Battle of Pyliavtsi

At the beginning of theKhmelnytsky Uprising in the early months of 1648,Polish forces tried to suppress it but suffered two defeats at thebattle of Zhovti Vody andKorsun. This was followed by the death of kingWładysław IV on 20 May 1648, and ChancellorJerzy Ossolinski called for a congress of notables inWarsaw on 9 June, at whichZaslawski,Ostroróg andKoniecpolski were designated provisional commanders, andAdam Kisiel was instructed to enter into negotiations withBohdan Khmelnytsky.^[6]^{: 418–419} By 27 June, theBratslav region,Volhynia and the southKyiv region were engulfed by the uprising, Khmelnytsky had halted atBila Tserkva,Tugay Bey foraged with his horde, and the khan had returned to theCrimea with two hundred thousand captives.^[6]^{: 431, 442–443} By August, Kysil's commission had failed and this period of truce was coming to an end.^[6]^: 467

TheCrown Army organized inGalicia, headed by the unpopular triumvirate of Crown commissioners:Władysław Dominik Zasławski,Mikolaj Ostroróg, andAleksander Koniecpolski, were all famously derided byBohdan Khmelnytsky as aperyna (the feather-down bed),latyna (the Latinist) anddytyna (the child), respectively.^[6]^: 468Zaslawski's Army marched toZbarazh on 16 August 1648, in the footsteps of anotherCrown Army organized aroundJeremi Wisniowiecki, who had been stationed in southVolhynia "following the battles atStarokostiantyniv".^[6]^: 468 These armies merged on 1 September 1648, at Chovhanskyi Kamin.^[6]^: 469

Bohdan Khmelnytsky was "sationed at the time with his army on the fields ofPyliavtsi southeast ofStarokostiantyniv".^[6]^: 469

An advance regiment commanded byKoniecpolski andOstroróg crossed the Ikopot River at Rosolivtsi on 6 September 1648, and encountered a Cossack garrison nearStarokostiantyniv, who overnight abandoned the town to theCrown Army.^[6]^: 472 Yet, rather than "establishing themselves in..this mighty fortress...they set out to take"Khmelnytsky's position atPyliavtsi, convinced "he would do anything to avoid a battle" while awaiting the arrival of theCrimean Tatars.^[6]^: 472

On 8 September 1648, Polish cavalry troops under the command of Mykola Zatsyvilkovsky approached the Cossack positions atPyliavtsi, driving a Cossack reconnaissance patrol from the field, allowing theCrown Army to camp on the Ikva oppositeKhmelnytsky.^[6]^: 473

Battle

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The scheme of the battle

Following several days of minor battles,Khmelnytsky led his army on the morning of 13 September 1648 shouting: “For the faith, brave warriors, for the faith!", killing many Polish cavalrymen as they fled back across the Ikva.^[6]^: 474 That night, the Polish commanders decided to retreat incorral formation toStarokostiantyniv, but while preparing for this retreat the next day, they would hold their position and fight underWisniowiecki's command.^[6]^: 475 However, "rumours began curculating among the troops ... that the commanders had abandoned the camp and taken flight, and fear was turned into wholesale panic".^[6]^: 475 "Everyone else began to flee, leaving behind wagons, cannon, and all kind of supplies, only the sick and maimed remained", not stopping atStarokostiantyniv,Koniecpolski went toBrody,Ostroróg toOlesko,Zaslawski toVyshnivets.^[6]^: 475

Aftermath

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A modern monument to the battle,Ukraine

The Polish–Lithuanian army suffered a crushing defeat and was forced into disorganized retreat. The bridge leading to the town gate ofStarokostiantyniv collapsed under the weight of retreating Polish–Lithuanian troops, burying hundreds under its debris.^[7] Only around half of the Polish–Lithuanian army managed to flee.^[2] The Poles left behind an "immense, unheard-of booty", including a hundred thousand loaded wagons, and the "Cossacks then threw themselves, completely unarmed, into looting the camp", which "significantly weakened the victor's desire to launch a pursuit."^[6]^{: 476–477} Even the "Tatar Horde, arriving after the rout, paid no attention to taking prisoners, but applied themselves to keeping the assorted booty".^[6]^: 477 A few days later,Bohdan Khmelnytsky seizedZbarazh, "the residence of theCossack's greatest enemy,Jeremi Wiśniowiecki", continued on to siegeLviv from 28 September until 15 October 1648, leaving after that city paid 500,000 złoty worth of "money, metal, goods, and supplies" (330,000 went the Tatars).^[6]^{: 480–481, 489} He then laid siege toZamość on 27 October until 22 November 1648, before receiving 20,000 złotys.^[6]^{: 493, 497}

ThePolish Sejm convened 26 September 1648 (6 November 1648,) and electedJeremi Wisniowiecki asCrown Hetman, Andrzej Firlej asField Hetman, andJohn II Casimir Vasa as king on 17 November, who sent Jakub Smiarowski to askBohdan Khmelnytsky to withdraw "to the usual places".^[6]^{: 500–501, 506} Khmelnytsky departedZamość on 24 November, the king confirmed Khmelnytsky as hetman in December^[6]^: 512 and Khmelnytsky enteredKyiv beforeChristmas.^[6]^{: 511, 515}

Notes

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^40,000 Cossacks
40,000 peasants^[1]
4,000 Tatars^[2]
^32,000 nobles, infantry and cavalry
8,000 German mercenaries^[2]
c. 40,000 servants (80,000 total army)[4]
^About half of the Polish–Lithuanian army remained after battle.^[2]

References

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Inline

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^Daniel Z. Stone (2001).The Polish-Lithuanian State, 1386-1795. University of Washington Press. p. 161.ISBN 0295980931.
^^a ^b ^c ^dА. В. Воронянский (2011).История Украины. Харьков Парус. p. 127.ISBN 978-966-8482-03-8.
^Swiecki, Tomasz (1861).Opis starozytnej Polski (in Polish). Czas. p. 140.
^Paul R. Magocsi (1996).A History of Ukraine. University of Toronto Press. p. 202.ISBN 0802078206.
^^a ^bAndré Savine Collection; Kruzhok liubitelei russkoi voen stariny (2011).Russkaia voennaia starina [serial]. Nabu Press. p. 87.ISBN 978-1245577304.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ ^j ^k ^l ^m ⁿ ^o ^p ^q ^r ^s ^t ^uHrushevsky, M., 2002, History of Ukraine-Rus, Volume Eight, The Cossack Age, 1626-1650, Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press,ISBN 1895571324
^Олег Бєліков; Юлія Воронцова (2012).Замки, фортеці, палаци України. 70 чудес. KSD. p. 91.ISBN 978-966-14-3454-6.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)