Until spring 1813, Lower Silesia and Bolesławiec and its surrounding area were not the scene of major events—battles that fortunately passed our town by. It was only the Saxon War (spring–summer 1813) that brought a great sacrifice of Polish soldiers’ blood to our land on the Bóbr.
He was a soldier of the famous light cavalry regiment. Its full and rather lengthy name was: the Polish Light Horse Regiment of the Imperial Guard (szwoleżer means light horseman in French). From then on, this regiment will be referred to as the light horse regiment. “...The long-awaited day has dawned, the trumpet has sounded the marching signal, long live the beloved emperor, let the whole earth praise him...” This is a small fragment of the light horse regiment’s march, written by the famous light horseman Józef Załuski.
What a regiment it was! The finest of all the regiments of the Polish army of that time. It was one of several multinational regiments of the Imperial Guard, which permanently remained at Napoleon’s side. Several squadrons served beside Napoleon; others awaited the sudden order to carry out an extraordinary military task that only this guard, beloved by the emperor, could perform.
The Polish light horse regiment was a volunteer regiment. It was commanded by the legendary Wincenty Krasiński, later a general. The regiment was filled with famous aristocratic names. There were three Radziwiłłs, three Krasińskis, three Rostworowskis, two Załuskis, Pac, Łubieński and others. The regiment was called a school for generals and colonels, because as many as ten of its officers—light horsemen—later received generals’ insignia, while several dozen received colonels’ insignia.
The regiment consisted of 8 squadrons, each with 2 companies. Altogether, the regiment had approximately 1,700 light horsemen and about 2,000 horses, as well as numerous supply wagons. A light horseman’s weapons consisted of a carbine, sabre, pistol and lance. And then there was the uniform, so colorful, with its tall czako, celebrated in so many songs and poems. The tradition of the Imperial Guard’s light horse regiment remained alive. It survived the partitions. In the army of the Second Polish Republic, we had 3 light horse regiments. When the Polish light horse regiment entered a town, the “trumpet march” was played by a mounted orchestra. This was a sign that the town authorities were to prepare quarters.
Let us also note that in July 1812, a second Polish-Lithuanian light horse regiment of the Imperial Guard was formed in liberated Lithuania under the command of the experienced Colonel Konopka, a hero of the campaigns in Italy and Spain. Three months later, the regiment was completely defeated near Moscow, and its commander died in Russian captivity three years later.
In December 1812, the “God of War,” defeated in Russia, sped by sleigh from Moscow to Paris, in order to form a new army there and continue the war. On 13 December, he stopped incognito in front of the “Under the Black Eagle” inn in Bolesławiec. A small detachment was led by an officer with a leg wrapped in bandages from which blood was dripping. Guardsmen stood at the back, on the runners of the sleigh. No one welcomed Napoleon. Six months later, he appeared in Bolesławiec again, on 24–26 May and 7 June, commanding the troops during the Saxon War.
The Emperor of the French performed a miracle. Within four months of returning to Paris, he created a new army of 200,000, based on the remnants of the Grand Army. He squeezed the last recruits into service and trained them quickly. Only the cavalry was small. There were no horses left in France. The cavalry numbered barely 15,000 riders. Yet it was precisely with the help of cavalry that he carried out his maneuvers, thanks to which he won great battles.
On 1 May 1812, Napoleon began the short-lived Saxon War, whose aim was to defeat the Prussian and Russian forces commanded by the Prussian field marshal Blücher, whom Napoleon had defeated so many times. He believed that he would defeat him this time as well...
The Polish light horse regiment numbered only approximately 400 soldiers in four squadrons. The rest had fallen along the route of battles between the Neman and Moscow. Among the survivors were General W. Krasiński, Major D. Radziwiłł, and the squadron commanders D. Chłapowski and P. Jerzmanowski.
The war initially took place in Lusatia and then moved to Lower Silesia, to be continued.