The Battle of Kozelsk was the first victory of

False Dmitry II False Dmitry II ( rus, Лжедмитрий II, Lzhedmitrii II; died ), historically known as Pseudo-Demetrius II and also called "тушинский вор" ("rebel/criminal of Tushino"), was the second of three pretenders to the Russian throne ...

against the government of Tsar Vasili IV Shiuski.

Prelude

As the rebellion of

Ivan Bolotnikov Ivan Isayevich Bolotnikov (russian: Ива́н Иса́евич Боло́тников; 1565–1608) headed a popular uprising in Russia in 1606–1607 known as the Bolotnikov Rebellion (Восстание Ивана Болотникова). The up ...

was coming to an end in central Russia, a new impostor,

, appeared on the Polish border, collecting Cossacks and Polish-Lithuanian mercenaries under his banner. By July 1607 he was recognized by the people of

Starodub Starodub ( rus, links=no, Староду́б, p=stərɐˈdup, ''old oak'') is a town in Bryansk Oblast, Russia, on the Babinets River (the Dnieper basin), southwest of Bryansk. Population: 16,000 (1975). History Starodub has been known ...

Chernigov Chernihiv ( uk, Черні́гів, , russian: Черни́гов, ; pl, Czernihów, ; la, Czernihovia), is a city and municipality in northern Ukraine, which serves as the administrative center of Chernihiv Oblast and Chernihiv Raion within t ...

, Putivl, and

Novgorod-Seversky Novhorod-Siverskyi ( uk, Новгород-Сіверський ) is a historic city in Chernihiv Oblast (province) of Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Novhorod-Siverskyi Raion, although until 18 July 2020 it was incorporated as a city ...

Battle

In September 1607, False Dmitry II left Starodub with some 3,000 men in order to relieve

Bolotnikov Ivan Isayevich Bolotnikov (russian: Ива́н Иса́евич Боло́тников; 1565–1608) headed a popular uprising in Russia in 1606–1607 known as the Bolotnikov Rebellion (Восстание Ивана Болотникова). The up ...

, besieged in Tula. At Kozelsk, on October 8, 1607, the rebels won their first victory against the government troops of Vasili IV Shuiski.

Aftermath

Despite the victory at Kozelsk, the capture of Tula on October 10 by Tsar Vasili made further efforts to relieve Bolotnikov meaningless. So the rebels besieged Bryansk in November 1607, where False Dmitry II was joined by 4.000 former Bolotnikov Cossacks, 3,000 Don Cossacks, and some 2,500 Polish mercenaries. Nevertheless, the rebels were defeated at Bryansk on December 25, 1607 by the government relief army.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kozelsk 17th-century military history of Russia Kozelsk History of Kaluga Oblast Conflicts in 1607