The Sun.
London, England, 1863-05-21 00:00:00

THE INSURRECTION IN POLAND.

(F 2 ova the ,Fpeeial Correspondent of the Times)
CRACOW, May 12.
Of late there Las been a marked improvement in
the conduct of the Russian troops near Cracow. I
fancy this is to be attributed less to the restoration
of discipline than to the fact that they have been
successful in all their recent enterprises against the
insurgents. it is defeat which brings out their
worst qualities, and when they are compelled to
retire they seldom do so without murderiug the
wounded on the ground and massccring the pri-
soners who have fallen into their hands. The
scythemen, who gave no quarter themselves, seldom
find mercy under any circumstances at the hands of
the Russians. A Russian prisoner who was brought
to a place near Cracow the other day told a friend
of mine that he thought nothing of killing a scythe-
man, "because mowing was not fighting, and the
scythe not a Christian weapon."
A few days ago the General who now commands
at Miechow sent back several Galicians who had
been taken prisoners. On one occasion last month
Prince Schachoffsky did the same ; but, what-
ever the good intentions of some of the com-
manders may be, it is certain that the sol-
diers have only to be provoked by failure
to renew at all times the atrocities which have

now become habitual to them. I hear from eye-
witnesses that at Jezioranski's great battle, which
lasted seven hours, in which the Russian forces en-
gaged were four times as numerous as those of the
Poles, the Imperial troops, finding their most des-
.

perate attacks were all in vain, ended, as they
fell back, by firing in their impotent rage upon
the wounded. The Austrians who watched the

battle from a neighbouring elevation and cheered
the Poles with enthusiasm throughout their hard
fight—as trying for them as that of Inkermann
for the English—had been prevented with difficulty
from assisting what at first appeared to be the
weaker side, and their indignation knew no bounds
when they saw the wounded being put to death.
They even went under fire to save them, but
without taking part in the fighting. At the critical
point of the battle, when the Russians, after an
hour's rest, recommenced their attack from a new
position and with redoubled fury, Jezioranski had
to refuse the aid of 200 of the bravest and most
generous troops in Europe. A message was sent
to him to the effect that 200 Hungarian Hussars,
officers and men, were only waiting for his orders
to fall upon the Russians, and that they would
charge at a moment's notice. He was of course
obliged to tell them to remain where they were,
and added that, if they joined him in spite of bis
wishes to the contrary, he should be forced to treat

them as enemies. The colonel of the Hussar regi-
ment thanked Gen. Jeziorankski for his reply, which
was no doubt as prudent as it was honourable.
On the night of the Bth Jezioranski marched west-
ward along the frontier leaving his camp fires burn-
ing. A hundred cavalry remained to mask the move-
ment. It is said that Jezioranski, with his able co-
adjutors, Smiechow6ki and Waligorski, is on the
point of joining, or has already joined, Chachow-
ski's corps in the province of Sandomir. He ap-
pears to have been threatened by greatly superior
forces, but it is hoped that by his night march along
the frontier he has outmanceuvred_them. It was
reported yesterday that he had re-entered Galicia ;
but if so he only re-entered it by a sort of mistake
in making a short cut from one point on the frontier

o another. People are anxious about his position

however, especially as now that Taczanowski (in the
province of Kalisch) has been beaten and his de-
tachment broken up, Jezioranski's corps and that of
Chachowski are the only very formidable ones in
the Kingdom.
There are nearly 200 small bands about, however,
of from 50 to 500 men each, and even in the unfor-
tunate Cracow district insurgent companies are no
sooner dispersed than fresh ones are formed. Since
Easter five detachments have been utterly defeated
near Cracow,—Gregowic's, at Szklary ; Mossa-
koweki's, beyond Olkusz; Mieroslowski's, at Igolo-
mia ; Miniewaki's, beyond Olkusz ; and Rumowski's
at Sice. But five new detachments, as numerous,
as well armed, and, it is to be hoped, much better
provisioned than the others, are now on the point
of starting for the frontier, and it is expected that
they will all be in the Kingdom before the end of
the week.

A grand funeral service was performed here this
morning for General Francisco Nullo at the Church
of the Capucins, but the most magnificent cere-
monial in his honour was got up, not by those for
whom he died, but by those who killed him. By
order of Prince Schachoffsky, the Garibaldian officer
was buried at Olkusz with all possible pomp and
with full military honours. The whole army was
drawn up in line, and saluted the remains as they
were carried past ; a mortuary mass was celebrated
in the principal church of Olkusz, and the Prince,
with his Staff, detachments from each regiment,
and all the Polish population of the town, fol-
loA ed the procession to the grave. This will be
looked upon by many as a hypocritical demonstra.

tion on the part of the e Russians, but I do not think
the Russians have said any thing about the matter,
and my account of the funeral is derived from a
Pole who witnessed it, and who arrived here from
Olkusz this evening. Properly considered, the
conduct of these men, who admire in Italy what
they hate in Poland, like that of so many others,
who admire in Poland what they hate in Italy is,
not hypocritical, but simply anomalous. It is a fact,
however, to which any one who has visited Russia
during the last two or three years can testify, that
Garibaldi's exploits excited the greatest enthusiasm
throughout Russian society—so much so that the
principal journal of Moscow found it advisable to
have a regular correspondent at his camp—a sort of
thing never heard of before or since in Russian
journalism.

The losses in Miniewski's retreat from Olkusz are
roughly estimated here at 10 killed, with an indefi-
nite number of wounded ; but an officer of Nullo's
corps assures me that of the Italian and French volun-
teers alone 26 were either killed or taken prisoners.
It is not may to ascertain exact numbers in these
affairs on either side, and it must sometimes be im-
possible to computo them on the part of the Poles.
Altogether, however, after the three defeats of Igo-
lomia, Olkusz, and Sice, the loss of the insurgents
in killed, wounded, and arrested has not, I think,
amounted to more than about 200. The loss in
rifles and ammunition must have been proportion-
ately far greater, as many who escaped being ar-
rested by the Austrian soldiers were only able to do
so because they had thrown their arms away before
crossing the frontier. This is most unfortunate, as
in the present state of the Polish war-market rifles
seem to be worth more than men.

It would be interesting to get at some true par-
ticulars as to the number of insurgents actually
under arms throughout the territory of ancient
Poland. In the " Congress Kingdom" I doubt
whether 20,000 men could be accounted for, but no
one reckons the insurrectionary force at any higher
figure. In Lithuania it may amount to about 10,000

—certainly not more, if even so much. In Volhynia,
Podolia, and the province of Kieff there has hitherto
been no rising at all, though Volhynians and Podo-

lii::si ,n atsh we ellx in agsaoGma 1i
nn
fight-
.
command of arms, if they had an open sea coast, or
ohsaednearns,
unlimiteda re
any one port through which arms could be smug-
gled, 30,000 men would not represent a formidable
resistance on the part of a nation of 24,000,000. But
we must remember what the insurrection sprang
out of, under what diffioulties it has to be main-