page_title: Ostrołęka
section_title: Development during the period of the Polish Kingdom
hierarchical_section_title: Ostrołęka / History / Development during the period of the Polish Kingdom
caption_attribution_description: Battle of Ostrołęka 1831
context_page_description: Ostrołęka is a city in northeastern Poland on the Narew river, about 120 km northeast of Warsaw, with a population of 52,792 and an area of 33,46 km². The town is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship, and it is the former capital of the Ostrołęka Voivodeship. Ostrołęka is currently the capital of both Ostrołęka County and Ostrołęka City County. Until the late 1980s, Ostrołęka used to be a local railroad junction, with four lines stemming from Ostrołęka railway station: eastwards to Łapy and Białystok, southwestwards to Tłuszcz and Warsaw, northwards to Wielbark and Olsztyn, and southwards to Małkinia.
context_section_description: As part of a comprehensive plan of industrializing Poland, an extensive settlement for linen and cotton craftsmen was built on the right bank of Narew in 1826. The number of craftsmen increased and workers were trained in new crafts. The town also built two bridges, one permanent. The new route connecting Warsaw and St. Petersburg ran through Ostrołęka. Although the town's citizens were eager and proud to take part in the November Uprising, they worried that their city, as in every previous war, would be destroyed. However they did not expect that the heaviest fighting would take place on near Ostrołęka.
  According to the plans, the Polish Army was supposed to attack Russian Infantry Corps of the Tsar's Guard, which made camp between Augustów and Ostrołęka. On May 18, Ostrołęka was claimed by General Henryk Dembiński. But General Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki didn't make a use of his temporary superiority and he couldn't make up his mind if to attack the Russians situated near Łomża. As a result, Łomża was destroyed.
  On 26 May 1831, occurred the Battle of Ostrołęka (1831). As a cannonade was heard, Jan Zygmunt Skrzynecki couldn't believe that Hans Karl von Diebitsch (a Russian general) had already reached the suburbs of the city. He ordered the Fourth Infantry Regiment to defend the city. The main defending forces fortified themselves in the Bernadine Monastery. Unfortunately the Russians had brought cannons with them, quickly overpowering the Polish and forcing their surrender.
  Von Diebitsch took over the city center, but the battle continued on the right side of the Narew. Skrzynecki and his troops valiantly defended the bridge wanting to hold back the Russian forces from crossing over to the other side of the river. Lieutenant-Colonel Józef Bem and his Fourth Battery were called in to help defend the bridge. Bem was able to hold back the Russians, but the battle is often referred to as a Polish defeat. The defeat began the end of the Uprising. As a result of the battle, 6000 Polish soldiers died including many Kurpie. Bem, for his bravery, was nominated as Commander-in-Chief of Artillery and was honoured with a Virtue Militari Cross. The battle was the greatest and the most bloodiest in the November Uprising.
caption: Battle of Ostrołęka (1831)
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