Battle of Berestechko

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Battle of Berestechko
Part of the Khmelnytsky Uprising
Ivan Bohun fighting the Poles in the Battle of Berestechko.
Date 28–30 June 1651 Location Berestechko, Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth (today Ukraine) 50°21′0″N 25°7′0″E / 50.35°N 25.116667°E / 50.35; 25.116667Coordinates: 50°21′0″N 25°7′0″E / 50.35°N 25.116667°E / 50.35; 25.116667 Result Decisive Polish-Lithuanian victory
Belligerents
Zaporozhian Cossack Crimean Khanate	Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
Commanders and leaders
Bohdan Khmelnytsky Khan İslâm III Giray Toğay bey  † Ivan Bohun	King John II Casimir Jeremi Wiśniowiecki Mikołaj Potocki Stefan Czarniecki Marcin Kalinowski Stanisław Lanckoroński
Strength
100,000 Cossacks and peasants 40,000 Crimean Tatars (est.) Few thousands Turks, and Vlachs	17,000 cavalry 16,000 infantry 30,000 levée en masse
Casualties and losses
40,000-70,000	over 300-400

Battle of Beresteczko 1651, relief at Abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés in Paris

The Battle of Berestechko (Polish: Bitwa pod Beresteczkiem; Ukrainian: Берестецька битва) was fought between the Ukrainian Cossacks, led by Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky, aided by their Crimean Tatar allies, and a Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army under King John II Casimir. Fought over three days from 28 to 30 June 1651, the battle took place in the Polish province of Volhynia. It was, very probably, the world's largest land battle of the 17th century.

The number of Polish troops is uncertain. One of the senior Polish commanders on the day, Duke Bogusław Radziwiłł, wrote that the Polish army had had 80,000 soldiers.^[1] Modern historians Zbigniew Wójcik, Józef Gierowski, and Władysław Czapliński have reduced this figure to 60,000-63,000 soldiers.^[2] The Cossacks are thought to have numbered as much 100,000 men, most of them low-grade foot troops, plus 40,000 allied Crimean Tatar cavalry and a few thousand Turks and Vlachs. Both sides had about 40,000 cavalry. Fighting was close, with the core of excellent Cossack infantry making up for the weakness of their cavalry; much of the decisive fighting was by the infantry and dismounted dragoons of each side.

The Armies

On 19 June 1651, the Polish Army numbered 14,844 Polish cavalry, 2,250 German-style cavalry, 11,900 German-style infantry and dragoons, 2,950 Hungarian-style infantry (haiduks), 1,550 Lithuanian volunteers, and 960 Lipka Tatars^[3]. In addition there was a huge militia force, of limited value, numbering 30,000 noblemen of the levée en masse.

The Polish commanders were hoping to break into the Cossack ranks with an impetous charge of the famous Polish 'Winged' Hussars - a tactic proven effective in many previous battles, including Kircholm, and Kłuszyn (and which would later prove successful at the 1683 Battle of Vienna against the Turks). The Cossack army were well acquainted with this Polish style of war well, having much experience of fighting against the Poles and alongside them. Their preferred tactic was to avoid an open field battle, and to fight from the cover of a huge fortified camp.

Before the battle, the Cossack army totaled 80,000 men; 28,000-33,000 Tatars and uncertain numbers of Ukrainian peasants.^[4]

First day of battle

2000 Polish cavalry (one regiment under the command of Aleksander Koniecpolski, supported by Jerzy Lubomirski, six pancerni cavalry companies of Jeremi Wiśniowiecki and Winged Hussars under the command of Stefan Czarniecki ) repulsed the Tatars, who suffered heavy losses. During the first day of the battle, the Poles were victorious.

Second day of battle

The Poles, encouraged by their success on the first day, deployed all their available cavalry. The Polish infantry and artillery remained in camp and didn't support the cavalry. This time, Tatar cavalry gained the upper hand, pushing the Poles back to their camp but were then repulsed by heavy fire from the Polish infantry and artillery. The Poles lost 300 soldiers, including many officers. During the second day of the battle, the rebels were victorious.

Third day of battle

At 3 p.m. Duke Jeremi Wiśniowiecki led a successful charge of 18 cavalry companies against the right wing of the Cossack-Tatar Army. The Polish infantry centre, under the personal command of King John Casimir, advanced slowly forward. The Tatars attempted to attack it, but were repulsed. During the fighting, a Polish nobleman called Otwinowski noticed the Tatar Khan's standard, and Polish artillery was directed to fire at it. A Tatar standing next to the Khan fell dead. With the battle already turning badly, the Tatar forces panicked, the Khan fled the field and the Tatars retreated, but not before taking Khmelnytsky hostage. With their cavalry support gone, the Cossack wagon-fort, containing the vast bulk of the Cossack army now stood isolated on the battlefield, and in effect was under siege by the Polish army.

The siege of the Cossack wagons

The Polish army stood on alert for several days, intending to prevent the Cossack wagon-fort from moving off. Initially, the Cossacks were commanded by Colonel Filon Dzhalalii, but after a few days he was replaced by Ivan Bohun. On July 10, the Cossacks fell into a panic, believing that their commanders had ran off in the night, leaving them to their fate. The Polish forces attacked the panicked Cossacks and the battle turned into a slaughter. There were 30,000 dead in the camp, including some women and children.

Aftermath

As the battle ended, King John Casimir made the error of not pressing even harder the pursuit of the fleeing Cossacks. After making promises of a pecuniary nature, Khmelnytsky was soon released by the Tatar Khan. He was then able to reassemble the Cossack host, which was able to present a substantial army to confront the Poles at Bila Tserkva. John Casimir's heart was not in the fight, and agreed to a truce, the Treaty of Bila Tserkva, with Khmelnytsky, on favourable terms to the Cossacks. The Ukrainian revolt far from ending would continue for several more years.

Battle of Berestechko by Vernier

Polish noble families

Members of noble families had the personal obligation to take part in the battle with men from their towns and villages. Those who supplied men for this battle included:^{[citation needed]}

• Stefan Czarniecki
• Piotr Dołęga-Ossowski
• Adam Grzymała-Kazanowski
• Mikołaj Janina-Rzeczycki
• Marcin Kalinowa-Kalinowski, Hetman
• Franciszek Leliwa-Czapski
• Zygmunt Rawicz-Przyjemski

Notes

External links

• http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/Berest.htm