Countess Emilia Plater was a Polish–Lithuanian noblewoman and revolutionary who played a critical role in the Poland’s 1830 “November Uprising” against the Russian Empire. She is a national heroine in Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus, then part of the Polish Commonwealth.
While the stories of warrior men are quite common, those of warrior women are far less so. Joan d’Arc tried to liberate France from English occupation. The samurai Nakano Takeko fought in the 19th century’s Japanese Civil War, and Countess Plater participated in the Polish uprising against Tsarist Russia. Today, she is called the Polish Joan d’Arc. How did Plater become the heroine of the 1830 Uprising?
Emilia Broel-Plater was born in 1806 in Vilnius, Lithuania to a noble Polish–Lithuanian family of the Grand Duchy. In 1795, Poland had been partitioned three ways by the Russian Empire, Austrian Empire, and the Kingdom of Prussia. Those monarchies had simply erased it off the map of Europe. Poles left behind had two choices: become loyal citizens to their new kings, or flee their homeland.
Emilia’s parents Count Franciszek Ksawery Plater and Countess Anna von der Mohle divorced when she was just nine years old. She was raised in the home of a distant cousin and her childhood was mostly spent in Latvia. Emilia remained in contact with her mother, but not her father who remarried. She was raised with a strong sense of patriotism and honor to her Polish ancestry, history, and culture. Emilia received an extensive education, read many works of philosophy,and even wrote her own poetry. And, counter to the acceptable behaviors of aristocratic ladies, along with her male cousins, became a skilled equestrian, fencer and marksman.
Emilia Plater was a bright student and fascinated with Polish history.
Her role model was Joan of Arc, and she never tired of reading of her life. Plater also admired Bouboulina, a woman who became one of the icons of the Greek uprising against the Ottomans. As a teenager, when she was not engaged in fencing, shooting or hunting, Emilia took long rides in the countryside.
On these rides, she often stopped at the huts of peasants, and always brought them gifts. She spoke to them in kind words, and was idolized by the local people. At eighteen, she received a proposal of marriage from a wealthy, influential Russian nobleman. She rejected him, saying simply, “No, I am Polish.”
A year earlier, Imperial Russian Army forced her cousin to enlist, as punishment for participating in the annual Polish Constitution celebration. Life under Imperial Russia was not easy for those who were used to a commonwealth democracy. Celebrating their history or culture was illegal, and viewed as acts of treason against the Tsar.
Nevertheless, movements of towards democracy and liberty were spreading throughout the world. The Americans had achieved independence by ousting British rule. France was in the early stages of its own violent revolution against the French monarchy. European states, however, failed to do anything to prevent the partitioning of Poland.
The common view among Poles was that it was up to them to get Poland back. Since the partition, Poles had been committing small acts in defiance against their Russian leaders. Most were small skirmishes that ended in no gains. Tragedy then struck Emilia. She lost both her mother and father in 1830, and soon after, war erupted with Russia.
The Polish November Uprising
On 29 November 1830, a group of young conspirators failed in an assassination attempt of Governor Grand Duke Constantine at his Warsaw palace. Though a failure, it sparked a popular uprising against Imperial Russia. Commoners and nobility alike took up arms against the powerful and better-equipped Russian Army. The Polish “November Uprising” became a fight against a European system that supported monarchies and inequality. The uprising quickly spread beyond Warsaw. Many in the countryside supported the abolition of serfdom, which gave nobles the right to control peasants as if they were slaves.
When the revolution began, the lands where Emilia lived were still unaffected by the fighting and no anti-Tsarist units yet existed. For Emilia Plater, the November Uprising became a chance to fight for Poland. She decided to form a partisan unit herself. Plater even went so far as to cut her hair short and adopted a male uniform.
Emilia, then just twenty-five, armed herself and rode quickly to her cousin Cezary Plater. On 29 March 1831, together with her adjutant Marija Prušinskaitė, they rode to the town of Dusiaty. There, she gave a fiery, anti-Russian/pro-Poland speech in the church. She announced the bold aims of the uprising, to free Poland from Russian rule and establish a Commonwealth again.
The men of the region were carried away on a wave of patriotism. She raised the Polish flag in the town square and assembled a platoon. As a noblewoman, no man could force her to stand down; as a revolutionary, she proved a valuable recruiter.
Emilia explained her motivation in her diary: ‘I hereby testify that no one coerced me into the steps I have taken today. The love of the Motherland led me. From my early childhood, I lived with the idea that I would one day go to war, I accepted it as my destiny. Because, for all my life, this thought, unusual for a young girl, has accompanied me.’
Emilia Plater organized her first detachment under the commission of Lieutenant.
She became part of a unit of 280 infantry, 60 cavalry, and 700 hundred peasants, armed primarily with war scythes. Together, they marched south towards Lithuania and managed to overcome some Russian divisions in Latvia.
In April 1831, her army crossed the border from Latvia into Russian-controlled Lithuania, where her unit seized the town of Zarasai. Her efforts there earned her a promotion to the rank of Captain in the Polish insurgent forces. She later joined with other Polish units to take part in the Battles of Prastavoniai and Maišiagala.
The Countess always rode at the head of her troops, leading them in the thick of battle. Her fearless leadership was an inspiration, not only to her men, but to all the other Poles fighting for the freedom of their country. In recognition of her valor, she received on the field of battle, the rank of Colonel. She was made the commander of 1st Company of the Polish 1st Lithuanian Infantry Regiment.
Although the Countess took part in many successful battles against the Russian Army, not all the rebels supported her. Some thought that a woman had no place in war. Chief Lithuanian rebel, Count Karolis Zaluskis, advised Plater to protect her feminine health and return to her home in Latvia. The Countess did not follow this advice.
As the Uprising continued, Plater became critical of decisions made by the revolution’s leadership.
The Polish plan was to wait for an opportune time to take Poland back, rather than be on the offensive. In May, Plater encountered Polish supreme commander General Dezydery Chłapowski. He too was unimpressed with the 25 year old Countess and told to go home. She refused adamantly, insisting she would fight until Poland was free.
By July, due to heavy Polish losses, General Chłapowski ordered a retreat of the their forces and seek refuge in Prussia. Emilia was stunned at the decision, vehemently disagreed, and refused to follow it. While the main forces chose to end the fight, she remained committed to continuing. After the defeat of insurgent troops near Vilnius, Plater decided to travel to Warsaw to continue the fight there. In defiance of orders, Emilia, along with Cezary and Marija, left their unit and attempted to reach Warsaw.
Plater hoped to continue the fight with Polish forces in the city. She never made it. At this point, Emilia suffered from exhaustion and became seriously ill with pneumonia. Ignotas Ablamavičius sheltered the sick countess in his manor. In September, Warsaw fell to Russian forces. The last of the Polish forces gave up and retreated into Prussia in October. Broken in health and in despair that the uprising had been in vain, she died in Justinianov on 23 December 1831.
She was buried in a cemetery in nearby Kopciów (now Kapciamiastis in Lithuania). Emilia Plater’s estate was confiscated by the Imperial Russian Tzar. The November Uprising was a failure … but not the memory of Countess Emilia Plater.
Emilia Plater is viewed today as a true Polish hero. She symbolizes the sacrifices Poles were willing to make in the name of Poland. During the Partition, citizens were forced to adhere to the culture of either the Russians, Austrians, or Prussians. Emilia Plater’s story symbolized the fight for Polish nationalism. If a noblewoman could fight for Poland, then so could everyone else. Her story as the Polish Joan of Arc continues to inspire to this day.
Although she died at but 25, the memory of her life survived. Serfdom was abolished in 1861, exactly thirty years after Plater’s death. Her favorite poet, Mickiewicz, immortalized her in his poem, Śmierć pułkownika (Death of a Colonel). After World War I, the Allies reconstituted Poland in the Treaty of Versailles. In 1939, during World War II, a Polish unit was named Emilia Plater 1st Independent Women’s Battalion. Its former members later founded a village (Platerówka) in Silesia. In 1959, a Polish Oceanic Lines ship was named M/S Emilia Plater in her honor. Emilia Plater’s face was on the Second Polish Republic’s note of 20 zloty.
At the site of her burial in Kapciamiestis, Lithuania, a monument was raised honoring her sacrifice. Emilia Plater since been immortalized in literary works, paintings, poems, statues, and street names.
She is celebrated as a national heroine in Poland, Lithuania, and Belarus, symbolizing the dedication of women in the pursuit of their nation’s causes. Her symbol of The Fighting Girl became widespread in Poland, Lithuania and abroad. She became a role-model for other Polish and Lithuanian girls. She showed the world that a woman can be influential in the political and military life of a country as well as any man.
