Zygmunt Padlewski
Encyclopedia
Zygmunt Padlewski was a Polish insurgent who participated in the January Uprising
.
(now Ukraine
) on January 1, 1836. His father, Władysław, took part in the November Uprising
. His parents assured that he had a good education and, as a youth, he learned to speak Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, and French. His formal education consisted of military training at the Corps of Cadets in Brest
on the Bug River
and at the Konstantynowskim Corps of Cadets in St. Petersburg, Russia. In St. Petersburg he was a member of the underground Polish officer organization, led by general Zygmunt Sierakowski. He was quickly promoted to lieutenant after service with the horse guards at Novgorod.
, Poland, and further helped plan the uprising set for spring of 1863. He also pushed for the abolition of serfdom
.
was set into motion, Padlewski was appointed general and took command of Polish insurgents in Warsaw and in the Płock Governorate
. He was a member of the Provisional National Government (Tymczasowy Rząd Narodowy). He led his troops into the Puszczy Zagajnica forest of Kurpie
where they skirmished with czarist forces near Myszyniec
(9 March) and Drążdżewo
(12 March). It is in this area, near Radzanów, the commander of the insurgents hid Zygmunt Padlewski with his division after Padlewski’s defeat at Myszyniec. Russian czarist troops, on 21 March, then moved into the area, and a battle near Radzanów was fought which resulted in Padlewski losing the conflict with 50 of his insurgents killed in action or drowned while escaping.
sentry at the small village of Bożymin and ordered to show his passport. Unfortunately, he showed the sentry an incorrect document, which resulted in the sentry searching his carriage and finding incriminating documents, as well as his insurgent uniform.
He was promptly arrested and placed in jail in Płock. There, Padlewski, who was now only 28 years old, was court marshaled by Russian authorities and sentenced to death by firing squad. On May 15, 1863, he was transported through the streets of Płock to the execution place. The Polish population who lined the street watched and “women threw bouquets of flowers from the windows, so that the whole road was strewn with roses and violets.”
January Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
.
Early years
Padlewski was born in a mansion in Czerniawka Mała, Russian-partitioned PolandRussian partition
The Russian partition was the former territories of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that were acquired by the Russian Empire in the late-18th-century Partitions of Poland.-Terminology:...
(now Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
) on January 1, 1836. His father, Władysław, took part in the November Uprising
November Uprising
The November Uprising , Polish–Russian War 1830–31 also known as the Cadet Revolution, was an armed rebellion in the heartland of partitioned Poland against the Russian Empire. The uprising began on 29 November 1830 in Warsaw when the young Polish officers from the local Army of the Congress...
. His parents assured that he had a good education and, as a youth, he learned to speak Polish, Ukrainian, Russian, and French. His formal education consisted of military training at the Corps of Cadets in Brest
Brest, Belarus
Brest , formerly also Brest-on-the-Bug and Brest-Litovsk , is a city in Belarus at the border with Poland opposite the city of Terespol, where the Bug River and Mukhavets rivers meet...
on the Bug River
Bug River
The Bug River is a left tributary of the Narew river flows from central Ukraine to the west, passing along the Ukraine-Polish and Polish-Belarusian border and into Poland, where it empties into the Narew river near Serock. The part between the lake and the Vistula River is sometimes referred to as...
and at the Konstantynowskim Corps of Cadets in St. Petersburg, Russia. In St. Petersburg he was a member of the underground Polish officer organization, led by general Zygmunt Sierakowski. He was quickly promoted to lieutenant after service with the horse guards at Novgorod.
Planning an insurgency
In 1861 he emigrated to France to train anti-czarist Polish exiles. At the Paris Society of Polish Youth (Towarzystwa Młodzieży Polskiej) and at the Polish Military School (Polskiej Szkoły Wojskowej) he served as a military instructor and taught mathematics, strategy, tactics, artillery, and military history. He was a member of the radical democratic "red" left, and member of the Central National Committee. He was involved in negotiations with Russian revolutionaries, and a major planner of the future uprising. In 1862 he returned to WarsawWarsaw
Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
, Poland, and further helped plan the uprising set for spring of 1863. He also pushed for the abolition of serfdom
Serfdom
Serfdom is the status of peasants under feudalism, specifically relating to Manorialism. It was a condition of bondage or modified slavery which developed primarily during the High Middle Ages in Europe and lasted to the mid-19th century...
.
The January Uprising
When the January UprisingJanuary Uprising
The January Uprising was an uprising in the former Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth against the Russian Empire...
was set into motion, Padlewski was appointed general and took command of Polish insurgents in Warsaw and in the Płock Governorate
Płock Governorate
Płock Governorate was an administrative unit of the Congress Poland.It was created in 1837 from the Płock Voivodship, and had the same borders and capital as the voivodship...
. He was a member of the Provisional National Government (Tymczasowy Rząd Narodowy). He led his troops into the Puszczy Zagajnica forest of Kurpie
Kurpie
Kurpie is one of a number of ethnic regions in Poland, noted for its unique traditional customs, such as its own types of traditional costume, traditional dance, and distinctive type of architecture and livelihoods...
where they skirmished with czarist forces near Myszyniec
Myszyniec
Myszyniec is a town in Ostrołęka County, Masovian Voivodeship, Poland, with 3,032 inhabitants ....
(9 March) and Drążdżewo
Drazdzewo
Drążdżewo is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Krasnosielc, within Maków County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It lies approximately north-west of Krasnosielc, north of Maków Mazowiecki, and north of Warsaw.-References:...
(12 March). It is in this area, near Radzanów, the commander of the insurgents hid Zygmunt Padlewski with his division after Padlewski’s defeat at Myszyniec. Russian czarist troops, on 21 March, then moved into the area, and a battle near Radzanów was fought which resulted in Padlewski losing the conflict with 50 of his insurgents killed in action or drowned while escaping.
Capture and execution
Padlewski was ordered to return to Warsaw after this defeat, and, while in route, on 21 April, he was stopped by a czarist CossackCossack
Cossacks are a group of predominantly East Slavic people who originally were members of democratic, semi-military communities in what is today Ukraine and Southern Russia inhabiting sparsely populated areas and islands in the lower Dnieper and Don basins and who played an important role in the...
sentry at the small village of Bożymin and ordered to show his passport. Unfortunately, he showed the sentry an incorrect document, which resulted in the sentry searching his carriage and finding incriminating documents, as well as his insurgent uniform.
He was promptly arrested and placed in jail in Płock. There, Padlewski, who was now only 28 years old, was court marshaled by Russian authorities and sentenced to death by firing squad. On May 15, 1863, he was transported through the streets of Płock to the execution place. The Polish population who lined the street watched and “women threw bouquets of flowers from the windows, so that the whole road was strewn with roses and violets.”