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Józef Sowiński (1777–1831) was a Polish general of artillery and one of the popular heroes of the November Uprising of 1831.
Biography
Józef Longin Sowiński was born March 15, 1777 in Warka. After completing his studies in the famous Szkoła Rycerska in Warsaw, he joined the Polish Army as a lieutenant during the Kościuszko Uprising of 1794. After the fall of the uprising and the dismemberment of Poland by her neighbour states, the regiment of Sowiński was drafted into the Prussian army. However, after the Duchy of Warsaw was proclaimed by Napoleon Bonaparte, Sowiński defected back to the Polish service.
He fought in various battles of the Napoleonic wars. During Napoleon's invasion of Russia of 1812 he lost his leg in the Battle of Mozhaysk . After the Congress of Vienna he returned to Poland and served as the commander of the Warsaw Arsenal of the army of the Kingdom of Poland. In 1920 he became the commander of the Application School for officers.
After the outbreak of the November Uprising against Russia in 1830, Sowiński became the commander of artillery of the garrison of Warsaw and head of the Government Commission of War (de facto Ministry of War). During the Russian assault on Warsaw in 1831 Sowiński personally commanded the defence of western approaches to the Polish capital, in what is now the borrough of Wola. He was killed September 6, 1831, during the heroic defence of the Polish positions.
His death was immortalised by Juliusz Słowacki, one of the greatest Polish poets, in his poem Sowiński w okopach Woli (Sowiński in the trenches of Wola).
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