THE DUCHY OF WARSAW 221signed in the French resort in 1808, the French government ceded possession of
former Prussian state property to the Duchy of Warsaw by selling it for a sum
of 25 million francs payable over only four years. In this way, the Polish tax-
payer was required to devote almost 10 per cent of the budget to redeem mort-
gages, buildings, and equipment which had been taken from him by the
Prussians only twelve years before, and which had come into French possession
as a prize of war. Generosity was not of the essence.^4
Meanwhile, the trumpets of glory called Poles to the colours. After a genera-
tion of unmitigated humiliation, there were plenty of young men determined to
prove their prowess on the battlefield. From the brilliant Polish 'Chevaux
Legers' of the Imperial Guard to the new regiments of Poniatowski's own army,
from the heights of the Peninsula to the depths of Russia, Polish valour went on
parade as never before since the days of Sobieski.
On 30 November 1808, Napoleon paused at the gates of Madrid. His advance
was blocked by a single Spanish division which held the narrow defile of
Somosierra, leading on to the lofty plateau where the Spanish capital stands.
Sixteen guns were holding off fifty thousand men. After repeated attempts to
force the position with infantry, the First Regiment of Chevaux Legers were
given the order to charge. The three hundred Varsovians under Jan Kozietuski
obeyed. Eight minutes later, the survivors emerged from the top of the ravine, a
thousand feet and three miles above the admiring Emperor. All the guns were
captured. The Spaniards' resistance was broken. Madrid was captured. In later
years, talk of the charge of Somosierra evoked the same reaction? in Warsaw as
mention of the Charge of the Light Brigade in London. The flower of the
nation's youth was thought to have perished in a distant land for the sake of a
courageous gesture. In fact, the exemplary sacrifice of those few men ensured
the passage of a whole army.^5
In the campaign of 1809, the Poles had a more immediate interest. The Duchy
of Warsaw sustained the full weight of the Austrian attack, and its army per-
formed with distinction. Archduke Ferdinand d'Este crossed from Galicia at the
head of 25,000 men, and in spite of a setback at the battle of Raszyn on 19 April,
forced his way into Warsaw. But Poniatowski stayed in the field. A series of cav-
alry raids deep into Austrian territory, to Sandomierz, Zamosc, and Lemberg,
undermined the Archduke's position. When news arrived in July of Napoleon's
victory at Wagram, Poniatowski was on the point of entering Cracow.
Throughout these months, he outmanoeuvred not only the superior numbers of
the Austrians but also the extraordinary conduct of his Russian 'allies', who,
alarmed by the nightmare of a resurgent Poland, took active measures to
obstruct him. At the Treaty of Schonbrunn, the Duchy was rewarded with the
annexation of Cracow and West Galicia, whilst Russia helped itself to the dis-
trict of Tarnopol. For the first time since the Partitions, a Polish army had taken
to the field under Polish command and had succeeded in reuniting two impor-
tant pieces of the shattered Polish lands. National sentiment revived. Hopes
were raised anew. Poles from Lithuania swam across the Niemen to escape from