Martin Antonenko
A Fixture
- Joined
- Jul 11, 2008
- Messages
- 9,001
3,000 Winged Hussars defeat 35,000 russian warriors...!
It's the year 1610.
For two years now, Poland-Lithuania has been at war with the Tsardom of Moscow - as is almost always the case, it is about power and influence.
In this case, the Polish king Sigismund III. Vasa...
...enforce his claims to the Muscovite throne, however justified they may be!
A good point in time from the Pole's point of view, because Muscovia is in the so-called time of troubles, the "Smuta", which lasted from 1598 to 1613. The reason for this is the extinction of the ruling line of the Moscow Rurikids, as a result of which the tsar's rule became suspended. This period is characterized by general anarchy, shattered power relations and a temporary interregnum phase.
So Muscovia is weak!
Nevertheless, it is logical that the Muscovite tsar, Vasily IV.
...doesn't like the claims of the Poles, so war ensues!
Another Baltic Sea country, Sweden, immediately offers the Tsar help and a military alliance!
This is because in Sweden the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is perceived as an increasingly dangerous competitor - and it certainly has something to do with the fact that the Polish king - his name gives it away! - had also been hereditary king of Sweden until 1599 (since 1592), until the Swedish Diet had had enough of his autocratic behavior and chased him away.
Vasily IV collects an army of 35,000 fighters (Muscovites and Swedes), which was huge for the time, under his formal supreme command, but in fact under the command of the boyar Boris Godunov (who will also become tsar one day)...
...and Mikhail Wassiljewitsch Skopin-Schuiskij...
...moving towards the Polish.
The "army" of Sigismund III. on the other hand is tiny - he had to turn off most of it in order to besiege the border fortress of Smolensk...:
The Pole commands only 3,000 riders!
On July 4, 1610 there was a battle near Klushino.
35,000 against 3,000 - the meeting seems decided before it even begins! The Russians are sure of victory!
But with the 3,000 riders personally led by the Polish king...
...they are all armoured, well-armed and trained according to the most modern standards and accordingly disciplined "Hussaria", i.e. the famous Winged Hussars!
And they practically make minced meat out of the undisciplined, poorly armed mob of the Muscovite tsar!
Those who cannot escape are ridden down, sabered, stabbed or shot.
The tsar and his commanders narrowly escape!
The defeat was so total that the tsar - as soon as he was back in the Moscow Kremlin - was summarily deposed by the boyars, shaved off a monk and imprisoned in a monastery, where he spent his last two years until his death in 1612.
The victory at Klushino is still considered the greatest success of the Winged Hussars in Poland to this day - historically perhaps only surpassed by the victory on "Kahlenberg" near Vienna against the Ottomans on September 12, 1683.
As the war draws to a close, Muscovy (marked in green on the map below!) narrowly claims independence, but Poland-Lithuania (yellow!) has incorporated a pretty piece of Tsardom (red and bright red!) and is in at the height of his power...:
On the map, Poland-Lithuania now stretches from Szczecin and Gdansk to far beyond Kyiv!
That's the theory.
If you look closely at the yellow lump, you will see a place called "Sicz" at the bottom right. This is the famous nest of the Zaporozhian Cossacks on the Dnieper island of Chortyza!
And the Zaporozhians there in their day let the devil conquer them from anyone or anything, no matter what the map shows!
It's the year 1610.
For two years now, Poland-Lithuania has been at war with the Tsardom of Moscow - as is almost always the case, it is about power and influence.
In this case, the Polish king Sigismund III. Vasa...
...enforce his claims to the Muscovite throne, however justified they may be!
A good point in time from the Pole's point of view, because Muscovia is in the so-called time of troubles, the "Smuta", which lasted from 1598 to 1613. The reason for this is the extinction of the ruling line of the Moscow Rurikids, as a result of which the tsar's rule became suspended. This period is characterized by general anarchy, shattered power relations and a temporary interregnum phase.
So Muscovia is weak!
Nevertheless, it is logical that the Muscovite tsar, Vasily IV.
...doesn't like the claims of the Poles, so war ensues!
Another Baltic Sea country, Sweden, immediately offers the Tsar help and a military alliance!
This is because in Sweden the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth is perceived as an increasingly dangerous competitor - and it certainly has something to do with the fact that the Polish king - his name gives it away! - had also been hereditary king of Sweden until 1599 (since 1592), until the Swedish Diet had had enough of his autocratic behavior and chased him away.
Vasily IV collects an army of 35,000 fighters (Muscovites and Swedes), which was huge for the time, under his formal supreme command, but in fact under the command of the boyar Boris Godunov (who will also become tsar one day)...
...and Mikhail Wassiljewitsch Skopin-Schuiskij...
...moving towards the Polish.
The "army" of Sigismund III. on the other hand is tiny - he had to turn off most of it in order to besiege the border fortress of Smolensk...:
The Pole commands only 3,000 riders!
On July 4, 1610 there was a battle near Klushino.
35,000 against 3,000 - the meeting seems decided before it even begins! The Russians are sure of victory!
But with the 3,000 riders personally led by the Polish king...
...they are all armoured, well-armed and trained according to the most modern standards and accordingly disciplined "Hussaria", i.e. the famous Winged Hussars!
And they practically make minced meat out of the undisciplined, poorly armed mob of the Muscovite tsar!
Those who cannot escape are ridden down, sabered, stabbed or shot.
The tsar and his commanders narrowly escape!
The defeat was so total that the tsar - as soon as he was back in the Moscow Kremlin - was summarily deposed by the boyars, shaved off a monk and imprisoned in a monastery, where he spent his last two years until his death in 1612.
The victory at Klushino is still considered the greatest success of the Winged Hussars in Poland to this day - historically perhaps only surpassed by the victory on "Kahlenberg" near Vienna against the Ottomans on September 12, 1683.
As the war draws to a close, Muscovy (marked in green on the map below!) narrowly claims independence, but Poland-Lithuania (yellow!) has incorporated a pretty piece of Tsardom (red and bright red!) and is in at the height of his power...:
On the map, Poland-Lithuania now stretches from Szczecin and Gdansk to far beyond Kyiv!
That's the theory.
If you look closely at the yellow lump, you will see a place called "Sicz" at the bottom right. This is the famous nest of the Zaporozhian Cossacks on the Dnieper island of Chortyza!
And the Zaporozhians there in their day let the devil conquer them from anyone or anything, no matter what the map shows!
