The Warsaw Uprising of 1794 (otherwise called the Warsaw Insurrection, Polish: insurekcja warszawska) was an armed Polish insurrection at the onset of Kościuszko's Uprising by the people of the city. Supported by the Polish Army, it aimed to throw off Russian control of Warsaw, the capital of Poland. It started on April 17, 1794, soon after Tadeusz Kościuszko's victory at Racławice. Although the Russian forces were more numerous and better equipped, the Polish regular forces and militia, armed with rifles and sabres from the Warsaw Arsenal, nonetheless inflicted heavy losses on the surprised enemy garrison. Russian soldiers found themselves under crossfire, shot from all sides and buildings, and several units broke early and suffered heavy casualties during the retreat.
Tomasz Maruszewski, Kościuszko's envoy, Ignacy Działyński, and others had been laying the groundwork for the uprising since the spring of 1793. They succeeded in encouraging popular support: the National Militia was formed out of several thousands of volunteers and was led by Jan Kiliński, a master shoemaker by trade and one of the most notable burghers of the time. Apart from the militia, the most famous units to take part in the liberation of Warsaw were formed of Poles that had previously been forcibly conscripted into the Russian service. An eye-witness of the fights in Warsaw was Jan Piotr Norblin de la Gourdaine, a French-born Polish painter who created a set of sketches and paintings depicting the struggles.
Within hours, the fighting spread from a single street at the western outskirts of Warsaw's Old Town to the entire city. A part of the Russian garrison was able to retreat to Powązki under the cover of Prussian cavalry, but most of the garrison was trapped inside the city. The isolated Russian forces continued to resist in several parts of the city for two more days.