Mikołaj Bołtuć

He was the son of Ignacy Bołtuć, General in the Russian Imperial Army of Polish noble descent, and his wife, Anna Łabuńska, of Rzeczyca.{{refn|There are numerous places called Rzeczyca{{snd}}in several countries; see the disambiguation page in Polish Wikipedia, :pl:Rzeczyca, for a more extensive list. It is unclear which one was the seat of the Łabuński family. One source says that the family was based in Polish Inflanty.{{cite web |url=http://e-wietor.pl/boltuc-mikolaj/ |title=Bołtuć Mikołaj |date=13 December 2017 |first=Mieczysław |last=Bielski |language=Polish |accessdate=19 April 2018}} That article in Polish Wikipedia associates Polish Livonia with Latgale, a historical and cultural region of Latvia which includes Rēzekne ({{langx|pl|Rzeżyca}}); yet another possibility.}}

Bołtuć was enlisted in the Russian Cadet officers school in Omsk when he was seven.{{citation needed|date=February 2014}}

During World War I, Bołtuć served in the Imperial Russian Army. He fought with distinction in the Finnish Civil War in 1918. After the Bolshevik Revolution, he served as captain in the White Russian Army during the Russian Civil War until the evacuation of Odessa in which he commanded the last leaving vessel.

He returned to Poland and joined the Polish military. He commanded units near Kamieniec, Podolski and elsewhere. During the Soviet-Polish war of 1920, he commanded the unit Strzelcy Kaniowscy. Bołtuć, still a captain, commanded the defence of Zamość. Then he took Wyszków, the location of the puppet government organized by the Bolsheviks.

During the interwar period, he worked for the General Command and later held command functions in Wilno and Toruń. His nomination to the rank of general was held back for several years, in part because of his anti-religious attitude and his reservations about Poland's military spending patterns. He was known for clarity of judgment and leadership skills.{{cn|date=April 2020}}

During World War II, he commanded an Operation Group, a unit short of an army, within the Army Pomorze, the only Polish unit that entered German territory (in East Prussia) for two days during the September Campaign and withstood attacks of much larger German forces. The danger of being flanked forced Boltuc to withdraw to Modlin. When the Modlin Fortress could accept only his officers but not his soldiers, he let his soldiers be demobilised, but most refused to leave. He also encouraged volunteers to go with him to try to sneak through the German Siege of Warsaw. According to written family records, he said while he was leaving home before the war, "This is not the war we are going to win and I am not the kind of a soldier who would surrender".

On the morning of 22 September, he was killed at the Battle of Łomianki from sniper fire while he was leading the charge.

Most of his soldiers were buried at the Łomianki cemetery, near Warsaw. Boltuc's tomb, in a form of a field stone, is at the Powązki Military Cemetery, in Warsaw.

• 50px Kapitan (Captain) - 1917
• 50px Major (Major) - 1919
• 50px Podpułkownik (Lieutenant colonel) - 31 March 1924
• 50px Pułkownik (Colonel) - 1 January 1928{{in lang|pl}} Dziennik Personalny Ministra Spraw Wojskowych nr 1 z 02.01.1928
• 50px Generał brygady (Brigadier general) - 19 March 1939

• 60px Golden Cross of Virtuti Militari (posthumously)
• 60px Silver Cross of Virtuti Militari (1921)
• 60px Commander's Cross of Order of Polonia Restituta{{in lang|pl}} Zbigniew Mierzwiński: Generałowie II Rzeczypospolitej. Warszawa: Polonia, 1990, s. 45
• 60px Officer's Cross of Order of Polonia Restituta (27 November 1929){{in lang|pl}} M.P. z 1929 r. nr 274, poz. 630 „za zasługi na polu organizacji i wyszkolenia wojska”.
• 60px Cross of Valour (four times, last in 1922){{in lang|pl}} Dziennik Personalny Ministra Spraw Wojskowych nr 20 z 15 lipca 1922
• 60px Golden Cross of Merit ( 19 March 1937,{{in lang|pl}} M.P. z 1937 r. nr 64, poz. 96 „za zasługi w służbie wojskowej”. 10 November 1938{{in lang|pl}} M.P. z 1938 r. nr 258, poz. 595 „za zasługi w służbie wojskowej”.)
• 60px Commemorative Medal of War 1918-1921
• 60px Medal of 10th Anniversary of Regained Independence
• 60px Silver Medal for Long Service
• 60px Bronze Medal for Long Service
• 60px Commander's Cross of Order of the Star of Romania (Romania)
• 60px 1914–1918 Inter-Allied Victory medal

{{reflist}}

Monograph: Generał Mikołaj Bołtuć Wizerunek Żołnierza author: Bohdan Królikowski Nakładem Stawarzyszenia Katolików Wojskowych {{ISBN|83-906281-1-2}}, Warszawa/Warsaw 1998.

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Boltuc, Mikolaj}}

Category:1893 births

Category:1939 deaths

Category:Military personnel from Saint Petersburg

Category:People from Sankt-Peterburgsky Uyezd

Category:Clan of Dołęga

Category:Polish generals

Category:Russian military personnel of World War I

Category:Blue Army (Poland) personnel

Category:Polish people of the Polish–Soviet War

Category:Polish military personnel killed in World War II

Category:Deaths by firearm in Poland

Category:Recipients of the Gold Cross of Merit (Poland)

Category:Commanders of the Order of Polonia Restituta

Category:Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta

Category:Recipients of the Silver Cross of the Virtuti Militari

Category:Recipients of the Cross of Valour (Poland)

Category:Recipients of the Gold Cross of the Virtuti Militari

Category:Burials at Powązki Military Cemetery