“A Soldier’s Life Is a March Through Strikes and Blows.” Traumatic Memories of the Polish Exiles Conscripted into the Caucasian and Orenburg Corps in the First Half of the 19th Century

Abstract

Penal service in the Russian army – apart from exile to Siberia – was one of the main forms of repression used against Poles convicted of political crimes under the Russian rule in the first half of the 19th century. Over time, officers could apply for dismissal, but the living conditions of ordinary soldiers was appalling, as evidenced by the diaries and letters of exiles conscripted into the Caucasian Corps (including Mateusz Gralewski, Zygmunt Rewkowski, Franciszek Sawicz, Hipolit Jaworski, Władysław Jurkowski) and the Orenburg Corps (including Adolf Jabłoński, Bronisław Zaleski, Maksymilian Jatowt, Walerian Staniszewski), as well as Agaton Giller serving in eastern Siberia. They travelled on foot thousands of kilometers to the place of exile, often in shackles and chains, hungry, marching regardless of severe frosts, unbearable heat and torrential rains, frequently in the mountains. They spent their nights in old, wooden, ruined barracks that lacked air and were full of vermin. They slept on bunk beds or on the ground, among excrement, which caused epidemics and deaths. The tragic fate of the Polish soldiers also resulted from the obligation to participate in the imperial conquests of the tsar’s army – together with the Russians, they had to attack and murder the peoples of the Caucasus, today’s Kazakhstan, and western Siberia, who were defending their freedom. Every day they lived in cramped dugouts, where they slept on the ground on dirty pallets, wearing uniforms and shoes, and were themselves often covered with filth. Those simple soldiers were constantly beaten and humiliated physically and mentally. They are beating with fists whenever commanders were in such a mood. The most cruel was public flogging where soldiers were beaten with sticks, batons, rods, quirts and whips. The punishment ranged from several hundred to several thousand strokes, which often resulted in the victim’s agony and death. Flogging was used even for minor or alleged offenses. The widespread cruelty promoted sadism among the commanders, and demoralization spread (drunkenness, gambling, brothels). Privates also succumbed to it. The soldiers were afraid of getting ill because in hospitals they were beaten, robbed of food, and prescribed inappropriate medicines by unqualified staff. The mortality rate in the Russian army was very high – only a few Poles managed to return to their homeland.