Pamiętnik Biblioteki Kórnickiej

The inscription “I am the Polish manor house, which fi ghts bravely and guards faithfully”, placed above the entry to the manor houses in the 19th century, suggested that in the face of the catastrophe of the state, the house has become a shelter of tradition. This belief was verifi ed by writers creating their works aft er the January Uprising, such as Michał Bałucki; but it was Eliza Orzeszkowa who presented the motif of the annihilation of a family seat most perfectly in her novella Śmierć domu [Death of the House]. In her poetic description, the author showed the transformation of the house into a grave. It is worth to recall Orzeszkowa’s last literary idea in this context. She shared it with Eugenia Żmijewska, who edited it as a novella Dwa spotkania [Two Meetings]. The romantic plot starts near a devastated, sealed Polish manor house. Theoretically speaking, the love between a Russian aristocrat and an insurgent’s widow could save the house, but it is also in this case that the destruction becomes unavoidable. The process of destruction was also described by Maria Rodziewiczówna in her novel Pożary i zgliszcza [Fires and Smoking Ruins]. Numerous images of the endangered or lost manor house express the [Poles’] awareness of the end of a certain form of Polish identity after 1864.

The once famous defence of the manor house at Glanów near Imbramowice (a region of Małopolska) took place on Saturday 15 August, 1863. A detachment of insurgents under the command of the brothers Edward and Gustaw Habich, organised at the cost of Count Aleksander Krukowiecki, crossed the Austrian border to get to the Russian partition, and was attacked by three Moscow detachments by Glanów. The rear-guard comprising 10 insurgents led by the count, with Leon Rutkowski, to whom Glanów manor was leased, and his son Teofi l, defended themselves for several hours in the manor house set afi re by the Russians. Fatalities included a dozen or so Russians, Rutkowski, one insurgent and a woman. The encounter co-created the myth of the January Uprising for several dozens of years. It became the topic of a number of short literary works, but has not been the subject of a historical study so far. The author decided to fill in this gap and reconstructed the history of this encounter in detail, using previously unknown sources: a diary of the participant of the defence, Karol Firganek (…-1913; the work is highly critical towards official publications, which allows one to verify many details), as well as the archives and the tradition of the Novàk family – Leon Rutkowski’s descendants, who are still owners of the manor house at Glanów.

The author shows previously unknown links between Artur Grottger’s work, the defence of Glanów manor house of 15 August 1863, and the Novàk family. Along with the popular cycles of drawings devoted to the 1863 uprising, the artist authored a little known painting “Fire of a manor house near Miechów”, which was interpreted as a scene from the battle of Miechów which took place in February 1863. However, the painted scene takes place in the summer, and no other manor house than that at Glanów, situated just 15 km from Miechów, was consumed by fire in the area in 1863. At that time Glanów manor was leased to Leon Rutkowski, who died during the defence. After Leon’s death, the manor house was taken over by his son-in-law, Konstanty Novàk (greatgrandfather of the author of the article). Without any doubt, the painted scene refers to the Novàk family tradition, which has not yet been raised. Details of the composition are also consistent with the topography of the Glanów manor house. Additionally, Konstanty Novàk, one of the organisers of the uprising, was a close friend of Grottger’s. The artist gave him a few of his works, as well as his photograph in insurgent clothing, with a personal dedication, in 1863. Although the relations between Konstanty Novàk and Grottger are mentioned in source literature, the current article is the first one to show their consequences for the artist’s work.

The article is devoted to an unpublished diary of Karol Firganek (1840 –1913), an insurgent. In 1863 Karol was a fresh employee of the Lviv stretch of the railway of Archduke Charles Louis. In the summer of 1863 Firganek joined the uprising in a detachment which entered Congress Poland from Galicia. On 15 July, he participated in the famous defence of the manor at Glanów, which he described in detail. He returned to the uprising in December. He fought in the Świętokrzyskie Mountains, where he was promoted to the rank of an officer. In May 1864 Karol Firganek was taken captive and was convicted, but was freed as an Austrian subject and returned to work on the railways, reaching the high position of an inspector. His diary was kept by his children living in Stanisławów (currently called Ivanofrankivsk, Ukraine) – initially his son Kazimierz, and then his daughter Jadwiga, who remained in the family house, while the rest of the family was displaced in 1946 in connection with the change of the borders of Poland and the USSR. In 1964 Bolesław Suszka, Karol’s granddaughter’s, Janina’s, husband, received the diary from Jadwiga during his trip to the USSR, and managed to illegally bring it to Poland. Copies of the diary are kept in the Kórnik library and in the Ossolineum library in Wrocław. The original copy belongs to Janina and Bolesław Suszek from Kórnik.

The 1863 uprising was directed against Russia, but the insurgents also came from the Polish territories remaining under the Austrian and Prussian partitions. The region of Western Wielkopolska, which at that time belonged to Prussia, was home to the illegal Działyński Committee headed by Count Jan Działyński, Lord of the Kórnik manor. The Committee, having its representatives all over the region, conducted a large-scale smuggling of weapons and volunteers through the Prussian- Russian border, organised whole detachments, and imported offi cers for them, mainly from France. It is no wonder then that numerous volunteers originated from Kórnik and its surroundings. About 50 of them were identifi ed by their full name, but we know that there were many more. 35 years ago comprehensive research on the issue was conducted by Ryszard Marciniak. The author of the article summarizes Marciniak’s research results, supplementing them at some points.

Leon Król (1842 -1927) was born at Rogalin near Kórnik to the family of the manor administrator of Count Raczyński and was educated to become a saddler and harness-maker in Kórnik, Poznan, and Łowicz. In 1863, Leon joined Leon Young’s insurgent detachment. After the defeat suff ered by Brdów on 29 May, he subsequently came under the command of Alojzy Seyfried, Ludwik Oborski, and Edmund Taczanowski. He fought in the battles of Babsk (17 May), Niewiesz (23 May), Sędziejowice (26 August; it was here that he rendered outstanding services), and Kruszyna (29 August), where Taczanowski’s detachment was finally smashed. He then participated in insurgent gendarmerie actions at Łask and Szadek, and in the battle of Jeżew on 5 December 1863. Having returned to his family area, he was subsequently punitively conscripted into the Prussian army, served in several campaigns, and finally settled at Kórnik. After Poland regained independence in 1918, Leon Król was promoted to the rank of a lieutenant, received a uniform as a military veteran, and participated in the production of one of the first Polish historical fi lms. Many of his descendants still live in Kórnik today. The text of his unfi nished memories of 1863, written in 1911, has survived in the Kórnik Library in the form of a typescript copy, and was edited by Stanisława Andrejewska.

The letter, written by a participant of the Polish 1863 uprising in Poznan on 20 June 1863, was purchased from Bertrand Malvaux, an antiquarian from Nantes (“Arts militaires, souvenirs historiques”, 22, rue Crebillon) by Tomasz Paciorek in 2014, and was subsequently published by Jacek Kowalski in the form of a transcription and translation into Polish with a comprehensive commentary. The letter was probably authored by Victor-Alexandre Vayssière, second lieutenant (sous-lieutenant) serving in the 76th régiment de ligne stationed in Nantes, and was addressed to a Bareit (possibly Jules-François Bareit), serving as a second lieutenant in the 93rd régiment de ligne from Bayonne in 1864. Vayssière came to Poznan with a group of French volunteers brought by Count Jan Działyński from Kórnik. He participated in the insurgent campaign led by Leon Young (Junk, Jung) de Blankenheim, whose trail of battles and death are described [in the letter]. However, Vayssiére did not take part in the fighting due to an injury. He claimed that he was later off ered a promotion to the rank of a lieutenant and the command of a new expedition. Sources confirm Vayssière’s work on the preparation for the expedition, but do not mention his promotion to the rank of a lieutenant, or his participation in the expedition, which finished in a defeat suff ered on 15 July. Having returned to France, Vayssière (if identifi cation of this person is correct) took part in the French-Prussian war as a captain, defending the Belfort citadel – for which he was awarded the Legion of Honour.

Issues related to the small arms used in the January Uprising (1863-64) are as much interesting as they are complex. On the one hand, we have a considerable number of sources, including numerous reports and recollections of participants in the battles, photographs of insurgents in full gear, official documents (both Polish and Russian), and finally authentic exhibits collected in museums. On the other, the determination of the number of weapons in which Polish troops were equipped during the almost 18 months long war, as well as the concrete models of the arms, is an extremely difficult task. This question has so far been largely treated in general terms. Historians writing about the 1863-64 uprising focused their attention on the issues to do with the organisation of the purchase of weapons (devoting a lot of space to its fi nancing), as well as the amount of war material brought to Congress Poland. Normally, information on concrete types and models was omitted, which is partly understandable, since the Polish historiography concerning the 19th century military techniques remains almost virgin ground. Th is article attempts to summarise the available knowledge, show the armament issue in a broader context (“competition” in the European arms market), and determine the most important models of handguns and guns (i.e. those which were most frequently used in the insurgent army) on the basis of written, iconographic, and archaeological sources.

The author describes an object unknown in source literature – a souvenir which may have belonged to Romuald Traugutt, the dictator of the 1863 insurrection, who is still surrounded by a living cult. It is a silver cup with the engraved initials “R.T.”, made by a goldsmith from Moscow in 1860. According to family tradition written down by Irena Sosnowska, nee Szarecka, Romuald Traugutt exchanged glasses with Franciszek Jundziłło, commander of the neighbouring district, after the victorious battle of Horki (currently in Belarus). In 1865, Jundziłło’s widow is said to have given the souvenir to Stanisław Szarecki, her godson, who was a son of one of her husband’s comrades- in arm. The cup was inherited by Stanisław’s daughter, Irena Sosnowska, who handed it down to the author of the text, Stanisław Szarecki’s great-grandson. The author investigates the consistency of the family tale with the facts, and concludes that it is highly probably true. The detachments of Traugutt and Jundziłł, both former offi cers of the tsar’s army, fought near each other, in the area in which the Szarecki family’s manor – Strzałów (currently in Belarus) – was located.

The article presents Władysław Jordan’s activity in Turkey during the January Uprising on the basis of his correspondence kept in the Kórnik library. The analysed sources have made it possible to discuss the most important directions of the colonel’s actions and the particular steps he meant to take in order to support the Uprising. The article mentions Jordan’s beliefs, such as his vision of the Nation, his opinion on the Pope’s secular power, and his distinct attitude towards the Ukrainians. The correspondence is valuable not only owing to the information on the diplomatic and military actions undertaken in the period in question, but also due to the individual opinions and emotions, which cannot be found in offi cial documents. The gathered collection of letters is also a great source of knowledge, which sheds light on the relations between Polish activists who were members of the two political groups in exile.

The parish church at Kórnik was founded by Mikołaj Górka – the chancellor of the Poznan Cathedral Chapter, the owner of Kórnik castle, and the founder of the town of Kórnik. The church is an architectural copy of the Holy Virgin Mary in Summo – the collegiate church located by Poznan cathedral, erected in the style of master Brunsberg of Szczecin. It was consecrated in 1437, and it must have been largely finished by that time. It was only a couple of years ago that it was established that it had a tribune above its sacristy, and that together with the latter it had the exterior form of a tower. On the basis of architectural analysis, the author of the article reconstructs the shape of the tribune in detail and proves that it was completed in its entirety and used. He also formulates a thesis that the interior of the tribune combined the functions of a chapel and ceremonial area. The unusual shape of the great arcade, opening the interior of the tribune towards the church chancel, is an indication of a reference to the chapel tribunes in the towers surrounding the chancel of the Poznan cathedral.