John III Sobieski's trip to Tatar forces
Part ofPolish–Ottoman War (1672–1676) Crimean-Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe
John III Sobieski's trip to Tatar forces
Date 5–14 October 1672 Location Podolia,Pokuttia,Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth Result Polish-Lithuanian victory
Belligerents
Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth	Crimean Khanate Ottoman Empire Cossack Hetmanate Lipka Tatars
Commanders and leaders
John III Sobieski	Safa Giray Selim I Giray Nurredin Sultan Jiambet Giray Haci Giray Petro Doroshenko
Strength
2,500–3,000	20,000
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Heavy

Jan Sobieski's expedition against the Tatar chambuls was a successful military campaign that aimed to disperse theTatars who were pillaging thePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth during thePolish-Ottoman War (1672-1676).

After capturingKamieniec Podolski, theOttoman army began thesiege of Lwów on September 20. At that time, theTatars, who were not taking part in the siege, aided byHetmanPetro Doroshenko'sCossacks and someOttoman troops divided into three main groups, ravaged thePolish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. Between theWieprz andSan rivers, the forces ofJiambet Giray were active, while theNurredin-Sultan's forces were active south of theDniester. A third group commanded byHaci Giray operated on theVistula and the middleSan as far asJasło. In total, these groups numbered about 20,000^[1] soldiers and operated in dispersion.

Grand Hetman of the CrownJohn III Sobieski, who had only 2.5-3 thousandcavalry anddragoons, moved on October 5 fromKrasnystaw against the Tatars, withoutwagons and taking two horses per soldier. Going to the rear of the Tatar groups, he advanced towardZamość and at night smashed a smallchambul in thebattle of Krasnobród, and on October 6 twochambuls in thebattle ofNarol, Poland. On October 7, in thebattle of Nemirów, he caught up with and smashedJiambet's forces.

After a one-day rest on October 8, Sobieski on October 9 caught up with and beat Nurredin-Sultan's main forces in thebattle of Komarno, pursuing them toVyshnia. On October 11, Sobieski's troops crossed theDniester and set off in pursuit of the retreating Haci Girey. After a strenuous day and night march, thecrown army, in the strength of a thousand soldiers (the rest could not keep up and stayed behind), caught up with the Tatars at dawn on October 14 and smashed them in battles atPetranka andKalush.

John Sobieski, at the head of the cavalry and dragoons, traveled fromKrasnystaw to the south in 9 days about 450kilometers. Acting with great self-sacrifice, the Polish soldiers freed about 44,000^[2] people from theTataryasir. The Great Hetman of the Crown, who was directing the operations, used a very effective method of throwing a group of several hundred horsemen against the Tatars, which distracted them from the main forces coming from the opposite direction. This method always made it possible to smash the Tatars, and prevented them from encircling the army completely. The extraordinary success of the expedition with such a small force was due to the fact that Sobieski was always able to choose the right direction of action, thanks to which the rapidly advancing Polish troops using the Tatar marching technique were able to catch up with and smash individual enemy cavalries.

• Battle of Krasnobród
• Battle of Niemirów
• Battle of Komarno
• Battle of Kalush
• Polish-Ottoman Wars
• John III Sobieski
• Crimean-Nogai slave raids in Eastern Europe

• Urbanowicz, Józef (1971).Mała Encyklopedia Wojskowa. Vol. 3,R–Ż (1 ed.). Warszawa: Wydawnictwo Ministerstwa Obrony Narodowej. p. 169-170.OCLC 830232381.

• Battles of the Polish–Ottoman War (1672–1676)
• Battles involving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth
• Crimean Khanate
• Battles involving the Ottoman Empire
• Military campaigns involving Poland
• John III Sobieski

• CS1: long volume value