22 October in history: Battles of Filipów and Buxar

Quick answer

On 22 October two battles from very different wars share the date. At Buxar on the Ganges in 1764, a British East India Company army of about 7,000 men, most of them Indian sepoys held together by a brutal show of discipline, faced a far larger army of the Mughal emperor, the Nawab of Awadh and the deposed Nawab of Bengal. Its victory, won on 22 or 23 October depending on the account, led within a year to the diwani, the Company's right to collect the revenues of Bengal and Bihar. At Filipów in 1656, during the Deluge, a Swedish and Brandenburg force caught the Lithuanian division of Wincenty Gosiewski at a marshy crossing, broke it with a few cannon shots and freed Prince Bogusław Radziwiłł, taken prisoner two weeks earlier at Prostki.

Battle of Filipów, 1656: Gosiewski's defeat on the Prussian border

22 October 1656 · 370 years ago

At Filipów, Lithuanian Field Hetman Wincenty Gosiewski fought a Swedish and Brandenburg army led by Stenbock and the Prince of Waldeck during the Deluge. The Swedish-Brandenburg side held the upper hand from the start and won, though Gosiewski pulled out his main force in time.

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The Battle of Buxar, 1764: the East India Company takes Bengal

22 October 1764 · 262 years ago

The British East India Company won the Battle of Buxar on 22 October 1764. A much smaller Company army under Major Hector Munro defeated the combined forces of the Mughal emperor Shah Alam II, Shuja-ud-Daula of Awadh and the deposed nawab of Bengal, Mir Qasim.

Read the full story of The Battle of Buxar, 1764: the East India Company takes Bengal ›

Also on this day

In 1777, at Red Bank on the Delaware, about 1,200 Hessians under Colonel Carl von Donop stormed Fort Mercer, held by some 500 to 600 Americans under Colonel Christopher Greene. The assault failed with more than 500 Hessian casualties, and Donop was mortally wounded. The forts on the river were meant to stop British ships from supplying Philadelphia, which the British had taken that September; for the campaign, see our article on Germantown.¹

Frequently asked questions

Why was the Battle of Buxar important?

It broke the alliance of the Mughal emperor and the Nawabs of Awadh and Bengal. In August 1765 Shah Alam II granted the East India Company the diwani, the right to collect the revenues of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, which paid for its armies and further expansion.

Was Buxar fought on 22 or 23 October 1764?

Both dates appear. This page lists Buxar under 22 October, the day Munro reached Buxar and the first day of Mark Cartwright's 22 to 23 October; G. B. Malleson and Sonal Singh date the fighting to the 23rd.

How many men were lost at Buxar?

Malleson gives 847 Company killed and wounded and more than 2,000 allied dead; Cartwright gives about 850 Company losses and between about 2,000 and 5,000 allied dead. About 130 guns were captured.

What happened at Filipów in 1656?

On 22 October 1656 a Swedish and Brandenburg force under Gustaf Otto Stenbock caught Wincenty Gosiewski's Lithuanian division at a marshy crossing at Mieruniszki near Filipów. A few cannon shots broke it, and Prince Bogusław Radziwiłł, captured at Prostki two weeks earlier, was freed.

Did the defeat at Filipów matter?

The historian Andrzej Rachuba sees it as mattering for prestige and propaganda rather than for the course of operations. Gosiewski himself wrote that his men had scattered, but with smaller losses than rumor claimed.