The Battle of Molodi (

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

: Би́тва при Мóлодях) was one of the key battles of Ivan the Terrible's reign. It was fought near the village of Molodi, south of

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

, in July–August 1572 between the 120,000 horde of Devlet I Giray of

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

and about 60,000–70,000

Russians Russians ( ) are an East Slavs, East Slavic ethnic group native to Eastern Europe. Their mother tongue is Russian language, Russian, the most spoken Slavic languages, Slavic language. The majority of Russians adhere to Eastern Orthodox Church ...

led by Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky. The Crimeans had burned Moscow the previous year, but this time they were thoroughly defeated.

Background

While the

Tsardom of Russia The Tsardom of Russia, also known as the Tsardom of Moscow, was the centralized Russian state from the assumption of the title of tsar by Ivan the Terrible, Ivan IV in 1547 until the foundation of the Russian Empire by Peter the Great in 1721. ...

was involved in the

Livonian War The Livonian War (1558–1583) concerned control of Terra Mariana, Old Livonia (in the territory of present-day Estonia and Latvia). The Tsardom of Russia faced a varying coalition of the Denmark–Norway, Dano-Norwegian Realm, the Kingdom ...

, the Crimean khan hoped to make profit from the weakness of its southern borders. In the course of three expeditions, Devlet I Giray devastated South Russia and even sacked and set Moscow on fire in 1571. On 26 July 1572 the huge horde of the khan, equipped with cannons and reinforced by

janissaries A janissary (, , ) was a member of the elite infantry units that formed the Ottoman sultan's household troops. They were the first modern standing army, and perhaps the first infantry force in the world to be equipped with firearms, adopted du ...

, crossed the

Oka River The Oka (, ; ) is a river in central Russia, the largest right tributary of the Volga. It flows through the regions of Oryol, Tula, Kaluga, Moscow, Ryazan, Vladimir and Nizhny Novgorod and is navigable over a large part of its total length, ...

near

Serpukhov Serpukhov ( rus, Серпухов, p=ˈsʲerpʊxəf) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in Moscow Oblast, Russia, located at the confluence of the Oka River, Oka and the Nara (Oka), Nara Rivers, 99 kilometers (62 miles) south fro ...

, decimated the Russian vanguard of 200 men, and advanced towards Moscow in order to pillage it once again. Little did they know, however, that the Russians had prepared for the new invasion, setting up innovative fortifications just beyond the Oka.

Battle

The Russian forces, variously estimated at between 20,000 and 70,000 men, were placed under the supreme command of Prince Mikhail Vorotynsky. Prince Repnin led the left flank, while the right flank was commanded by Prince Odoevsky. On 30 July the armies clashed near the Lopasnya River without so much as a prior

reconnaissance In military operations, military reconnaissance () or scouting is the exploration of an area by military forces to obtain information about enemy forces, the terrain, and civil activities in the area of operations. In military jargon, reconnai ...

. The fighting continued for several days, reaching its peak on 8 August. The large amount of close-in fighting made the Tatars' famed skill in

archery Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a Bow and arrow, bow to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting ...

quite useless: The battle was fought principally with

saber A sabre or saber ( ) is a type of backsword with a curved blade associated with the light cavalry of the Early Modern warfare, early modern and Napoleonic period, Napoleonic periods. Originally associated with Central European cavalry such a ...

s and

spear A spear is a polearm consisting of a shaft, usually of wood, with a pointed head. The head may be simply the sharpened end of the shaft itself, as is the case with Fire hardening, fire hardened spears, or it may be made of a more durable materia ...

Artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

and

arquebus An arquebus ( ) is a form of long gun that appeared in Europe and the Ottoman Empire during the 15th century. An infantryman armed with an arquebus is called an arquebusier. The term ''arquebus'' was applied to many different forms of firearms ...

es were also used by the Russians to great effect. The outcome was decided by Prince Khvorostinin who bypassed the horde with his '' gulyay-gorod'' (гуляй-город) mobile fortifications and infiltrated into the rear.

Aftermath

After the battle, only 20,000 Tatar horsemen returned to the Crimea, while the khan left his tent and banner on the battlefield and barely managed to escape alive. The battle claimed the lives of his sons and a grandson. File:01 106 Book illustrations of Historical description of the clothes and weapons of Russian troops.jpg, Moscow

streltsy The streltsy (, ; , ) were the units of Russian firearm infantry from the 16th century to the early 18th century and also a social stratum, from which personnel for streltsy troops were traditionally recruited. They are also collectively kno ...

File:Ivan IV 1572.jpg, Ivan IV is presented with trophies taken from Devlet Giray by Vorotynsky after the battle. By Boris Chorikov File:Eques Tartarus.jpg, Crimean Tatar horseman. Engraving by Abraham de Bruyn (1575)

Order of Battle Order of battle of an armed force participating in a military operation or campaign shows the hierarchical organization, command structure, strength, disposition of personnel, and equipment of units and formations of the armed force. Various abbr ...

Based on contemporary documents, the Russian forces were as follows:Документы о сражении при Молодях // Исторический архив, № 4. 1959 — P. 174–177 Contemporary chronicles give very large and unreliable figures when talking about the Tatar army. The Novgorod Second Chronicle gives its strength as 120,000 and the Moscow Chronicle about 150,000. According to modern Russian historians, the khan's army most likely numbered 40,000–60,000, of which two-thirds were the Crimean army proper, and the rest Nogai, Circassians and janissaries sent by the Ottoman Sultan. The Russian historian Vitaly Pensky estimates the total size of the Moscow army at 35,000, considering that the remaining estimates are overstated.

Notes

References

Sources

External links

* https://www.hrono.ru/sobyt/1500sob/molod.html * http://www.kulichki.com/moshkow/HISTORY/ANDREEW_A_R/krym_history.txt#45 * http://www.magister.msk.ru/library/history/karamzin/kar09_03.htm * https://www.vostlit.info/Texts/Dokumenty/Russ/XVI/1560-1580/Schlacht_Molodi/text.htm *{{in lang, en http://www.xenophon-mil.org/rushistory/battles/ivanbook.htm Russo-Crimean Wars Molodi Molodi Molodi Ivan the Terrible 1572 in Russia Molodi 16th-century military history of Russia 1572 in the Ottoman Empire Molodi