Battle of Vedrosha

Russo-Lithuanian Wars
Date	July 14, 1500
Location	Vedrosha River, 50 km west of Kaluga
Result	Decisive Russian victory
Belligerents
Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Poland	Grand Duchy of Moscow
Commanders and leaders
Prince Konstantin Ostrogski	Prince Daniil Shchenya
Strength
40,000	40,000
Casualties and losses
8,000 dead	unknown

Battle of Vedrosha was one of the greatest battles in the medieval history of Russia. It was fought as part of the Russo-Lithuanian Wars on July 14, 1500, some 50 km to the west of Kaluga, between joint forces of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania under command of Prince Konstantin Ostrozhsky and Muscovian army under Prince Daniil Shchenya.

The outstanding Russian commander employed similar tactics that proved successful for the Russian army in the Battle of Kulikovo. Vedrosha was a crushing victory for the Russians. Some 8,000 Lithuanians were killed, and many more were taken prisoner, including Prince Ostrozhsky, the first ever Grand Hetman of Lithuania, himself.

The battle led to the peace treaty of 1503, which saw huge territories (about one third of the Grand Duchy) incorporated into the nascent Russian state. Upon his release, Prince Ostroghsky made several attempts to retaliate, but his brilliant victory at Orsha (1514) didn't entail any political consequences.

References

The battle was described by Sigismund von Herberstein in his Rerum Moscoviticarum Commentarii (1549). Herberstein acidly commented that "in one battle and in one year the Grand Duke of Moscow achieved what Grand Duke Vytautas had spent all his life in achieving".