First Battle of Grodno (1920)
Encyclopedia
The First Battle of Grodno took place between July 19 and July 20, 1920, during the Polish-Bolshevik War. In the effect of a three-day-long struggle for the control of the city of Grodno (modern Hrodna
, Belarus), the town was captured by Russian forces, despite repeated counter-attacks by Polish infantry, tanks and armoured train
s.
. The Russian force was forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses.
Despite this initial success, the village of Stanislawów (at the north-eastern outskirts of the city) had to be abandoned soon afterwards, as the Russian 2nd and 3rd cavalry brigades gained entry to the city further west, near the suburb of Dziewiatówka. The eastern part of the town had to be abandoned and the Polish forces fought their way back to the centre, to the vicinity of the train station and the bridges across Neman River
. The approaching Russians however were not able to capture the bridges as they were blown up by Polish engineers, already under enemy fire. After the successful retreat to the south-western bank of the river, only the 3rd tank platoon of 2nd company and some isolated Polish infantry forces were left in the city.
The company successfully sortied towards the village of Grandzicze north of Grodno, but returned to the cemetery it had been defending since noon. As the platoon did not have communication with other units, it was not informed of the general retreat across the river. In the evening Russian artillery came into range and started shelling the Polish position from the distance. Most of the town was already in Russian hands and around 18:00 the Cossacks of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade assaulted the isolated Polish position from the back, through the narrow streets of downtown Grodno. Realising he had been cut-out from friendly forces, 2nd Lt. Jeżewski ordered his forces to abandon the cemetery and break through towards the road bridge across the Neman. Despite heavy enemy fire, the tank platoon was still operational and did not loose any tanks, though only one was still in fighting condition. Two were down due to mechanical failures and had to be towed by other machines, two additional tanks were damaged, but with no loss of life. The tank unit was accompanied by 9 members of tank crews separated from other units and 25 soldiers of a sentry battalion who got separated from their commanding officer. The column started moving slowly towards friendly positions, with Russians trying to assault it from the sides in the narrow streets of the city centre.
To help with the break-through, the 1st platoon, 1st company under Lt. Glowacki was ordered to cross the bridge once again and head towards the city centre. It did not find the isolated Polish unit and retreated back across the river. Envoys were also dispatched on foot to look for the lost detachment and eventually found the 3rd tank platoon. After 2 hours of constant fights, the unit reached the last intact bridge across the Neman, at that time already set on fire. Only two tanks managed to cross the burning bridge, the rest had to be abandoned.
during the Battle of Warsaw
in mid-August.
In his memoir, Hayk Bzhishkyan recalled that the fights for Grodno cost him "500 killed and wounded, 400 horses and seven days of priceless time". Polish losses remain unknown.
Hrodna
Grodno or Hrodna , is a city in Belarus. It is located on the Neman River , close to the borders of Poland and Lithuania . It has 327,540 inhabitants...
, Belarus), the town was captured by Russian forces, despite repeated counter-attacks by Polish infantry, tanks and armoured train
Armoured train
An armoured train is a train protected with armour. They are usually equipped with railroad cars armed with artillery and machine guns. They were mostly used during the late 19th and early 20th century, when they offered an innovative way to quickly move large amounts of firepower...
s.
Opposing forces
The Polish forces during the battle included the 1st tank battalion of the 1st Tank Regiment (two companies, 43 FT-17 tanks in total), as well as an improvised infantry unit of second-echelon troops and students of a local NCO school under Gen. Stefan Mokrzecki and elements of 13th Uhlans Regiment. Although the town had been fortified by Russians in the 19th century, the forts were in disrepair and did not provide much advantage to the defenders. The Russian forces assaulting the city were composed of Hayk Bzhishkyan's 3rd Cavalry Corps, including the entire 10th and 15th Cavalry Divisions, as well as 1st, 2nd and 3rd Kuban Cavalry Brigades.July 19
The first assault in the early morning of July 19 broke through the Polish infantry after 8 hours of heavy fighting. Gen. Mokrzecki, having committed all his infantry reserves to the fights, ordered the 2nd tank platoon under 2nd Lt. Bohdan Jeżewski to counter-attack towards the village of Grandzicze, directly to the north of the town. The tanks drove through the city's streets and pushed the enemy cavalry out. After that the Polish tanks assumed defensive positions in a cemetery located right outside city limits. Later that day a second wave of enemy forces arrived, having routed two reserve squadrons of Polish cavalry operating to the east of Grodno. However, when the enemy 10th Cavalry Division charged towards the rail road circling the town from the east, they were fired upon by tanks of the 1st company, still loaded on flatcars and operating as an improvised armoured trainArmoured train
An armoured train is a train protected with armour. They are usually equipped with railroad cars armed with artillery and machine guns. They were mostly used during the late 19th and early 20th century, when they offered an innovative way to quickly move large amounts of firepower...
. The Russian force was forced to retreat after suffering heavy losses.
Despite this initial success, the village of Stanislawów (at the north-eastern outskirts of the city) had to be abandoned soon afterwards, as the Russian 2nd and 3rd cavalry brigades gained entry to the city further west, near the suburb of Dziewiatówka. The eastern part of the town had to be abandoned and the Polish forces fought their way back to the centre, to the vicinity of the train station and the bridges across Neman River
Neman River
Neman or Niemen or Nemunas, is a major Eastern European river rising in Belarus and flowing through Lithuania before draining into the Curonian Lagoon and then into the Baltic Sea at Klaipėda. It is the northern border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad Oblast in its lower reaches...
. The approaching Russians however were not able to capture the bridges as they were blown up by Polish engineers, already under enemy fire. After the successful retreat to the south-western bank of the river, only the 3rd tank platoon of 2nd company and some isolated Polish infantry forces were left in the city.
The company successfully sortied towards the village of Grandzicze north of Grodno, but returned to the cemetery it had been defending since noon. As the platoon did not have communication with other units, it was not informed of the general retreat across the river. In the evening Russian artillery came into range and started shelling the Polish position from the distance. Most of the town was already in Russian hands and around 18:00 the Cossacks of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade assaulted the isolated Polish position from the back, through the narrow streets of downtown Grodno. Realising he had been cut-out from friendly forces, 2nd Lt. Jeżewski ordered his forces to abandon the cemetery and break through towards the road bridge across the Neman. Despite heavy enemy fire, the tank platoon was still operational and did not loose any tanks, though only one was still in fighting condition. Two were down due to mechanical failures and had to be towed by other machines, two additional tanks were damaged, but with no loss of life. The tank unit was accompanied by 9 members of tank crews separated from other units and 25 soldiers of a sentry battalion who got separated from their commanding officer. The column started moving slowly towards friendly positions, with Russians trying to assault it from the sides in the narrow streets of the city centre.
To help with the break-through, the 1st platoon, 1st company under Lt. Glowacki was ordered to cross the bridge once again and head towards the city centre. It did not find the isolated Polish unit and retreated back across the river. Envoys were also dispatched on foot to look for the lost detachment and eventually found the 3rd tank platoon. After 2 hours of constant fights, the unit reached the last intact bridge across the Neman, at that time already set on fire. Only two tanks managed to cross the burning bridge, the rest had to be abandoned.
July 20
Despite loosing the bridges, the Russian forces crossed the river overnight in several locations to the north of Grodno. To reinforce the defence of the south-western bank of Neman the XVIII Infantry Brigade (part of 9th Infantry Division) under Col. Aleksander Narbutt-Łuczyński was sent to the battlefield. It was to attack north, along the western bank of the river, and eliminate the Russian bridgeheads. By the time the Polish assault started, the Russians already were well-entrenched and the attack failed. The day's fighting resulted in a stalemate. The following day the Polish tanks withdrew further south-west and took part in a skirmish around the village of Wielka Olszanka (some 4 kilometres (2.48549 mi) from the town), again using part of the tanks as an improvised armoured train. The assault on Russian positions manning the Hill 177 and an old Russian fort No. 5 was successful and the Russians retreated towards the river, chased by Polish tanks and infantry. This temporary success did not however force the Russians out of the close side of the river and in the following days Hayk Bzhishkyan's 3rd Cavalry Corps crossed the river further north and restarted its' march south-westwards, along the Grodno-Sokółka railway. The Polish force fought numerous delaying battles, but in the end had to retreat to Sokółka. The 2nd company was then withdrawn from the front and sent to Łódź for repairs. The 1st company remained on the front and shared the fate of the XVIII Brigade, that eventually retreated towards Warsaw and took part in the fights along the NarewNarew
The Narew River , in western Belarus and north-eastern Poland, is a left tributary of the Vistula river...
during the Battle of Warsaw
Battle of Warsaw (1920)
The Battle of Warsaw sometimes referred to as the Miracle at the Vistula, was the decisive battle of the Polish–Soviet War. That war began soon after the end of World War I in 1918 and lasted until the Treaty of Riga resulted in the end of the hostilities between Poland and Russia in 1921.The...
in mid-August.
In his memoir, Hayk Bzhishkyan recalled that the fights for Grodno cost him "500 killed and wounded, 400 horses and seven days of priceless time". Polish losses remain unknown.