Battle of Berestechko
| date | June 28 to thirtieth June 1651 |
|---|---|
| place | Berestechko (Берестечко), Ukraine |
| output | Victory of the Polish-Lithuanian army |
| Parties to the conflict | |
|---|---|
| Commander | |
| Troop strength | |
| about 68,000 men | about 110,000 men |
| losses | |
|
about 700 men |
approx. 40,000 to 80,000 men |
Shovti Vody (1648) - Korsun (1648) - Starokostjantyniw (1648) - Pyljawzi (1648) - Pohost (1648) - Lojew I (1649) - Zahal (1649) - Sbarash (1649) - Sboriw (1649) - Krasne (1651 ) - Kopytschynzi (1651) - Berestechko (1651) - Lojew II (1651) - Bila Tserkva (1651) - Batoh (1652) - Kamyanets-Podilskyj (1652) - Monastyryschtsche (1653) - Suceava (1653) - Schwanets (1653)
The Battle of Berestechko was one of the greatest battles of the 17th century . It was waged between the alliance of the Zaporozhian Cossacks and Crimean Tatars and the aristocratic republic of Poland-Lithuania and was one of the last major clashes in the Khmelnytskyi uprising . The battle lasted for three days from June 28 to the 30th June 1651 .
initial situation
Before the battle, Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki had a different opinion than King John II Casimir . The prince and later commander of the Polish army in battle pursued the Cossacks, who were under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnyzkyj , in order to be able to defeat them in smaller battles. However, John II Casimir assumed that the Cossacks and Tatars would move further south to the Crimean peninsula . But on the night of June 27th, Jeremi Wiśniowiecki sent a patrol in the direction of the Cossack camp and found a large army of around 110,000 men. These included around 80,000 Cossacks and around 30,000 Crimean Tatars. Thereupon John II Casimir was informed, who was shocked by these facts. The king and the other Polish and Lithuanian commanders (in addition to Wiśniowiecki, Crown Hetman Marcin Kalinowski and Hetman Stanisław Lanckoroński ) met in Dubno to divide up the battle positions.
The alliance of the Zaporozhian Cossacks and Crimean Tatars took up an elongated formation. The Crimean Tatars took the left wing under the command of Khan İslâm III. Giray , the Zaporozhian Cossacks the middle part and the right wing under the leadership of Bohdan Khmelnytskyi. The Polish-Lithuanian army placed its cavalry on the left and right wings . On the left wing was the elite Polish hussar unit under the command of Kalinowski and Wiśniowiecki. On the right wing, most of the horsemen were under the command of Lanckoroński. In the center, Johann II Casimir placed a mixed army of infantry mercenaries and a small cavalry unit, in front of which he positioned guns and artillery .
Course of the battle
On June 28 the battle began. This day was dominated by the Poles and Lithuanians. The left Polish wing under Kalinowski and Wiśniowiecki was able to repel a wave of attacks by the Cossacks and attack head-on with the support of the Polish artillery. The weak attacks against the right wing of the Poles could be repulsed by Lanckoroński's troops.
However, the Cossacks dominated on June 29th : with strategic maneuvers they attacked the right Polish wing and pushed it back. The Polish artillery responded by shelling the Cossacks. After that, the Tatars, led by the Khan, attacked the right Polish wing and weakened it. After this wave of attacks, the right-wing Polish position received reinforcements for the next day from the hetman Mikołaj Potocki , who arrived with a poorly trained cavalry unit made up of Polish nobles ( Szlachta ).
The decisive day was June 30th . John II Casimir went on the offensive , along with the right wing. Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki smashed several divisions of the Cossacks and forced them to flee. The prince is said to have led the cavalry troops without armor only with a saber and his horse. When the king was injured, Wiśniowiecki took over the command . The Polish artillery smashed the front troops of the Tatars, and their khan was killed. The Crimean Tatars fled without a guide. Bohdan Khmelnyzkyj then withdrew to a forest further south-east of Berestetschko. From there, the Cossack commander wanted to ambush the injured king's troops. This was not possible, however, because the riders under the Hetman Lanckoroński stopped further north against the will of the Polish-Lithuanian ruler and so ruined Chmelnyzkyj's plan. Thereupon the Cossack unit fled behind the border of the Polish-Lithuanian aristocratic republic.
consequences
The consequences were the temporary end of the Khmelnytskyi uprising and the rebellions in the eastern part of Poland-Lithuania. In addition, a deterioration in the relationship between the aristocratic republic and the Russian tsarist empire , because the Cossacks made themselves available as allies for Russia and this led to the outbreak of the Russo-Polish War .
gallery
Jeremi Wiśniowiecki, Prince and Commander
John II Casimir, King and Commander in Chief of the Polish-Lithuanian Armed Forces
Bohdan Khmelnytskyi, ataman of the Cossacks
Ivan Bohun at the Battle of Berestechko
Web links
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- Sławne bitwy Polaków - page 398
- Historia polityczna Polski: Okres królów elekcyjnych - page 136
- Encyklopedia historii Polski: N-Ż - page 551
- Medale Wazów w Polsce 1587–1668 - page 160
- Epicki kształt poematów historycznych Samuela Twardowskiego - page 80
- Confessionalization in East Central Europe: Effects of Religious Change in the 16th and 17th Centuries on State, Society and Culture-Page 148
- Polish Winged Hussar 1576–1775- page 42
- Polish Light Artillery
Coordinates: 50 ° 21 ' N , 25 ° 7' E