Polish–Russian War of 1792

For other Polish–Russian conflicts see Polish–Russian War

Polish–Russian War of 1792
Part of Polish–Russian Wars
Polish–Russian War of 1792
Date 1792 Location Centre and eastern parts of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Result Second Partition of Poland
Belligerents
Russian Empire and Targowica Confederates	Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
Commanders and leaders
Mikhail Krechetnikov Mikhail Kakhovsky	King Stanisław August Poniatowski Prince Józef Poniatowski Tadeusz Kościuszko Michał Wielhorski Stanisław Mokronowski Jan Henryk Dąbrowski Duke Louis of Württemberg (until 1 June 1792) Józef Judycki
Strength
97,700 men and numerous artillery	51,000 infantry 19,000 cavalry 200 guns
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown

The Polish–Russian War of 1792 or War in Defence of the Constitution was fought between the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth on one side, and the Targowica Confederation (conservative nobility of the Commonwealth opposed to the new Constitution of May 3, 1791) and the Russian Empire under Catherine the Great on the other.

On May 18, 1792, without a declaration of war, an army of over 97,000 Russian troops crossed the border into Poland. Stanisław August Poniatowski, King of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, had in theory at his disposal a 48,000 strong Crown army and the Lithuanian army more than half that size to confront them.

The forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, loyal to the King and the Great Sejm (Sejm Wielki), defended Poland and its May 3rd Constitution against primarily the army of the Russian Empire. The war ended when the King changed his mind about opposing the Russians and joined the pro-Russian Targowica Confederation (which had been demanded by the Empire all along, as a condition for stopping the warfare).

War

Poland's ally, the Kingdom of Prussia, broke its alliance with Poland and the Prussian commander of the army of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Duke Louis of Württemberg, who was also a Polish general, betrayed the Polish–Lithuanian cause by refusing to fight the Russians. The Polish Crown army, led by the King's nephew, Prince Józef Poniatowski, who had about 24,000 men for the entire southeastern war theater, was left to fight a nearly four times larger enemy army under General Mikhail Kakhovsky. The Polish forces were initially concentrated in the distant southeast corner of the country separately in three regions of the expected front, under Tadeusz Kościuszko, Michał Wielhorski and Poniatowski himself.

The Poles, led by Poniatowski, defeated one of the Russian formations at the Battle of Zieleńce on June 18. The victory was celebrated by the King, who sent the new Virtuti Militari medals for the campaign leaders and soldiers, as "the first since John III Sobieski". Then the army retreated to the Bug River, where Kościuszko's units fought the Battle of Dubienka to a draw. The Russian forces, however, kept advancing. The Polish army, under the command of Józef Poniatowski, was performing controlled retreat, yielding to the more powerful enemy as necessary to avoid annihilation, according to the Prince's judgement. It was not defeated, and a decisive battle or battles at more favorable locations closer to Warsaw were expected.

In the end the Polish loyalist cause was lost because King Stanisław August Poniatowski decided to join with the Targowica Confederates (July 22-23), which effectively forced the despondent Prince Poniatowski to terminate military resistance. He considered, but ultimately decided not to continue fighting against his uncle's will. In process Poniatowski even ordered bringing the King to the army camp by force if necessary, as was postulated by the more radical patriotic faction (the order was rescinded at the last moment before the departure of the group charged with capturing the King). The last military confrontation of the war was fought on July 26 at Markuszów in Lublin province, where an enemy attack was repelled by Polish cavalry led by Poniatowski.

After the Battle of Zieleńce, by Wojciech Kossak

The failure of the war precipitated the Second Partition of Poland (January 21, 1793), which after the Grodno Sejm reduced Poland's population to only one-third of what it was before the partitions began in 1772. The rump state was garrisoned by foreign troops and its independence was strongly curtailed.

Aftermath

The last bid to save Poland's independence came with the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794. The uprising failed and resulted in the Third Partition in 1795, in which Poland lost all its remaining territories and ceased to exist as a state.

See also

• Catherine the Great