Battle of Kock (1809)

Battle of Kock
Part of Napoleonic Wars

The Death of Berek Joselewicz by Henryk Pillati (National Museum of Poland)
Date1809
LocationKock
Result Polish Victory
Belligerents
Poland Austria Austria
Commanders and leaders
Berek Joselewicz ?
Strength
? ?
Casualties and losses
? ?

The Battle of Kock was fought in 1809 during the Napoleonic Wars, near the village of Kock in Poland.

The battle saw the death of Polish Army colonel Berek Joselewicz, fighting against Austria for the freedom of Poland.

Course

Lieutenant Colonel Berek Joselewicz was in command of a squadron of the 5th Regiment of Mounted Riflemen in the vanguard of the Polish Army and forming part of cavalry brigadier general Rożnieckiego's formation. The Polish cavalry had been tasked with clearing Austrian troops out of the way of the main force and capturing crossings over the river Wieprz.

The only Austrian forces in the area withdrew to Kock on 2 May - this was formed of two squadrons (totalling around 300 men) of the 1st Hussars, commanded by major Friedrich Hoditz. The force was tasked with destroying all the crossings over the Wieprz. On 7 May Joselewicz attacked the Austrians at the head of his squadron. After a brief struggle, the hussars retreated in disarray and the bridge was captured intact. Joselewicz was killed - pursuing the fleeing hussars too closely, he was wounded, surrounded and killed despite pleading to surrender. His precise gravesite is unknown, though a cenotaph to him stands on the road between Kock and Bialobrzegi.

Polish casualties were 1 dead and 7 injured, whilst the Austrians lost 11 killed, 8 wounded and 8 captured, including one captain. After the battle Hoditz withdrew towards Lublin. Almost immediately after the battle, colonel Turno (commander of the 5th Regiment of Mounted Riflemen) wrote a letter to Hodtiz criticising his soldiers' behaviour.


Bibliography

Coordinates: 51°39′00″N 22°27′00″E / 51.650000°N 22.450000°E / 51.650000; 22.450000

This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/20/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.