Poles in the Civil War: 1861-1865

When the Civil War began, there were approximately thirty thousand Poles in the United States.^[1] About four thousand Poles served in the Union army; of these 166 were commissioned officers. Vladimir Krzyzanowski, for example, was commander of the Union’s Polish Legion and widely respected for his bravery. Enlisting in the army as a private, he quickly assumed a more active and responsible role when he recruited a company of militia, called Krzyzanowski’s Company, and was promoted to the rank of major. In 1861 he was directed by the Secretary of War, Cameron, to “recruit a regiment among all the Poles of the Union.” Krzyzanowski enlisted four hundred men and the regiment was named the United States Rifles. Operating as an independent, voluntary unit at first, it merged with the Morgan Rifles later in the War and ultimately, was made a regular division of the Union Army, the Fifty-Eighth New York Infantry. Called the Polish Legion because a majority of the men were descendants of immigrants, it is listed under this name in the Official Army Register of the Volunteer Forces of the United States Army.^[2]

When Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson attacked General Fremont of the Union Army at Cross Keys, Virginia on June 8, 1862, Krzyzanowski’s regiments were used to support the command of Brigadier General Julius H. Stahel. The actions of his men were integral in preventing the Confederates from destroying Fremont’s Army. Captain Schimer, in charge of one of the batteries that saw heavy combat, illustrated the respect for Krzyzanowski that was typical among the soldiers in his official report. The Fifty-Eighth Regiment, he emphasized, “behaved with great gallantry under the command of Colonel Krzyzanowski.”

Later in the year, Krzyzanowski was made commander of the Second Brigade, Third Division, a combined infantry and artillery unit once again. He was responsible for the Fourth and Fifty-Eighth New York, Seventy-Fifth Pennsylvania Infantry, and a battery of the second New York Light Artillery. Active in the battles at Fox Ford, Sulpher Springs, Waterloo Springs, and Govenon, Virginia,^[3] Krzyzanowski’s Division also fought furiously and successfully at the Battle of Bull Run. “The gallantry with which Colonel Krzyzanowski on the left wing withstood and repelled the frequent and fierce assaults of the enemy,” declared General Carl Schurz,” commands the highest praise.” President Lincoln, in addition, nominated him for promotion to the rank of brigadier general; however, the Senate refused to ratify this request. Apparently Krzyzanowski felt little resentment or anger at this injustice, and he continued to fight for the Union until the War ended.

The Poles who were fighting in the Union and Confederate armies were men of high ideals. Their military experience was of much value since most were commissioned officers as well as veterans of wars for freedom of past decades.

Civil War annals cannot pass by names like Joseph Karze, who was considered one of the best cavalry officers, and became a general in the Union Army; Allin F. Schoepf, a brigadier general who defeated the Confederates at Rock Hills in 1861; and Major Gaspard Tochman and Colonel Valery Sulakowski of the Confederate army.