View source for Siege of Zbarazh

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2023}}
{{Short description|Battle fought in the Khmelnytsky Uprising}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict          = Siege of Zbarazh
| partof            = the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]]
| image             = Ukraine.Zbarazh.Castle01.jpg
| image_size        = 300px
| caption           = The [[Zbarazh Castle]] in the present-day of the [[Ternopil Oblast]] in [[Ukraine]]
| date              = 10 July — 22 August, 1649
| place             = [[Zbarazh]], [[Volhynian Voivodeship (1569–1795)|Volhynian Voivodeship]], [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
| result            = Polish-Lithuanian victory<ref>{{Cite book |last=Koneczny |first=Feliks |title=Dzieje Polski |date=2016 |isbn=9788382026658 |page=259 |language=pl-Pl}}</ref>
| combatant1        = [[File:Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|25px|border=no]][[Cossack Hetmanate]] <br />[[File:Flag of the Crimean Khanate (15th century).svg|25px]] [[Crimean Khanate]]
| combatant2        = [[File:Banner of Poland-Lithuania.svg|25px]] [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]
| commander1        =  [[File:Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|25px|border=no]][[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]] <br /> [[File:Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|25px|border=no]] [[Danylo Nechay]] <br /> [[File:Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|25px|border=no]] [[Ivan Bohun]]{{WIA}} <br /> [[File:Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|25px|border=no]] Kindrat Burliy{{WIA}} <br /> [[File:Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|25px|border=no]] Ivan Chornota{{KIA}} <br />[[File:Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|25px|border=no]]Stanislv Morozenko{{KIA}} <br /> [[File:Flag of the Cossack Hetmanat.svg|25px|border=no]] Martyn Nebaba <br /> [[File:Flag of the Crimean Khanate (15th century).svg|25px]] [[İslâm III Giray]]
| commander2        = [[File:Banner of Poland-Lithuania.svg|25px]] [[John II Casimir of Poland|John II Casimir]] <br /> [[File:Banner of Poland-Lithuania.svg|25px]] [[Jeremi Wiśniowiecki]] <br /> [[File:Banner of Poland-Lithuania.svg|25px]] [[Aleksander Koniecpolski (1620–1659)|Aleksander Koniecpolski]] <br /> [[File:Banner of Poland-Lithuania.svg|25px]] [[Mikołaj Ostroróg]] <br /> [[File:Banner of Poland-Lithuania.svg|25px]] Andrzej Firlej <br /> [[File:Banner of Poland-Lithuania.svg|25px]] Brodowski{{KIA}}
| strength1         = 70,000 Zaporozhian Cossacks<ref name=ukraine>[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]. Yaroslav Dzyra, “Siege of Zbarazh 1649, Encyclopedia of the history of Ukraine”. 2005.</ref> <br />40,000 Crimean Tatars<ref name=ukraine>[[Encyclopedia of Ukraine]]. Yaroslav Dzyra, “Siege of Zbarazh 1649, Encyclopedia of the history of Ukraine”. 2005.</ref>
| strength2         = 10,000–15,000 Polish–Lithuanian infantry and defenders of the castle<ref name=widacki>Jan Widacki, “Kniaż Jarema”. 1984.</ref>
| casualties1       = 30,000 killed and wounded<ref>[http://resource.history.org.ua/cgi-bin/eiu/history.exe?&I21DBN=EIU&P21DBN=EIU&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=eiu_all&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=TRN=&S21COLORTERMS=0&S21STR=Zbarazka_obloga_1649 ЗБАРАЗЬКА ОБЛОГА 1649 (1649 Siege of Zbarazh)]. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine (resource.history.org.ua).</ref>
| casualties2       = 4,000–6,000 killed and wounded<ref name=widacki>Jan Widacki, “Kniaż Jarema”. 1984.</ref> <br /> 4,000–5,000 captured<ref name=widacki>Jan Widacki, “Kniaż Jarema”. 1984.</ref>
}}
{{Campaignbox Khmelnytsky Uprising}}
The '''siege of Zbarazh''' ([[Ukrainian language|Ukrainian]]: ''Облога Збаража, Битва під Збаражем,'' [[Polish language|Polish]]: ''Oblężenie Zbaraża, Bitwa pod Zbarażem;'' 10 July — 22 August, 1649) was fought near the site of the present-day city of [[Zbarazh]] in [[Ukraine]] between the [[Cossack Hetmanate]] and [[Crimean Khanate]] against the [[Crown Army|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] as a part of the [[Khmelnytsky Uprising]]. The siege lasted for seven weeks.<ref name=zamky_te>[https://zamky.te.ua/naukova-robota/naukovi-doslidzhennya/zbarazka-bitva-1649-roku.-do-pitannya-istorichnoi-ocinki-v-hodi-borotbi-za-nezalezhnist-ukraini-seredini-hvii-stolittya ЗБАРАЗЬКА БИТВА 1649 РОКУ. ДО ПИТАННЯ ІСТОРИЧНОЇ ОЦІНКИ В ХОДІ БОРОТЬБИ ЗА НЕЗАЛЕЖНІСТЬ УКРАЇНИ СЕРЕДИНИ ХVІІ СТОЛІТТЯ]. Castles of the Ternopil Region (zamky.te.ua).</ref>
The [[Crown Army|Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth’s]] forces was [[siege|besieged]] in the [[Zbarazh Castle]] until in the aftermath of the [[Battle of Zboriv (1649)|Battle of Zboriv]] on 15–16 August 1649 and the [[Treaty of Zboriv]] on 18 August 1649. The Volhynian towns of [[Zbarazh]] and [[Zboriv]] are neighboring one another roughly.
==Background==
In the first half of 1649, the [[Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]] negotiations with the rebellious [[Cossacks]] fell through, and the Polish-Lithuanian military begun gathering near the borders with the insurgent-held Ukraine.<ref name="Widacki1984-184-185"/> While the king organized the main Polish army, and [[Janusz Radziwiłł (1612–1655)|Janusz Radziwill]] commanded the Lithuanian army along the [[Horyn River]],<ref name=Hrushevsky>Hrushevsky, M., 2002, History of Ukraine-Rus, Volume Eight, The Cossack Age, 1626-1650, Edmonton: Canadian Institute of Ukrainian Studies Press, {{ISBN|1895571324}}</ref>{{rp|564}} an army under three [[regimentarz]]s (Andrzej Firlej, [[Stanisław Lanckoroński (hetman)|Stanisław Lanckoroński]] and [[Mikołaj Ostroróg]]) was located in [[Zbarazh]] from 30 June, where prince [[Jeremi Wiśniowiecki]] would arrive with reinforcements on 7 July.<ref name="Widacki1984-184-185">{{cite book|author=Jan Widacki|title=Kniaź Jarema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEoAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=15 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Śląsk"|isbn=978-83-216-0440-4|pages=184–185}}</ref> Wiśniowiecki's arrival raised the morale of the royal army, and despite having no official rank, both the common soldiers and the new regimentarz promised to heed his advice, and even offered him the official command (which he however refused).<ref name="Widacki1984-184-185"/>
To the area also arrived detachments of the Castellan of Kamianiec [[Stanisław Lanckoroński (hetman)|Stanisław Lanckoroński]], Starosta of Lwow [[Adam Hieronim Sieniawski (1623/1624–1650)|Adam Hieronim Sieniawski]], Starosta of Braclaw Jerzy Kalinowski, and Prince Samuel Karol Korecki.<ref name=zamky_te/>
==Opposing forces==
[[Zbarazh Castle]] was rebuilt in the decades preceding the siege under the Netherland engineer [[Henryk van Peene]], who finished his project in 1626. The castle was built as a square, which each side of about 88 meters, and surrounded by an earthen wall and a moat.<ref name="Widacki1984-184-185"/> It was a relatively modern and resilient construction, whose major weakness was its small size, and correspondingly, little space for any extensive army and required supplies.<ref name="Widacki1984-184-185"/> Built with the Tatar raids in mind, it was not meant to withstand a prolonged siege by a large army.<ref name="Widacki1984-184-185"/> The town itself had relatively poor defenses.<ref name="Widacki1984-184-185"/> The Polish-Lithuanian fortified camp incorporated the town defenses and the castle.<ref name="Widacki1984-184-185"/>
The Polish-Lithuanian forces numbered between 10,000 and 15,000, according to different sources, and Widecki notes that the lower number accounts for regular troops, whereas the higher one probably counts auxiliary troops such as armed servants and the town militia.<ref name="Widacki1984-189">{{cite book|author=Jan Widacki|title=Kniaź Jarema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEoAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=15 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Śląsk"|isbn=978-83-216-0440-4|page=189}}</ref>
The Polish-Lithuanian forces were commanded officially by Andrzej Firlej.<ref name=zamky_te/> However, as noted by Polish historian Widacki, Firlej had little authority, and often listened to Wiśniowiecki's advice, who could be seen as the real commander of the Polish-Lithuanian forces.<ref name="Widacki1984-185-186">{{cite book|author=Jan Widacki|title=Kniaź Jarema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEoAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=15 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Śląsk"|isbn=978-83-216-0440-4|pages=185–186}}</ref> As a contemporary memoir notes, Wiśniowiecki's position was enough to veto a plan proposed and backed by all three regimentarzs.<ref name="Widacki1984-185-186"/> Each of the regimentarz, as well as prince Wiśniowiecki, commanded a division of the troops, tasked with defending a part of the line; there were five divisions in total, with the last one commanded by [[chorąży]] [[Aleksander Koniecpolski (1620–1659)|Aleksander Koniecpolski]].<ref name="Widacki1984-189"/>
The forces of the allied [[Zaporozhian Host|Zaporozhian Cossacks]] and [[Crimean Khanate|Crimean Tatars]] at Zbarazh numbered around 130,000 — with two thirds of those being Cossacks, and the remaining hundred thousands, the Tatars.<ref name="Widacki1984-188"/> Widecki notes that the number of 70,000 Cossacks given by some sources may be true in so far as it reflects the size of the seasoned, regular Cossack troops, with the remaining 130,000 reflecting the size of the Cossack militia and rebellious peasants.<ref name="Widacki1984-188"/> Those forces were commanded by the Cossack leader, [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]], and Tatar khan [[İslâm III Giray]].<ref name="Widacki1984-188"/>
==Siege==
On 7 July first skirmishes began, and by 10 July the advanced forces of the Cossacks and Tatars arrived at Zbarzah, killing or taking prisoner several thousands of auxiliary Polish-Lithuanian troops which were still gathering supplies in the area, and failed to retreat to the main camp before being overrun.<ref name="Widacki1984-186">{{cite book|author=Jan Widacki|title=Kniaź Jarema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEoAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=15 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Śląsk"|isbn=978-83-216-0440-4|page=186}}</ref> The first skirmish near the main camp, however, resulted in the Polish-Lithuanian victory, as the Cossack and Tatar forces were thrown back, which raised the defenders morale.<ref name="Widacki1984-188">{{cite book|author=Jan Widacki|title=Kniaź Jarema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEoAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=15 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Śląsk"|isbn=978-83-216-0440-4|page=188}}</ref>
The defenders defeated the attacker main force assaults on 11, 13, 14, 16 and 17 July.<ref name="Widacki1984-190-194">{{cite book|author=Jan Widacki|title=Kniaź Jarema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEoAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=15 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Śląsk"|isbn=978-83-216-0440-4|pages=190–194}}</ref> After the failure of those early assaults, the Cossack and Tatar army began a regular siege, constructing their own field fortifications, and intensifying the artillery bombardment of the Polish-Lithuanian camp.<ref name="Widacki1984-190-194"/> On 23 July a short ceasefire occurred, as the sides attempted negotiations, eventually futile; other attempts at negotiations took place on 26 and 28 July.<ref name="Widacki1984-195-197">{{cite book|author=Jan Widacki|title=Kniaź Jarema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEoAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=15 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Śląsk"|isbn=978-83-216-0440-4|pages=195–196}}</ref> On 16 and 23 July there were assaults on the town, where the only well was located, and both were defeated.<ref name="Widacki1984-195-197"/> The Cossacks also tried to destroy a nearby dam to flood the town, but the dam was also successfully defended.<ref name="Widacki1984-195-197"/>
Throughout the engagement, the Polish-Lithuanian forces constructed additional field fortifications, and retreated behind them, to reduce the length of the walls they would have to defend; while retreating to the fourth line of defences on 30 July they defeated another enemy assault.<ref name="Widacki1984-198-199">{{cite book|author=Jan Widacki|title=Kniaź Jarema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEoAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=15 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Śląsk"|isbn=978-83-216-0440-4|pages=198–199}}</ref>
As the defenders were running low on supplies, about 4,000 starving auxiliaries (servants) requested to leave the city; they were granted permission, but soon after leaving the town walls they were taken captive by the Tatars; some were taken into [[jasyr]] while others were executed on the spot.<ref name="Widacki1984-198-199"/> Despite that, others wanted to leave the town, but prince Wiśniowiecki promised to feed them rather than risk another massacre.<ref name="Widacki1984-198-199"/> The besieged also tried to send messages to the king asking for reinforcements, and in early August a volunteer messenger, [[Mikołaj Skrzetuski]], managed to sneak past the besiegers and reached the king around 6 or 7 August; he would later inspire the fictional character [[Jan Skrzetuski]] in [[Henryk Sienkiewicz]]'s ''[[The Trilogy]]''.<ref name="Widacki1984-200-203">{{cite book|author=Jan Widacki|title=Kniaź Jarema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEoAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=15 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Śląsk"|isbn=978-83-216-0440-4|pages=200–203}}</ref> In the meantime, the Cossack and Tatars would try to extend their fortifications closer to the defender's line; they launched their last large assault on 6 August, but were defeated once more.<ref name="Widacki1984-203-206">{{cite book|author=Jan Widacki|title=Kniaź Jarema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEoAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=15 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Śląsk"|isbn=978-83-216-0440-4|pages=203–206}}</ref> Soon afterward the Cossack and Tatar sent off a large chunk of their forces under [[Bohdan Khmelnytsky]] to intercept the nearing royal reinforcements under [[John II Casimir]] at [[Battle of Zboriv (1649)|Zboriv]]; the resulting battle ended in the [[Treaty of Zboriv]] of 17 August.<ref name="Widacki1984-203-206"/> In the meantime, at Zbarazh, the besiegers even managed to successfully dig a tunnel into the Polish-Lithuanian camp around 16 August, but it was destroyed by the defenders.<ref name="Widacki1984-203-206"/>
Around 20 August, the besieged launched a small counterattack, leaving the camp and raiding the enemy; soon afterward, on 21 August, Khmelnytsky returned, and despite having signed the peace treaty, he attempted the last final assault on Zbarazh.<ref name="Widacki1984-207-211">{{cite book|author=Jan Widacki|title=Kniaź Jarema|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ygEoAQAAMAAJ|accessdate=15 December 2012|year=1984|publisher=Wydawnictwo "Śląsk"|isbn=978-83-216-0440-4|pages=207–211}}</ref>
==Aftermath==
The ceasefire would take hold on the next day, although the Cossacks would demand a ransom, at the same time selling the besieged some badly needed supplies; in the end a ransom of 40,000 [[Thaler|talar]]s was paid, the Cossack and Tatar field fortifications were mostly abandoned by the 23rd, and by the 25th the besieging army left the vicinity of Zbarazh.<ref name="Widacki1984-207-211"/> The Polish-Lithuanian army left on the evening of that day, reaching [[Tarnopol]] on the 28th.<ref name="Widacki1984-207-211"/>
The Polish-Lithuanian losses at Zbarazh were about 2,000 regular soldiers and 4,000 auxiliaries; about half of the losses were a result of diseases.<ref name="Widacki1984-207-211"/>
The Ukrainian-Crimean losses at Zbarazh were about 30,000. At Siege of Zbarazh perished the Colonel of Korsun Stanislav-Nestor Morozenko, while [[Ivan Bohun]] was seriously wounded.<ref>[http://resource.history.org.ua/cgi-bin/eiu/history.exe?&I21DBN=EIU&P21DBN=EIU&S21STN=1&S21REF=10&S21FMT=eiu_all&C21COM=S&S21CNR=20&S21P01=0&S21P02=0&S21P03=TRN=&S21COLORTERMS=0&S21STR=Zbarazka_obloga_1649 ЗБАРАЗЬКА ОБЛОГА 1649 (1649 Siege of Zbarazh)]. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine (resource.history.org.ua).</ref>
==Further reading==
* Kaczmarczyk, J. ''Bohdan Khmelnytsky''. Wroclaw-Warsaw-Cracow-Lodz 1988.
* Krypiakevych, I. ''Bohdan Khmelnytsky''. Lviv 1990.
* Smoliy, V., Stepankov, V. ''Bohdan Khmelnytsky: Social-political portrait''. Kyiv 1995.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
* [http://www.history.org.ua/?termin=Zbarazka_obloga_1649 Dzyra, Ya. ''Siege of Zbarazh 1649'']. Encyclopedia of History of Ukraine. "[[Naukova Dumka]]". Kyiv 2005
* [http://leksika.com.ua/18450822/ure/zbarazka_obloga_1649 Siege of Zbarazh 1649]. [[Ukrainian Soviet Encyclopedia]].
{{Authority control}}
{{Coord|49|40|00|N|25|46|40|E|region:UA_type:event_source:ruwiki|display=title}}
[[Category:Conflicts in 1649]]
[[Category:Battles of the Khmelnytsky Uprising|Zbarazh]]
[[Category:Sieges|Zbarazh]]
[[Category:1649 in Europe]]
[[Category:Zbarazh]]
[[Category:Sieges involving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth]]