Battle of Bereza Kartuska (1919)

Battle of Bereza Kartuska (1919)
Part of Polish-Soviet War
Date14 February 1919 [1]
LocationNear Bereza Kartuska, near Brzesc, Belarus
Result Polish victory
Belligerents
Poland Bolshevist Russia
Commanders and leaders
Unknown Unknown
Strength
62 Unknown
Casualties and losses
Unknown 80 captured
Polish-Soviet & Lithuanian-Soviet Wars in 1919: Polish & Lithuanian counterattacks.

The Battle of Bereza Kartuska was one of the first clashes between the organised forces of the Second Polish Republic and Soviet Russia and is considered by some historians as the first engagement of the Polish-Soviet War.[1]

After German and Polish representatives signed an evacuation agreement on 5 February 1919, ten battalions of Polish troops were to pass through German Oberkommando-Ostfront lines at Wolkowysk and occupy the Bolshevik front. Previously, on 12 January 1919, the Soviet Supreme Command ordered a "reconnaissance in depth", code name Target Vistula. On 13 February 1919, at 7 in the morning, 57 Polish soldiers and 5 officers, led by Capt. Mienicki of the Polish Wilno Detachment, into the township of Biaroza (Polish: Bereza), a small city to the east of Brzesc capturing 80 soldiers of the Red Army.[2]:26-27

Over one year later, on July 21–26, 1920, soldiers of Polish 14th Infantry Division under General Daniel Konarzewski once again clashed with the Red Army in Bereza Kartuska. Poles had retreated from Baranowicze, abandoning German Imperial Army fortifications, built there during World War One, and took defensive positions along the Jasiolda river. After three days of heavy fighting, 14th I.D. once again was forced to retreat towards Kobryn, after burning all bridges on the Jasiolda.

See also

References

Inline
  1. 1 2 For controversies about the naming and dating of this conflict, refer to the section devoted to this subject in the Polish-Soviet War article.
  2. ↑ Davies, N., 1972, White Eagle, Red Star, London: Macdonald & Co., ISBN 9780712606943

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