page_title: Battle of Warsaw (1831)
section_title: Polish Army
hierarchical_section_title: Battle of Warsaw (1831) / Prelude / Opposing forces / Polish Army
context_page_description: The Battle of Warsaw was fought in September 1831 between Imperial Russia and Poland. After a two-day assault on the city's western fortifications, the Polish defences collapsed and the city was evacuated. It was the largest battle and the final episode of the Polish–Russian War of 1830–31, a conflict that became better known as the November Uprising.
  After almost a year of heavy fighting, a large Russian force crossed the Vistula and besieged the capital of Poland on 20 August. Although the siege was partially lifted soon afterwards and a successful sortie allowed a communication route between the city and the rest of Poland, a large Russian force remained on the left bank of the Vistula and continued to threaten the city. Russian commander Ivan Paskevich counted on Polish surrender as his Polish counterpart, Jan Krukowiecki, was known to be a member of the moderate political forces, willing to negotiate with Russian tsar Nicholas I, who had been deposed from the Polish throne in January 1831 by the Sejm.
context_section_description: The Polish Army in early September 1831 had around 62,000 men. The garrison of Warsaw numbered 31,100 infantry and 3,800 cavalry. It was divided into the following units:
  I Corps (General Jan Nepomucen Umiński) – 18,100 infantry, 1,400 cavalry, 34 guns
  Reserve Corps (General Henryk Dembiński) – 11,500 infantry, 1,700 cavalry, 12 guns
  Garrison of Warsaw and Praga – 1,361 infantry, 524 cavalry
  The artillery included 228 pieces of artillery of all types and 21 Congreve rocket batteries, manned by 4554 soldiers of the regular army and 200 members of the National Guard.
  The crew was insufficient to man all the defences, and some forts had to be abandoned. The Engineering Committee predicted that Warsaw's fortifications would require at least 60,000 troops to be fully manned. There were 15,000 able-bodied members of the Security Guard (Straż Bezpieczeństwa), the National Guard (Gwardia Narodowa) and the Jewish City Guard (Gwardia Miejska Starozakonna) militias willing to join the fight, but the army refused to provide them with arms for fear of losing control over the unruly plebeians.
  The city was home to over 175,000 civilians and refugees, and the defenders were low on food supplies. Ammunition supplies were excellent and would "allow the Polish Army to fight not one, but three major battles". The Warsaw Arsenal alone stored 3 million rounds of ammunition and 60,000 cannonballs, 200 shots per cannon.
  The cholera epidemic struck Warsaw between 16 May and 20 August; 4,734 people fell ill and 2,524 died. On 15 August a riot broke out in the city, with up to 3,000 civilians and soldiers killing suspected spies and traitors. Between 36 and 60 people were killed. Order was restored, but the situation in the besieged city remained fragile.
caption: Jewish Security Guard, an 1831 engraving by Fryderyk Krzysztof Dietrich
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