3-068-928 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Portrait of Wladyslaw Kononowicz, c1863 (1893-1903). Major in the tsarist army, who before the outbreak of the uprising belonged to the underground officers' union within its ranks. At the beginning of 1863, Kononowicz resigned from the army and formed an insurgent unit in the Sandomierz region, at the head of which he fought against the Russians. He operated in the forests on the right bank of the Pilica River, fighting victorious battles with the enemy at Chynów (25 March 1863), Wachock (19 April), Magnuszew (4 May), Rozniszew (14 May), often defeating much stronger enemy forces and capturing weapons. His unit camped on an inaccessible clump at the mouth of the Pilica River. From there, Kononowicz carried out raids on Russians stationed in Warka, Nowe Miasto, Magnuszewo and Ryczywole. After the victory of his unit at Rozniszewo, the Russians prepared a retaliatory expedition, in which 2000 soldiers were involved. Kononowicz had previously disbanded his unit, but himself, surrounded by his adjutants, was taken prisoner and shot in Warka on June 4, 1863. The portrait was created after Kononowicz's death, based on a photograph . Waclawa Milewska.