Wincenty Kowalski was born on 11 September 1892 in
Warsaw to a family of humble workers. After graduating from a lyceum of Stanisław Konarski, he joined the high school of
Hipolit Wawelberg, the only institution of higher education in Warsaw to allow
Polish language (though not openly). Afterwards he moved to
Liège in
Belgium, where he graduated from the Machinery Building faculty of the
Polytechnical Institute. During that time he joined the
Związek Walki Czynnej, a secret Polish anti-tsarist organization preparing the cadres for a future anti-Russian uprising aimed at liberation of Poland. He was also a member and a tutor of the
Związek Strzelecki (ZS). Drafted into the
Russian Army, between 1912 and 1913 he studied at the Officers' School of Artillery in
Smolensk. After that he moved to
Austro-Hungarian Galicia, where he settled in
Kraków. There he continued his military training at the NCO and officers' school of the ZS. After the outbreak of the
Great War, in August 1914 he joined the
Polish Legions. Initially a member of the legendary 1st Cadre Company, with time he became a battalion commander within the 1st Legions Infantry Regiment. After the
Oath Crisis of 1917 he was interned in
Beniaminów, along with most of the Legionaries with official Russian citizenship. In November 1918, after Poland regained her independence, he joined the newly formed
Polish Army and was promoted to the rank of
first lieutenant. As one of the first experienced officers to join the army, he was immediately dispatched to
Lwów, where he took part in the
battle for that city and the
Polish-Ukrainian War. He also fought with distinction in the
Polish-Bolshevik War, for which he was promoted to the rank of
captain (in 1919) and then
major (1920). After the
Peace of Riga he remained in active service. Initially both a tutor and a student at the Centre for Infantry Training in
Rembertów, with time he became one of the professors of the
Warsaw-based
Higher War School. After finishing his studies he was promoted to the rank of
lieutenant colonel in 1922 and then to
colonel in 1928. After that he returned to active service in line units and served in a number of detachments based in
Wilno and
Modlin, among them the Wilno Fortified Camp (since 1932). Between 1937 and 1938 he served as the commanding officer of the
8th Infantry Division and then the
garrison of the
Modlin Fortress. As one of the more skilled Polish officers of the time, on 19 March 1939 he was promoted to the rank of
brigadier general and became the commander of both the prestigious
Polish 1st Legions Infantry Division and the
Wyszków Operational Group formed around it. After the outbreak of the
Invasion of Poland in 1939, during the opening stages of
World War II, Kowalski proved to be one of the most successful commanding officers in the Polish Army at that time. The units under his command entered in contact with the enemy on 4 September in the forests around Długosiodło, to the north of Warsaw. Delaying the German forces in a number of skirmishes and battles along the
Narew and near
Różan, Kowalski's units managed to retain most of their combat readiness. After the battle for
Pułtusk, on 7 September, the Poles were outnumbered 3:1 and ordered to retreat southwards. On the road Gen. Kowalski managed not only to withdraw most of his forces, but also to rally the defeated forces of
Modlin Army and
Independent Operational Group Narew crowded near the bridge in
Wyszków. Thanks to Kowalski's actions, overnight 2 divisions and (
33rd Infantry and
41st Infantry), as well as the
Mazowiecka Cavalry Brigade were not only rallied but also safely transported to the other side of the
Bug River. Kowalski then withdrew with his forces to the area between Wyszków and Kamieńczyk, and organized a successful defence of the line there. After repelling a German assault on Brańszczyk, his forces started to slowly move southwards while performing delaying actions and keeping the combat readiness almost intact. After the German forces seized the town of
Kałuszyn thus cutting out Kowalski's men from the safe passage towards the
Romanian Bridgehead, on 13 September the division broke through enemy lines and retook the city in what became known as the
battle of Kałuszyn. Despite heavy losses on the Polish side, Wincenty Kowalski managed to yet again rally a large part of his forces and continued his move towards
Włodawa,
Lublin and
Lwów. Near
Chełm, on September 18 and 19th Kowalski's division (then reduced to merely a regiment after two weeks of constant fights against numerically and technically superior enemy) was reorganized and reinforced with an improvised detachment under
Stanisław Tatar. From there the division proceeded towards
Tomaszów Lubelski. After a successful break through German panzers on 21 September and the German
8th Infantry Division in the
battle of Falków the following day, the division arrived to the battlefield of the
Battle of Tomaszów Lubelski. Outnumbered, lacking artillery, supplies, food and reduced to not more than a regiment, the division's assault on Tarnawatka was stopped on 23 September and wounded General Kowalski was taken
prisoner of war by the Germans. After half a year in a prison hospital, in early 1940 Kowalski was transported to
Oflag VII-A Murnau POW camp, where he spent the entire war. Liberated by the forces of USA on 30 April 1945, Kowalski joined the
Polish Army in the West. Demobilized in May 1946, he settled in
London and then moved to
New York. There he took active part in a variety of Polish organizations of the local
Polish diaspora. Among his most notable deeds was organization of a funeral of
Jan Lechoń, one of the most renowned Polish poets to die in exile. He was also the head of the Association of Polish Combatants, the
Józef Piłsudski Institute of America () and the head of the Polish Brotherly Help, a non-profit venture aimed at helping the Polish political emigrants living in the United States. He died suddenly on 29 November 1984 in
River Forest. Following his
last will, on 6 September 1986 his ashes were buried at
Kałuszyn war cemetery, among the fallen men of his division. ==Bibliography==