Jakub Łoś

A soldier who recorded the war

Jakub Łoś (1632–1688) served the Commonwealth as a companion in an armoured cavalry banner. Unlike many commanders known chiefly through appointments and orders, he also left a memoir. It provides a participant's view of marching, fighting, crossings and encounters abroad¹.

Denmark and the sea crossing

Łoś joined the force sent with Stefan Czarniecki to aid Denmark against Sweden. He described the crossing to the island of Als in 1658, mentioning boats, rafts and horses led behind the vessels. His account can be compared with Jan Chryzostom Pasek's famous, more theatrical image of cavalry entering the water. Both men took part, but their memoirs are different perspectives, not identical cameras recording an event²¹.

A source for Sienkiewicz

Literary scholarship identifies Łoś's memoir among sources Sienkiewicz used when writing the Trilogy. His relationship to The Deluge is therefore also that of a witness whose details helped a later novelist imagine the era, rather than that of a principal fictional character. No separate Łoś role has been verified in Hoffman's film cast³⁴.