13th Regiment of Wilno Uhlans
Encyclopedia
The 13th Regiment of Wilno Uhlans was a unit of the Polish army between World War I
and World War II
.
at the end of Kenneth Fearing's "Dirge". Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Belarussians, and even Anarchists
competed for the sovereignity over the area.
The Thirteenth Division was formed out of the cavalry units of the Lithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence
on December 27, 1918, on the estate of a Mr. Pośpieszek. On December 28, the division was moved to the garrison at Vilnius
and was stationed in the barracks
in the Antokol district. Władysław Dąbrowski, whose nom-de-guerre was "Dąb" or "Oak", was the first commander of the division. The division became the first in newly-independent Poland, it was originally called the 1st Division of the Uhlan
s of Vilnius. The division officially became part of the Polish Armed Forces
in June 1919, receiving its pre-World War II name and number.
The division was nationally famous because of the so-called "zagończycy " or "brave raiders"; its first commander, Major Władysław Dąbrowski, was a "zagonczyk". In the official documents of the Polish Armed Forces
, the phrase "of Vilnius" or "Wilenskich" was omitted; the official name was the 13th Division. In spite of this, the officers, soldiers and public persisted in calling it the 'Thirteenth Vilnius'.
, General Edward Rydz-Śmigły handed over the division's new banner to a small delegation from a combat area. After a failed attempt at seizing territory in the Ukraine
beyond Kiev
, many soldiers from the disbanded Tatar Ulhans Division, (named after Colonel Mustafa Achmatowicz, a renowned eighteenth-century Lithuanian
Tatar cavalryman), joined the "Vilinius Division".
formed in 1792 and stationed in Janow
, the same place where over century later, the 13th regiment fought its very first battle. The 18th century unit was under command of the legendary Colonel Aleksander Mustafa Ulan.
and was stationed for a brief period in Głębokie, at present Hlybokaye
in Belarus
. The division was moved to Nowa Wilejka near Vilnius in 1922, where it stayed until the Polish Defensive War in 1939.
By the order of the Polish Minister of Defence, issued on June 9, 1936, a troop within the division was re-named the 1st Tatar Squadron, to which all new recruits of Tatar ethnicity were directed. Captain Michał Bohdanowicz was the original commander. The unit was led for a short time by Captain Bazyli Marcisz and LTC Jan Tarnowski. Captain Aleksander Jeljaszewicz
became its final pre-war commander from November 25, 1938. During the Division's Holiday on July 25, 1937, the Battalion received buńczuk which was made according to the old Tatar ways and funded by the entire Tatar community of Poland. During the symbolic ceremony of the burial of the heart of Marshal Józef Piłsudski in the Rasos cemetery
in Vilnius, a detail from the 1st Tatar Battalion fired a three-volley salute.
. On September 9 and 10, the brigade lost many men and much equipment while retreating across the Vistula
river near Maciejowice
. The brigade fought in Lubelszczyzna near the city of Lublin
, before being crushed near Tomaszow Lubelski
.
The largest remnant of the division became part of the Independent Operational Group Polesie
under the command of Major General
Franciszek Kleeberg
.
were recreated in 1944 in the Vilnius District of the Home Army as a mounted infantry
division in Rudnicka Forest, a mounted infantry battalion attached to the 3rd Home Army Vilnius Brigade, a mounted infantry platoon attached to the 4th Home Army Brigade and a mounted infantry platoon operating within Kampinos Forest
.
units and were in the process of becoming fully mechanized divisions. However, progress was slow, only two fully mechanized units fought in the Polish Defensive War in 1939 besides armored units, heavy artillery units, AA artillery units, Polish Air Force's ground units, and most of the tabors. Uniforms were adorned with miniature banners, pink in colour, with a slim cornflower-coloured stripe in the middle. Each trooper's rogatywka
(hat) was adorned with a pink stripe running around the crown. The 1st Tatar Squadron also wore on the small banners, a golden Crescent Moon and star. The division's holiday was July 25 (in memory of the Battle of Janow
in 1920).
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Origins
The ancestral units to the regiment were created mainly as means of defending the Polish interest and the interest of the ethnic Poles living in KresyKresy
The Polish term Kresy refers to a land considered by Poles as historical eastern provinces of their country. Today, it makes western Ukraine, western Belarus, as well as eastern Lithuania, with such major cities, as Lviv, Vilnius, and Hrodna. This territory belonged to the Polish-Lithuanian...
at the end of Kenneth Fearing's "Dirge". Russians, Poles, Ukrainians, Lithuanians, Belarussians, and even Anarchists
Nestor Makhno
Nestor Ivanovych Makhno or simply Daddy Makhno was a Ukrainian anarcho-communist guerrilla leader turned army commander who led an independent anarchist army in Ukraine during the Russian Civil War....
competed for the sovereignity over the area.
The Thirteenth Division was formed out of the cavalry units of the Lithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence
Lithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence
Lithuanian and Belarusian Self-Defence was a voluntary military formation composed primarily of Poles that was created in the aftermath of First World War during the formation of Second Polish Republic in the Kresy Polish-Russian borderlands....
on December 27, 1918, on the estate of a Mr. Pośpieszek. On December 28, the division was moved to the garrison at Vilnius
Vilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
and was stationed in the barracks
Barracks
Barracks are specialised buildings for permanent military accommodation; the word may apply to separate housing blocks or to complete complexes. Their main object is to separate soldiers from the civilian population and reinforce discipline, training and esprit de corps. They were sometimes called...
in the Antokol district. Władysław Dąbrowski, whose nom-de-guerre was "Dąb" or "Oak", was the first commander of the division. The division became the first in newly-independent Poland, it was originally called the 1st Division of the Uhlan
Uhlan
Uhlans were Polish light cavalry armed with lances, sabres and pistols. The title was later used by lancer regiments in the Russian, Prussian, and Austrian armies....
s of Vilnius. The division officially became part of the Polish Armed Forces
Polish Armed Forces
Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej are the national defense forces of Poland...
in June 1919, receiving its pre-World War II name and number.
The division was nationally famous because of the so-called "zagończycy " or "brave raiders"; its first commander, Major Władysław Dąbrowski, was a "zagonczyk". In the official documents of the Polish Armed Forces
Polish Armed Forces
Siły Zbrojne Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej are the national defense forces of Poland...
, the phrase "of Vilnius" or "Wilenskich" was omitted; the official name was the 13th Division. In spite of this, the officers, soldiers and public persisted in calling it the 'Thirteenth Vilnius'.
Polish Soviet War 1919–1920
The Division participated in the Polish–Soviet War of 1919–1920, and became known for many flanking maneuvers and raids behind Soviet lines. On June 29, 1919, in VilniusVilnius
Vilnius is the capital of Lithuania, and its largest city, with a population of 560,190 as of 2010. It is the seat of the Vilnius city municipality and of the Vilnius district municipality. It is also the capital of Vilnius County...
, General Edward Rydz-Śmigły handed over the division's new banner to a small delegation from a combat area. After a failed attempt at seizing territory in the 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...
beyond Kiev
Kiev
Kiev or Kyiv is the capital and the largest city of Ukraine, located in the north central part of the country on the Dnieper River. The population as of the 2001 census was 2,611,300. However, higher numbers have been cited in the press....
, many soldiers from the disbanded Tatar Ulhans Division, (named after Colonel Mustafa Achmatowicz, a renowned eighteenth-century Lithuanian
Grand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
Tatar cavalryman), joined the "Vilinius Division".
Lipka Tatar Tradition
The regiment had been following the tradition of the 7th Tatar Regiment of the Grand Duchy of LithuaniaGrand Duchy of Lithuania
The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a European state from the 12th /13th century until 1569 and then as a constituent part of Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until 1791 when Constitution of May 3, 1791 abolished it in favor of unitary state. It was founded by the Lithuanians, one of the polytheistic...
formed in 1792 and stationed in Janow
Ivanava
Ivanava is a city in the Brest Province of Belarus, an administrative center of the Ivanava district.First mentioned in 14th century, initially it was a village named Porkhovo. In 1423 it was granted by the king Władysław Jagiełło to the cathedral in Lutsk. Renamed to Janów, in 1465 it was granted...
, the same place where over century later, the 13th regiment fought its very first battle. The 18th century unit was under command of the legendary Colonel Aleksander Mustafa Ulan.
The interwar period: 1921–1939
In late 1921, the division patrolled the Polish border with LithuaniaLithuania
Lithuania , officially the Republic of Lithuania is a country in Northern Europe, the biggest of the three Baltic states. It is situated along the southeastern shore of the Baltic Sea, whereby to the west lie Sweden and Denmark...
and was stationed for a brief period in Głębokie, at present Hlybokaye
Hlybokaye
Hlybokaye is a town in Vitebsk Oblast, Belarus, the capital of the Hlybokaye Raion . The first records about the settlement are dated 1514....
in Belarus
Belarus
Belarus , officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe, bordered clockwise by Russia to the northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Its capital is Minsk; other major cities include Brest, Grodno , Gomel ,...
. The division was moved to Nowa Wilejka near Vilnius in 1922, where it stayed until the Polish Defensive War in 1939.
By the order of the Polish Minister of Defence, issued on June 9, 1936, a troop within the division was re-named the 1st Tatar Squadron, to which all new recruits of Tatar ethnicity were directed. Captain Michał Bohdanowicz was the original commander. The unit was led for a short time by Captain Bazyli Marcisz and LTC Jan Tarnowski. Captain Aleksander Jeljaszewicz
Aleksander Jeljaszewicz
Aleksander Jeljaszewicz "Sasza," most likely due to the family tradition of service in the Russian military, – an ethnic—Tatar Pole then known as "Pole of Tatar nationality,", Major of the Polish Army: the commander of the last Tatar/Islamic unit in the Polish military.-Early life:Son...
became its final pre-war commander from November 25, 1938. During the Division's Holiday on July 25, 1937, the Battalion received buńczuk which was made according to the old Tatar ways and funded by the entire Tatar community of Poland. During the symbolic ceremony of the burial of the heart of Marshal Józef Piłsudski in the Rasos cemetery
Rasos Cemetery
Rasos Cemetery is the oldest and most famous cemetery in the city of Vilnius, Lithuania. It is named after the Rasos district where it is located. It is separated into two parts, the old and the new cemeteries, by a narrow Sukilėliai Street. The total area is 10.8 ha...
in Vilnius, a detail from the 1st Tatar Battalion fired a three-volley salute.
Polish Defensive War
In 1939, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Józef Szostak, the 13th Regiment of Wilno Uhlans fought as a part of the Vilnius Cavalry Brigade under the command of Colone] Konstanty Drucki-Lubecki. Between September 2 and 5, the brigade took part in heavy fighting near Piotrków TrybunalskiPiotrków Trybunalski
Piotrków Trybunalski is a city in central Poland with 80,738 inhabitants . It is situated in the Łódź Voivodeship , and previously was the capital of Piotrków Voivodeship...
. On September 9 and 10, the brigade lost many men and much equipment while retreating across the Vistula
Vistula
The Vistula is the longest and the most important river in Poland, at 1,047 km in length. The watershed area of the Vistula is , of which lies within Poland ....
river near Maciejowice
Maciejowice
Maciejowice is a village in Garwolin County, Masovian Voivodeship, in east-central Poland. It is the seat of the gmina called Gmina Maciejowice. It lies approximately south of Garwolin and south-east of Warsaw....
. The brigade fought in Lubelszczyzna near the city of Lublin
Lublin
Lublin is the ninth largest city in Poland. It is the capital of Lublin Voivodeship with a population of 350,392 . Lublin is also the largest Polish city east of the Vistula river...
, before being crushed near Tomaszow Lubelski
Tomaszów Lubelski
Tomaszów Lubelski is a town in south-eastern Poland with 20,261 inhabitants . Situated in the Lublin Voivodeship , previously in Zamość Voivodeship . It is the capital of Tomaszów Lubelski County.-History:...
.
The largest remnant of the division became part of the Independent Operational Group Polesie
Independent Operational Group Polesie
Independent Operational Group Polesie was one of the Polish Army Corps that defended Poland during the Invasion of Poland in 1939. It was created on 11 September 1939 and was commanded by general Franciszek Kleeberg...
under the command of Major General
Major General
Major general or major-general is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. A major general is a high-ranking officer, normally subordinate to the rank of lieutenant general and senior to the ranks of brigadier and brigadier general...
Franciszek Kleeberg
Franciszek Kleeberg
Franciszek Kleeberg was a Polish general. He served in the Austro-Hungarian Army before joining the Polish Legions in World War I and later the Polish Army. During the German Invasion of Poland he commanded Independent Operational Group Polesie...
.
As a part of the Home Army
Subdivisions of the 13th Division of the Vilnius Uhlans AKArmia Krajowa
The Armia Krajowa , or Home Army, was the dominant Polish resistance movement in World War II German-occupied Poland. It was formed in February 1942 from the Związek Walki Zbrojnej . Over the next two years, it absorbed most other Polish underground forces...
were recreated in 1944 in the Vilnius District of the Home Army as a mounted infantry
Mounted infantry
Mounted infantry were soldiers who rode horses instead of marching, but actually fought on foot . The original dragoons were essentially mounted infantry...
division in Rudnicka Forest, a mounted infantry battalion attached to the 3rd Home Army Vilnius Brigade, a mounted infantry platoon attached to the 4th Home Army Brigade and a mounted infantry platoon operating within Kampinos Forest
Kampinos Forest
Kampinos Forest is a large forest complex located to the west of Warsaw in Poland. It covers a large part of the ancient valley of Vistula, between Vistula and Bzura rivers. Once a gigantic forest covering 670 km² of central Poland, it currently covers roughly 240 km².Most of the...
.
Banners and markings of the 13th Division of Ulhans of Vilnius
The division's lances initially bore pennons, but after 1936 these were only issued by personal request, when all cavalry units were transformed into mounted infantryDragoon
The word dragoon originally meant mounted infantry, who were trained in horse riding as well as infantry fighting skills. However, usage altered over time and during the 18th century, dragoons evolved into conventional light cavalry units and personnel...
units and were in the process of becoming fully mechanized divisions. However, progress was slow, only two fully mechanized units fought in the Polish Defensive War in 1939 besides armored units, heavy artillery units, AA artillery units, Polish Air Force's ground units, and most of the tabors. Uniforms were adorned with miniature banners, pink in colour, with a slim cornflower-coloured stripe in the middle. Each trooper's rogatywka
Rogatywka
Rogatywka is the Polish generic name for an asymmetrical, peaked, four-pointed cap used by various Polish military formations throughout the ages. It is a distant relative of its 18th century predecessor, konfederatka , although similar caps has been used by light cavalry since 14th century...
(hat) was adorned with a pink stripe running around the crown. The 1st Tatar Squadron also wore on the small banners, a golden Crescent Moon and star. The division's holiday was July 25 (in memory of the Battle of Janow
Ivanava
Ivanava is a city in the Brest Province of Belarus, an administrative center of the Ivanava district.First mentioned in 14th century, initially it was a village named Porkhovo. In 1423 it was granted by the king Władysław Jagiełło to the cathedral in Lutsk. Renamed to Janów, in 1465 it was granted...
in 1920).
The Uhlans in command
- Major Władysław Dąbrowski (ur. 1891) (1918–1920)
- Colonel Eugeniusz Ślaski (1920)
- Colonel Mścisław Butkiewicz (1920–1922)
- Honorary ColonelTitle of honorAn honorary title or title of honor is a title bestowed upon individuals or organizations as an award in recognition of their merits.Sometimes the title bears the same or nearly the same name as a title of authority, but the person bestowed does not have to carry any duties, possibly except for...
Terencjusz O'Brien (1922) - Colonel Tomasz Brzozowski (1922–1925)
- Colonel Aleksander Kunicki (1925–1927)
- Colonel (finished senior officers’ school) Adam Korytowski (XI 1927 - III 1930)
- Lieutenant Colonel (finished senior officers’ school) Czesław Chmielewski (1930–1937)
- Colonel Kazimierz Żelisławski (1937–1939)
- Lieutenant Colonel Józef Szostak (finished senior officers’ school) (1939)
A selection of Uhlan Officers
- Lieutenant Ignacy Cieplak
- Lieutenant Jerzy Cydzik
Other non-Christian Polish Cavalry units
- In Polish only Light Cavalry Old Law Regiment, Hasidic
- Colonel Berek JoselewiczBerek JoselewiczBerek Joselewicz was a Jewish-Polish merchant and a colonel of the Polish Army during the Kościuszko Uprising. Joselewicz commanded the first Jewish military formation in modern history.-Life:...