Sztućce, janczarki, belgijczyki- o uzbrojeniu strzeleckim w Powstaniu Styczniowym

Issues related to the small arms used in the January Uprising (1863-64) are as much interesting as they are complex. On the one hand, we have a considerable number of sources, including numerous reports and recollections of participants in the battles, photographs of insurgents in full gear, official documents (both Polish and Russian), and finally authentic exhibits collected in museums. On the other, the determination of the number of weapons in which Polish troops were equipped during the almost 18 months long war, as well as the concrete models of the arms, is an extremely difficult task. This question has so far been largely treated in general terms. Historians writing about the 1863-64 uprising focused their attention on the issues to do with the organisation of the purchase of weapons (devoting a lot of space to its financing), as well as the amount of war material brought to Congress Poland. Normally, information on concrete types and models was omitted, which is partly understandable, since the Polish historiography concerning the 19th century military techniques remains almost virgin ground. This article attempts to summarise the available knowledge, show the armament issue in a broader context (“competition” in the European arms market), and determine the most important models of handguns and guns (i.e. those which were most frequently used in the insurgent army) on the basis of written, iconographic, and archaeological sources.