Maciej Trąbski

The Prussians are attacking the Wawel castle – plans of Cracow defence in the spring of 1793

At the beginning of 1793, the Prussian army marched onto the territory of the western provinces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, executing the plan of the Second Partition of Poland signed in Saint Petersburg. Due to the lack of information concerning the maximum range of the annexation in the early spring, the Confederate authorities started to fear that Cracow might be taken too – by Prussia or by Austria. Thus, general Józef Wodzicki was tasked with securing the city. However, he had to face the fact that there was no possibility of planning his actions around the fortifications and that he had only modest forces at his disposal.

The Orders and Memories of General Dominik Dziewanowski – source materials to the history of the war of 1812
Among the numerous sources which have survived after the war of 1812, the materials which were authored by Brigadier General Dominik Dziewanowski – the commander of the 28th Light Cavalry Brigade, deserve special attention. We are referring here to his Brulion rozkazów /Record of Orders/ and Dziennik wypadków wojennych 1812 /Diary of Events of the War of 1812/. Both sources and particularly the Diary of Events.. have been consulted repeatedly by historians dealing with the war of 1812. The Diary contains a lot of information which may serve as material for investigating specific research issues, such as: the organization and preparation of cavalry units of the Warsaw Duchy to the war of 1812, the methods of protecting the border with Russia on the eve of the campaign as well as ways of obtaining intelligence information concerning the situation in Russia, cavalry operational tactics and army discipline during the war of 1812. Some interesting information can also be found on the issue of the relation between the army and the civilian officials of the Warsaw Duchy as well as the relation between army officials and the civilian population on the territories of Belarus which were occupied by the Great Army. Naturally, the above materials also constitute an excellent source for tracing the activities of the 28th Light Cavalry Brigade in the campaign of 1812 as well as the activity of the Polish army units during the blockade of Bobrujsk. In the present article we shall focus on selected examples from both sources.

Fortresses as a guarantee of loyalty. British fortifications in the area of northern Scotland in the first half of the 18th century

In the first half of the 18th century, the Scottish Highlands were a “wild and inaccessible” area, and from London’s perspective, they were at least uncertain as far as local inhabitants’ loyalty was concerned. The Highlands were controlled by clans, who cultivated social and economic traditions dating back to the mediaeval times. Despite it being anachronistic, this system made it possible to gather significant forces, not so well armed, but usually strongly motivated. Although some clan leaders quickly backed William of Orange, and what follows the Hanoverian dynasty, state forces were not able to control the whole area of the Highlands. What is more, strategic territories on the western coast and in Great Glen were occupied by pro‑Jacobean clans. Due to that fact, the authorities were forced to introduce military garrisons into the Highlands that were supposed to force all the inhabitants to be loyal to the government. However, soldiers had to stay in safe conditions so that they could defend themselves in case Scottish Jacobites attacked them, especially if the latter were backed by the regular French military forces. That is why the first fortress started to be built already during the uprising of 1689. Finally, up to 1745, 3 fortress and 4 fortified barrack complexes were erected in the area of the Highlands.