French Influences in the Administration of the Warsaw Duchy
French influences in the administration of the Warsaw Duchy revealed themselves chiefly in the legal and constitutional order. They concerned the organizational principles applied in the administration, the conception of the organization of the central government, the appointment of the Ministers Council, the Council of State, the two-instance administrative legislature and other forms of control, as well as the shape of the territorial administration. In practice this boiled down exclusively to an adaptation of the French model of administration through adjusting it to the political and social conditions of the Duchy. Consequently, the reception of the French solutions had a superficial character and was in fact limited to the adoption of their external systemic forms. The model of the French administration was also modifi ed by taking into consideration Polish political traditions. In reality efforts were made to attain a compromise, in the effect of which an autonomous, Polish administrative system with clear links to the French model had been created. According to the main assumption of its authors, the system in question was to ascertain the speed, flexibility and uniformity of operation of the entire administrative state apparatus.

Should the American-British war of 1812–1814 in North America be regarded as belonging to the Napoleonic wars?
According to the author, the American-British war of 1812 is a constituent part of the Napoleonic wars as it was closely associated with the political situation on the Old Continent, where Napoleon had been embroiled in armed conflicts. It was difficulties associated with the continental blockade, introduced by Napoleon as well as the British counter-blockade that lay at the root of the conflict between Washington and London; the difficulties were particularly harmful to the American trade. It is no coincidence that the American troops marched into Canada at the same time (June 1812) as the Napoleonic army marched into Russia. This chapter in history is not particularly popular in the United States which is due, among others, to the fact that the confl ict ended as a matter of fact in a status quo. The peace talks conducted in Ghent remained in the shadow of the negotiations taking place at the Congress of Vienna whereas an interest of the European diplomacy, including the British one, in ending the conflict, was of secondary significance compared to the topicality of European issues.

Polish territories (Warsaw Duchy and the liberated Lithuania) seen through the eyes of the soldiers of the Great Army during the 1812 summer offensive
Thanks to the memoirs and preserved correspondence of around fifteen soldiers of the Napoleonic army (captains, such as Coignet, sergeants such as Bourgogne, and generals such as Rapp or Boulard), we can now reconstruct vividly the image of the Warsaw Duchy and Lithuania at the beginning of the Russian campaign. On the geographical plane, one is struck by the vastness of the country, the harsh climatic conditions and difficulties in travel. Yet these testimonies are imprecise as regards the local population: the soldiers draw attention to a big number of Jews in cities and they emphasize that the emperor did not fully take advantage of the courage of the Polish soldiers. As regards politics, they draw attention to the enthusiasm of the Poles, but also to their disappointment with Napoleon’s indecisiveness. They all express their anxiety and misgivings as to the future, which is hardly surprising, particularly in the case of the texts written after the withdrawal of the Napoleonic army from Russia.

Participation of the Lithuanian army in the 1812 campaign
When the Great Army crossed the Niemen river taking over the eastern territories of the former Commonwealth of Poland and when in Warsaw the Parliament announced the creation of the Polish Kingdom, Napoleon imposed a new organization upon Lithuania and decided that a Lithuanian army should be created there. The new regiments were to be a proof of Lithuanian involvement on the side of the French emperor and besides, they were to secure and protect the supply lines of the war activities. Apart from the 3rd Chevaux-Légere Regiment of the Imperial Army, work was started on the organization of infantry regiments which received the successive numbers of the regiments of the Warsaw Duchy, from the 18th to the 22nd as well as the Ulhan regiments (light cavalry) with the numbers from the 17th to the 20th. The front line units were supplemented with two regiments consisting of volunteers, namely the 21st regiment of mounted riflemen and a squadron of the Tatars. The formation of the Lithuanian armed forces encountered considerable diffi culties and the lack of funds made it virtually impossible to provide adequate equipment and uniforms to the troops. The ulhan regiments struggled with a lack of horses which the country had earlier on been deprived of by the Russians and the French. In this situation, the Lithuanian troops could achieve full combat efficiency only towards the end of 1812. Yet contrary to the previous opinions, the army had an efficient officer corps and the recruits drafted to the infantry and cavalry regiments were young and healthy individuals, out of which nearly 10% were volunteers. Some of the Lithuanian regiments which had not yet been fully formed and trained confronted the Russians already during the 1812 campaign. This was partly due to the threat which emerged in the south of the Lithuanian territories, together with the arrival of the army of admiral Tschitshagov from the Turkish front; the latter wished to cut off the retreat route of the Napoleonic army. In the article, the author presents the battles which the Lithuanian troops had fought, among others at Slonim, Kojdanov, and ultimately at Berezina and in defense of Vilnius. The analysis allowed the author to assess anew the involvement of Lithuanians in the war of 1812 and to clarify numerous inaccuracies and errors which occurred in the descriptions of the war activity of the Lithuanian regiments. The author also discusses the retreat of the new regiments to the west which, following their reorganization in 1813 and the taking over by the French, allowed them to take part in the defense of Modlin as well as in the campaigns of 1813 and 1814 on the territory of Germany and Denmark

Smolensk in the fetters of ice. On the reorganization of the Great Napoleonic Army in November 1812
In the year 1812, Smoleńsk was to have served as a supply center for the Great Army. When deciding to retreat from the battlefield at Malojaroslavec, Napoleon was convinced that Smoleńsk was well prepared and that the Great Army would be able to spend the winter in its vicinity. Yet it turned out that the Great Army commissariat and the local Napoleonic governors were not able to adequately prepare the Smoleńsk fortress. Therefore on reaching Smoleńsk, Napoleon made the decision that the Great Army should retreat further to the west – onto the territories of the former Polish Commonwealth – Lithuania. In the course of a few days from 9–14 November, he managed to increase the size of the Great Army by around 20 thousand soldiers. When leaving Smoleńsk, Napoleon’s army had still around two hundred canons at its disposal. It had adequate supplies of food, ammunition and was to a large degree “rejuvenated”. Napoleon had attained a great feat at Smoleńsk. He had in fact saved the Great Army. Without his effort, the army’s further march would have been impossible. The reorganized Great Army was able to retreat further to the west and its regiments were ready to fend off the attacks of the enemy – that is Russians, as was proved by the heavy fighting in the battle of Krasne.

Krakow as a center offering assistance to the Great Army during the Russian campaign of 1812
In the Napoleonic plans concerning the war with Russia in 1812, Kraków was not supposed to play any major role. The marches of Napoleonic army troops did not lead through the city nor were there plans of locating any major food storage places for the Great Army here. During the several drafts to the army of the Warsaw Duchy, conducted in 1812, 381 recruits were drafted from the city of Krakow; moreover the Krakow regiment of the National Guards, consisting of 160 soldiers, took part in the campaign. Shortly before the outbreak of the war, the soldiers of the 7th and 8th corps of the Great Army were supplied with food at the expense of the city. However the organization of food supplies was not carried out well; it was delayed and the city authorities were not able to collect the supplies and dispatch them on time. During the war, Krakow did not realize any major military orders; it was only in December 1812 that the government imposed on the city the obligation to gather a bigger food contingent which led to vehement protests of the city council. In the opinion of witnesses, Krakow and its surroundings came out of the war of 1812 relatively unscathed; the city itself had not suffered at the hands of the marauders of the Great Army and was able to play a decisive role in the reorganization of the Polish troops in 1813, as a logistic and supply center for the units of the Warsaw Duchy.

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.

Between public and private life. Everyday dilemmas of the officers of Napoleon’s Great Army, on the basis of unknown letters of Jacques-Martin-Madeleine Ferrière of 1812 and 1813
The article constitutes an attempt to analyze the events of 1812 and 1813 from the perspective of an individual, in this case, Brigadier General Jacques-Martin-Madelaine Ferrière, governor of Białystok and military commander of Warsaw. It is based on a collection of letters which have not so far been used in the research on Ferrière’s biography. The correspondence between the general and his wife constitutes an interesting insight into the moods and feelings which prevailed in Napoleon’s Great Army in 1812, and particularly during the army retreat in 1813 (among numerous officers  and soldiers, there prevailed a feeling of weariness and even discouragement with the protracted war activities). Moreover, the analysis of the above correspondence reveals a lot of interesting details concerning the everyday life of the officers of Napoleon’s army in the capital of the Duchy of Warsaw as well as during the army maneuvers in Silesia and Lusatia in 1813.