Kozacy w oczach polskich pamiętnikarzy-żołnierzy z początku XIX wieku

Abstract

The Cossacks in the eyes of Polish soldier memoirists from the early 19^th century

The article focuses on the perception of the Cossacks serving in the Russian army during Napoleonic wars by those Poles who decided to fight on the side of the “god of war”. The image that emerges from their memoirs is generally free from old sentiments and resentments from the times of the first Commonwealth. The Cossacks are portrayed as brave and tenacious opponents striking unspeakable terror into the French and their German allies, opponents that are nevertheless prone to plunder and various acts of violence; very rarely, however, are they perceived as former fellow citizens. Usually, the Cossacks from the Don River region are correctly distinguished from those from former Zaporizhian Sich.