L. Gadon,
H. Graniewski, "The Mission of General Chrzanowski to Turkey
1836-1840)," Antermurale XII (1968), 115-264.
Piero Pieri, L'escercito piemontese e la campagna del
1849 (Turin, 1949).
JGC revised this file
(http://www.ohiou.edu/~chastain/ac/chranow.htm) on October 15, 2004.
Please E-mail comments or suggestions to chastain@www.ohiou.edu
© 1998, 2004 James Chastain.
Wojciech Chrzanowski born January 14, 1793 in Biskupice (Cracow
region), died February 26, 1861 in Paris; Polish general, military
top
ographer. In 1810 he began military service as a gunner in the
army of the Duchy of Warsaw; in 1811 entered a school of artillery
and engineering; four months later joined a regiment of artillery
as first lieutenant; took part in the 1812 campaign; proved himself
in the battle at Smolensk; in January 1815 joined the quartermaster
general staff of the Polish Kingdom's army; promoted 1817 to the
rank of lieutenant. In 1822 worked on the preparation of a map of
the Polish Kingdom. Participant in the Russian-Turkish war of 1828;
January 1830 promoted to lieutenant colonel. During the November
Uprising 1830-31, chief of the general staff of the Modlin
fortress; one of the most gifted staff officers; author of numerous
military operational plans. After general Skrzynecki's assumption
of the general command of the Polish army,Wojciech Chrzanowski was
nominated colonel and chief of the main staff; contributed to the
victory in the battles at Wawer and DabWielki; led operations at
Kock, Lubartow and
Zamosc; consequently, nominated general of
division. At military councils Chrzanowski decisively stood
against taking the offensive against Russian troops and advocated
negotiations; consequently he was attacked by the members of the
Patriotic Society [Towarzystwo Patriotyczne]. During
general J.Krukowiecki's presidency Chrzanowski was nominated
governor of Warsaw; delayed the preparations for Warsaw's defense;
after its capitulation he remained there and swore an oath of
fidelity to
tsar Nicholas, as former lieutenant colonel; at the end
of 1831 he left for Galicia, and from there emigrated to France;
supported by Prince Adam Czartoryski and H&oocirc;tel Lambert;
unsuccessfully attempted to enter the Belgian and then Egyptian
armies; 1836-1841 in Turkey where, as adviser of the British
government, he undertook efforts to modernize the Turkish army.
Back in Paris, Chrzannowski continued work on a map of Poland in
its prepartition borders, on a scale of 1:300,000, publishing
sev
eral sections of it each year; the whole map, consisting of 48
sections, was finally published in Paris in 1859. In August, 1848,
he was invited to assume command of the Piedmontese army, with the
task of reorganizing it so as to eliminate the defects revealed in
the unsuccessful war with Austria. He accepted the offer, though
agreeing that King Charles Albert should retain nominal command for
reasons of dynastic prestige, and came to Piedmont in September
1848. He set about reforming the army with
energy and
intelligence, but lacked time to complete the task before the
resumption of war in March 1849; moreover, he was hampered by a
certain resentment on the part of the king and the Piedmontese
generals, and, as a foreigner, he never won the full trust of the
army. His conduct of the brief campaign leading up to the defeat
at Novara in March, 1849 was later severely criticized; but, given
the low morale and persistent defects of the Piedmontese army his
task was molst difficult. Nonetheless,
he resigned his command,
went into exile and returned to Paris. At the beginning of March
1854 Chrzanowski received a commission from the British minister of
war to prepare plans for a war with Russia; in May 1855 a member of
the Polish delegation attempting to negotiate the Polish cause with
Napoleon III. Died in Paris, buried in Montmartre. Chrzanowski
published numerous military pamphlets in Paris,including: O
wojnie partyzanckiej [On guerilla warfare] (1835);
Sluzba wojsko
wa w polu [Military service in the field]
(1836); Quelques considérations sur la campagne de
1812 (1857); Opisanie bitwy grochowskiej
[Description of the Grochow battle] (Biblioteka
Warszawska," 1909); his political writings were published in
Przeglad Polski (Cracow, 1866) and in Pisma
wojskowo-polityczne (Cracow,1871).
Alan J. Reinerman and Jolanta T. Pekacz
Bibliography