Battle of Kobyłka
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| Battle of Kobyłka | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Kościuszko Uprising | |||||||
 Schematic of the Battle of Kobyłka The history of the cavalry by M. Markov | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Russia |
 Poland–Lithuania | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
|
Ivan Fersen |
 Stanisław Mokronowski Jan Meyen Arnold Byszewski (POW) Col. Wolan (POW) | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| Up to 4,000[a] |
Formally under Meyen's command: Byszewski: 2,500 Wolan: 1,000 [b] | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 153 killed and wounded[2][c] |
450 dead and 846 captured acc. to Polish source[4] Almost all of Meyen's unit acc. to Russian source(incl. 1,073 prisoners of war, 9 cannons & 1 standard)[2] | ||||||
The Battle of Kobyłka[d] took place between the Russian Empire's armed forces under the leadership of Suvorov and Polish-Lithuanian insurgents under Stanisław Mokronowski north-east of Warsaw (at Kobyłka), on 26 October 1794. It was part of the Kościuszko Uprising and ended with the insurgents' defeat. Having set up camp near Kobyłka after the battle, Suvorov began preparing for the upcoming Battle of Praga.
When Suvorov received information from Stanisławów that the insurgent detachments were at Kobyłka and Okuniew, he immediately sent General Fersen's cavalry to Okuniew, and himself with 10,000 moved to Kobyłka.[3]
Polish forces of Mokronowski's column were under General Meyen's command, but Meyen left his detachment at the very beginning and go to Warsaw; the Poles remained under the command of General Byszewski, adjutant-general of the Polish king.[6]
Russian General Georgy Ivanovich Shevich [ru] forced the Polish column to retreat in two separate sub-columns, which both laid down their arms; one of them, Colonel Wolan's, followed the forest road (the right flank; it surrendered first), and the other, Byszewski's own, the great road to Warsaw. Particularly noteworthy on the Russian side was the saber strike from the dismounted light cavalry and carabineers; Suvorov later said to a French emigrant who had joined the Russian service: "If you were at Kobyłka, you would see things I have never seen either". Fersen, on the other hand, found no Poles in Okuniew, however, he sent to Suvorov 2 Cossack cavalry regiments in support, who took part in a flanking manoeuvre against Wolan. This battle is also notable for being won by the Russians almost exclusively by cavalry, with the exception of one jaeger battalion.[6][3][4]
In this battle, captured Polish officers asked Suvorov to feed them, as being in constant and hurried movement for several days, they were always hungry. Suvorov ordered to feed them as well as the captive soldiers with anything possible, which was performed by the Pereyaslav Horse-Jaeger Regiment, and the soldiers willingly shared with the prisoners of the meagre stock, which they had with them.[7]
