Berecz Mátyás - Bujdosné Pap Györgyi - Petercsák Tivadar (szerk.): Végvár és mentalitás a kora újkori Európában - Studia Agriensia 31. (Eger, 2015)

CIESIELSKI, TOMASZ: Fortresses on the south-eastern borders of Poland in the 18th century

downside was the poor technical condition of most cannons in the gun batteries, which were exposed to adverse influence of weather conditions. Fourthly, there was the shortage of ammunition and food. It was impossible to store food in the fortress for the lack of warehouses, so the garrison was dependent on supplies from the town. Moreover, all the soldiers were stationed in the town, with the barracks being completed only in 1788. The Kamieniec garrison was the largest in the whole of the Republic of Poland. During peacetime, it had between 600 and 800 soldiers, but in the threat of military activity, it was increased to 2200 in 1734 and 2750 soldiers in 179224.

Neither Kamieniec Podolski nor Biala Cerkiew and Okopy Swiçtej Trójcy were able to answer the demands of an 18th-century fortress. They did not possess proper technical infrastructure, especially warehouses, barracks and hospitals. Only in Kamieniec it was possible to at least partially solve the problems by erecting a relatively modern gunpowder store and barracks, but they still lacked a sewage system. Shortage of soldiers’ quarters in Kamieniec stood in contrast with the existence of several monasteries in the town, inhabited by a total of approx. 100 monks. Biala Cerkiew and Okopy Swiçtej Trójcy had very weak garrisons and too few guns to be able to face enemy troops of as many as 1000 soldiers at a time. Only Kamieniec had enough soldiers and artillery. The soldiers, however, were poorly equipped and skilled, and the artillery was dominated by light, often short-barrelled guns, which considerably limited the effectiveness of the fire conducted from within the fortress. The gravest of all disadvantages of the Polish strongholds, however, was insufficient and rarely-maintained fortifications. They were the result of limited funds available to the fortresses from the state treasury. They were hardly enough to finance construction and maintenance work in Kamieniec. Sporadically, the fortress and the garrison were supported by the local authorities, the noblemen’s estates, but as a rule, the support was limited to supplies in kind. They were mainly supplies of food and timber. Only the Podolia Estate decided to significantly support the Kamieniec Podolski stronghold financially, with 62,000 zlotys (7,750 thalers) in the 1760s, of which 20% was to be used for the fortifications. Another tens of

24 Ciesielski. T: Armia koronna. pp. 541-546.; Wolanski, A.: Wojna polsko-rosyjska 1792 r. Warszawa, 1996. pp. 40-41 („Tablica”).

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