The Battle of Martynów of 20 June 1624 refers to the engagement between the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, and, after 1791, as the Commonwealth of Poland, was a bi-confederal state, sometimes called a federation, of Crown of the Kingdom of ...

forces under

hetman ( uk, гетьман, translit=het'man) is a political title from Central and Eastern Europe, historically assigned to military commanders. Used by the Czechs in Bohemia since the 15th century. It was the title of the second-highest military co ...

Stanisław Koniecpolski and the

horde Horde may refer to: History * Orda (organization), a historic sociopolitical and military structure in steppe nomad cultures such as the Turks and Mongols ** Golden Horde, a Turkic-Mongol state established in the 1240s ** Wings of the Golden Hord ...

of Crimean Tatars under Khan Temir. Koniecpolski dealt a crushing defeat to Khan Temir's forces near Novyi Martyniv (Мартинів). The victory at Martyniów was the biggest Polish victory over the Tatar raiders in a century.

Background

In the spring of 1624 the Crimean Tatars began to organize another raid into the

borderlands. The horde, led by Khan Temir, approached the Commonwealth in May, and

Stanisław Koniecpolski gathered forces to stop it. However, his army was numerically inferior, so that at first he could only carry out delaying actions. By 13 January when he received intelligence that the horde had begun to turn back, he had about 5,000 troops: 600 hussars, 1350

registered Cossacks Registered Cossacks (, , pl, Kozacy rejestrowi) comprised special Cossack units of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth army in the 16th and 17th centuries. Registered Cossacks became a military formation of the Commonwealth army beginning ...

cavalry, 650 additional Cossack cavalry, 1450 other light cavalry, 350 infantry, 450 nobles from

pospolite ruszenie ''Pospolite ruszenie'' (, lit. ''mass mobilization''; "Noble Host", lat, motio belli, the French term ''levée en masse'' is also used) is a name for the mobilisation of armed forces during the period of the Kingdom of Poland and the Polish–Li ...

, and several light cannons. This force included several notable soldiers and commanders, such as Stefan Chmielecki, Jan Odrzywolski,

Samuel Łaszcz Samuel Łaszcz (1588–1649), of the Prawdzic Coat of Arms, was a famous szlachcic, nobleman in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, with a family estate in Laszczów, Łaszczów. He held the positions of Starosta of Owrucz, Crown Grand Stand ...

, Paweł Czarniecki and Stefan Czarniecki. He sent some forces, including mobilized peasants, to block possible routes of retreat for the horde, in order to force the horde to cross a river near the village of

Martynów Martynów is a village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically rang ...

, where he planned to ambush them. The Tatar strength is unknown.

Leszek Podhorodecki Leszek Podhorodecki (1934 – 7 December 2000) was a Polish historian and writer. A secondary school teacher, he published over 40 different books about the history of Poland The history of Poland spans over a thousand years, from medieval tri ...

cites a contemporary diarist's estimate of 15,000, calling it a "gross exaggeration".

Battle

Koniecpolski had to lay several possible ambushes, as Khan Temir was a savvy tactician, and would not fall easily into a trap. Eventually, he tricked the Tatars into attacking his lines, and after some feints by both sides, he managed to trick them into attacking a fortified tabor formation. In order to entrap Khan Temir, Koniecpolski created the illusion that his forces were retreating, abandoning high ground and leaving some scattered wagons with supplies, suggesting disorder. The Tatar attack was absorbed by the Polish cavalry, and a bloody battle ensued, which after about an hour caused the Tatars to break off. Koniecpolski's then pursued them, before withdrawing again, this time luring Tatars into the artillery fire of the tabor formation. This was followed by the charge of all 12

chorągiew Chorągiew (; literally: "banner") was the basic administrative unit of the Polish and Lithuanian cavalry from the 14th century. An alternative name until the 17th century was '' Rota''. 14th to 17th centuries Between the 14th and 17th century ...

s of Polish cavalry. In the ensuing retreat, many Tatars drowned in the

Dniestr The Dniester, ; rus, Дне́стр, links=1, Dnéstr, ˈdⁿʲestr; ro, Nistru; grc, Τύρᾱς, Tyrās, ; la, Tyrās, la, Danaster, label=none, ) ( ,) is a transboundary river in Eastern Europe. It runs first through Ukraine and th ...

river or nearby muds, and Khan Temir was wounded. Polish forces pursued the fleeing Tatars, and were able to free most of the people the Tatars had captured and were leading into slavery ( jasyr). The Polish pursuit ended on the night of 20 to 21 June.

Aftermath

The victory at Martyniów was a major success for Koniecpolski, as it was the biggest Polish victory over the Tatar raiders in a century. At the same time, Khan Temir lost some influence among the Tatars.

References

;Bibliography *
''Winged Hussars''
Radoslaw Sikora, Bartosz Musialowicz, ''BUM Magazine'', 2016. {{DEFAULTSORT:Battle of Martynow Conflicts in 1624 1624 in Europe Martynow Martynow 17th century in Ukraine