Battle at Hodów
| date | June 11 , 1694 |
|---|---|
| place | Hodów , today Ukraine |
| output | Poland-Lithuania victory |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| about 400 men | 25,000-70,000 men |
| losses | |
|
about 100 men |
1,000–2,000 men |
The battle near Hodów on June 11, 1694 was part of the conflict between Poland-Lithuania and Tatar troops in connection with the Great Turkish War .
Prelude
At the beginning of June 1694 Tatar troops attacked Podolia , which at the time belonged to Poland-Lithuania . To ward off the attack Poland-Lithuania sent seven banners (called "Okopy Świętej Trójcy") under the leadership of Konstanty Zahorowski and "Szaniec Świętej Maryii" led by Mikołaj Tyszkowski in the form of wings hussars and armored cavalry.
The battle
The first battle took place in a field near Hodów. The Poles arrest two Mirza , and the leader of the hussars, Mikołaj Tyszkowski, was captured. He was later ransomed. After this battle, the Polish-Lithuanian troops withdrew to Hodów in view of the numerical superiority of the Tatars. There, around 400 winged hussars repelled the attacks by the Tatars with their handguns . When they ran out of ammunition , they are said to have continued to fight with captured Tatar arrows that they put into the barrel of their rifles. According to today's historians, a total of 25,000 to 70,000 Tatars fought against 400 winged hussars, depending on the source. The Polish King John III. Sobieski spoke of 40,000 Tatars.
When the Tatars could not cross the line of defense of the winged hussars, they sent Lipka Tatars , who were considered loyal to the state of Poland-Lithuania, with an invitation to surrender . The defenders refused, after which the Tatars withdrew to Kamieniec Podolski .
aftermath
During the battle, the majority of the winged hussars were injured and about a hundred died. Konstanty Zahorowski died three days after the battle from his injuries. Johann III. Sobieski gave the winged hussars money and horses as thanks for their efforts and had a memorial erected for them in 1695.
In parts of Polish historiography, the battle is compared to the battle of Thermopylae .