Jan Henryk Dąbrowski (Polish pronunciation: [ˈjan ˈxɛnrɨɡ dɔmˈbrɔfskʲi]; also known as Johann Heinrich Dąbrowski (Dombrowski)[6] in German[7] and Jean Henri Dombrowski in French;[8] 2 August 1755[a] – 6 June 1818) was a Polish general and statesman, widely respected after his death for his patriotic attitude, and described as a national hero who spent his whole life fighting to restore the legacy and self-determination of Poland.

[12] Nonetheless, in his childhood and youth he grew up surrounded by German culture in Saxony, and signed his name as Johann Heinrich Dąbrowski.

[18] Following the appeal of the Polish Four-Year Sejm to all Poles serving abroad to join the Polish army, and not seeing much opportunity to advance in his military career in the now-peaceful Saxony, on 28 June 1792, Dąbrowski joined the Army of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth with a rank of podpułkownik and on 14 July he was promoted to the rank of vice-brigadier.

[17][21] His courage was commended by Tadeusz Kościuszko himself, the Supreme Commander of the National Armed Forces, who promoted him to the rank of general.

[17] This proved to be more successful, and indeed Dąbrowski is remembered in the history of Poland as the organiser of Polish Legions in Italy during the Napoleonic Wars.

[17][23] In April, Dąbrowski lobbied for a plan to push through to the Polish territories in Galicia, but that was blocked by Napoleon who instead decided to use those troops on the Italian front.

They were particularly disappointed by a peace treaty between France and Russia signed in Lunéville on 9 February 1801, which dashed Polish hopes of Bonaparte freeing Poland.

[28] In December 1805, during the War of the Third Coalition, Dąbrowski participated in the Italian blockade of Venice, and was briefly commander of the province of Pescara in the Napoleonic Kingdom of Naples the following year.

[17] In February 1807, the remaining infantry and cavalry regiments who had continued in French service in Italy were reorganized in Silesia, in the cities of Wrocław, Prudnik, Nysa, Korfantów and Brzeg, into a Polish-Italian Legion (PolaccoItalienne).

[30] Joining the Army of the Duchy of Warsaw shortly after the Battle of Raszyn, he took part in the first stages of the offensive on Galicia, and then organized the defense of Greater Poland.

[30] In June 1812, Dąbrowski commanded the 17th (Polish) Infantry Division in the V Corps of the Grande Armée, during Napoleon's invasion of Russia.

[2][30] After the March 1813 reorganization of the Grande Armée, Dąbrowski commanded the 27th (Polish) Infantry Division in the VIII Corps under Poniatowski.

[32] During the German campaign of 1813, he led his division at the Battle of Leipzig, where he took command of the VIII Corps on 19 October following Poniatowski's death.

[29] Dąbrowski always associated independent Poland with a Polish Army, and offered his services to the new power, which promised to organize such a formation: Russia.

[17] He retired in the following year to his estates in Winna Góra in the Grand Duchy of Posen, Kingdom of Prussia, where he died on 6 June 1818, from a combination of pneumonia and gangrene.