Читать книгу History of the Polish Revolution and the Events of the Campaign - Joseph Hordynski - Страница 15

23. A very important circumstance, which either escaped the notice of the Dictator, or was wilfully neglected by him, respected the nomination and rank of officers. As the army was to be considerably augmented, a proportionally greater number of officers was requisite. All arrangements upon this subject were confided to the Regimentarz, with whom the important power of making these appointments was entirely left. This course soon led to trouble. The Regimentarz, not having the power to transfer the older officers of the existing army, excepting in cases where the offer was made by those officers, were compelled to appoint new officers to newly formed regiments. These newly levied soldiers were thus placed under officers who were but learners themselves. The evil effects of this injudicious system were indeed sensibly felt in the first actions of the campaign. Besides the evil here alluded to, a degree of jealousy between the old and new officers resulted from the operation of these arrangements. It was natural for those who were old in service to see with dissatisfaction recently commissioned officers placed above them in rank. Instead, then, of studying to preserve the utmost harmony between those who were going forth together to shed their blood in the cause of their common country, that course was in fact taken, which if it had been designed to disturb this harmony, would have been deemed the most efficacious.

Arrangements for officering the army might have been made in such a manner as the following, to the satisfaction of all parties. After dividing the officers into three classes, the first, consisting of those actually in service, the second of those who had been in service, but had given up their commissions and were in retirement, and the third, of the newly commissioned officers; a military commission might have been formed, who should have before them lists of officers showing their periods of service. This commission could have designated the rank of each upon an examination of these lists, placing the retired officers in the grades in which they stood at the time of their retirement. The new regiments should have been officered from the two first classes, advancement being made in the grade of each officer. The third class, or the new officers, should have been appointed to the vacancies thus left in the old regiments. Besides the justice which such an arrangement would have done to the officers of older standing, it would have this good effect: the experienced officers would have been more widely distributed through the army, and the new regiments would have advanced more rapidly in organization and discipline. General Skrzynecki clearly saw the defects of the actual arrangement; but once made, it was difficult to reform it. He took, however, every opportunity that offered, to transfer the older officers to advanced grades in the new regiments.

24. Letter to Prince Lubecki, Minister of Finance at Warsaw, dated St Petersburgh, the 18th of August, 1830. 'My Prince,—His Majesty the Emperor and King directs me to inform you that the Polish troops being now in marching condition, you are requested to provide the necessary funds, without delay, upon which the public treasury may count as occasion may require, to support the expenses of the movement of the army, and of the approaching campaign.'

(Signed) 'Turkul, Secretary of State.'

In an answer to this letter, dated the third of September, Prince Lubecki renders an account of the means at his command. 'Poland,' he says, 'has 8,000,000 gilders in its treasury, and 1,000,000 in the bank of Berlin. She is then ready to undertake the necessary preparations.'

Extract of a letter addressed to Prince Lubecki by Count Grabowski, Secretary of State for Poland, at St Petersburgh. 'The official correspondence which, by the order of his Majesty, I have the honor to communicate to you, my Prince, and which directs the placing of the Polish army on the war establishment, was, undoubtedly, even more unwelcome to you than to myself. I suffer, truly, in seeing the progress of our financial arrangements thus arrested. Our treasury would have been in the most perfect condition, but for the expenses of this war, which will absolutely exhaust its coffers; for on this occasion our geographical position places us in the front line.'

'Dated St Petersburgh, 15th October, 1830.

(Signed) 'Grabowski.'

From the same to the same. Dated October 18th, 1830.

'Having been this day informed by his excellency, the aid-de-camp of his Majesty, Czerniszew, that orders have been given to his royal highness the Cæsarowicz, to place on the war establishment all the troops under his command, without excepting those of the Polish kingdom, and that these orders are to be carried into effect by the 22d of December, I have the honor, my Prince, to communicate this information to you, by his Majesty's order, so that the necessary funds may be furnished without delay to the Minister of War. And I farther request you, my Prince, by the order of his Majesty, to have the goodness to assign to his imperial highness the Cæsarowicz all the funds for which he may have occasion in the execution of his orders.

(Signed) 'Grabowski.'

From the same to the same. Dated 20th November, 1830.

'The return of Marshal Diebitsch will determine what measures it will be necessary to take. He has received orders to pass through Warsaw, on his return from Berlin, with the view to consult with the Grand Duke Constantine, in an especial manner upon subjects connected with the movement and subsistence of the army. The Emperor wishes that you would see the Marshal, as soon as possible after his arrival in Warsaw, in order to consult with him on all these subjects; and he authorizes you to execute all the arrangements which may be determined upon by Marshal Diebitsch and the Grand Duke, without waiting for farther orders from his Majesty. You will conform strictly to the wishes of his imperial Highness. His Majesty, in conclusion, orders me to invite you to repair to St Petersburgh as soon as the army shall have commenced its movement and the war shall have been declared, so that you may receive in person the orders of his Majesty. We are now in the month of November, the distances are great, our armies cannot be ready before the spring, and events follow each other so rapidly that God only knows what may happen before that time. The rapidity of their succession has made it impossible to receive intelligence of events in season to influence their course. It is this which has caused the unfortunate state of affairs in regard to Belgium. And here, again, is opened a train of events, in reference to which it is useless to act, for the next courier may bring us intelligence of an entirely new state of things.'

25. The proclamations of the Emperor on the 17th and 24th of December were in effect the same. There was a perfect correspondence between them in severity of language and spirit. We will give the last.

'By the grace of God, we, Nicholas the First, Emperor and Autocrat of all the Russias, make known to all our faithful subjects that an infamous treason has convulsed the kingdom of Poland, which is united to Russia. Evil-minded men, who had not been disarmed of their bad passions by the beneficence of the immortal emperor Alexander, the generous restorer of their country, under the protection of the laws he had given them, have secretly concerted plots for the subversion of the established order of things, and began to execute their projects on the 29th of November last, by rebellion, effusion of blood, and attempts against the life of our well beloved brother the Cæsarowicz Grand Duke Constantine Paulowicz. Profiting by the obscurity of the night, a furious populace, excited by these men, precipitated themselves upon the palace of the Cæsarowicz; while, spreading throughout the city of Warsaw the false report that the Russian troops were massacring the peaceable inhabitants, they collected the people about them and filled the city with all the horrors of anarchy. The Cæsarowicz, with the Russians who were about his person, and the Polish troops who remained faithful to their duty, determined to take a position in the vicinity of Warsaw, and not to act with hostility, in order that, avoiding all occasion of shedding blood, they might prove in the clearest manner the falsehood of the report which had been circulated, and give the authorities of the city time and means of bringing back to their duty, in concert with the well-intentioned citizens, those who had been misled, and to restrain the discontented. This hope was not fulfilled. The council of the city were unable to re-establish order. Incessantly menaced by rebels, who had formed some illegal union among themselves, and had gained an influence in the council by separating from it some members named by us, and filling their places with others named by the chiefs of the conspirators, there was no course left to it but to beseech the Cæsarowicz to send back the Polish troops who had left Warsaw with him, to protect the public and private property from new pillage. Soon after this council was entirely dissolved, and all its powers were united in the hand of one general. In the interval, the news of the revolt was spread through all the provinces of Poland. Everywhere the same means were employed. Imposture, menaces, falsehood were used to inveigle the pacific inhabitants into the power of the rebels. In this unfortunate and serious state of things, the Cæsarowicz considered it indispensable to yield to the request of the government. He permitted the small body of Polish troops which remained faithful to him to return to Warsaw, in order to insure as far as possible the security of persons and property. He himself quitted the kingdom with the Russian troops, and entered on the 13th December the town of Wlodawa, in the government of Volhynia.

'Thus was executed a crime which had been resolved upon, probably, for a long time before. After so many misfortunes, and when at least in the enjoyment of peace and prosperity under the protection of our power, the people of the kingdom of Poland have plunged themselves again into the abyss of revolt and misery, and multitudes of credulous men, though already trembling in fear of the chastisement which awaits them, dare to think, for a moment, of victory; and propose to us the condition of being placed on an equality with ourselves! Russians, you know that we reject them with indignation! Your hearts burn with zeal for the throne. Already you appreciate the sentiments we feel. At the first intelligence of the treason, your response was a new oath of unshaken fidelity, and at this moment we see but one movement in the whole extent of our vast empire. But one sentiment animates all hearts; the desire to spare nothing, to sacrifice all, even life itself, for the honor of the Emperor and the integrity of the empire. We witness with deep emotion the strong manifestation of the love of the people for ourselves and for their country. We might, indeed, answer you with tranquillity, that new sacrifices and new efforts will not be necessary. God, the protector of right, is with us, and all-powerful Russia will be able, with a decisive blow, to bring to order those who have dared to disturb her tranquillity. Our faithful troops, who have so recently distinguished themselves by new victories, are already concentrating upon the western frontier of the empire. We are in readiness to punish the perjured; but we wish to distinguish the innocent from the guilty, and to pardon the weak, who, from inconsiderateness or fear have followed the current. All the subjects of our kingdom of Poland, all the inhabitants of Warsaw, have not taken part in the conspiracy and its melancholy consequences. Many have proved by a glorious death, that they knew their duty. Others, as we learn by the report of the Grand Duke, have been forced, with tears of despair, to return to the places occupied by the rebels. These last, together with the misguided, compose, no doubt, a great part of the army and of the inhabitants of the kingdom of Poland. We have addressed ourselves to them by a proclamation on the 17th of this month, in which, manifesting our just indignation against the perjured men who have commenced this rebellion, we gave orders to put an end to all illegal armaments, and to restore every thing to its former footing. They have yet time, then, to repair the fault of their compatriots, and to save the Polish kingdom from the pernicious consequences of a blind criminality. In pointing out the only means of safety, we make known this manifestation of our benevolence toward our faithful subjects. They will see in it our wish to protect the inviolability of the throne and of the country, as well as the firm resolution to spare misguided and penitent men. Russians! the example of your Emperor will guide you, the example of justice without vengeance, of perseverance in the combat for the honor and prosperity of the empire, without hatred of adversaries, of love and regard for the subjects of our kingdom of Poland who have remained faithful to the oath they have made to us, and of an earnest desire for reconciliation with all those who shall return to their duty. You will fulfil our hopes, as you have hitherto done. Remain in peace and quietness; full of confidence in God, the constant benefactor of Russia, and in a monarch who appreciates the magnitude and the sacredness of his duties, and who knows how to keep inviolable the dignity of his empire, and the honor of the Russian people.

'Given at St Petersburgh the twenty-fourth of the month of December, 1830.

(Signed) 'Nicholas.'

26. The following is part of a conversation, in presence of the Emperor, between generals field marshal Diebitsch and Benkendorf, and colonel Wielezynski, (one of the deputies sent by the Polish Dictator,) at the close of a short interview, which took place at a council on the affairs of state to which those generals had been called by the Emperor.

'Well, gentlemen of Poland,' said marshal Diebitsch, 'your revolution has not even the merit of being well timed. You have risen at the moment when the whole force of the empire was on the march toward your frontiers, to bring the revolutionary spirits of France and Belgium to order.'

When the colonel observed that Poland thought herself capable of arresting the torrent long enough to give Europe the alarm, and to prepare her for the struggle, marshal Diebitsch answered,

'Well, what will you gain by the result? We had calculated to make our campaign on the Rhine; we shall now make it on the Elbe or the Oder, having crushed you first. Consider this well.'

27. According to the testimony of colonel Wielezynski, the proclamation of the Emperor was in entire contradiction to the sentiments he expressed in the conversation above mentioned. The tone of that conversation was anything but severe. He even conceded that the Poles had just reason to be discontented, and admitted many of the barbarities of his brother, the Grand Duke Constantine. He promised colonel Wielezynski that he would act with the strictest justice, and would consider it a duty to inquire scrupulously into, and carefully distinguish all the circumstances of the case, in regard to which a manifesto should shortly be published. As he took leave of the colonel, in presence of Diebitsch and Benkendorf, he declared that he loved and esteemed the Poles, and that these his feelings should be the basis of his course with regard to them. How inconsistent such language with that of the proclamation!

28. Some letters of the Emperor Nicholas were found among the papers of Chlopicki, in which the Emperor expressed his thanks to him for having taken the Dictatorship, and for the service which he had done to him, by the preservation of public tranquillity. The emperor exhorted him to follow 'the conditions which had been prescribed to him.' The conditions here referred to could not be found. The reader will permit me to dwell, for a moment, upon the mode of conduct, on the part of the Emperor Nicholas, which is here indicated.

What conditions could Nicholas propose to the Dictator, which the nation should not know of? If those conditions were compatible with justice and with the honor of the nation, why was all this secrecy necessary? If they were incompatible with justice and our honor, the Dictator certainly could not have it in his power to make the nation accept of them. On the contrary, the nation who had given him its confidence, the moment that it should have been convinced that the Dictator had intended to compromise its honor, would have despised him as a traitor, and he would have fallen a sacrifice to its indignation. To wish to induce him, on his own responsibility, to commit acts contrary to the honor of the nation, is to be willing, for selfish ends, to induce him to do that which would render him infamous in history.

Is this a course becoming a King? A conduct so insincere, Machiavelian, and even malignant, is based on the system of intrigue, and is in correspondence with the accustomed policy of the Russian cabinet,—a policy which has always brought divisions and misery upon the nations who have been under her power. Such a system, however, is far from being ultimately favorable to the interests of Russia herself, for it can never lead to a sure result. Sooner or later duplicity will be discovered, and the more a nation has been deceived, the deeper will be its determination of vengeance.

The letters referred to, which, I believe, are now in the hands of some of our countrymen, will be, in the eyes of the world, a new justification of our revolution.