Eliasz Łącki

A soldier of many wars

Eliasz Jan Łącki (died 1685), of the Szeliga coat of arms, served in the army from about 1639 and became a major in 1657. His long career shows how the Deluge formed one part of a commander's service that later included wars against Muscovy, Cossack forces and the Ottoman Empire.¹

Warsaw in 1657

As commander of the capital, he defended it in June 1657 against George II Rákóczi's troops and their Swedish allies. He helped retake the Bernardine monastery and Hieronim Radziejowski's palace: this was a fight over particular buildings, as well as the city defences. Shortages of ammunition and food forced capitulation on honourable terms. The next year he joined the siege of the Swedish garrison at Toruń.¹

After the Deluge

He was wounded by an arrow at Slobodyshche in 1660. In the following decade he commanded at Grudziądz and Lviv; in 1672 he defended Lviv from an Ottoman army, including sorties beyond the fortifications. He fought at Khotyn in 1673 and, as a major general, participated in the Vienna campaign of 1683. These later achievements should be distinguished from the Swedish war itself.¹

Novel and film

Warsaw's historical defence in 1657 is not a central strand of the film The Deluge. The cast list of Hoffman's adaptation does not identify Łącki as a separate screen role.²