benches, temporarily abandoned by the owners, the 8 `eme regiment. Some time later they`ve returned and we`ve spent the rest of the cold evening on the nice chatting, mentioning The Mole, Rumcajs, Poppy Lady and many other story characters. The hosts turned out to be very charming people, contrary to various rumors, treated Poles with sympathy. We met: Alena, Francis, Roman,Honza and another Honza. And since the carton contained a lot of substance, which simplified the understanding of languages, the conversation progressed despite the penetrating cold. The cold was intensified by the fact that making fire was not allowed. In addition to wine, the hosts also had a "French" brandy (because English couldn`t pass through our throats), which, skillfully dosaged, was warming us in an excellent way. And in such atmosphere we had a long discussion about reconstruction of history, both nations, and many other topics. But in the end we all had to go to bed.

On Sunday morning I didn`t know whether I still have legs or not. Really! This year the Mikulov was a terribly difficult event in terms of weather conditions. At night it started raining, and rained to our departure. Lack of fire is a huge impediment. After breakfast, it turned out that we are going to take part in the unveiling of a small monument in memory of soldiers wounded at the battle of Austerlitz, who stayed in the hospital in Mikulov and most of them died of typhus (if I understod correctly). As Waldeck said, it was a hospital, a `la Polish NFZ. The monument have been erected at the place where soldiers skeletons were found. Infantry fired an honorary salute, artillery gave three shots and we went back to the city where for half an hour we learned how to create a line formation. Later, traditionally, we`ve layed flowers at the monument of Prince Ditrichstein in mausoleum and we visited the chapel where the Ditrichstein family coffins lay.

Then we`ve broken the camp and headed home in the middle of pouring rain and wind of tremendous power. In moments I had a problem to hold on to a single road lane. To sum it all up. Event was intensive but also very nice. As always, we`ve learned something new and met new people. Cold, cold and wet. Only the Saturday morning was bearable, but we counted it to preparations against the harsh conditions (fortunately, just in case we took coats). Of course, the charm of the city compensates everything.
 Gonzo

Gallery: www.pulk4piechoty.dywizjaxw.pl/gallery2/main.php

Regiment Flag

Dnia 3 maja 2010 roku grupa rekonstruująca Pułk 4 Piechoty XW otrzymała chorągiew – wierną kopię zachowanej w Muzeum Czartoryskich w Krakowie chorągwi Regimentu IV z czasów Insurekcji Kościuszkowskiej. Widnieją na niej słowa: „Gdy się chce bronić nie innych ciemiężyć hasło Polaka zginąć lub zwyciężyć”. W swej książce ”Wojsko Polskie Księstwo Warszawskie 1807 – 1814” Bronisław Gembarzewski opisuje ten sztandar i podaje, że był on w posiadaniu „czwartaków” w czasie wojen napoleońskich. Teza ta jest obecnie trudna do zweryfikowania, ale skłoniła nas do poszukiwań oraz do podjęcia starań o wykonanie wiernej repliki tej historycznej chorągwi. I teraz, dzięki pomocy wielu osób i ogromnemu zaangażowaniu naszego kolegi Sławka Tomanka, kopia sztandaru jest w naszych rękach!!! 
Wykonała go, z dbałością o najmniejsze detale, muzealna pracownia konserwacji tkanin. Na karmazynowym tle umieszczony jest biały orzeł, a nad nim wspomniana wyżej sentencja, wyhaftowana białymi literami. Ciekawostką jest to, że chorągiew jest gonfanonem. Może powstała z przerobionej chorągwi kościelnej? Nie zachowała się jej druga strona. Na potrzeby rekonstrukcji została wykonana identycznie jak strona pierwsza. Oryginał nosi też ślady dużych uszkodzeń, które mogły powstać w walce. Cały róg został naszyty z innej tkaniny, maskując porozrywaną materię.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski dies in plane crash

President Lech Kaczynski and scores of other senior Polish figures have been killed in a
plane crash in Russia.
Poland's army chief, central bank governor, MPs and leading historians were among more than 
90 passengers.
The Polish delegation was flying in from Warsaw to mark the 70th anniversary of the Katyn 
massacre of thousands of Poles by Soviet forces during WWII.

SENIOR FIGURES KILLED
National leader:
President Lech Kaczynski and wife Maria
Ryszard Kaczorowski from 1989-90 Poland's last president-in-exile in London

Other politicians:
Wladyslaw Stasiak chief of the president's chancellery;
Aleksander Szczyglo chief of the National Security Office;
Slawomir Skrzypek National Bank of Poland chairman;
Jerzy Szmajdzinski deputy speaker of the lower house
Andrzej Kremer Foreign Ministry's undersecretary of state
Stanislaw Komorowski deputy minister of national defence
Przemyslaw Gosiewski Law and Justice party deputy chair
Krystyna Bochenek deputy parliament speaker
Anna Walentynowicz Solidarity activist.

Military chief:
Franciszek Gagor chief of the General Staff
Andrzej Blasik head of the Air Force
Andrzej Karweta Navy chief commander 
Tadeusz Buk land forces commander 

Cultural figures:
Andrzej Przewoznik head of Poland's Council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites 
Tomasz Merta chief historical conservator
Janusz Kurtyka  A historian; since 2005 head of state-run National Remembrance Institute
Piotr Nurowski head of Poland's Olympic Committee.

and more..

 

Alleluja

Happy Easter!

Battle

W ostatni weekend, 19-21 marca 2010 roku „czwórka” była w gościnnym Jonkowie. To trzeci nasz wyjazd na tą imprezę. Część oddziału zjawiła się jeszcze w piątek, a część dopiero w sobotę. Kwaterowaliśmy w miejscowej szkole. Cały wieczór i duża część nocy upłynęła na powitaniach i rozmowach z dawno nie widzianymi kolegami i koleżankamiJ  Świętowaliśmy też, może trochę zbyt intensywnie, imieniny Józefa „Pepe”, któremu jeszcze raz życzymy 100 lat!!!

Po wczesnej pobudce i dobrym śniadanku zapakowaliśmy się w autobus i jazda w teren. Mieliśmy do przejścia trasę ok. 5-6 km z metą w Jonkowie. Po drodze mogło dojść do spotkania z wrogiem, więc maszerującą kolumnę ubezpieczała straż przednia. Z zadania tego doskonale wywiązali się koledzy z Pułku 3 Piechoty XW. Marsz odbywał się przez piękny, stary, bukowy las. Liczne pagórki wzdłuż drogi mogły kryć zasadzkę, ale jak potem się okazało, były to nieuzasadnione obawy. Wróg zaspał. Główną kolumnę marszową tworzyły trzy plutony złożone z Pułków 2,4 i 7 Piechoty XW. Po drodze wykonaliśmy kilka manewrów, symulując rozwinięcie w linię bojową w kierunku ew. natarć przeciwnika, a następnie przejście z linii bojowej w kolumnę marszową. Las się skończył i wyszliśmy na pola. Tutaj można było potrenować rozwijanie w tyralierę. Początkowo w ramach plutonów, a potem cały batalion. Przy tyralierze na 3 kroki dało to linię na ok. 120m. Niezły widok i fajne uczucie, gdy taka formacja wykonywała obroty i marsze.

Po dotarciu do Jonkowa, w okolice „Ruskiego Szańca”, przyszedł czas na robienie ładunków. Pochwały dla organizatorów za zapewnienie dużej ilości prochu. Po raz pierwszy od jakiegoś czasu nasze ładownice się zapełniły.

Bitwa rozpoczęła się planowo o 15,30. Pole rekonstrukcji było w tym roku trochę większe niż rok wcześniej. Strona „Francuska” dysponowała silną artylerią, niezbędną przy zdobywaniu umocnienia, jakim jest „Ruski szaniec”, czterema plutonami piechoty i kawalerią. Bitwa przebiegała planowo i dość spokojnie. Atak na pozycję wroga rozpoczął się od zajęcia przedpola szańca przez oddziały w szyku tyralierskim. Można było wtedy podciągnąć działa i rozpocząć ostrzał głównej pozycji wroga. Wkrótce pole bitwy zasnuły chmury dymu prochowego, przez który było widać tylko sylwetki przeciwnika i ogień z ich broni. Wszelkie próby kontrataku były powstrzymywane głównie przez kawalerię, która, bez względu na trudny, miękki teren, poruszała się po polu bitwy szybko i szarżowała na skrzydła atakujących kolumn. Po dłuższym ostrzale artyleryjskim przyszedł czas na piechotę. Plutony minęły linię dział i rozwinęły się na wprost szańca. Amunicji było dużo, więc ognia nie żałowaliśmy. Salwy plutonów, ataki na bagnety, tak wyglądało przedpole szańca przez kilkanaście minut. W końcu wróg zajął pozycję za fosą, a my przygotowaliśmy się do generalnego szturmu. Podciągnięto artylerię, która kilkoma salwami zaznaczyła swoją przewagę nad broniącym się już resztkami sił przeciwnikiem i biegiem na wały szańca. Szturm nie był od razu pomyślny. Część oddziałów została początkowo odparta, ale ponowienie ataku przyniosło sukces, który szybko rozwinęła kawaleria, wdzierając się razem z piechotą na stromizny umocnień. Przyszedł czas na plądrowanie zdobytego obozu wroga. Nam przypadła chyba najlepsza część łupu, bo natrafiliśmy na kocioł pełen gorącego żurku. Pycha!!! Jeszcze raz dziękujemy Wileńskiemu Muszkieterskiemu Pułkowi za uraczenie nas tą strawą.

Warto jeszcze dodać, że cały dzień padał deszcz.

Po bitwie czas wolny spędziliśmy na zwiedzaniu straganów i regeneracji nadwątlonych, tym jakże intensywnym dniem, sił. Przyszedł też czas pożegnań, bo cześć z nas musiała szybko meldować się w domach.

W niedzielę odbyły się zawody strzeleckie, na których nasz kolega Jarek Kamiński zajął trzecie miejsce. Gratulacje!!! 

Zapraszamy do obejrzenia zdjęć z Jonkowa w naszej Galerii www.pulk4piechoty.dywizjaxw.pl/gallery2/main.php

Vivat Wojsko Polskie

Vivat Pułk 4

Piotr Sawiak

Winter march on February 2009

  On February 2009 there was held rreenactment march along the woods and agricultural area of Kurpie Region. Around 15 soldiers of 4th regiment of Foot, one of Vistula Legion gathered od Fridays evening to start erly in the morning through the snows od Kurpie. There was several exercising on march, finding monument of independant war of 1920 with honour ceremony, several quarters of rest on farm and finnally at the most far point setting the fireplace for warm meal. Reccolections of the snows form goth the regimental history and the history of the Polish Army of Duchy of Warsaw. Retreat with visiting the collection of the historical wooden bildings museum. We marched along and acrooss, crossing and supporting each other, discussing comming events and development of regiment. Finally more than 18 kilometers were done.

We kindly invite you to look photo story in our gallery.
Vive l`Empereur! Vive la Pologne!
 

Title - news 2

(PL)

W lutym 2010 roku Pułk 4ty Piechoty XW planuje odbyć marsz po kurpiowskich kniejach i bezdrożach. Wystąpimy w pełnym umundurowaniu i rynsztunku, a obrana trasa liczyć będzie ok. 30 km. Zadanie dla wytrwałych:)

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