The Battle of Sandomierz was a series of battles during

Deluge A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood. The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis. Deluge may also refer to: History *Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Comm ...

Prelude

On March 20, 1656,

Charles X Gustav Charles X Gustav, also Carl Gustav ( sv, Karl X Gustav; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. Afte ...

with his army of 8.000 men was trapped between the rivers San and

Vistula The Vistula (; pl, Wisła, ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest river in Europe, at in length. The drainage basin, reaching into three other nations, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra in ...

, chased by a Polish-Lithuanian army of about 10.000 men. On the western side of Vistula was the town and castle of

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; la, Sandomiria) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (as of 2017), situated on the Vistula River in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Provi ...

, which had a Swedish crew. The Swedes thought to cross the river at this point and then continue their march along the Polish coast.

Battle

On March 24 the bridgehead, the city and the castle were attacked by

Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski Prince Jerzy Sebastian Lubomirski (20 January 1616 – 31 December 1667) was a Polish noble (szlachcic), magnate, politician and military commander, and Prince of the Holy Roman Empire. He was the initiator of the Lubomirski Rebellion of 1665 ...

, with a Polish corps of 6.000 men. In the castle there were large stores of ammunition that Swedes the needed. The castle was held by Colonel Cronlood, with barely 280 men. However, Swedish garrison managed to flee down the river San in boats, saving most of the provisions, while the main army's artillery shelled the Poles. However, 4000 grenades were left with matches lit, so the castle was blown in the air, together with several hundred Poles. In the evening 300 Swedish soldiers departed from the Swedish camp, and in three boats crossed the San River. The troops immediately removed the Polish guards and more Swedish troops crossed the river, including cavalry who swam over with their horses. Lithuanians who held this river bank believed the entire Swedish army was on them, and fled in panic. On March 26, Swedish army built a bridge over the River San, and the entire army crossed over. They took the abandoned camp left by the Lithuanians, and got a rest of a night. On April 5, they were in security inside Warsaw's walls.

References

{{Reflist San San Sandomierz