Letter to Friedrich Engels, September 15, 1857

Author(s) Karl Marx
Written 15 September 1857


First published in: Marx and Engels, Works, First Russian Edition, Vol. XXII, Moscow 1929
Published in English for the first time in Marx-Engels Collected Works, Volume 40


MARX TO ENGELS

IN RYDE

[London,] 15 September [1857]

Dear Engels,

You must excuse my silence and non-ACKNowLEDGMENT of your various packages, due firstly to a great deal of work and secondly to numerous time-consuming errands in which 'inner compulsion' played no part whatever. I trust your health continues to improve despite the bad weather, and have still not abandoned the NOTION that you will be taking iron in the end. Only I'm afraid all this writing may be harmful to you.

I expect a letter from Dana on Friday. Today I sent him 'Barclay', 'Berthier', 'Blum', 'Bourrienne' and your contributions.[1] It is important that I should send off the 2nd lot of B's next week. I have certain queries to put to you in my next about the French generals who are next on my list. As to Bern's Polish DEEDS have found the following[2] :

Distinguished himself at the battle of Iganin, when he engaged 40 Russian heavy calibre cannon with 12 light and 4 heavy guns, and subsequently at the battle of Ostrolenka.[3] Here he galloped his battery up to the line of Russian skirmishers, subjected the detachments which had crossed the Narev to devastating fire, withstood a hail of shot from 80 guns, and forced the enemy to withdraw. After this engagement promoted to colonel, shortly afterwards to command of the entire artillery and, when the Polish forces were concentrating at Warsaw, to general. During 5 and 6 September Bern committed all his guns to battle, siting his field pieces between the separate defensive works of the outer line. On the 6th, he advanced with 40 guns until he was just below Wola, already in Russian hands, but, having neither infantry nor cavalry in support, was compelled to retire. When the Polish army fell back on Praga during the night of the 7th, he occupied the bridge with 40 guns. On the morning of the 8th, however, he was informed of the agreement made with the Russians and of Malachowski's order to proceed with the artillery to Modlin. Cf. his memoir, Allgemeine Augsburger Zeitung, 1831, in which he discusses recent developments and attacks Krukowiecki.[4]

I don't trust the above authority an inch and would therefore ask you to investigate and to do me a short, amended version of the passage concerned, if possible putting it straight into English. I shall look up the information you ask for at the Museum tomorrow.[5]

Your

K. M.

  1. ↑ 'Barbette', 'Bastion' and 'Bayonet'
  2. ↑ The source quoted below has not been found.
  3. ↑ Here and below Marx writes about Bern's participation in the Polish national liberation uprising of November 1830-October 1831. The majority of its participants were revolutionary gentry (srdachta) and its leaders came mostly from the aristocracy. It was suppressed by the Russian army with the support of Prussia and Austria. At the battle of Iganin on 10 May 1831 the Polish insurgents were victorious in a clash with Russian troops. At the battle of Ostrolenka on 26 May 1831 the Polish insurgents were defeated by Russian forces under Dibich. The final blow was delivered when the Russians captured Warsaw (see below) after storming its suburb Vola on 6 September. The remnants of the insurgent army fled to Prussia and Austria.—169, 172
  4. ↑ See J. Bern, 'Ueber die Vertheidigung Warschau's am 6 und 7 Sept. 1831', Allgemeine Zeitung, Nos. 470-75, 3-6 December 1831.
  5. ↑ A reference to the material for Engels' article 'Bridge, Military' which Marx promised to look up for him in the British Museum Library.