Chapter Summaries

Catherine II ordered Kakhovsky to take Morkov Corps south to stop the Polish advance in Crimea, weakening Russia’s forces on the Mozyr front. Kościuszko prepared to sacrifice his expeditionary force to inflict the greatest possible damage on Russia, and the chapter ended as Polish troops charged the Russian army near Simferopol.

• Catherine II rejected the prospect of waiting for Saratov Corps, ordered Korezenikov arrested, and sent Kakhovsky with Morkov Corps to Crimea.
• Twenty-five days later, Dombrowski told Kościuszko that nearly thirty thousand Russian troops under Kakhovsky had arrived.
• Kościuszko sent Szewczycki with Polish and Ottoman troops to attack Bakhchysarai while he led the main force toward Simferopol to intercept the Russians.
• Kościuszko’s troops laid out Infantry Lines near Simferopol and shouted, “Defend the motherland with our lives!”
• Kakhovsky attacked at three in the afternoon and sent seven Infantry regiments around the Polish flanks.
• Kościuszko sent the Royal Third Division charging toward the Russian center, advancing to within sixty paces.

Polish infantry and cavalry attacked Kakhovsky’s Russian Central Route Army in Crimea, using relentless volleys and a daring cavalry charge to throw the Russians into confusion. Dombrowski led the Winged Hussars toward the Russian center as the Cossacks struggled to regroup.

• Nearly five thousand Polish infantry fired repeated volleys that inflicted heavy casualties and unsettled the Russian ranks.
• Dombrowski led more than four hundred Winged Hussars and three hundred Rangers through a gap in the Russian formation toward its center.
• Kakhovsky sent nearly two thousand Cossack cavalry and an infantry regiment to block the Polish advance.
• Dombrowski formed his cavalry into a wedge and charged the Cossacks, whose riders turned aside rather than meet them head-on.
• The Winged Hussars and Rangers struck down more than a hundred Cossacks as they passed, then reformed and charged the Russian infantry center.
• The Cossack commander tried to turn back and organize his scattered troops, but the Polish cavalry approached again before they could form up.

Dombrowski’s Winged Hussars broke through the Russian cavalry and left wing, but Kościuszko withdrew his depleted army toward the Salhir River rather than risk another attack. Meanwhile, Szewczycki’s artillery blasted a breach in Bakhchysarai’s wall, and the Russian commander ordered his guns to switch to grapeshot.

• Dombrowski routed the Cossack cavalry, then led the Winged Hussars through the Russian left wing as the Royal Third Division intensified its attack.
• Dombrowski received the retreat signal and withdrew because his cavalry and horses were exhausted, while Kościuszko’s troops escaped before the Russians could close in.
• Kościuszko learned his army had lost more than 1,300 infantrymen, 97 cavalrymen, and two cannons, then ordered it toward the Salhir River with the Pasbitsky Battalion covering the retreat.
• Szewczycki led five cannons close to Bakhchysarai’s walls and opened fire as Polish skirmishers kept the Russian defenders under concentrated fire.
• A 24-pounder cannon blasted a large breach in the wall, prompting Trunikov to order his artillerymen to switch to grapeshot.

Szewczycki’s forces captured Bakhchysarai and marched toward Kafa Port while Kościuszko’s army faced Kakhovsky’s Russians in a head-on battle by the Salhir River. The chapter ended as a single Polish volley inflicted heavy losses on the Russian line.

• Szewczycki’s artillery broke through Bakhchysarai’s eastern wall, and Polish infantry seized the breach with help from Ottoman Resistance fighters.
• Trunikov fled Bakhchysarai with the remaining Russian soldiers and officials, and Szewczycki ordered his troops to march toward Kafa Port the next morning.
• Ottoman Resistance members attacked Russian nobles and burned their homes as Szewczycki’s soldiers prepared to leave the city.
• Kościuszko positioned his infantry by the Salhir River to prevent the Russians from outflanking them, and Kakhovsky’s army advanced to meet them.
• The Polish line endured four Russian volleys before Kościuszko ordered his soldiers to fire, killing more than three hundred Russians in one volley.

Kościuszko’s outnumbered Polish forces held off repeated Russian assaults along the Salhir River before being surrounded and forced to surrender. Suvorov learned that Kakhovsky had won the battle but that Russia had lost Bakhchysarai and Kafa Port, leaving the Russian army badly weakened.

• Kościuszko’s Polish infantry repelled the Russian first line with close-range volleys, and Winged Hussars pursued the fleeing soldiers, though the Poles suffered heavy casualties.
• Kakhovsky sent Dubin’s Corps into the battle, and Kościuszko’s troops repelled five Russian attacks before nightfall.
• Kościuszko spoke with Dombrowski about Bakhchysarai, his unborn grandson, and hoping for a future without war.
• The Russians attacked again the next morning, and Kościuszko fell after a cannonball veered past him; by eleven, the remaining Polish soldiers surrendered after exhausting their ammunition.
• Suvorov ordered Tormasov to find and execute Minsk’s rebels, then received a report that Kakhovsky had defeated Kościuszko but that Bakhchysarai had fallen, Kafa Port had been burned, and the Russian corps needed about half a year to recover.

Suvorov concluded that Russia lacked the money and troops to continue its offensive in Poland, while Catherine II sought a British loan and learned that Kościuszko might have survived. In Vienna, Franz II heard that Russia could call a truce as its offensives stalled.

• Suvorov told Tormasov that Russia might have to leave Minsk because Crimea's devastation and the campaign's costs had drained the empire's finances and forces.
• Suvorov warned that Russia needed to reinforce Crimea and Moldavia, leaving fewer than sixty thousand troops available in Poland, and said the empire needed years to recover.
• Catherine II ordered Zubov and Bezborodko to seek a British loan of at least eight million rubles to keep Suvorov's offensive going.
• Rumyantsev informed Catherine II that Kościuszko was missing from the bodies and that nearly two thousand Polish troops remained active in eastern Crimea; Catherine smashed her pen holder in anger.
• Kościuszko woke in a farmhouse with his left leg amputated and learned that resistance members had rescued and hidden him after he was wounded.
• Baron Thugut told Franz II that Russia might make a truce with Poland because its offensives had stopped and its losses in Crimea were severe.

Austria, Prussia, and Russia joined forces with Britain to pressure Poland into accepting harsh ceasefire terms, while Joseph considered how to exploit divisions among the powers. At negotiations in Dresden, Polish minister Małachowski rejected their demands.

• Franz II abandoned plans to capture Kraków and agreed to seek a joint ceasefire with Prussia and Russia.
• William II accepted Prince Heinrich’s advice to negotiate with Poland alongside Russia and Austria rather than push for Danzig.
• After Britain refused Russia a loan, Catherine II agreed to the joint negotiations and sent Zubov to London with an Austrian prince.
• Joseph learned that the four powers demanded territorial cessions, army limits, shared administration of Gdańsk Port, and war reparations, while Poland prepared to accept the terms.
• Joseph sent Sieyès back to Saxony with instructions after observing that the allied powers might be divided beneath their united front.
• At the Dresden negotiations on March 14, 1793, Małachowski denounced the four countries and rejected their terms.

Poland negotiated a ceasefire with Russia, Prussia, and Austria, with Britain helping pressure Russia to accept terms. The Dresden Treaty was signed on March 21, and Małachowski returned to Warsaw with Poland’s reforms and national unity preserved despite territorial concessions.

• Małachowski demanded that Russia return Polish territory, and the first round of negotiations ended in a deadlock.
• Earl of Rhinefels’s assistant secretly met Małachowski, who said Poland could accept the terms of Austria’s ceasefire in exchange for concessions to Russia.
• Friedrichs, Earl of Rhinefels, and Lord Grenville agreed to pressure Russia rather than prolong the war on its behalf.
• After a week of negotiations, Russia, Prussia, Austria, and Poland agreed to the ceasefire terms, and they signed the Dresden Treaty on March 21.
• The treaty granted Austria and Prussia occupied Polish lands and limited Russia’s gains to small areas east of the Dnieper River.
• Małachowski returned to Warsaw with the treaty, viewing it as humiliating but recognizing that Poland had preserved its reforms and national unity.

Stanisław II returned to Warsaw, appointed Prince Poniatowski Regent, and welcomed home the surviving Polish soldiers who had raided Crimea. Meanwhile, Selim III’s Ottoman army invaded Egypt, where the Topjis New Army repelled a Mamluk cavalry charge and opened the way for an Ottoman assault.

• Stanisław II returned to Warsaw, announced his marriage to Elżbieta Szydłowska, and appointed Prince Poniatowski Regent with Parliament’s approval.
• The 3,900 surviving soldiers who had fought in Russia and Crimea returned to Warsaw, where residents welcomed them and began raising funds for a Polish Victory Monument.
• Mustafa Pasha saw Mamluk cavalry approaching in the Sinai Peninsula and ordered Omar Agha to engage them with the Topjis New Army.
• Topjis artillery and disciplined infantry volleys routed the Mamluk cavalry attacking the Ottoman left wing.
• Mustafa Pasha ordered the Ottoman Imperial Guards to attack, and they quickly broke apart the Mamluk Central Route Army.

After the Ottoman victory over the Mamluks, Styler discussed the campaign’s outcome and France’s plans with Selim III and Grand Vizier Melek Mehmed. The Ottoman ruler sought more French-trained New Army troops, while France proposed expanding trade through a new agreement.

• Selim III rode through Constantinople’s celebrations after the Ottoman Army defeated the Mamluks at Tours, and he gave Styler dates from Medina.
• Melek Mehmed told Styler that Murad and Ibrahim had sought forgiveness, the Mamluk officers would be tried, and the Mamluks would be pardoned while paying higher taxes.
• Styler recalled Joseph’s prediction that the Ottomans could not defeat the Mamluks outright and recognized that the settlement served France’s plans for influence in Egypt.
• Melek Mehmed asked Styler to arrange French training for more Ottoman New Army troops after the Topjis New Army’s strong showing.
• Styler offered to train troops free of charge and said Joseph wanted a new trade agreement that expanded permitted goods and opened the French market to Ottoman trade.

Andy’s family struggled as the Cane Sugar crisis left them unable to buy subsidized sugar, while rising prices and layoffs worsened their poverty. After Andy’s sister Anna lost her job and his father collapsed from exhaustion, his employer cut his wages.

• Andy waited in line for subsidized sugar, but a middle-aged man shoved him aside and bought the last five ounces at the lower price.
• A crowd rushed into the shop after the subsidized sugar sold out, and Police officers beat and arrested several people before dispersing them.
• Andy returned home without sugar, and his mother bought four ounces at the regular price, leaving the family with a meager dinner.
• Anna came home and told her family that Mr. Parnell had fired her because his shop could no longer afford her wages.
• Six days later, Andy’s Father collapsed while moving cargo, lost three days’ wages, and was later told his monthly pay would be cut from 1 pound 12 shillings to 1 pound 8 shillings.

As sugar prices and unemployment worsened, Pitt the Younger secured George III’s support for an early war and harsh measures to control Britain’s unrest. The chapter ended with thousands of demonstrators marching toward 10 Downing Street, demanding lower sugar prices and higher wages.

• A Dockworkers' Union man urged Scott to join a strike, and Scott agreed after learning that his daughter Anna had turned to soliciting on Bard Street.
• Pitt the Younger met George III and described the sugar shortage, unemployment, and troubled trade.
• Pitt the Younger proposed launching the great war early, raising taxes, suspending Habeas Corpus, banning assemblies, and restricting workers’ organizations, and George III approved.
• George III suggested that Pitt the Younger use Reverend Malthus’s theories to ease political pressure, and Pitt agreed to seek his help.
• Pitt the Younger saw thousands of demonstrators marching toward 10 Downing Street, demanding lower sugar prices and higher wages.

Pitt the Younger and George III used the militia to crush a workers’ protest in London, while the government imposed news controls and prepared restrictions on gatherings. At Plymouth, Lord Grenville and Admiral Jervis showcased the Royal Navy’s overwhelming fleet to foreign diplomats.

• Pitt the Younger had militiamen confront demonstrators demanding lower sugar prices and fair wages outside St. James's Palace.
• After the protesters pressed forward, the militia fired on them, killing several workers, and Police arrested demonstrators as the crowd fled.
• The next day, newspapers reported the riot as unlawful, and Parliament moved to suspend Habeas Corpus and pass the Prevention of Unlawful Combinations of Workers Act.
• Lord Grenville welcomed foreign diplomats to Plymouth Port and presented a fleet of roughly a hundred warships as the strength of the United Kingdom.
• Admiral Jervis described the size, speed, armor, and firepower of the Victory, flagship of the United Kingdom Mediterranean Fleet.

At a British fleet review, Lord Grenville impressed foreign diplomats with the Royal Navy’s strength before proposing that Austria cooperate with Britain against France. He left Earl of Rhinefels considering Britain’s offer to challenge French influence and the Rhine-Seine River Treaty.

• Lord Grenville opened the fleet review, and the Victory led diplomats past the British fleet’s battleships.
• Admiral Jervis presented a mock battle in which two battle lines exchanged volleys, leaving the diplomats shaken by the display.
• Lord Grenville invited the diplomats to dinner aboard the Victory after the demonstration.
• Lord Grenville told Earl of Rhinefels that French control of South German markets and Wallonia had worsened Austria’s finances.
• Lord Grenville urged Austria to abolish the Rhine-Seine River Treaty and unite with Britain to prevent France from threatening other countries.

Austria joined England’s anti-French alliance after being promised a loan and the prospect of restoring its power in Europe. France faced demands backed by a coalition of more than 300,000 troops, and Joseph’s ministers assessed France’s forces as war loomed.

• Lord Grenville told the Earl of Rhinefels that England expected an inevitable victory over France through a naval blockade and a large allied invasion.
• The Earl of Rhinefels, Baron Thugut, and Minister Kobzl persuaded Franz II that Austria should join the war to rival Prussia, gain territory, and restore Habsburg influence; England offered Austria a low-interest loan of 400,000 pounds.
• Austria agreed to join England, and the British Minister to France demanded that France ease restrictions on cane sugar, lower prices, and end its trade policy toward South Germany, with several allies supporting England’s demands.
• At Versailles, Talleyrand urged Joseph to negotiate with Austria, while Queen Mary reacted to her family’s support for the alliance.
• Duke of Broglie told Joseph that France could face more than 300,000 enemy troops, while France had 160,000 soldiers, including 75,000 in the new-style force and nearly 90,000 in the old-style army.

Joseph rejected compromise with Austria and directed France to prepare for war as the European powers mobilized against it. After the cabinet set preparations in motion, he traveled to Madrid to seek Spain’s support.

• Joseph argued that the coalition’s fragmented forces could be defeated and declared that France would not compromise with hostile powers.
• Brienne and the ministers rallied behind Joseph, then planned military financing, supplies, mobilization, food reserves, and wartime propaganda.
• France issued decrees and began its preparations while allied troops gathered at its borders and British fleets mobilized.
• Joseph left domestic affairs to Brienne and the other ministers and traveled to Madrid to seek an alliance with Spain.

Joseph visited Madrid and persuaded Carlos IV and Spanish ministers to align Spain with France against Britain and Portugal, using the promise of French steam warships to win support. The next day, Joseph considered how to make Spain contribute more despite its deep financial and political problems.

• Carlos IV welcomed Joseph to Madrid and arranged a banquet, opera, and hunting trip.
• Joseph urged Carlos IV and Count of Floridablanca to honor the secret treaty and join France against Britain and Portugal, arguing that Spain needed Portugal’s plains for its industrial future.
• Joseph described France’s fast steam-powered frigates and upcoming fifth-rate ship, prompting Carlos IV to order Count of Aranda to draft a Sino-French Alliance Treaty.
• Joseph and Carlos IV went hunting the next day, while Joseph considered how to get more from Spain despite its deficits, weak reforms, and powerful Church.

Joseph helped Carlos IV plan a royal guard and church reforms before signing a Franco-Spanish alliance, then learned France faced a multi-front threat from the Anti-French Alliance. In Paris, Queen Mary grieved Austria’s betrayal while Louis XVI trusted Joseph to handle the crisis.

• Joseph advised Carlos IV to build an 8,000-man Royal Guard from colonial recruits and fund it by taking control of smuggling revenues from the American silver mines.
• Joseph promised to weaken the Holy See’s influence so Count of Aranda could pursue church reforms.
• Joseph and Carlos IV signed a Franco-Spanish Alliance Treaty providing for open borders, mutual support in war, and a joint fleet.
• Joseph received intelligence that British, Prussian, Austrian, and Dutch forces were converging around France and studied their deployments on a map.
• Queen Mary wept over Austria siding with the United Kingdom, while Louis XVI said Joseph would handle the crisis.

Queen Mary sought ways to support Joseph and arranged to bring Grand Duchess Alexandra to Paris, hoping to help his marriage. At a Versailles fundraising banquet, she rallied nobles and factory owners to donate money for the army as France prepared for war.

• Queen Mary decided she would help Joseph and, after hearing Charles ask about Alexandra, resolved to bring the Russian princess to Paris.
• Queen Mary summoned Count Stroganov and asked him to arrange a marriage between a Russian princess and the royal family; he agreed to report her request to Saint Petersburg.
• Queen Mary organized a fundraising banquet at Versailles, where Venio delivered a speech blaming England, Prussia, and Austria for threatening France.
• Queen Mary called on the gathered nobles and factory owners to contribute to the army, and attendees began pledging donations.

French nobles and wealthy merchants competed to fund the navy as anti-French war slogans spread, while Austria sought religious and military support for its coming war with France. The chapter ended with Sardinia’s King Amedeo III weighing Austria’s offer of Genoa and Corsica in exchange for helping Austrian troops pass through his kingdom.

• French nobles and capitalists outbid one another in donations, and five warships were pledged before the banquet ended.
• Countess de Berninac promised warship donors a royal-family dinner, while Queen Mary donated jewelry worth 2.7 million francs.
• Pius VI reluctantly let Archbishop Muzarelli announce Franz II’s title as “the Just” and reaffirm Austria as the “Shield of God.”
• Earl of Rhinefels asked Amedeo III to let Marshal Beaulieu’s army pass through Sardinia and offered Sardinia Genoa and Corsica for its support.
• Amedeo III reacted with surprise to the offer as he considered the potential rewards of cooperating with Austria.