Wojciech Bartosz Głowacki Wojciech Bartos ( z ) Głowacki ( 1758 – 1794 ) , known also as Bartosz Głowacki , was a Polish peasant and the most famous member of the kosynierzy ( peasant volunteer infantry ) during the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794 . Born as Wojciech Bartosz , he became a Polish national hero during the battle of Racławice on 4 April 1794 , when he captured a Russian cannon by putting out the fuse with his hat . For this , he was promoted to the rank of ' chorąży ' and received the surname ' Głowacki ' . He was mortally wounded during the battle of Szczekociny on 6 June that year . Since that he has become one of the symbols of the Uprising and Polish valor . Biography . Wojciech Bartosz was born around 1765 as a serf of Antoni Szujski . He was probably born in the village of Rzędowice , although some sources give Zakrzów as his place of birth . As the Church documents which would have recorded that fact were destroyed in 1794 , the exact place of his birth , as well as the time are not certain . In 1783 he married Jadwiga Czernikowa , and they had three daughters ( Helena , Cecylia and Justyna ) . They were poor , and their house collapsed some years before the death of Jadwiga ( she was then a widow ) . Their field was between 4 to 9 morg s , without a horse , and it was only after Bartosz became famous at Racławice that they received a cow and some other animals from their lord Szujski . Wojciech Bartosz was conscripted after the decree of Order Commission ( " Komisja Porządkowa " ) of 25 March , which ordered the conscription of one men from every five ' chimneys ' . In the supplementary decree of 28 March , the commission allowed the peasants to report with scythe s instead of more specialized weapons ; this led to the creation of the scythe - wielding kosynierzy infantry regiments . Bartosz was chosen as a conscript , ironically , because his lord ' s administrative staff viewed him as a troublemaker and decided that sending him off to war was a good way to get rid of him . He arrived in the military camp in the beginning of April , and on April 4 he took part in the famous battle of Racławice , where Tadeusz Kościuszko , leader of the Polish uprising , defeated the Russian army . Kosynierzy were vital to the Polish victory , as they swarmed the Russian artillery positions , overrunning them after only a single salvo . It was at that battle that Bartosz gained fame : he was the first to reach the enemy lines , and stopped one of the cannons from shooting by extinguishing its fuse with his cap . For that deed , as well as his pro - uprising rhetoric , Kościuszko promoted him to the rank of chorąży in the newly created regiment of Cracow ' s Grenadiers ( " Grenadierzy Krakowscy " ) . He was released from serfdom , and received the right to his land , but was probably not ennobled . His surname was changed from peasant Bartosz to Głowacki , although it is not certain whether it was his own choice , or whether the name was bestowed upon him by Kościuszko himself . On June 6 , 1794 , Głowacki took part in the battle of Szczekociny . Polish forces , 15 , 000 strong , were defeated by a combined Prussia n and Russia n army , some 27 , 000 strong . Głowacki was among the 346 wounded that the Polish forces evacuated from the field , but his wounds were too serious , and he died soon afterwards ( sometime between June 6 and June 9 ) . He was probably buried in the Church of Najjaśniejsza Maria Panna in Kielce on June 9 . Fame . Bartosz Głowacki became one of the most famous Polish soldiers of the uprising , and joined the ranks of the Polish national heroes . The knowledge of his deeds was spread by those who wanted to show that the Polish - Lithuanian Commonwealth was defended not only by its most privileged class — the nobility ( " szlachta " ) , but also by the least privileged , the peasants . His story was useful to Polish patriots during the times of partitions of Poland , and was also picked up and further used by the propaganda of the communist People ' s Republic of Poland , for whom a peasant hero was a valuable tool .