Battle of Zhovti Vody

Battle of Zhovti Vody
Part of the Khmelnytsky Uprising
Date April 29-May 16, 1648 Location Zhovti Vody, Ukraine Result Cossack-Tatar victory
Belligerents
Zaporozhian Cossacks Crimean Tatars	Crown of the Kingdom of Poland
Commanders and leaders
Bohdan Khmelnytsky Tugay Bey	Stefan Potocki Stefan Czarniecki
Strength
5,000 Zaporizhian cossacks and 3,000-4,000 Tatars later 6,000 Registered Cossacks joned Khmelnytsky )	7,000 later 5,500 Registered Cossacks joned Khmelnytsky
Casualties and losses
Unknown	Unknown, but heavy

Battle of Zhovti Vody (Ukrainian: Жовтi Води, Polish: Żółte Wody; literally "yellow waters"), (April 29 to May 16, 1648) was the first significant battle of the Khmelnytsky Uprising. The name of the battle derived from a nearby river.

Scope

The events took place about 20 miles north of Zhovti Vody in south-central Ukraine when advance forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth army led by Stefan Potocki met a numerically superior force of Cossacks and Crimean Tatars under the command of Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Tuhaj Bej. After the Registered Cossacks who were originally allied with the Commonwealth arrived and unexpectedly sided with Khmelnytsky, the Commonwealth forces were vanquished while attempting to retreat following a 18-day battle, only days before reinforcements were to arrive.

Events leading to the battle

In April 1646 after meeting with the Cossack officers (starshyna) Władysław IV Vasa secretly chartered them for rallying up the cossack army for the upcoming campaign against Crimean Khanate. The King has given the letter to the Military Yesaul Ivan Barabash who headed the cossack diplomatic mission to the Royal court. Among others cossack officers was Bohdan Khmelnytsky who at that time was the Chyhyryn company commander of Registered Cossacks. Other members included another Militart Yesaul Ilyash Karaimoych and regimental Yesaul Ivan Nesterenko. Wladyslaw picked Lwow as the rallying point for the campaign against the Tatars stocking up it with artillery. These preparations made some to believe that the King is preparing for the government overtake and the Krakow Senat of July 1646 requested him to stop all the preparations treating to raise that issue at the upcoming council session (Sejm). Being left without the support from the parliament Wladyslaw was only hoping that the cossacks, nonetheless, were able to supply him with enough force. Barabash and Karaimovych after hearing that the King lost his support in the Sejm refused to follow his orders and go against the decision of Sejm, yet Bohdan Khmelnytsky decided to go forward with them. He was able to gain control over the King's letter and decided to take the cossack recruiting onto himself. Barabash and Karaimovych informed about that the authorities and the Chyhyryn starosta Alexander Koniecpolski set supervision over Khmelnytsky. His assistant Daniel Czapliński, however, made a raid on the Khmelnytsky estate village of Subotiv killing his younger son.

In the beginning of May 1647 the next session of Sejm took place, at which it was planned to discuss the King's plans for war. Sometime by the end of May Bohdam Khmelnytsky with the escort of 10 other cossacks appeared in Warsaw. Officially his arrival could been explained by his will to find a truth in his case with Czaplinski, however in reality the goal of his appearance in the capital was much broader. Since the time of 1646 Sejm remarkable changes took place and Khmelnytsky wanted to reassure of the King's stance on the war with Turks. In case if Wladyslaw still was planning to go forward, Khmelnytsky had intention to concentrate all the connections with the King and his supporters as Barabash and Karaimovych sided with the opposition and request the material support to realize the King's plans. Khmelnytsky also wanted to find out whether the Sejm will change its position to the war plans. Beside all that Khmelnytsky and his comrades while visiting used that opportunity to study the situation in the region and gather all possible intelligence.

An important gathering took place in October of 1647 near Chyhyryn where Khmelnytsky reminded the public about the situation in the region, the intentions of King of Poland to start a war against the Ottomans, and how the Polish magnates counteract to those plans. He showed the Kings letter that was given to him and at the end announced that it is a good time for uprising while there are disagreements between Poles. However the listeners were not too eager to follow those proclamations pointing to the fact of shortage of arms, number of the Polish armed forces and other. On their arguments Khmelnytsky said that it would be a good idea to ally together with an outside force such as Russians or Tatars. Sometime after the gathering Khmelnytsky was arrested in the village of Buzhyn (30 kilometres (19 mi) north of Chyhyryn) and was sent to Kryliv to Aleksander Koniecpolski. However, the last one did not dare to kill Khmelnytsky right away thinking that it would be easier to do that outside of jail, so Khmelnytsky was allowed to be released on bail. On December 7, 1647 Colonel Stanislaw Michal Krychewski cautioned Khmelnytsky about the intentions of killing him. Khmelnytsky making believe that he is going with his escort (around ~1,000 men) to Trakhtemyriv (administrative center of Registered Cossacks), suddenly turned and moved towards the Zaporizhian Sich.

At that time one of his friends Fedir Lyutai, a former Registered Cossack, was elected a Kosh Otaman. Khmelnytsky arrived to Zaporizhia sometime on December 11, 1647 (by some other sources January 15, 1648) where he was met by Lyutai on the Tomakivka island. At that time on the neighboring island of Khortytsia was located a Polish garrison of Cherkasy Cossack Regiment and a unit of dragoons headed by Colonel Gurski. Upon the arrival of Khmelnytsky and his men the preparations to the uprising went faster. Several envoys were sent to the Don Cossacks and Bakhchysaray. However, in Crimea they were skeptical of the uprising intended by cossacks who were suppressed by "Ordination of 1638".

Attack onto Khortytsia and the organization of expedition

Writing on the monument says: "In January 1648 near is. Khortytsia the Zaporizhian Cossacks headed by B.Khmelnytsky for the first time defeated the force of Polish oppressors."

At the end of January Khmelnytsky led a surprise attack onto the Khortytsia garrison. Bigger part of the registered cossacks joined the mutineers and Colonel Gurski, after losing over 30 people, retreated to Kryliv. About that Adam Kysil mentioned to the Putivl voivode, Prince Dolgoruki. After expelling the Polish garrison from the Zaporizhian Sich Khmelnytsky sent out several agitation letters to public calling to rise up against Poles. The letters were effective as more and more people were drawn to the Sich accounting around 5,000 by the end of February. During that time cossacks continued to reinforce their fortifications.

On March 15, 1648 Bohdan Khmelnytsky personally together with his son Tymish and a small company arrived to Bakhchisaray on a diplomatic mission. Khmelnytsky presented to Khan Giray the King's letter and proposed an alliance. After few days of thinking Giray decided to sent his mirza Tugay Bey into the expedition with cossacks. After that Khmelnytsky returned to Sich leaving his son with khan as "insurance". Upon arrival of Khmelnytsky the Kosh Otaman called for the General Council that was set for April 19. Because of the number of people attending the council it took place just outside of the Sich itself. At the gathering the cossacks unanimously expressed their will for the war against Poland and an immediate expedition. Bohdan Khmelnytsky was solemnly elected the Hetman. During the ceremony the kosh otaman passed down to the new hetman the banner, the standard, and the military drums - the Cossack Kleinody (see Zaporizhian Cossacks).

It was decided that only eight thousands cossacks will go out of SIch while the rest will stay put as reserves. During the preparations to the Sich arrived the envoy of the Crown Hetman Mikołaj Potocki, rotmistrz Chmelecki who offered Khmelnytsky and cossacks to leave Zaporizhia and disperse. To that Khmelnytsky said that it will happen when Potocki himself together with other Polish lords leave Ukraine. Receiving such an answer Potocki in a great hurry moved with his army south.

The main element of Mikoai Potocki was quartered in Cherkasy, while the regiment Kalinowski stayed in Korsun, others in the estates of Crown Chorazy Alexander Koniecpolski and Kaniv. The whole army of the Crown accounted for some 15,000 soldiers. Before departing the Sich Khmelnytsky sent out Tugay-Bey with his unit (~500 cavalry) on patrol and secure a safe passage to Sich for other volunteers. After receiving an intelligence about that the Polish Army is heading for the Kodak fortress. Khmelnytsky decided to leave Sich on April 22 with his main element (~2,000 cossacks) towards Kryliv and Chyhyryn.

Before the battle

Around the 21-22 of April, 1648, word of an uprising had spread through the Commonwealth. Either because they underestimated the size of the uprising, or because they wanted to act quickly to prevent it from spreading, the Commonwealth's Grand Crown Hetman Mikołaj Potocki and Field Crown Hetman Marcin Kalinowski sent 3,000 soldiers under the command of Potocki's son, Stefan, deep into Cossack territory, without waiting to gather additional forces from Prince Jeremi Wiśniowiecki. Stefan's force consisted of 2 companies of dragoons, 1 unit of infantry (foreign mercenaries), and 11 companies of cavalry (about 1150 soldiers, of which 1 company was composed of the elite Winged Hussars); the rest of his force was composed of registered Cossacks. While this group traveled by land, an additional group was sent down the Dnieper river in boats and was to regroup with Stefan Potocki's forces. This group, under the command of Polkovnyk (colonel) Mykhailo Krychevsky, was composed almost entirely of registered Cossacks (it also had a small number of German dragoon mercenaries) and numbered at around 4,000.

5,000 troops remained with Hetman Mikołaj Potocki while he attempted to gather local reinforcements from the various private armies of the local magnates as well as the pospolite ruszenie of the militant szlachta (Polish nobility).

Stefan's force arrived first at the rendezvous point. It is likely that Krychevsky, en route, contacted Bohdan Khmelnytsky, his old friend (who he helped to escape into Zaporizhian Sich a year earlier) and the leader of the uprising.

The battle

Example of the tabor formation.

Map of the Commonwealth during the turbulent 1640s and 1650s. Enlarge for detailed view – Zhovti Vody (Żółte Wody) is the south-easternmost battle marked.

On April 28, 1648, Stefan Potocki's forces came upon Khmelnytsky's army in an area near the present-day city Zhovti Vody. Numbering only 3,000, the Commonwealth forces were greatly outnumbered at this point in comparison to Khmelnytsky's army of 8,000, which consisted of Cossacks as well as 3,000-4,000 Crimean Tatars under the command of Tuhaj Bej. Stefan Potocki (advised by Jacek Szemberk and Stefan Czarniecki) ordered his force to retreat and take on the defensive tabor formation, which allowed for a messenger to be sent to contact Hetman Mikołaj Potocki.

On May 4, 1648, instead of doubling the Commonwealth's forces at Zhovti Vody, Mykhailo Krychevsky's 4,000 registered cossacks arrived and sided with Khmelnytsky (Krychevsky himself was taken prisoner by the Tatars while still fighting for the Commonwealth; he would be liberated by Khmelnytsky and would join his army soon after the battle); in the process of changing allegiances, Cossacks who elected to remain loyal to Potocki were cut down, as well as the German dragoons in their midst. The next day, Stefan Potocki saw his already undermanned force of 3,000 halved to 1,500, when the registered cossacks who arrived with Stefan also joined the uprising. Polkovnyk Ivan Hanzha is recognized as having been instrumental in swaying his fellow registered cossacks over to Khmelnytsky's side. At this point, Khmelnytsky's army swelled to 15,000 (further reinforced by local cossacks joining the uprising).

"Death of Stefan Potocki at the Battle of Zhovti Vody" by Juliusz Kossak

The Commonwealth army managed to hold off from being overrun; this was due in part to their superior artillery. On May 13, 1648, Khmelnytsky met with representatives of Stefan Potocki, who debated turning over their artillery in exchange for safe passage. With negotiations breaking down, Potocki decided to leave the artillery and escape under the cover of darkness on the night of May 15. The Commonwealth forces were surprised by a hail of arrows from Tuhaj Bej's Tatar forces, which diverted their escape route towards the nearby fortified village of Kniazhi Bairaky (Ukrainian: Княжі Байраки). There the combined forces of Tatar horsemen and cossacks under the command of Khmelnytsky's Colonel Maksym Olshansky (aka "Crook-nose", Kryvonis, or Perebyinis) overwhelmed Potocki's tabor formation and thoroughly routed the fleeing force.

Hetman Mikołaj Potocki, who had received word on May 3, 1648, of his son's plight, could not move his forces in time to reinforce the Commonwealth's position, with his forces getting to within 100 km from the site of the battle.

Aftermath

The majority of the Commonwealth forces either died in battle or were killed shortly thereafter. Stefan Potocki was wounded, taken prisoner of war and died from gangrene on May 19, 1648. His advisor, Stefan Czarniecki, was also taken prisoner, although he managed to escape soon thereafter (and went on to become one of Poland's greatest military commanders).

Bolstered by their victory, the Cossack and Tatar forces engaged and defeated the forces of Hetman Mikołaj Potocki at the Battle of Korsuń.

Legacy

Monuments

Distinguishing the 350th Anniversary of Khmelnytsky Uprising near village of Zhovto-Oleksandrivka, Piatykhatky Raion (Dnipropetrovsk Region) was opened a monument commemorating the victory of Cossack and Tatar forces, on which depicting two coat of arms: Bohdan Khmelnytsky and Giray. The monument's authors are an architect Volodymyr Shulha and a sculptor Stepan Zhylyak.

In popular culture

The battle was very inaccurately portrayed in the 1999 film With Fire and Sword by Polish film director Jerzy Hoffman. Although the film paid much attention to historical details, the attempt to summarize the weeks-long battle in a few minutes meant that the battle as shown in the movie – reduced to the failed hussar's charge – had little in common with what had really happened, especially as the hussar forces in reality proved to be the backbone of Polish resistance during this 18-day battle.

Bibliography

• Holobutsky, V. Zaporizhian Cossackdom. "Vyshcha shkola". Kiev, 1994. ISBN 5-11-003970-4 (http://litopys.org.ua/holob/hol.htm)
• Chrząszcz, J. Pierwszy okres buntu Chmielnickiego w oswietleniu uczestnika wyprawy Zoltowodzkiej // Prace historyczne w 30-lecie dzialanosci prof. St. Zakrzewskiego. Lwów, 1894.
• Doroshenko, D. Outline of History of Ukraine. Vol.2. Warsaw, 1933.
• Kubala, L. Szkice historyczne. Vol.3.
• Chronicles of Samiilo Velychko. Vol.1.

External links

• (Polish) Żółte Wody 1648.
• (Ukrainian) Military strategy of Bohdan Khmelnytsky