BATTLE // February 19, 1831

First Battle of Wawer

Name: First Battle of Wawer
Start: 1831-02-19
End: 1831-02-19
Location: First Battle of Wawer

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Overview

The first battle of Wawer was fought on 19 February 1831, between Poland and Russia. Polish forces, led by Michał Gedeon Radziwiłł, were defeated by the Russian Pahlen and Rosen corps, commanded by Hans Karl von Diebitsch. In this battle, Polish commanders did not receive any reinforcements, unlike the Russians.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The First Battle of Wawer was a Polish defeat in the early phase of the November Uprising, fought between comparable forces — 44,000 Polish troops under Michał Radziwiłł against 52,000 Russians under Hans Karl von Diebitsch. Despite casualties that were roughly even, with Poland suffering approximately 3,500 losses and Russia between 3,700 and 4,000, the Polish side was tactically overborne. A contributing factor was the failure of Polish commanders to receive reinforcements, while Russian forces were resupplied during the engagement. The battle demonstrated an early asymmetry in operational coordination that would characterize Russian advantages in the wider campaign to suppress the uprising.