THE POLISH INSURRECTION.

Lyttelton Times, Volume XIX, Issue 1098, 20 May 1863, Page 5

THE POLISH INSURRECTION.

A letter from Posen, of the 11th inst., contains the details of a sanguinary action which took place between the Russian troops and the Polish insurgents under the command of Langiewitch. Two very numerous Russian corps set out from Kielce and Radom to attack the insurgents posted at Wouschock. One of these corps met about 60 insurgents in the village of Schedniow, where there are extensive ironworks. After a slight skirmish the Russians occupied the village, where they are accused of having massacred the unarmed inhabitants without distinction of old men, women, or children. Their first victim was the landlord of the inn where the insurgents had lodged. The house itself was burnt, and with it a part of the village. This event took place on the 3rd inst. The following day the two columns sent from Radom and Kielce formed a junction in front of Wouschock, which they attacked on two sides. A, detachment of insurgents deployed as light infantry from the village of Mielitza, and held their ground courageously for three hours against repeated charges of the Russian dragoons, who lost many men. The insurgents, encouraged by their success, abandoned their position in the wood, and scattered themselves over the open plain, where the Russians covered them with a murderous fire of grape-shot. After an heroic effort to capture the cannon, the insurgents, armed only with scythes, were forced to retreat in the direction of the town of Opatow. The Russians lost more than 200 men in killed and wounded; the insurgents likewise suffered severely. MM. Prendewski and Koziechi, two of their chiefs, were killed in this affair. The Russians, masters of Wouschock, committed a frightful butchery, massacring without distinction the unarmed inhabitants and the wounded insurgents; they then pillaged the houses and set them on fire. Wouschock is at present a heap of ruins. A church and a dispensary are the only buildings standing. The Russians likewise burnt five villages in the neighbourhood, to avenge themselves on the peasants who had not informed them of the ambuscade laid for them at Mielitza. Having thus gratified their revenge, the Russian troops returned to their quarters at Kielce and Radom. The writer adds that since this affair nothing is known of the movements of Langiewitch and his companions. A letter from Cracow, of the 10th instant states that on the sth a corps of 1000 Russians attacked the Polish insurgents in the town of Tomaszow, in the government of Lublin. The latter did not number more than 100 men, and the town was consequently taken and burnt, after having been given up to pillage. The insurgents lost five men killed and two prisoners. The following are the names of some of the inhabitants massacred by the Russian soldiers:— 1. Chinierlewski, cut down at the door of his house; 2. Zarchoki, an old blind man, formerly a schoolmaster; 3. Brzeski, an old retired custom house officer; 4. Drourbrowski, an officer of the Russian army on half-pay, murdered in his bed; 5. Mecliren, an officer of the Russian army on active service on the staff of the Inspector-General of the Engineer Department at St. Petersburg, on a visit to his sister, murdered in his bed; 6. Dabrowski, an army surgeon, dragged out of his house into the street and murdered; 7. Leukowitch, a custom house officer, married, and the father of a family; 8. Czartompki, a custom house officer; 9. Korzowski, a public functionary, murdered in his house; 10. Zelkowski, a physician, burnt alive with his servant on a heap of straw in his own house. Several other atrocities are mentioned. The Russian corps, which was composed of two companies of infantry, of two sotnias of Cossacks, and four pieces of cannon, and commanded by a colonel, then returned to their quarters at Zamose. Notwithstanding this severity, the insurrection is spreading. The insurgents, driven from one position, reform in another. In the affair of Wengrow, the insurgents, armed only with sticks, charged the artillerymen at their guns, and, notwithstanding the grape shot and the fire of musketry, they passed right through the Russian ranks. This struggle lasted four hours. The Russian officers, forced to defend themselves with their revolvers, could not but admire the courage of their adversaries. "If these men were armed and regularly organised," said the Russian officers, "no European army could withstand them." The insurgents retreated in good order, after having lost 150 killed and nine wounded. Wengrow was burnt, and, as usual, the unarmed inhabitants were indiscriminately

put to death. The official journal of St. Petersburg publishes a despatch from Warsaw announcing that three Russian officers, Lieutenants Framcewitch, Grewowski, and Oudy wicki, of the regiments of Vitebsk and Polotzk, had deserted to the insurgents. The first two took part in the attack on the town of Rudowskpau by the insurgents. These officers have been condemned to be shot. The sentence has been confirmed by the Grand Duke Constantine. Times, Feb. 16.