View source for Siege of Smolensk (1609–1611)

{{Short description|1609–1611 siege}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{For|other sieges|Siege of Smolensk (disambiguation)}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Siege of Smolensk
| partof            = the [[Polish–Russian War (1609–1618)]]
| image             = Siege of Smolensk 1609-1611.PNG
| image_size        = 266px
| caption           =
| date              = 29 September 1609 – 13 June 1611
| place             = [[Smolensk]], Russia
| coordinates       = {{Coord|54|47|N|32|03|E|type:event_region:RU|display=inline,title}}
| result            = Polish–Lithuanian victory
| combatant1        = [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] <br /> [[Zaporozhian Cossacks]]
| combatant2        = [[Tsardom of Russia]] <br /> [[Kingdom of Sweden (1523–1611)|Sweden]]
| commander1        = King [[Sigismund III]] [[Stanisław Żółkiewski]] <br /> [[Lew Sapieha]]
| commander2        = [[Mikhail Shein|Mikhail Borisovich Shein]]
| strength1         = {{plainlist|
*22,000 soldiers
*30 heavy guns}}
| strength2         = {{plainlist|
*5,400 soldiers
*14,600 inhabitants
*500 Swedes
*170 heavy guns}}
| casualties1       = 5,000
| casualties2       = 12,000
| campaignbox       = {{Campaignbox Polish–Muscovite War (1605–1618)}}
}}
[[File:Chorikov The Siege of Smolensk by the Poles.jpg|thumb|right|225px|''The Defense of Smolensk from the Poles'', by [[Boris Chorikov]] (1802–1866).]]
The '''siege of Smolensk''' ({{langx|pl|oblężenie Smoleńska}}), also known as the '''Smolensk Defense''' in Russia ({{langx|ru|Смоленская оборона}}), lasted 20 months between 29 September 1609 to 13 June 1611, when the [[Military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Polish army]] [[siege|besieged]] the Russian city of [[Smolensk]] during the [[Polish–Russian War (1609–1618)]].<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Ruski carevi|last=Željko.|first=Fajfrić|date=2008|publisher=Tabernakl|isbn=9788685269172|edition=1. izd|location=Sremska Mitrovica|oclc=620935678}}</ref>
== Background ==
In July 1608, the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth|Commonwealth]] concluded a truce with [[Vasili IV of Russia|Vasily Shuisky]], which was to last three years and 11 months. [[Sigismund III Vasa]], who had discreetly supported the Dmitry from the beginning, had no intention of abiding by the concluded treaty, which was evidenced by the arrival in August 1608 in the camp of the second Dmitry of a faithful supporter of the king, the starost [[Jan Piotr Sapieha]], who was the cousin of the Grand Chancellor of Lithuania [[Lew Sapieha|Lev Sapieha]].
Russia, too, as early as the end of 1608 began to negotiate to ally with Sweden, which was at war with Poland at the time ([[Polish–Swedish War (1600–1611)|Polish-Swedish War (1600-1611)]]). Eventually, Vasily Shuisky concluded an alliance treaty with Sweden in February 1609, soon after the treaty with the Swedes, he began to make territorial claims against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and assumed the provocative title of Duke of Polotsk, although [[Polotsk]] belonged to Lithuania again after the [[Stephen Báthory|Batory]] wars. For Sigismund III, this became an excellent pretext to start an official war. As a result of the treaty, the Swedish army joined the Russian army.
Sigismund III Vasa, who had already decided to go to war with Russia in August 1608 and for this reason sought the support of Field Hetman [[Stanisław Żółkiewski]], who, in view of the vacancy in the position of [[Hetman|Grand Hetman]], was the supreme military commander in the Crown after the King. The king's intention was to win the tsarist crown for himself or his son Władysław, and then, after the combined forces of Russia and the Commonwealth, to regain control of his inheritance, Sweden, and to neutralise the Tartar-Turkish threat. Also important for the support of the war among the nobility, was the slogan of regaining the lands lost by Lithuania, to which the king had pledged himself in the pacta conventa. Another, propagandistic aim of the war was also to spread the Catholic religion in both conquered countries, especially important to gain support from the Pope and the Catholic monarchs of Europe. As a result, [[Pope Paul V]] declared an indulgence and jubilee for the royal victory. Zolkiewski opposed the war, as he believed that as long as the war with Sweden lasted, the state could not be involved in another conflict.
Sigismund III did not raise the issue of a future war at the Sejm of January and February 1609; however, plans for it were widely known, the nobility passed new military regulations and also legally recognised the Orthodox Church in the Commonwealth. For this reason, the outbreak of war at the beginning of 1609 was decided only by the king with the senate, with the parliamentary chamber completely ignored. A side effect of such a state of affairs was the paucity of war preparations, as, lacking the support of the Sejm, the king could only organise an army based on his own financial resources. Żółkiewski, who had hitherto been opposed to the war, did not oppose it after the decision on the war was taken at a senate council; he was only in favour of hitting [[Moscow]], the capital of Russia, but was persuaded by the king's plans to capture [[Smolensk]].
The King went to war from [[Kraków|Krakow]] on 28 May, and met Żółkiewski on 6 June in [[Bełżyce]] near [[Lublin]]. King Sigismund III, who finally succeeded in winning Żółkiewski over to his plans, arrived in Minsk on 25 August. At that time Żółkiewski was marching through [[Brest, Belarus|Brest Litewski]] and [[Slonim]].
Sigismund III set off from [[Minsk]] and travelled through Borisov to Orsha, where Lew Sapieha was waiting for him with Lithuanian troops. Everyone in the camp was gushing with optimism, supposing that, in view of the prevailing chaos in Russia, Smolensk would not put up a stiff resistance. The Polish-Lithuanian army marched out of Orsha on 17 September. The Polish army crossed the official border with Russia after crossing the Ivara River on 21 September 1609. The Polish army, initially numbering 8500 horsemen (including 4342 hussars), grew steadily, reaching 17,000 at Smolensk. Later, the Polish-Lithuanian army was joined by a [[Cossacks|Cossack]] army of about 20,000 Zaporozhians.
==Siege==
=== Polish assaults===
In September 1609, the Polish army under the command of King [[Sigismund III Vasa]] (22,500 men: 4,000 infantry soldiers and 8,500 cavalry with 4,342 being the [[Winged Hussars]] and later to be joined by 10,000 [[Zaporozhian Cossacks]]) approached Smolensk. The city was defended by the Russian [[garrison]] under the command of [[Voivode|voyevoda]] [[Mikhail Shein|Mikhail Borisovich Shein]] (over 5,400 men with 170 guns, 500 Swedes, and 14,600 inhabitants who volunteered). On 25–27 September, the invaders assaulted Smolensk for the first time with no result. Between 28 September and 4 October, the [[Polish people|Poles]] were shelling the city and then decided to lay siege to it. On 19–20 July, 11 August, and 21 September, the Polish army attacked Smolensk for the second, third, and fourth time, but to no avail. The siege, the shelling, and the assaults alternated with fruitless attempts of the Polish army to persuade the citizens of Smolensk to [[Surrender (military)|capitulate]]. Negotiations in September 1610 and March 1611 did not lead anywhere.
The largest [[Mining (military)|mining]] project at Smolensk came in December 1610; however, the Poles only managed to destroy a large portion of the outer wall, the inner walls remaining intact. The siege continued. At one point, the Polish guns breached the outer wall and the [[voivode]] of [[Bracław]] ordered his soldiers to rush in; however, the Russians could see where the breach would come and had fortified that part of the wall with more people. Both sides were slaughtered, and the Poles were eventually beaten back.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|script-title=ru:Великая русская смута: причины возникновения и выход из государственного кризиса в XVI-XVII вв.|title=Veliskaya russkaya smuta : prichiny vozniknoveniya i vykhod iz gosudarstvennogo krizisa v XVI–XVII vv.|trans-title= The great Russian troubles: reasons for the beginning and end of the state crisis in the 16th–17th centuries|date=2007|publisher=Dar (Даръ)|editor=Strizhova, I. M.|isbn=9785485001230|location=Moscow|oclc=230750976}}</ref>
===Russian demise===
The citizens of Smolensk had been coping with starvation and epidemic since the summer of 1610. The weakened Russian garrison (with only about 200 remaining soldiers) was not able to repel the fifth attack of the Polish army on 3 June 1611, when after the 20 months of siege the Polish army advised by the runaway traitor Andrei Dedishin, discovered a weakness in the fortress defence and on 13 June 1611 a [[Cavalier of Malta]], {{Interlanguage link multi|Bartłomiej Nowodworski|pl|3=Bartłomiej Nowodworski}}, inserted a mine into a sewer canal and the succeeding explosion created a large breach in the fortress walls. {{Interlanguage link multi|Jakub Potocki|pl|3=Jakub Potocki (wojewoda bracławski)}} was the first on the walls. The fortress fell on the same day, with the last stage taking place after violent street fighting when some 3,000 Russians citizens blew themselves up in the [[Assumption Cathedral in Smolensk|Assumption Cathedral]].<ref name=":1" /> The wounded Mikhail Shein was taken prisoner and would remain a prisoner of Poland for the next 9 years.
== Gallery ==
<gallery mode="packed" class="center" heights="127px">
File:Sigismund III at Smolensk by Tommaso Dolabella.JPG|''Sigismund III at Smolensk''. [[Tommaso Dolabella]].
File:Juliusz Kossak Odsiecz Smolenska.jpeg|''The Relief of [[Smolensk]]'' by Polish forces during the [[Polish–Russian War (1609–1618)]].
File:Medal of Sigismund III commemorating capture of Smolensk in 1611.PNG|Polish minted coin commemorating takeover of Smolensk in 1611.
File:Smolensk defense 1609-1611 table.jpg|Plaque commemorating Anniversary of 300 years since ''"Smolensk Defense"'' on the wall of [[Dormition Cathedral in Smolensk]]. It mentions [[Mikhail Shein]], a Russian [[voivode]].
</gallery>
==Aftermath==
Although it was a blow to lose Smolensk, it freed up Russian troops to fight the Commonwealth in Moscow, whereas Shein came to be considered a hero for holding out as long as he had. Smolensk would later become the place of a siege in [[Siege of Smolensk (1613–1617)|1612 and again in 1617]].<ref name=":0" />
==See also==
* [[Time of Troubles]]
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons category|Siege of Smolensk (1609–1611)}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smolensk 1609-1611}}
[[Category:Battles of the Polish–Russian War (1609–1618)]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1609]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1610]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1611]]
[[Category:Sieges involving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
[[Category:Sieges involving the Tsardom of Russia]]
[[Category:Sieges involving Sweden]]
[[Category:Sieges of Smolensk]]
[[Category:1609 in Russia]]
[[Category:1610 in Russia]]
[[Category:1611 in Russia]]