Józef Chłopicki

He was born in Kapustynie in Volhynia and was educated at the school of the Basilians at Szarogrod, from which in 1785 he ran away in order to enlist as a volunteer in the Polish army.

Warsaw was surrendered to the Russians on 8 November 1794, after which Chlopicki went to France and joined the Army of the Cisalpine Republic under General Jan Henryk Dąbrowski.

On the formation of the Italian legion he joined the second battalion as major, and was publicly complimented by General Nicolas Oudinot for his extraordinary valour at the storming of Peschiera.

[1] 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).

In Spain he obtained the Legion of Honour and the rank of a French Imperial Baron for his heroism at the battle of Epila and the storming of Zaragoza, and in 1809 was promoted to be general of brigade.