She was a natural born soldier. She fought better and more eagerly than her colleagues. Despite her obvious heroism, she was refused a Virtuti Militari Cross. She had to wait nine years for this - and finally she was awarded the order ... by the grace of the partitioner.
Joanna Żubr, née Pasławska, was born on May 24, 1782 in Berdyczów in Wołyń. From childhood, she was distinguished by a solid figure and strength, as well as - unlike the rest of the girls - her interest in military affairs. Her father, Jan Pasławski, fought in the Bar Confederation. My daughter loved hearing his stories about his struggles with the Russians.
Joanna Żubrowa distinguished herself during the conquest of Zamość in 1809.
In 1797, at the age of 15, Joanna married a young, handsome lieutenant of the Polish army, Jan Domusławski, who had recently returned from Russian captivity after the Kościuszko Uprising. She bore him four children, but none of them survived. Worse still, in 1805 Domusławski himself also died. Only 22-year-old girl became a widow.
To the army! To the army!
However, she did not stay long in her widowhood. In the same year, she married a local landowner Maciej Żubr. The spouses lived happily, taking advantage of the property inherited by Joanna. Maciej also worked as an attorney at law in Żytomierz. But a quiet life was not given to them. As Andrzej Fedorowicz writes in the book "Rebels" , dedicated to exceptional women in Polish history: "they both had rebellious souls, and the times to come needed such people" .
In 1807, the appeal of general Jan Henryk Dąbrowski and Józef Wybicki, calling on Poles to fight against the invaders, reached Wołyń. It electrified the Żubr couple, who sold all their property and went to Warsaw to join the emerging Polish Army. Their journey is about an adventure novel or movie.
They crossed the Russian-Austrian border in a crowd of pilgrims heading for the sanctuary of Our Lady in Pidkamin. Unfortunately, they were arrested in Galicia for lack of passports. They were transported to Lviv. There, while they stayed overnight at the inn, they had all their money and most of their clothes robbed. In addition, they were threatened with deportation to Russia and punishment for illegal border crossing, and even treason, if their destination was revealed . To avoid this, Maciej joined the Austrian army (the soldiers were not deported). From there - with the money obtained from the sale of the rest of the property - Joanna bought it.
Joanna and her husband Maciej dreamed of joining the army of the Duchy of Warsaw.
Although the spouses regained their freedom, they did not have the money to continue their journey to Warsaw. For the 10 Rhenish zlotys they had left, they rented a wagon and went to Puławy, to the residence of Prince Adam Kazimierz Czartoryski, known for his patriotic attitude. The aristocrat welcomed the Żubrów, listened to their stories, and then donated 20 ducats for the further journey.
It seemed to be going smoothly now. The bad luck, however, did not cease:on the way Maciej fell with a severe flu and spent several weeks in a room rented in the inn, fighting for his life. He did not recover until the fall. Then the spouses went to Ulatowo nad Sanem, where they boarded a barge to Warsaw. They only reached Magnuszew, because the river was frozen further. They walked on foot to Warka, where the hired guide took them by boat across the unfrozen Pilica river. And so - finally - they found themselves in the Duchy of Warsaw.
Private Żubrów
In the capital, Maciej wanted to join the cavalry, but he had no money for expensive uniforms and equipment. So he landed in the 2nd Infantry Regiment, in which he became a corporal. To avoid being separated from her husband, Joanna had a clever idea. As Andrzej Fedorowicz writes:
Announces that will cut her hair, dress up as a man and join the army with her husband claiming to be his younger brother. That way, they could be together and she would also get paid. Maciej doesn't believe his ears at first, but he starts to like the idea more and more .
It also happened - Żubrowa was in the same company as its other half. "Her thick features and the soldier's work environment completely covered her female gender," wrote in the text from the era. Nico put it more delicately by the author of "Rebels" :"Tall, tanned, with a strong voice, a twenty-six-year-old girl successfully pretends to be a man, making up with her face and decisive movements."
Not only that, Joanna quickly found an additional job in the regiment. As she knew tailoring, she began to match the soldiers with awkwardly sewn uniforms. The commander of the company, Captain Słupecki, gave her to help several soldiers who were well-versed with a needle and scissors, and the workshop for processing the uniforms of the Duchy of Warsaw army was in full swing. For each piece, a resolute woman took one and a half zlotys. As a result, slowly she became the richest soldier in the company .
Joanna had a true soldier stature and for a good few months she managed to pretend to be her husband's younger brother. Illustrative illustration.
Everything was going well, until after a few months it finally became clear what the real gender of Corporal Żubr's "younger brother" was. Women were not allowed to serve in the army, so such a hoax was threatened with serious consequences for an illegal recruiter. However, Captain Słupecki liked his two subordinates for their enthusiasm and great presentation at drills, and moreover ... he did not want to lose a good seamstress.
He advised Joanna to write a request for permission to remain in the ranks to the regiment commander, Colonel Stanisław Potocki. He was amused by the situation, but he was not going to make things any easier for the soldier. To discourage her, he offered her to serve as a so-called frejkadet , i.e. a volunteer with his own uniform, equipment, rifle and food, and in addition without any pay ...
However, he underestimated the determination of the woman who approached him. And she, by adjusting the uniforms, accumulated quite a large sum of money, which she could spend on purchasing a rifle and the rest of the equipment. She didn't have to worry about food, because in the meantime Maciej was promoted to furier, i.e. a non-commissioned officer responsible for delivering food to the unit. He could take care of food for his wife. To Potocki's surprise, Joanna agreed to his terms! And thus officially began her service in the army of the Duchy of Warsaw.
Born to fight
Żubrów was baptized in combat in the famous battle of Raszyn on April 19, 1809. As we read in the book by Andrzej Fedorowicz:
It was the first time she felt what battle frenzy was. The fight consumed her completely. The fear was gone, she felt nothing but the desire to defeat her enemies. When she saw the Austrian soldiers retreating from the fire, ignoring bullets and explosions, she chased after them.
Later, she took part in the victorious forays against the Austrians, for example at Góra Kalwaria. However, her greatest moment of glory was on the night of May 19-20, 1809, a few days before her 27th birthday.
In mid-May, Polish troops commanded by French General Jean Pelletier, seconded to the Polish Army, approached Zamosc, defended by three thousand Austrian soldiers. The Polish forces were twice as small and the city had massive fortifications, making it a fortress difficult to conquer.
Zamość had huge fortifications, making it a fortress difficult to conquer.
Nevertheless, the Poles began the assault. Joanna found herself in a column commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Brzechwa, who was ordered to make a mock attack on the Lviv Gate. Two other columns were attacking the Lubelska and Szczebrzeska Gates, and at the same time the main forces, equipped with ladders, tried to conquer the bastions and breach the walls.
At 11 p.m. soldiers from Brzechwa fired cannons at the Lwów Gate and then approached it for several dozen meters. Contrary to the plan, as well as common sense, the commander gave the order for a real attack. Joanna was one of the first to storm, running next to her husband. Together with her friends, she stormed the embankments near the Szczebrzeska Gate, dragging other soldiers with her and contributing to the capture of the city. According to another version, led a small unit through the secret gate and was the first to enter the fortress, paving the way for the main forces .
When General Pelletier reported to Prince Józef Poniatowski the next day, he mentioned a brave soldier who was one of the first to break through the walls of Zamość. In turn, Colonel Potocki congratulated Joanna on the act, promised to honor her with the Virtuti Militari order and be promoted to the rank of sergeant. The news about the heroism of a woman in a uniform spread quickly, and the case was described in the "Gazeta Korespondenta Warszawskiego i Zagranicznego" newspaper. Żubrowa became famous. However, it soon turned out that the fame was quite fleeting…
A woman from Virtuti Militari? Never!
Prince Józef Poniatowski summoned the brave subordinate to his quarters near Sandomierz, praised her and handed over a commemorative weapon - a captured rifle. He also promised a promotion and a decoration. Unfortunately, Joanna was in for a disappointment. When the commission of decorations placed her on the list of candidates for the Virtuti Militari cross, discontent broke out among the staff officers. Their delegation went to the prince to protest, arguing that a woman should not be awarded such a decoration . He succumbed and offered Joanna a cash prize instead of the order. But it touched the soldier to the living.
"I did not fight for money, but for the honor of the motherland!" - quotes her emotional response Andrzej Fedorowicz - "I fought as a Pole, not as a mercenary. Although you will not give a cross, I will serve and have a cross ” . Discouraged and disgusted, the heroine from Zamość moved to the 17th Infantry Regiment. Her husband walked with her. In the new unit, the woman was promoted to furier and started shopping for provisions. And in 1812, in the ranks of their regiment, the Żubrów set off for Moscow. As we read in "Rebels" :
She had to save her husband from Russian dragoons near Bobruisk in Belarus, with twenty-five soldiers she dispersed a unit of 150 Cossacks at Ostromecko, near Nowe Żurawicze saved a patrol surprised by the Russians by organizing a risky crossing of the freezing Dnieper . When, in the face of defeats, the Grand Army finally had to withdraw from Russia, the Polish units in which the Żubrów fought covered its retreat .
Joanna was badly injured at Berezina. Despite this, after returning to the country, she still took part in the fights for Częstochowa. Later, both her husband and I wanted to get to the Polish branches in Saxony, but only Maciej managed to do so. His wife, suffering from illness, stayed in Lublin. He came back a year and a half later.
Prince Constantine helps
Joanna Żubrowa received the promised Virtuti Militari cross only nine years after the assault of Zamość. In 1817, she went to the War Commission of the Kingdom of Poland, demanding her outstanding pay and the right to a military pension. It was received by General Józef Rautenstrauch, the head of the commission verifying the decorations awarded during the Duchy of Warsaw. He knew the story of the female soldier and was greatly surprised that this famous woman had not in fact received the Virtuti Militari.
Joanna Żubr was prayed for the Virtuti Militari Cross for a long time. Illustrative photo.
The case became high-profile and reached the Grand Duke Konstantin. He issued a decision to award a well-deserved cross, and to pay Joanna 40 zlotys for a military pension every month. Maciej got a job as a forester in the forests of Popowice near Wieluń, where they both lived.
When, after her husband's death, Joanna sometimes appeared in Warsaw - tall, in a black dress, with the Virtuti Militari cross on her breast - she was widely respected. During the November Uprising she called on women to participate in the fight and helped the insurgents . She died on July 9, 1852, at the age of 70, during a cholera epidemic.
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