THE INSURRECTION IN POLAND.

Lake Wakatip Mail, Volume I, Issue 19, 4 July 1863, Page 6

THE INSURRECTION IN POLAND.

It has been stated that Langiewicz had, from some cause or other, abandoned the popular cause and retreated to Galicia. Various reasons are given for this step; but according to the following statement, the immediate cause of the breaking up of the insurgent force was the disastrous contention between Langiewicz and Mieroslawski for the Dictatorship, which was claimed by both:

In the night of March 18, after Langiewicz had already twice defeated the Russians in the pitched battles of Zagosc on the 17, and Grachowski on the 18th, at the latter of which he took a number of prisoners and a considerable quantity of stores and ammunition, together with four guns, a council of war was held in the insurgent camp. The feeling between the two cliques of Mieroslawski and Langiewicz was of the bitterest description, and the question debated was, not how the formidable enemy could be best defeated, but which of the two chiefs should take the supreme command—Langiewicz or Mieroslawski ! With inconceivable folly the insurrectionary leaders parted without coming to any compromise, but with each section more determined than ever to carry out their original intentions. The consequence was, that on the 19th March more than half the army refused to fight under the command of Langiewicz, and separated under Mieroslawski's leadership from their former comrades. This took place m the woods of Welce, where the army was stationed after the two previous encounters with the Russians. Under these circumstances Langiewicz lost heart, and on the appearance of the Russians, in numbers greatly superior to his own, he determined to withdraw from the scene, and, as the result has shown, he fled into Galicia, followed by the greater number of that part of his army which remained true to his standard. The larger division, which joined Mieroslawski, remained behind, determined to continue the struggle alone.

It appears that Laagiewicz crossed the Galician frontier near Opatowice. At Uscie, Langiewicz was met by M. Bassler, an Austrian commissary, who quartered him in the house of a Galician nobleman, where he passed the night. In the morning of the 20th March he was sent in a carriage, with an escort of four Hussars, to Tarnow. From that town he and Mademoiselle Pustowaydora, who is said to be the daughter of a Russian officer of rank, were sent by rail to Cracow, where they were shut up in the citadel. This " aide-de-camp" of the ex-Dictator, a pretty girl of about 22 years of age, wears the Polish costume with an Hungarian pelisser attached to her shoulders. Langiewicz was then taken from Cracow to the little town of Tischnowitz where he speedily became popular, and visitors from all quarters poured in anxious for a sight of the Polish hero. A particular

dwelling is assigned to him, and he will be able to go about unmolested, having given his word of honor not to proceed beyond a certain distance. "Itis a happy circumstance," adds the 'Temps,' "for the exDictator that he has fallen into the power of Austria and not into that of Prussia. According to the latest explanations of Count Eulenbourg, he would in the latter case have been handed over to Russia." He seldom receives company, but is engaged, it is said, in compiling a history of the Polish insurrection, which will contain important disclosures in reference to the steps lately taken by him. Mieroslawski is also, we are told, to publish a pamphlet on the same subject. Notwithstanding the retreat of Langiewicz and the confessed differences in the insurrectionary camp; notwithstanding the reported resolution of the provisional government to lay down arms and throw themselves on the mercy of the Czar, the revolution spreads. The flame of disaffection, instead of being trodden out as some supposed, arises anew in various quarters, and blazes fiercely. Various encounters, more or less severe, have taken place between the Russians and the Poles; and according to the telegrams, generally to the advantage of the latter. Lithuania is in revolt, and everywhere the Poles are rising up against their masters. On Easter Sunday the Emperor Alexander, with a view to test the temper of the Poles, promulgated an imperial manifesto granting a full and entire amnesty to all Poles in the kingdom who shaU lay down their arms and return to their allegiance by the 13th May. The same term for laying down their arms and giving in their submission is also fixed for the insurgents in the Western Polish provinces. The only exceptions are with regard to ordinary crimes, and to such offences as have been committed by the army. The manifesto further announces that the institutions granted to the Polish people shall be maintained, and, after practical experience, shall be developed according to the necessities of the age and the country. The amnesty granted by the imperial ukase applies not only to all Poles, but also to all such Russians as have taken part in the insurrection, and who shall lay down their arms before the 13th May. The state of excitement among the Poles was not, however, likely to be quieted by the Russian emperor's manifesto; and we are not surprised to hear that the Poles looked with contempt upon the amnesty, and redoubled their efforts to widen the area of insurrection. Such being the feeling among the people, the revolutionary committee on April 15 issued an authorative declaration that " the insurgents would not lay down their arms until they had obtained the independence of Poland. They forbid the inhabitants to pay taxes to the Russian government, and order the Poles in the Russian army to come over to the insurgent ranks." All accounts agree in stating that the proffered amnesty has been a complete failure. The " Czas" of April 15, states that several fresh engagements have taken place, and that new hands are swarming in the district of Sandomir. In one of the engagements it is stated that 30U0 insurgents took part, and that the Russians lost 200 killed and seven guns. The number of the insurgents is, however, probably an exaggeration, as the war is now carried on entirely by small bands starting up everywhere.

Meanwhile it is announced that the whole Russian army is about to be placed on a war footing, and there is some reason to believe the news well-founded. Russia, it is understood, is bent on suppressing the insurrection before continuing reforms, and on yielding nothing to foreign pressure. It is declared that she has no aggressive intentions, but it appears that she considers it necessary to strengthen her means of defence. The revolutionary committee has divided Poland into 23 districts, each of which is to furnish 400 men and to pay taxes: Lodz is to supply 25,000, and Czenstochow 10,000 roubles. Branches of the central committee are to be established in each district for the purpose of collecting taxes and raising recruits, and for the administration of the penal law. The remarkable capabilities for self-govern-ment shown by the Poles during the events of 1861-2 are now coming out in a surprising manner. They cheerfully pay taxes to the national committee at Warsaw, and obey all its as if it were the constituted government of the country. The proclamation of the central committee giving up |to the peasants the land on which they work, and remunerating the landowners out of the public funds, has produced most favorable effect, and is already being acted upon. It is producing good fruits in the gradual addition to the insurgent ranks of numbers of peasants from all parts of the country. In Lithuania, in the Kalisch district, the majority of the insurgent bands consist of peasants. All classes are rapidly uniting a

resistance to Russia, which when participated in by all Poland, must become irresistible. Russian soldiers constantly cross the frontier in search of insurgents, and the Prussian troops return the visit. Lately, near Siewiesz, the soldiers of Prussia basely shot a young Pole who had crossed the frontier into Russian Poland in pursuit of some deer that were destroying his fields. Their ardor in the cause of Russia was such that, rather than let their victim escape, they violated Russsian territory, and, after firing twice at him, trampled out the little life that was left in his body. We learn, however, that on April 21 the restrictions upon the crossing of the frontiers were removed.

The insurgent forces are growing very formidable, and are gradually surrounding the towns, which they hold in a sort of blockade. Troops are constantly being sent out of Warsaw to break through the Polish cordon, but they always return with more or less killed or wounded, attesting the failure of the attempt. In Kalisch and the other smaller towns the troops are not sufficiently numerous to venture out on expeditions of this kind, and the alarm prevailing in the garrisons is said to be extreme. In the villages and the open country the national government already rules supreme; its officers collect taxes and conduct the local administration generally, and its ordinances are posted up everywhere, and universally obeyed.

Telegrams received from Cracow, dated April 23, represent the condition of the Poles in highly favorable terms.

A band of insurgents, about 650 strong, including 150 cavalry, was, we learn, posted at Gosenice, together with two corps, numbering 500, at Paczolewike, the entire force intending to attack Olkusz. A well-armed body of insurgents, 600 strong, is said to be in the district of Cracow. Lelewel's division has been reinforced, and maintains its position, while General Berg is said to have demanded 100,000 additional troops.

From Wilna news has been received announcing the fact that the insurrection has again broken out in Volhynia and Podolla. It is also asserted that the insurgents have been victorious near Bas.