Editing Battle of Berestechko

{{Short description|1651 battle of the Khmelnytsky Uprising}}
{{For|Battle during World War I|Battle of Berestechko (1916)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Battle of Berestechko
| partof            = the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]]
| image             = Bytwa pid Berestechkom 2.png
| image_size        = 300
| caption           = Battle of Berestechko 1651. Counterattack by the [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth|Poles]] against the [[Zaporozhian Cossacks]] and [[Crimean Tatars]]
| date              = 28 June – 10 July 1651
| place             = [[Berestechko]], [[Volhynia]] (modern-day [[Ukraine]])
| coordinates       = 
| map_type          = 
| latitude          = 
| longitude         = 
| map_size          = 
| map_caption       = 
| territory         = 
| result            = Polish–Lithuanian victory
| status            = 
| combatant1        = [[Cossack Hetmanate]] <br />[[Crimean Khanate]]
| combatant2        = [[Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
| commander1        = [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]] <br /> [[Ivan Bohun]] <br /> Fylon Dzalaliy <br /> Matviy Hladky <br /> [[İslâm III Giray]] <br /> [[Tugay Bey]]{{KIA}}
| commander2        = [[John II Casimir of Poland|John II Casimir]] <br /> [[Jeremi Wisniowiecki]] <br /> [[Mikołaj Potocki]] <br /> [[Marcin Kalinowski]] <br /> [[Stefan Czarniecki]] <br /> [[Stanisław Lanckoroński (hetman)|Stanisław Lanckoroński]]<br /> [[Paweł Jan Sapieha]]
| strength1         = 200,000 total<ref>Hrushevsky, M., 2004, ''History of Ukraine-Rus'', Volume Nine, Book One, ''The Cossack Age, 1650–1653'', Toronto: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies, {{ISBN|1895571227}}, p. 304</ref><br>33,000 Cossacks<br>many thousands of peasants<br> 30,000 Crimean Tatars<br> 2,000 Don Cossacks<br>Several thousand Turks and Vlachs
| strength2         = 80,000 total<ref name="Hrushevsky, p. 304">Hrushevsky, p. 304</ref><br>17,000 cavalry <br> 16,000 infantry<br> 56,000 [[Pospolite ruszenie]]
| casualties1       = 30,000–40,000 killed<ref>Romuald Romański, ''Książę Jeremi Wiśniowiecki''. p. 338.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Subtelny |first=Orest |url=https://books.google.pl/books?id=ktyM07I9HXwC&hl=pl&source=gbs_navlinks_s |title=Ukraine: A History, Fourth Edition |date=2009-11-10 |publisher=University of Toronto Press |isbn=978-1-4426-9728-7 |page=132 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-09-05 |title=Bitwa pod Beresteczkiem 1651 r. |url=https://veritasdehistoria.wordpress.com/2018/09/05/bitwa-pod-beresteczkiem-1651-r/#sdfootnote7sym |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=Veritas de Historia |language=pl-PL}}</ref>
| casualties2       = 700<ref>Romuald Romański, ''Beresteczko 1651'', p. 192</ref>
}}
{{Campaignbox Khmelnytsky Uprising}}

The '''Battle of Berestechko''' ([[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]: Битва під Берестечком, [[Polish language|Polish]]: ''Bitwa pod Beresteczkiem''; 28 June – 10 July 1651) was fought between the [[Cossack Hetmanate]] and [[Crimean Khanate]] against the [[Crown Army|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] as a part of the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]]. Near the site of the present-day city of [[Berestechko]] in [[Ukraine]], a forces of the [[Zaporozhian Cossacks]] and [[Crimean Tatars]] under the command of [[Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host|Hetman]] [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]], [[Ataman|Otaman]] [[Tymofiy Khmelnytsky]], [[Colonel]]s [[Ivan Bohun]] and [[Filon Dzhelaliy|Fylon Dzhalaliy]] with [[Khan (title)|Khan]] [[İslâm III Giray]] and [[Tugay Bey]], who was killed in the battle, was defeated by the [[Crown Army|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth's]] forces under the command of the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Polish]] [[King]] [[John II Casimir Vasa|John II Casimir]], [[Prince]] [[Jeremi Wiśniowiecki]], [[Hetmans of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Hetmans]] [[Marcin Kalinowski]] and [[Stanisław Lanckoroński (hetman)|Stanisław Lanckoroński]].<ref>Tucker, S.C., editor, ''A Global Chronology of Conflict, Volume II: 1500–1774'', Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2010, {{ISBN|9781851096671}}, p. 621</ref> The battle took place in the [[Volhynian Voivodeship (1569–1795)|Volhynian Voivodeship]] on the hilly plain south of the [[Styr River]].<ref>Hrushevsky, pp. 304–305</ref> The [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Polish–Lithuanian]] camp was on the [[Styr|Styr River]] opposite [[Berestechko]] and faced south, towards the [[Zaporozhian Cossacks]] about two kilometers away, whose right flank was against the Pliashivka (Pliashova) River and the [[Crimean Tatars]] on their left flank.<ref>Hrushevsky, pp. 304, 313</ref> It is considered to have been among the largest [[Europe]]an [[land battle]]s of the 17th century.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0DjDDQAAQBAJ&q=biggest+land+battle+berestechko&pg=PT88 |title=Made in Poland: The Women and Men Who Changed the World |isbn=9781524596644 |access-date=23 January 2019|last1=Varvounis |first1=Miltiades |date= 2016 |publisher=Xlibris Corporation }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=M7pWDwAAQBAJ&q=biggest+land+battle+berestechko&pg=PA56 |title=Along Ukraine's River: A Social and Environmental History of the Dnipro |isbn=9789633862049 |access-date=23 January 2019|last1=Cybriwsky |first1=Roman Adrian |date=2018 }}</ref>

==Armies==
{{more citations needed section|date=June 2017}}
The number of Polish troops is uncertain. One of the senior Polish commanders, [[Duke]] [[Bogusław Radziwiłł]], wrote that the [[Crown Army]] had 80,000 soldiers,<ref>Jan Widacki, ''Kniaź Jarema'' p. 255.</ref> which included "40,000 regulars and 40,000 nobles of the ''levée en masse'', accompanied by roughly the same number of various servants, footmen, and such."<ref name="Hrushevsky, p. 304">Hrushevsky, p. 304</ref>  Some modern historians, such as Zbigniew Wójcik, Józef Gierowski, and [[Władysław Czapliński]], have reduced this figure to 60,000–63,000 soldiers.<ref>Zbigniew Wójcik, ''Jan Kazimierz Waza'', p. 75; Władysław Czapliński, ''Glosa do Trylogii'', p. 45; Józef Gierowski, ''Historia Polski'', p. 223.</ref>

There is no reliable source on the number of [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Zaporozhian Cossack]] and [[Crimean Tatars|Crimean Tatar]] troops. The possible estimates range from 90,000 men<ref>Tadeusz Wasilewski, ''Ostatni Waza na polskim tronie.'' p. 103.</ref> to 130,000 men.<ref>"Cyprian Pawel Brzostowski's letter of 9 July [N.S.] from the camp" according to Hrushevsky, p. 304</ref> The core of Cossack forces at Berestechko consisted of 12 [[Registered Cossacks|Registered Cossack]] regiments named after towns they were stationed in (list numbers provided according to the [[Treaty of Zboriv]] (1649):
{| class="wikitable"
|+
!Regiment of
!Colonel
!Strength
|-
|[[Chyhyryn]]
|[[Mykhailo Krysa]]
|3,220
|-
|[[Cherkasy]]
|[[Yakiv Voronchenko]]
|2,990
|-
|[[Korsun-Shevchenkivskyi|Korsun]]
|[[Ivan Gulyanitsky]]
|3,470
|-
|[[Bila Tserkva]]
|[[Mykhailo Gromyka]]
|2,990 
|-
|[[Uman]]
|[[Yosyp Glukh]]
|2,977 
|-
|[[Bratslav]]
|[[Danylo Nechai]]
|2,662
|-
|[[Vinnytsia]]
|[[Ivan Bohun]]
|2,050
|-
|[[Pereiaslav]]
|[[Fedir Loboda]]
|2,986
|-
|[[Kropyvna]]
|[[Filon Dzhelaliy]]
|1,993
|-
|[[Myrhorod]]
|[[Matviy Hladky]]
|3,009
|-
|[[Poltava]]
|[[Martyn Pushkar]]
|2,970
|-
|[[Pryluky]]
|[[Tymofiy Nosach]]
|1,996
|-
| colspan="2" |Total
|33,313
|}
A total of 33,313 from the above. Additional 5 Cossack regiments (of [[Kyiv]], [[Kaniv]], [[Chernihiv]], [[Nizhyn]], [[Pavoloch]]) didn't participate in the battle being deployed mostly against the Lithuanian forces of [[Janusz Radziwiłł (1612–1655)|Janusz Radziwiłł]] advancing on [[Kyiv]]. The Registered Cossack force was supported by a large number of Ukrainian peasants armed with scythes, flails and the likes which were rather undisciplined and organised poorly. The Crimean Tatar force is estimated to 25,000–30,000 men, though might be lower. There were also 2,000 Don Cossacks and a few thousand of [[Turkish people|Turks]] and [[Vlachs]].

On 19 June 1651, the [[Crown 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]].<ref>Tadeusz Wasilewski, ''Ostatni Waza na polskim tronie.'' p. 102.</ref>  A number of [[registered Cossacks]] remained loyal and participated in the battle on the Polish side. Many [[magnate]]s brought in their large private armies. In addition, there was a huge militia force, of limited value, numbering 30,000 noblemen of the ''[[pospolite ruszenie|levée en masse]]''.

The Polish commanders were hoping to break the Cossack ranks with a charge of the Polish [[Winged Hussars]], a tactic that had proven effective in many previous battles, including at [[Battle of Kircholm|Kircholm]], and [[Battle of Kluszyn|Kłuszyn]] (and which would later prove successful at the 1683 [[Battle of Vienna]] against the Turks).

The [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Cossack Army]] was well acquainted with this Polish style of war, having had much experience 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.

==First day of the battle==
2,000 Polish cavalry (one regiment under the command of [[Aleksander Koniecpolski (1620-1659)|Aleksander Koniecpolski]], supported by [[Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski|Jerzy Lubomirski]], six [[Towarzysz pancerny|pancern]] cavalry companies of [[Jeremi Wiśniowiecki]] and [[Winged Hussars]] under the command of [[Stefan Czarniecki]]) repulsed the [[Crimean Tatars]], who suffered heavy losses. During the first day of "skirmishes by the Tatar and Cossack vanguard regiments", the Poles were victorious "since their army sustained that first attack cheerfully and in high spirits".<ref name="H305">Hrushevsky, p. 305</ref>

==Second day of the battle==
The Poles, encouraged by their success on the first day, deployed all their available cavalry against the "main Tatar horde" and "Cossack vanguard regiments".<ref name="H305" /> The Polish infantry and artillery remained in camp and did not support the cavalry. This time, Tatar cavalry gained the upper hand, pushing the Poles back to their camp but were then "barely repelled" by heavy fire from the Polish infantry and artillery.<ref name="H305" /> The Poles lost 300 szlachta, including many officers of "caliber", and the "escort troop of [[Hetmans of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Hetman]] [[Mikołaj Potocki]]".<ref name="H305" /> During the second day of the battle, the rebels were victorious, although "the Tatars, too, were unpleasantly surprised by the determination and endurance of the Polish army in both battles and, having suffered rather painful losses of their own, they lost heart".<ref name="H305" /> [[Tugay Bey]] and [[İslâm III Giray|İslâm III Giray's]]  brother-in-law Mehmet Giray were killed.

==Third day of the battle==
The "king insisted, at a night council, on engaging the enemy in a decisive battle the next day, Friday, 30 June".<ref name="H305" />  The [[Crown Army]] appeared out of the "morning mist in full strength" but only the Tatars engaged in skirmishes which was met by the Polish artillery.<ref name="H305" /> The Cossack defences consisted of two fortified camps, a larger for the [[registered Cossacks]] and a smaller for the peasant militia, both protected by 10 lines of chained wagons.<ref name="Igor Svieshnikov, p. 108">Igor Svieshnikov, p. 108</ref> At 3 p.m. [[Duke]] [[Jeremi Wiśniowiecki]] led a successful charge of 18 cavalry companies against the right wing of the Cossack-Tatar armies and "the zealous cavalry attack was a success: it broke up the rows of Cossack infantry and the wagons moving in corral formation".<ref name="Hrushevsky, p. 306">Hrushevsky, p. 306</ref> However the Cossacks regrouped, pushed the Polish cavalry out of the camp and advanced further with the help of the Tatars. The left flank of the Polish army started to retreat when the King reinforced it with all [[Brandenburg-Prussia|German mercenaries]] under command of Colonel Houwaldt who repulsed the attack and "drove the Tatars from the field".<ref name="Hrushevsky, p. 306"/><ref name="Igor Svieshnikov, p. 109">Igor Svieshnikov, p. 109</ref> During the fighting, a Polish nobleman called Otwinowski noticed the Tatar Khan's standard, and Polish artillery was directed to fire at it. The Khan's brother Amurat was wounded mortally. With the battle already turning against them, the Tatar forces panicked, "abandoning the Khan's camp as it stood", and fled the battlefield leaving most of their belongings behind. Khmelnytsky and Vyhovsky with a few Cossacks chased Khan attempting to bring him with his force back, but were taken hostage to be released when the battle was over.<ref>Hrushevsky, pp. 306–307</ref> A heavy rain started which complicated cavalry operations. With the Tatar cavalry gone, the Cossacks moved their wagons in the night to a better defensive position closer to the river, dug trenches and constructed walls to Polish surprise in the morning.

== Siege of the Cossack–Tatar camp ==
The [[Crown Army]] and Cossack camp exchanged artillery fire for ten days while both sides built fortifications. The Poles tried to blockade the camp.<ref>Hrushevsky, pp. 314 and 316</ref> Leaderless without [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]], the [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Cossacks]] were commanded by [[Colonel]] [[Filon Dzhelaliy|Fylon Dzhalaliy]] who was replaced by [[Ivan Bogun|Ivan Bohun]] on 9 July. Other accounts state the commander was Matviy Hladky.<ref>Hrushevsky, pp. 314–315</ref> The Cossack morale was decreasing and desertions started to the other river side, though they maintained a high rate of artillery fire and made occasional sorties. When the offered terms for surrender were rejected, the Poles prepared to dam the Pliashivka River so as to flood the Cossack camp. [[Stanisław Lanckoroński (hetman)|Stanisław Lanckoroński]] with a cavalry force of 2,000 moved across the river on 9 July to complete the encirclement of the [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Cossacks]]. When they found out about the Polish advance, Bohun called for a council with other leaders of the registered [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Cossacks]] on further actions.<ref>Hrushevsky, pp. 317–318</ref> However, none of the peasant militia was invited to the council. The [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Cossacks]] built three bridges and Bohun led 2,000 cavalry with two cannons to the other river side by the morning of 10 July to attack Lanckoroński. The uninformed peasants thought they were abandoned, started to panic and flee across the river.<ref>Hrushevsky, p. 318</ref> Lanckoroński didn't expect a large movement in his direction and retreated. Bohun returned to the camp and tried to restore order, but in vain. The main Polish force observed the disorder, but didn't launch an attack on the Cossack camp immediately thinking of a trap. They assaulted eventually, breached the defences and made their way to the river crossing. A few Cossack regiments managed to retreat in order though. Some [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Cossacks]] drowned, but archaeological excavations on the river crossing site revealed about a hundred Cossack human remains all showing damage from melee weapons which suggested heavy fighting. A rearguard of 200 to 300 [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Cossacks]] heroic protected the river crossing; all of them were killed in battle rejecting surrender offers. "Khmelnytsky's tent was captured intact, with all his belongings", which included two banners, one he received from [[John II Casimir Vasa|John II Casimir's]] 1649 commission and one from [[Wladyslaw IV]] in 1646.<ref>Hrushevsky, pp. 321–322</ref> Although it was difficult to estimate how many [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Cossacks]] and peasants were killed in the retreat, Piasecki and Brzostowski, who participated in the battle, mentioned 3,000 killed. Tsar's ambassador [[podyachy]] Bogdanov in his report to Moscow mentioned 4,000 killed.<ref name="Igor Svieshnikov, p. 124">Igor Svieshnikov, p. 124</ref> Most Cossack artillery pieces were either lost to the Poles or drowned in the marshes. Many spoils were collected in the Cossack camp including the army treasury of 30,000 talers.

===Schematic map of the battle===
[[File:Bitwa pod Beresteczkiem.jpg|1000px|center]]

==Aftermath==
As the battle ended, [["King" of Poland|King]] [[John II Casimir Vasa|John Casimir]] made the error of not pressing even harder the pursuit of the fleeing [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Cossacks]], "the first several days following ... defeat of the enemy were so blatantly wasted" but there "was the unwillingness of the nobility's levée en masse to proceed into [[Cossack Hetmanate|Ukraine]]" plus "rainy weather and a lack of food and fodder, coupled with epidemics and diseases that were becoming active in the army, were generally undercutting any energy for war".<ref name="Hrushevsky, p. 361">Hrushevsky, p. 361</ref> The "king left the whole army to Potocki" on 17 July 1651, and returned "to [[Warsaw]] to celebrate his victories over the [[Zaporozhian Cossacks|Cossacks]]".<ref name="Hrushevsky, p. 361"/> After making promises of a pecuniary nature, [[Hetman of the Zaporizhian Host|Hetman]] [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]] was soon released by the Tatar Khan [[İslâm III Giray]] He was then able to reassemble the [[Zaporozhian Host]], which was able to present a substantial army to confront the Poles at the [[Battle of Bila Tserkva (1651)]]. Poland and "the bulk of the rebels make peace in the [[Treaty of Bila Tserkva]]" on 28 September 1651, which "reduces the number of [[registered Cossacks]] from 40,000 to 20,000 and deprives them of the right to settle in or control various provinces of [[Cossack Hetmanate|Ukraine]] previously allowed to them under the [[Treaty of Zboriv]]".<ref name="Tucker, p. 622">Tucker, p. 622</ref> The Ukrainian revolt, far from ending, would continue for several more years under Khmelnytsky.<ref name="Tucker, p. 622"/>
[[Image:Battle of Beresteczko 1651.jpg|thumb|right|275px|''The Battle of Berestechko'' by Vernier]]
[[File:Battle of Beresteczko 1651 1.PNG|thumb|275px|''Th Battle of Beresteczko, 1651'' by Władysław Witkowski]]

==Legacy==
[[Samuel Twardowski]]'s narrative poem, ''The Civil War'', describes the setting for the battle along the Styr River:<ref>Hrushevsky, pp. 303–304</ref>

<poem>
There is a little town on it,
In the middle of Volhynia, called Berestechko,
Belonging to the Leszczynski family, that was not as famous in the past
As it has now become – both ancient [[Battle of Cannae|Cannae]]
And [[Khotyn]] are far outshone by it, because as many heads here
Our eyes have seen as at [[Thermopylae]]
Or [[Battle of Marathon|Marathon]] they counted, although there the whole strength
Of Europe and Asia had come together.
Since our arrival – hilly roads
And steep slopes, until open
Meadows unfold near the Styr's
Low banks. It was pleasant to look from the south
At the pyramid of the Pronskis and the groves that are green
In winter always. And to th east there lies as if a natural
Field for a camp – and there it was indeed placed
Later, but first – this was pondered for a long time.
</poem>

The Battle of Berestechko is commemorated on the [[Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, Warsaw]], with the inscription "BERESTECZKO 28-30 VI 1651".

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
* http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/Berest.htm {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061105202903/http://www.kismeta.com/diGrasse/Berest.htm |date=5 November 2006 }}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20161112212930/https://www.msz.gov.pl/resource/21badcbf-0c18-4fb8-8b19-3d382469d25f%3AJCR ''Winged Hussars''], Radoslaw Sikora, Bartosz Musialowicz, ''BUM Magazine'', 2016.

{{Lithuanian wars and conflicts}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Battle Of Berestechko}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1651]]
[[Category:Battles of the Khmelnytsky Uprising|Berestechko]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Crimean Khanate]]
[[Category:History of Volyn Oblast]]
[[Category:Battles involving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]