The siege of Hlukhiv ( Ukrainian: ''Облога Глухова, Глухів,''

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 ...

: ''Осада Глухова, Глухов'', Polish: ''Oblężenie Głuchowa, Głuchów;'' January 22 — 9 February 1664) was a battle of the Muscovite–Polish War (1654–1667). Near the site of the present-day city of

Hlukhiv Hlukhiv (, ; ) is a small historic List of cities in Ukraine, city on the Esman River. It belongs to Shostka Raion of Sumy Oblast of Ukraine. Population: It is known for being a capital of the Cossack Hetmanate after the deposition of Ivan M ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, the forces of the Polish

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

John II Casimir, numbering around 50,000–53,000 men, unsuccessfully besieged the Muscovite–Ukrainian Garrison of

and finally retreated under pressure from the

Muscovite Muscovite (also known as common mica, isinglass, or potash mica) is a hydrated phyllosilicate mineral of aluminium and potassium with formula KAl2(Al Si3 O10)( F,O H)2, or ( KF)2( Al2O3)3( SiO2)6( H2O). It has a highly perfect basal cleavage y ...

and Ukrainian Armies under the command of the

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

Grigory Romodanovsky Grigory Grigoryevich Romodanovsky () was a controversial figure of the Russian foreign policy as a member of the Razryadny Prikaz, playing a key role in pursuing leaders of the Ukrainian Cossack officers into the union with the Tsardom of Russia, ...

and the Ukrainian

Hetman ''Hetman'' is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders (comparable to a field marshal or imperial marshal in the Holy Roman Empire). First used by the Czechs in Bohemia in the 15th century, ...

Ivan Briukhovetsky. The siege and the following retreat, during which the

Crown Army The Crown Army (Polish language, Polish: ''Armia koronna'') was the Ground warfare, land Military branch, service branch of the Military of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, military forces of the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland in the Polish� ...

and

Crimean Tatars Crimean Tatars (), or simply Crimeans (), are an Eastern European Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group and nation indigenous to Crimea. Their ethnogenesis lasted thousands of years in Crimea and the northern regions along the coast of the Blac ...

became the target of the

and Ukrainian attacks with around 45,000 men, proved to be one of the worst defeats in the whole course of war. The Polish

John II Casimir survived and was able to escape from the battlefield.

Background

In November 1663, the Polish

John II Casimir and the Ukrainian Hetman of the Right-Bank of the

Cossack Hetmanate The Cossack Hetmanate (; Cossack Hetmanate#Name, see other names), officially the Zaporozhian Host (; ), was a Ukrainian Cossacks, Cossack state. Its territory was located mostly in central Ukraine, as well as in parts of Belarus and southwest ...

, Pavlo Teteria, started an offensive against the Left-Bank of the

with an army numbered around 130,000 men (including camp followers). Antoine III de Gramont. ''The history of Muscovite campaign of John II Casimir.'' Tartu. 1929
Russian text
/ref> Without sufficient forces to stop the offensive, the

and the Ukrainian

of the Left-Bank of the

Ivan Briukhovetsky retreated to

Putyvl Putyvl (, ; , ) is a city in Sumy Oblast, in north-east Ukraine. The city served as the administrative center of Putyvl Raion until the administrative reform in 2018; now it is under the jurisdiction of Konotop Raion. Population: History One ...

. Proceeding almost without resistance, a forces of the Polish

John II Casimir ultimately and unsuccessfully besieged

, which was defended by the

Zaporozhian Cossacks The Zaporozhian Cossacks (in Latin ''Cossacorum Zaporoviensis''), also known as the Zaporozhian Cossack Army or the Zaporozhian Host (), were Cossacks who lived beyond (that is, downstream from) the Dnieper Rapids. Along with Registered Cossa ...

under the command of

Colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

Vasyl Dvoretsky and the

Strelets under the command of Avraam Lopukhin.

Battle

With the help of the Polish–Lithuanian artillery and explosives the

managed to destroy some parts of the wall.

Grand Duke Grand duke (feminine: grand duchess) is a European hereditary title, used either by certain monarchs or by members of certain monarchs' families. The title is used in some current and former independent monarchies in Europe, particularly: * in ...

John III Sobieski John III Sobieski ( (); (); () 17 August 1629 – 17 June 1696) was King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania from 1674 until his death in 1696. Born into Polish nobility, Sobieski was educated at the Jagiellonian University and toured Eur ...

personally led the troops during the storming of the town. The Poles and Lithuanians with the

entered the town, but blundered into an ambush and came under heavy

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

musket A musket is a muzzle-loaded long gun that appeared as a smoothbore weapon in the early 16th century, at first as a heavier variant of the arquebus, capable of penetrating plate armour. By the mid-16th century, this type of musket gradually dis ...

fire of the

. Having casualties and losses numbered about 4,000–4,200 men, including 200 officers, a forces of the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

was forced to retreat. The French

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

Antoine III de Gramont, who at that time was an

officer An officer is a person who has a position of authority in a hierarchical organization. The term derives from Old French ''oficier'' "officer, official" (early 14c., Modern French ''officier''), from Medieval Latin ''officiarius'' "an officer," fro ...

in the Crown Army of the Polish

John II Casimir, reported that the small Muscovite–Ukrainian Garrison showed miraculous bravery and excellent

skills. Eight days later, on 30 January 1664, the Polish

John II Casimir ordered a repeat of the storming. The

once again managed to penetrate the fortress, but the counterattack of the

and Cossack Garrison drove the attackers out of it. The French

Antoine III de Gramont describes the storming as almost successful but once again expresses his surprise how the

and Ukrainian recaptured the openings in the walls and how efficiently they fired back in spite of heavy Polish–Lithuanian artillery fire aimed at them. The

again experienced heavy casualties and losses. Meanwhile, the Muscovite

and the Cossack's

Ivan Briukhovetsky arrives at

with their forces numbered around 45,000 Muscovite and Ukrainian troops. Simultaneously, many cities of the Left-Bank of the

, which had previously surrendered without fighting, rebelled against the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth's occupation. The rebellions also spread into the Right-Bank of the

. Wishing to avoid a great battle, which the Polish

John II Casimir has lost, he lifted the siege.

Retreat of the Crown Army

Pursued by the

and Ukrainian forces led by the

and the Ukrainian

Ivan Briukhovetsky, the

, led by the Polish

John III Casimir, retreated to

Novhorod-Siverskyi Novhorod-Siverskyi (, , , ''Novgorod-Severskiy''), historically known as Novhorod-Siversk () or Novgorod-Seversk (), is a historic city in Chernihiv Oblast, northern Ukraine. It serves as the administrative center of Novhorod-Siverskyi Raion, alth ...

. During the retreat, the

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

and

Lithuanians Lithuanians () are a Balts, Baltic ethnic group. They are native to Lithuania, where they number around 2,378,118 people. Another two million make up the Lithuanian diaspora, largely found in countries such as the Lithuanian Americans, United Sta ...

executed the Ukrainian

Ivan Bohun Ivan Bohun () (died 1664) was a Zaporozhian Cossack colonel. A close associate and friend of Bohdan Khmelnytsky, he opposed both the pacts with the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth (Treaty of Hadiach of 1658) and with the Tsardom of Russia (Pere ...

, who was suspected of handing over important information to the Ukrainian

Garrison. The Defense of

ruined the Polish–Lithuanian plans of bringing the Left-Bank of the

back under the control of the

. In the following years, the

was afflicted with internal conflicts ( Lubomirski's Rebellion) and active fighting on the Muscovite–Polish frontline came to an end. Finally, the

Treaty of Andrusovo The Truce of Andrusovo (, , also sometimes known as Treaty of Andrusovo) established a thirteen-and-a-half year truce, signed on between the Tsardom of Russia and the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, which had fought the Russo-Polish War sin ...

was signed in 1667, formally ending the armed conflict as a

victory.

References

Literature

* Malov .А.В. Русско-польская война 1654-1667 гг. Москва, Цейхгауз, 2006. . * {{cite book , last=Babulin , first=Igor B. , lang=ru , date=2022 , script-title=ru:Московский поход короля Яна II Казимира 1663-1664 гг. , trans-title=Moscow campaign of John II Casimir, 1663-1664 , series=Ratnoe delo , publisher=Russkie viyazi , place=

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 ...

, isbn=978-5-907245-74-7 Conflicts in 1664

1664 in Europe Battles involving the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth