The Chyhyryn campaign or Chigirin campaign was launched by the Ottoman-led coalition against the

Cossack The Cossacks are a predominantly East Slavic Eastern Christian people originating in the Pontic–Caspian steppe of eastern Ukraine and southern Russia. Cossacks played an important role in defending the southern borders of Ukraine and Rus ...

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 ...

defenders of

Chyhyryn Chyhyryn ( ; ) is a city in Cherkasy Raion, Cherkasy Oblast, central Ukraine. It is located on Tiasmyn river not far where it enters Dnieper. From 1648 to 1669, the city served as the residence of the hetman of the Zaporizhian Host. After a f ...

with the goal of capturing the fortress, from 8 July to 17 August 1678.

Prelude

After repelling an Ottoman assault in November 1677, Patrick Gordon was appointed as the major general of the Chyhyryn garrison.

Mehmed IV Mehmed IV (; ; 2 January 1642 – 6 January 1693), nicknamed as Mehmed the Hunter (), was the sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1648 to 1687. He came to the throne at the age of six after his father was overthrown in a coup. Mehmed went on to b ...

personally supervised the Ottoman army and appointed

Kara Mustafa Pasha Kara Mustafa Pasha (; ; "Mustafa Pasha the Courageous"; 1634/1635 – 25 December 1683) was an Ottoman nobleman, military figure and Grand Vizier, who was a central character in the Ottoman Empire's last attempts at expansion into both Centr ...

to lead the army in the new campaign on Chyhyryn. On July 6, Cossack-Russian army didn't make serious attempt to try preventing the Ottoman-Tatar army of Kara Mustafa from approaching Chyhyryn.

Campaign

On July 8, Ottoman army approached Chyhyryn. On July 9, Kosagov retreated from his position which was soon occupied by Tatars. On July 12, the regiment of V.A. Zmeev, had to fight against a superior Ottoman-Tatar army, but managed to repel them with massive artillery fire from the other bank of the Dnieper, allowing the overturned regiments of V.A. Zmeev to regroup and counterattack, winning the battle.

Ivan Sirko Ivan Dmytrovych Sirko ( – August 11, 1680) was a Zaporozhian Cossack military leader, Koshovyi Otaman of the Zaporozhian Host and putative co-author of the famous semi-legendary Cossack letter to the Ottoman sultan that inspired the major p ...

’s Cossacks attacked Ottoman fleet carrying supplies to

Ochakiv Ochakiv (, ), also known as Ochakov (; ; or, archaically, ) and Alektor (), is a small city in Mykolaiv Raion, Mykolaiv Oblast (region) of southern Ukraine. It hosts the administration of Ochakiv urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. ...

in the Dnieper–Bug Canal, wiping out nearly every Ottoman ship. Ivan Sirko was conducting raids to disrupt Ottoman supply during their Chyhyryn campaigns. On July 15, another Ottoman-Tatar attack was repelled by V.A. Zmeev. On July 28, Cherkassky led the Russian army, and on July 31, Romodanovsky moved to Chyhyryn by his order. Ottoman army tested the fortress and found its weaknesses, which they destroyed with their artillery and undermining. Russian troops attempted to knock out Ottoman-Tatar troops on Chyhyryn mountain, but were repulsed. On August 1, Russian forces attacked Ottoman-Tatar forces on Strelkovaya mountain, initially repulsed, but later managed to advance. However, they were surrounded in Ottoman counterattack. Romodanovsky's regiment came to their assistance and Russian forces managed to defeat Ottoman-Tatar forces on Strelkovaya mountain. Russian forces pursued Ottoman-Tatar forces to Tyasma river and Samoylovych's Cossacks raided Ottoman camp near Chyhyryn. Despite Russian-Cossack victory on the Tyasma river, Chyhyryn was still besieged. On August 3, Chyhyryn was constantly shelled. Romodanovsky stood behind Tyasma river after his victory on Chyhyryn heights, without making serious efforts to relief Chyhyryn garrison and defeat Kara Mustafa's army. On August 11, Mustafa blew up 2 undermines and stormed the Lower Town of the Chyhyryn. However, Gordon recaptured Lower Town and restored communication with other commanders, ordering them to retreat from Chyhyryn. The garrison of the fortress was disorientated by their command, which led to disorganised retreat and heavy losses. Cossacks didn't want to give up the fortress, so at night they sneaked out and blew up the powder depots. The explosion resulted in Chyhyryn being reduced to rubble, killing many Turkish-Tatar troops in process. Around 5,000 are believed to have been killed in explosion. Ottoman-Tatar army pursued Cossack-Russian forces to the

Dnieper The Dnieper or Dnepr ( ), also called Dnipro ( ), is one of the major transboundary rivers of Europe, rising in the Valdai Hills near Smolensk, Russia, before flowing through Belarus and Ukraine to the Black Sea. Approximately long, with ...

till they reached an old fortified camp, in which Cossack-Russian forces entrenched themselves. On August 14, Romodanosky and Samoylovych had to repel Turkish-Tatar attacks, which lasted several days. On August 17, Cossack-Russian forces made a major counterattack with their entire forces on the advancing Ottoman-Tatar army, which they overturned and pursued them all the way to the ruins of Chyhyryn. After this victory, Cossack-Russian troops managed to reach Left-Bank without being pursued. Sirko's sabotage actions made it possible for the Russian-Cossack army to overcome Ottoman-led forces near Chyhyryn. The fighting concluded on 18 August. Ottoman-led forces soon abandoned Chyhyryn.

Aftermath

Ottoman-led army managed to expel Chyhyryn garrison and capture the fortress, but were unable to hold it due being weakened by the fighting and having to deal with frequent raids of

. Ottoman losses in this campaign were too heavy for Ottomans to continue such large-scale campaigns. In histography, some view events of Chyhyryn Campaign in 1678 as either inconclusive or Ottoman victory. However, there is also another view that Chyhyryn wasn't central to the

Russo-Turkish War The Russo-Turkish wars ( ), or the Russo-Ottoman wars (), began in 1568 and continued intermittently until 1918. They consisted of twelve conflicts in total, making them one of the longest series of wars in the history of Europe. All but four of ...

and describe it as Russian-Cossack victory. That is, the main Russian goals of defending Left-Bank and driving the civilians of Ottoman-held Right-Bank to

Sloboda Ukraine Sloboda Ukraine, also known locally as ''Slobozhanshchyna'' or ''Slobozhanshchina'', is a historical region in northeastern Ukraine and southwestern Russia. It developed from Belgorod Razriad and flourished in the 17th and 18th centuries on the ...

were accomplished despite being forced to abandon Chyhyryn. 12,000–20,000 Turkish-Tatar troops were killed, while around 6,500 Cossack-Russian troops were killed or went missing during the campaign. According to other estimates, Ottomans lost 36,000 troops.

References

Bibliography

* *{{Cite book , first=V. , last=Smoliy , title=Володарі гетьманської булави: Іст. портрети , location=

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

, publisher=Варта , date=1994 , isbn=5-203-01639-9, language=uk 1678 in Europe Conflicts in 1678 Battles involving the Tsardom of Russia Battles involving the Cossack Hetmanate Battles involving the Ottoman Empire Battles involving the Crimean Khanate Military history of Zaporizhzhia Military history of Ukraine Russo-Turkish War (1676–1681)