Battle of Ostrołęka (1831)

Battle of Ostrołęka
Part of Polish–Russian War 1830–1831
"Battle of Ostrołęka of 1831", an 1838 painting by Karol Malankiewicz
Date 26 May 1831 Location Ostrołęka, Poland Result Russian victory
Belligerents
Poland Congress Poland	Imperial Russia
Commanders and leaders
Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki Józef Bem Tomasz Łubieński Władysław Stanisław Zamoyski Ludwik Bogusławski Ignacy Prądzyński Henryk Dembinski Ambroży Mikołaj Skarżyński Maciej Rybiński Henryk Ignacy Kamieński† Ludwik Michał Pac Jerzy Langermann Karol Turno	Hans Karl von Diebitsch Fyodor Berg Georg von Nostitz Karl Wilhelm von Toll Peter von der Pahlen Ivan Shakhovskoy
Strength
48,467, 138 cannons	53,262, 245 cannons
Casualties and losses
6,400 or 8,000 dead	5,700

The Battle of Ostrołęka of 26 May 1831 was one of the largest engagements of Poland's November Uprising. Throughout the day, Polish forces under Jan Skrzynecki fought for the control over the town of Ostrołęka against the assaulting Russian forces of Hans Karl von Diebitsch. Although by the end of the day the town was still in Polish hands and the two sides suffered comparable losses, the battle is usually considered a Polish defeat because of the Russian army's almost unlimited strategic reinforcement capability. The Polish Army could not similarly replenish its casualties.

In the event, surviving Polish forces were saved by the particularly brave stand of its 4th Line Infantry Regiment, the "Czwartacy", who repelled several waves of enemy infantry and cavalry charges, holding the burning town during heavy fighting in close quarters. By late evening the Poles were again saved by a self-sacrificing charge of the 4th battery of mounted artillery led by Lt.Col. Józef Bem.

On the morning of 26 May, most of the Polish army was west of the Narew River except for General Tomasz Łubieński's 5th Infantry Division (part of the II Corps), and General Ludwik Bogusławski's 4th Regiment of Line Infantry, which were still east of Ostrołęka. Łubieński's orders from Ignacy Prądzyński was to "defend yourself through the day to come", despite facing Russian forces four times his size. The danger, according to the commanding officer of the Polish Cavalry Brigade, General Karol Turno, was in being trapped and pushed into the river as occurred in the Battle of Berezina. The Russian army made contact at 06:00 with the arrival of forces under General Georg von Nostitz, and the battle began at 09:00 when Fyodor Berg arrived, with the Poles offering strong resistance, forcing Nostitz to wait for the arrival of the rest of Field Marshal Diebitsch's forces, which included Generals Nabokov, Lopuchin, Manderstern and Shakhovskoy. By 10:00, Łubieński was forced back to Ostrołęka on the Narew, with some protection from Prądzyński's guns and veterans located on the sandy hills to the west. The Polish headquarters were moved to Kruki, further to the west, on the Omulew River, a tributary of the Narew

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