The plot of the film Powstaniec 1863 focuses on General Stanislaw Brzóska, who fought against the Russian Empire. Due to a series of events, the titular insurgent becomes the head of the longest-fighting insurgent unit, and thanks to the first successful attack on a Russian military garrison, he becomes an officer and chief chaplain. Called "Ghost" by the Russians, he escapes death several times at the hands of officer Manukin, known as the "Executioner of Podlasie", and for the next two years of the uprising he does not allow himself to be caught, thus giving Polish society hope of freeing itself from the tsarist partition and spreading panic among the troops.