PONIATOWSKI, JOSEPH ANTHONY Polish prince and marshal of France, son of Andrew Poniatowski and the countess Theresa Kinsky, was born at Warsaw in 1763. He served with distinction in the imperial forces against the Turks in 1788, then becoming major-general and subsequently lieutenant general in the Polish army under his uncle, King Stanislaus. In 1789 he commanded the Ukrainian division; and after the pro clamation of the constitution of May 3, 1791, was made com mander-in-chief. Aided by Kosciuszko, he conducted the opera tions against Russia with much skill, but when the king acceded to the confederation of Targowica (see POLAND: History), at the same time guaranteeing the adhesion of the army, Poniatowski, and most of the other generals threw up their commissions and emigrated. During the Kosciuszko rising he again f ought gallantly for his country under his former subordinate, and after the fall of the republic lived in retirement. After the evacuation of the Polish provinces by Prussia, Poniatowski became commander of the National Guard, and on the creation of the grand duchy of Warsaw he was nominated war minister.
During the war of 1809, he operated successfully against the Austrians. In Napoleon's campaign against Russia in 1812 Ponia
towski commanded the fifth army corps; and after the disastrous retreat of the grand army remained faithful and formed a new Polish army of 13,000 men, with which he joined the emperor at Liitzen. In 1813 he guarded the passes of the Bohemian moun tains and defended the left bank of the Elbe. As a reward for his brilliant services at Leipzig he was made a marshal of France and entrusted with the duty of covering the retreat of the army, in the course of which he perished, fighting heroically against over whelming odds. His relics were conveyed to Poland and buried in Cracow Cathedral, where he lies by the side of Tadeusz Kosciuszko and Jan Sobieski. Poniatowski's Mes souvenirs sur la campagne de 1792 (Lemberg, 1863) is of historical value.
See Correspondence of Poniatowski (ed. E. Raczynski, Posen, 1843) ; Bronislaw Dembinski, Stanislaus Augustus and Prince Joseph Poniatowski in the light of their Correspondence (Fr.; Lemberg, 1904) ; Szymon Askenazy, Prince Joseph Poniatowski (Pol.; Warsaw, 19o5).