| Battle of Cecora | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of theMoldavian Magnate Wars and thePolish–Ottoman War (1620–1621) | |||||||
 Death of Hetman Stanislaw Żółkiewski with his confessor, Father Szymon Wybierski, in the Battle of Cecora (1620), painting byWalery Eljasz-Radzikowski | |||||||
| |||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||
 Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth Moldavia |  Ottoman Empire.svg) Crimean Khanate Transylvania | ||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||
| Stanisław Żółkiewski †Stanisław Koniecpolski (POW)Gaspar Graziani | Iskender PashaKhan TemirGabor Bethlen | ||||||
| Strength | |||||||
| 9,000 Commonwealth troops[2] 600–1,000 Moldavian troops | 20,000 Ottoman troops[2] to 60,000[3]: 344 | ||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||
| 2,000 to 3,000 killed, wounded, or deserted[4] or only 1,000–1,500 survived | 1,500 killed or wounded[4] | ||||||
TheBattle of Cecora (also known as theBattle of Țuțora) took place during thePolish–Ottoman War (1620–21) between thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (aided by rebelMoldavian troops) andOttoman forces (backed byNogais),[3]: 344 fought from 17 September to 7 October 1620 in Moldavia, near thePrut River.[5]: 568
Because of the failure of the Commonwealthdiplomatic mission toConstantinople, and violations of theTreaty of Busza by both sides (asCossacks andTatars continued their raids across the borders), relations between the Ottomans and the Commonwealth rapidly deteriorated in early 1620. Both sides began preparing for war, although neither was quite ready for it at the time. The Ottomans declared war against Poland in 1620 and planned to attack in the spring of 1621.[3]: 341 The CommonwealthSejm denied most funds thehetmans had asked for. TheSenate's secret council finally decided, convinced by theHabsburgs' representative, to contribute the Commonwealth forces in 1620—even though many members of the Sejm thought that Polish–Lithuanian forces were neither sufficient nor fully prepared. HetmanStanisław Żółkiewski, who was by then over 70 years old (as Commonwealth policy didn't allow for a possibility of forced retirement from government offices such as that of hetman), foresaw the coming confrontation with the Ottoman Empire and decided to meetOttoman troops on foreign soil, Moldavia being the obvious choice.[6] However, the sultan sentIskender Pasha to Moldavia to remove HospodarGaspar Graziani, who had allied himself with Poland.[3]: 341
HetmansZółkiewski andKoniecpolski led the army toȚuțora (Cecora in Polish sources), acommune inIași County,Romania, to fight theHorde ofKhan Temir (Kantymir). The army numbered between 5,000[3]: 342 to 9,000 (2,000 infantry but only about 1600 Cossack cavalry[3]: 344 ), with many regiments being made up of the private forces ofmagnatesKoreckis,Zasławskis,Kazanowskis,Kalinowskis, andPotockis. The army entered Moldavia in September. The Moldavian ruler, hospodarGaspar Graziani, nominally a vassal of the Ottoman Empire, decided to rebel and support the Commonwealth against the Ottomans. Graziani killed thejanissaries inIași, imprisoned envoys ofSultanOsman II (who had ordered his removal from power and his transport to Istanbul) and then prepared to flee, but was forced by Żółkiewski to attach his troops to the Polish–Lithuanian camp.[3]: 344 However, many of the Moldavianboyars left the camp in order to defend their ownestates against pillaging by undisciplined Commonwealth magnates' troops, others decided to wait and see what the outcome appeared to be so they could join the winning side, and others joined the Turks.[3]: 344 Consequently, only about 600–1000 rebel Moldavian troops appeared in the Commonwealth camp. Żółkiewski ordered the army to proceed to the fortified camp (standing from previous wars) at Cecora.
On 10 September, near Țuțora (close to Iași, Romania), the Commonwealth army encountered theTatar and Ottoman forces, 13,000–22,000 strong, under the command ofIskender Pasha, the beylerbey ofOchakiv (Ozi). The Ottoman sultan's force includedGabriel Bethlen's Transylvanian army.[3]: 342 The Tatar forces surprised the Commonwealth defenders, taking many prisoners. On the 17th, during the first day of fighting, most of the rebel Moldavians decided to switch sides and quickly attacked the Polish–Lithuanian flank. Mercenaries, private troops and their magnate leaders were lacking in discipline and morale. Stanisław Koniecpolski commanded the right flank of the Commonwealth forces during the ensuing battle. On 19 September it had become clear that the Polish–Lithuanian forces were defeated, although they still managed to hold their positions; on 20/21 September, Koniecpolski prevented the army from disintegrating. On 29 September, Commonwealth troops had broken through Ottoman ranks withtabor wagon trains and started their retreat. However, after Graziani bribed some magnates, units of private troops begun to flee and some mercenary cavalry panicked and also ran. This was a prelude of things to come. Consecutive attacks during the retreat (including a particularly violent one on 3 October) were repelled, but troop units started disintegrating.
During another heavy assault on 6 October, most of the magnates and nobles broke and fled north,[3]: 344 leaving infantry and camp, thus sealing the fate of the whole expedition: most of the Polish–Lithuanian troops were killed or captured. The ensuing battle saw the death of Żólkiewski[7] Koniecpolski,[3]: 344 and many others includingSamuel Korecki,Mikolaj Struś,Mikołaj Potocki,Jan Żółkiewski,Łukasz Żołkiewski, whileStanisław "Rewera" Potocki andBohdan Khmelnytsky were taken captive. Before his death, Żółkiewski received the blessing of hisconfessor,Father Szymon Wybierski (Wybierek) of theSociety of Jesus, who stood by his side (7 October).[8] Żółkiewski's head was mounted on a pike and sent to the sultan; Duke Korecki, having often meddled in Moldavian territories, was executed in prison inConstantinople.[citation needed]
In the face of such an important victory, advised bygrand vizierAli Pasha and Gabriel Bethlen, Osman II decided that he could reinforce his rule or even extend it.Alexandru Iliaș was appointed as the ruler of Moldavia, the rebel Graziani having been killed during his flight on 29 September.
Between 1,000 and 1,500 Commonwealth men survived the battles, while the Tatars moved intoPodolia,Wołyń and easternLesser Poland.[3]: 344
In 1621 an army of 200,000–250,000 Ottoman veterans, led by Osman II, advanced fromEdirne towards the Polish frontier. The Ottomans, following their victory in the Battle of Cecora, had high hopes of conquering the southern part of thePolish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. Polish commander Jan Karol Chodkiewicz crossed the Dniester in September with approximately 35,000 Polish troops andCossack supporters and entrenched himself at theChocim (Khotyn) Fortress, blocking the path of the slow Ottoman march. During theBattle of Khotyn, for more than a month (2 September – 9 October 1621), the Commonwealth hetman held the sultan at bay until the first autumn snow. The lateness of the season and the loss of approximately 40,000 men in battle compelled Osman II to initiate negotiations. A few days before the siege was to be lifted, on 24 September, the aged grand hetman died of exhaustion in the fortress. The battle was a stalemate and the resultingTreaty of Khotyn reflected it, providing some concessions to the Commonwealth but meeting some Ottoman demands.
Osman II blamed the stalemate of war on the lack of zeal and the "degeneracy" of theJanissaries. His efforts at modernizing the Ottoman army were not well received by the Janissaries and the conservative "learned" class. A revolt led by Janissaries and the students of themadrases erupted on 18 May 1622 and Osman II was deposed, and two days later he was killed by the rebels.
The Battle of Cecora is commemorated on theTomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw, with the inscription "CECORA 18 – 29 IX 1620".
