„Mężni wojownicy... gromadźcie się pod sztandarami Napoleona Wielkiego...” Pułk Pruski w służbie napoleońskiej i Polacy
„Brave Warriors... Gather Under the Banners of Napoleon the Great...”. Polish Soldiers Serving in Napoleon’s Prussian Regiment

Summary/Abstract: The creation of the Prussian Regiment in the Napoleonic army was a conse-quence of the capture of a huge number of prisoners by the French after the Prussianarmy lost the battles of Jena and Auerstedt. These Prussian prisoners included manyPoles, who were former residents of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth that be-came subjects of the Prussian king after the partitions. The fate of a prisoner at thattime was very difficult, the alternative was to volunteer to serve in Napoleon’s army.Many Poles took advantage of this opportunity by joining the Irish Regiment and thePrussian Regiment. Most of these conscripts were enlisted as non-commissioned of-ficers and privates, including several former officers of the Prussian army. The Prus-sian regiment fought bravely during the campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars, distin-guishing themselves on the island of Walcheren in 1809 and in a number of battles inSpain. Some of the officers permanently associated themselves with France, taking upfurther service in a different France, the royal one.

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