Poland 1830 - 1831

[Stijn David]

Hello,

During a recent research in the Belgian archives i cam accros a very interesting soldier. Namely the later Brigadegeneral Langermann D.G.G. He was originaly a German (Born in Gustrow - Mecklenburg) and entered military service in 1807 with the french Army.

After he had a very strange and rather adventurous career he ended up it seems in 1830 in Poland as a Batallionschef in th rang of Captain and Ordonannsofiicer of General lamarque?

He did earn the following awards (wcih i can't identify at this point) in regards towards Poland:

* 22 Mai 1831: Gold Military merit cross (Polen)

* 24 September 1831; Knight of the military merit order (Polen)

Can anyone give me more background on how a French officer does end up arround 1830/1831 with 2 polish awards? and how do these look like, etc ....

All information is much appreciated.

Cordial greetings,

[Ulsterman]

In the 1830s there was a aristocratic revolt in Poland against the Czarist Russian occupiers.

There is an excellent overall history of the campaign and some really well written (a la Flashman!) personal memoirs by "soldiers of fortune"/adventurers and political neo-Bonapartists/Liberals who served in the Polish armies (@60,000 strong). There were strong personal ties between the Polish aristocracy and the french (esp. Bonapartists) who had served together in the Grand Armee'.

Had Marshal Poniatowski lived after Leipzig Napoleon (said) he'd planned to make him King of and independent Poland.

There were a number of large battles and by 1831 the Russians had crushed the Poles, many of whom fled to France. After the revolt Russia absorbed Poland directly into Russia proper, ended Poland's separate "Grand Duchy" status. the Russians awarded campaign medals for the campaign in Poland and the capture of Warsaw

Chopin wrote the famous Polonaise in response to those dramatic events.

The Arringtons bookshop had several of these early editions, which mentioned at length medal awards and acts of gallantry, about 5 years ago. Most leather-bound volumes run @ $250 each and sources are few and far between.

It's an interesting subject and one I've only spent about an hour on. It's one of those things I always thought, "hmm, that sounds interesting, I must research that one day".

There were later revolts as well, some of which were photographed in 1863, in some of the earliest war photos ever taken.

I'm willing to bet there's quite a bit of information on 1830 in Polish, as yet untranslated.

Edited January 29, 2009 by Ulsterman

[Stijn David]

Hello,

Thank you for the additional information. Very interesting. I have een brwosing a bit about the Polish orders and decorations of the period and teh conferred polish orders must have been ones of the Virtuti Militari.

As after the november uprising and the war broke out the polsih (sjem) decreed on 19 February 1831 that the decoration had to be restored in its original name "The Order Virtuti Militari".

The order had the following rgades:

1: Grand cross

2: Commander's cross

3: Knight

4: Gold cross

5: Silver cross

As far as i could find there where approx. 3.863 crosses (all grades) awarded between 3 March and Octobre 1831. This 3.863 can be devided in the following numbers:

1 e class: non awarded

2 nd. class :1 awarded

3 thd class: 105 awarded

4 th class: 1.794 awarded

5 th class: 1.963 awarded

After the defeat of the Polsih troops the Russian tsar abolished the decoration and banned its use. On 31 December 1831 it was replaced by another decoration.

So our Belgian with German roots (he was naturalized towards Belgianin 1842) earned the 4 the class (gold cross) as well as the 3 the class.(knight).

Anyone who has a list of all 3.863 recipients so we could check him? Offcoarse all additional info would be much appreciated.

Cordial greetings,

Edited January 29, 2009 by Stijn David

[Kris D]

Hi David,

I have checked out this man in "The Order of the Virtuti Militari and its cavaliers 1792 - 1992" by Prof Zdzislaw P. Wesolowski.

On page 161 there is the following entry:

Langerman Jerzy, Pulkownik (Colonel), 4th class, 1 Dyw Piechoty (1st Infantry Division), 1831.22.05

There are no other entries for this man. It would appear from his name that he was Polish of German / Dutch and possibly Jewish origin.

Regards

Kris Duzniak

www.polishmedals.co.uk

[Stijn David]

Hello Kris,

Thank you for checking the name and the additional information. At least the 4 th class is confirmed now.

The case Langermann is a rather odd one. He was a native German who went into Napoleon's army and finally ended his career as a (naturalized) Belgian Brigadegeneral. And in the meantime he was also amongst the Polish it seems and did get a Virtuti Militari for his efforts against teh Russians.

Any idea where to fnd out more about the 1th Infantery DIvision and where these saw action?

Cordial greetings,