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| Battle of Raszyn | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of thePolish–Austrian War,War of the Fifth Coalition | |||||||||
 The Death of Cyprian Godebski at Raszyn 1855 painting byJanuary Suchodolski oil on canvas,National Museum in Warsaw | |||||||||
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Austrian Empire |  Duchy of Warsaw Kingdom of Saxony | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Archduke Ferdinand | Józef Poniatowski | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 26,000[1] to 29,790:[2] 24,500 infantry, 4,500 cavalry, 94 guns[3] | 12,000[2] to 14,200: 10,500 infantry, 3,500 cavalry, 44 guns[1][4] | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| 400–600[1][5] Polish estimate: 2,500 killed and wounded[6][7] | 1,400 (1,100 Poles, 300 Saxons)[8][1]
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The firstBattle of Raszyn was fought on 19 April 1809 between armies of theAustrian Empire underArchduke Ferdinand Karl Joseph of Austria-Este and theDuchy of Warsaw underJózef Antoni Poniatowski, as part of theWar of the Fifth Coalition in theNapoleonic Wars.[9] The battle was not decisive, but it did result in the Austrians obtaining their goal by capturing the Polish capitalWarsaw.
The battlefield's terrain is dominated by several villages and by the riverUtrata, which during the April thaw is usually unfordable. The only way to cross the river is at the ponds of Raszyn, Dawidy or Michalowice, which were all under Polish control.
After a preparatory cannonade starting at 14:00, the Austrian infantry attacked the Polish screening forces around 15:00.[9] The Poles gradually yielded terrain. Austrian attempts to outflank the Polish position near Jaworowo were unsuccessful. After the village of Falenty was captured at 16:00 Poniatowski launched a counterattack which evicted the Austrians from the town and re-established the Polish line.[9] Around 17:00 a combined attack was launched against Raszyn. Repulsed by the Saxon units, the Austrians called up reinforcements and took the town around 19:00 but were unable to progress beyond the last houses of the village. The Poles again counterattacked at 21:00 and drove the Austrians from Raszyn but were unable to recapture the causeway. Fighting progressed until 22:00 when the Poles evacuated the battlefield.
As a result, the Austrians captured Warsaw, and the first days after that Polish society perceived it as a new partition.[2] This allowed some sources to claim that the Austrians had won the battle.[1] Polish historiography does not agree with this statement, which claims that the strategic objectives of the Austrians were not fulfilled, which ultimately led to negative actionsthroughout the war.[10][11]
In the following weeksGreater Poland was defended by the Corps of GeneralHenryk Dąbrowski and thePolish cavalry seizedLwów. Finally, Poniatowski left only a small force near Warsaw to prevent the Austrians from leaving it and moved the rest of his forces southwards, which led to capturing the city of Kraków.
On 14 October 1809 theTreaty of Schönbrunn was signed betweenAustria andFrance. According to it, Austria lost approximately 50,000 square kilometres of land inhabited by over 1,900,000 people. The territories annexed by theDuchy of Warsaw included the lands ofZamość and Kraków as well as 50% of income of theWieliczka salt mines.
In the opinion of the Polish military historian, General Marian Kukiel, the Battle of Raszyn can be characterized as follows:
“The Battle of Raszyn on the Polish side is an example of pure defense; Poniatowski left the initiative to the enemy until the end, which is understandable considering the terrible ratio of forces and the size of the front. On the Austrian side, an energetic frontal attack on two tactical keys, Falenty and Raszyn, was combined in both cases with a maneuver on the flank of the appropriate group of our troops. However, there was no large-scale maneuver, although the advantage in numbers made it easier for the Austrians to bypass and surround our position. This is explained only by disregard of the enemy, who was considered before the battle as a kind of unruly and untrained militia.”
Afterwards, Poniatowski was presented with thegrand-aigle de laLégion d'honneur, a saber of honor, and a lancer'sshako.
The Battle of Raszyn is commemorated on theTomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw, with the inscription "RASZYN 19 IV 1809".
Media related toBattle of Raszyn at Wikimedia Commons| Preceded by Battle of Teugen-Hausen | Napoleonic Wars Battle of Raszyn (1809) | Succeeded by Battle of Abensberg |
